Red Steel 2

For its first half, I'd describe Red Steel 2 as flawed, but fun. However, as the game progressed, I came to know it more as flawed, but really fun.

Its flaws aren't wholly ignorable: on top of the loading delays I've mentioned, there are some occasionally irritating bugs, and sidequest objectives are conspicuously absent from the radar (I wasted hours chasing some of those down). But the biggest problem with the game is its pacing, which is all over the place. Most missions can be easily enjoyed in small bites, but there are a handful of extremely lengthy dungeon-ish areas that seem to really drag on. And although money streams in for upgrades, sometimes (after entering a new area) opportunities to upgrade are unavailable for a significant stretch of time.

On a related note, I went through a majority of the game before discovering that guns can be upgraded, because the interface for this re-uses the interface for buying the guns in the first place. I didn't know there was anything to buy, because the weapons already had check-marks on them! But, it's really just as well, because guns are the least important part of the game by far.

Up to the halfway point, Red Steel 2's combat was fun, but not incredibly engaging - because all the enemies were pushovers. But during the first boss fight with Shinjiro, I actually had to learn my different techniques and combos; after which, the game legitimately challenged me to react, adapt, and use what I'd learned to defeat varied combinations of enemies. The combat system becomes quite deep in the end, and utilizing diverse attacks in creative ways, all in the name of stabbing dudes, is intensely satisfying. Enough so that I've had trouble putting the game down over the past few days.

So it could have used some more polish, and the story was trash. Oh, and the music is pretty lackluster - there's a "twangy" theme reminiscent of Firefly, but in general the ambient tunes are pretty boring. Regardless, though, this is a fun game! And I look forward to the inevitable sequel.

Better than: Bionic Commando (similarly, a shooter with not very much shooting)
Not as good as: BioShock (similarly, a shooter with unique mechanics and a convincing atmosphere)
And leagues better than: Red Steel

Progress: Finished on Normal