REEEEEEEVENGEANCE

This is an interesting one.

At first, the gameplay is pretty straightforward. Ninja run to vault obstacles; slap enemies around with fast, light attacks and slow, heavy attacks; go into slow-motion to finish someone off with an absurd slice-storm. Maybe a little simplistic, but, a fun slash-em-up with bombastic set pieces.

Then comes the boss battle that changes everything -- the "Viewtiful Joe helicopter" moment. Now you have to learn how the parry really works. Now you have to take inventory of the game's controls, to lock-on and use healing items. (Reading this is what helped me.) You don't have to be an expert to finish the battle, but you do have to appreciate and respect the game in a way that wasn't previously evident.

From here, Revengeance can appear to back off at times, but the lesson is clear: don't turn your back on it. You never know when you'll be ambushed by a robot made out of guns that shoot knives that explode on your face.

As for the story? Well. It has about as much subtlety as you'd expect from a Metal Gear - the bad guys in the prologue talk matter-of-factly about their plan, leaving nothing to the imagination - as well as the franchise's eccentric approach to enemy designs and personalities. Actually, they're a bit reminiscent of No More Heroes, which is pretty rad. But the overall plotting, which tries to shoehorn these wacky characters into a serious war drama, is too outlandish to take seriously. While also not outlandish enough to be funny. It's ... awkward.

Revengeance is a little different than what I expected; Vanquish's unique brand of high-speed, long-range combat doesn't really translate into Raiden's up-close-and-personal swordplay. But it's still frantic, fun, and satisfyingly weird.

Progress: Finished R-01.