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El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is a bizarre experience, and does feel more like an experience than an actual game, which often feels very bitty. Hack and slash here for a minute or two, get some story, hack and slash there for a minute or two, get more story… leaving me wondering when does the game properly begins?
In fact, at times, it rather reminds me of 2019’s Etherborn, although that was more puzzle-based and this is just “hack / hack / slash” in its place. Plus, when I first died, a voice said I get more than one chance at this, and then this just kept going round in circles… ah, I then realise, you have to press a button to move this one.. but then it just dumped me back in the main menu, all of which looks like old-style Xbox 360 graphics. In fact, for all its weirdness, it hasn’t been remastered at all, just packed up and put on Steam. Was that intentional?
Also, where it comes to a lack of remastering, in some of the scenes, a weird character has dialogue, and it’s out of sync with the words – way out, since he’s still mouthing words after he’s stopped talking!
From time to time, if I start trying to do the occasional special moves it teaches me, I then lose track and get my butt kicked by the weird-looking baddies, so I may as well just hack and slash.
Despite the lack of remastering, it can look nice, but overall, it feels like a game I’m watching, more than playing.
On some downsides, at times, it actualy gave me a bit of a headache while playing, as it shoves so much weird stuff in your face. Plus, when you die and it reloads the last level, and this can take AGES! Why doesn’t it store it in the memory? Just feels like a trick that’s been missed.
Also – and while I will play some more, even after just a few chapters (so, you could call this a ‘first impressions’ for now), this does get incredibly repetitve, although ‘The Tower’ level does look like the game you’d get if Mortal Kombat and Rez had a baby…
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is out now on PC/Steam.
Important info:
- Developer: crim Co., Ltd.
- Publisher: crim Co., Ltd.
- Players: single-player
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.