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Great Graphics, Great Gameplay, Giant Enemy Crabs

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 32
Date: November 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Genji Days of the Blade is probably most notorious for its silly E3 demonstration. The speaker talked about how it portrayed authentic feudal Japanese battles - involving Giant Enemy Crabs :) He also talked about novel concepts such as "attacking its weak point for maximum damage" and how you could do (gasp) REAL TIME weapons change in the game. This last item actually looks very silly - you could be swinging one sword, hit a button and MID SWING the sword changes into a new weapon.

In general, this is a fighting game set in PRE feudal Japan, i.e. 1187. I ran a Feudal Japan newsletter for many years, and feudal Japan was the 1500s, the days of Oda Nobunaga and the wars then. Back in 1187, there was a quite different government setup. If you're curious about this time period, read The Tale of Genji sometime by Lady Murasaki - this is acclaimed by many as the first novel ever written. It was written back in the 11th century! It's a great read even today, which is quite an achievement.

So back to the gameplay. You play a young two-sword warrior and have as your pals an older warrior, a female warrior and a war-god turned spellcasting warrior :) You fight through various Japanese landscapes and settings, taking on the Bad Guys. You have your combat techniques and magical powers to help you triumph.

The graphics are very impressive. In the cut scenes, you can see the fabric weaves on the layers of kimono, the metallic sparkle in the lacquerware, the rippling heat waves by the fire. During gameplay the character movements were fluid and natural. Fabric pieces would sway and tiny, glistening sparks would float on the air. Some scenes were really quite lovely in a painting sort of way.

Gameplay itself involves slicing with swords, chaining up attacks and blocking. There are, a la the Giant Enemy Crab, situations where you have to Attack the Weak Point for Maximum Damage. I didn't like the HUD of the map in the top left - it took up too much space and looked "silly" in almost a PacMan kind of way. The top left HUD of characters and health was much better done, less intrusive.

For sound, I love Japanese culture and really enjoyed the traditional music that played in the background in many scenes. For me it really helped immerse the game in an authentic setting. Many of the characters speaking are obviously Japanese and hearing that accent and proper pronunciation of historic names was great. Some have British accents ... odd.

There were a lot of little details that I really enjoyed. Obviously these guys had done their research. The little click as a sword was reset into its scabbard, the traditional sword holders on the ground, the way the swordsmen would set up a stance and move, it was all really enjoyable to watch. In many ways it was like being in a well done movie. That all being said, they took a few liberties about what the buildings looked like, and the characters dressed like, back in 1187. It was more like a time traveller from the feudal Japan period (i.e. the 1500s) went back to 1187 in some cases :) But that's sort of like the movie Excalibur, where King Arthur and his knights were wearing armor from the 1600s England. Historic King Arthur certainly wasn't alive in the 1600s :) But we accept that anachronism as part of the myth. It's not like the Japanese soldiers in 1187 had magic powers, either.

In general I really love this game. If I'm going to pick out a particular flaw, it's the camera. You can't control the camera at all, and there are situations where it becomes incredibly annoying. Still, that's something you can just resign yourself to while you enjoy the game!

Fight till you drop

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: March 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you like fighting games like Onimushu, God of War, this game is for you. After finishing the game, you can do it again with new costumes and more difficulty. This game will keep you busy for days.

Attack the weak point

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 14
Date: November 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Lol lol this game is sooo bad only cows should play it
The giant enemy crab and realtime weapon change are the games only next gen features

Gengi 2 is an Action Game Which is Based on Japanese History

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 7
Date: October 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Being based on history, the stages of the game are also based on famous battles which actual took place in ancient Japan. So here's this Giant Enemy Crab. You can flip it over and attack its weakpoint for massive damage. Gengi 2 also has features such as realtime weapons change.

This game is Awosme if you are Japan fans.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: January 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As I played most of the current realse of ps3 games this is one of the best game released yet in the market. the graphic sound even you can use the sensor option on the control.

If you are fan of Samurai and Japanese auction you should buy this game.

Great graphics and incredible story, not for beginners!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The graphics are awesome and the intricate story are great, but this isn't a game for "lazy" gamers who enjoy just easy button mashing sessions, as the controls will make you actually read the manual for instructions! However, once you get used to the controls, you will really enjoy this game's in depth gameplay, even if the amount of enemies overwhelm you sometimes!

Genji Rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Great game; awesome graphics.

If you are having trouble with bad guys sneaking up behind you, try holding down 'focus' [R2] which automatically faces you to the nearest enemy, or better still block&focus [R1]&[R2] which will face you towards the nearest enemy and take a defensive stance until you choose to attack.
Of course, there is also the map in the top right of the screen showing all the enemies around you so you can strategically isolate and defeat large numbers of enemies without them getting you from behind.

As far as the big crabs go, try powering up Benkei's strong attack (triangle) using Benkei's club (his default weapon); you will spin numerous times and can do serious damage to the giant crabs and just about anything else with 'strong defenses' (read, big armored guys). Even better, use your Kamui, which is great against any 'boss' including giant crabs. (For larger crowds and 90% of gameplay you probably want Yusitsune with his default swords as he is the fastest and most agile against numerous enemies.)

Good luck to those who choose to play the game past the hard parts and learn to use the power ups, they are pivotal to making it to the end. I found the game to be a blast. Two people in my household have independently played the entire game from beginning to end so I can honesly say I am not the only one who thinks Genji in high def is quite cool.

suprised! in a good way.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

having heard the negative feedback from it's show at e3 (large crab) I was very cautious to try this game, but I am glad I did. I would say this game is a mix of ninja gaiden and a simple action rpg, but it makes for some very fun gameplay. It was pure enjoyment for me the whole way through. Though The game seems rather easy at times, it can be pretty challenging at others. If I knew I would like this game so much I would have bought it sooner. Mostly, I was very suprised at how good this game was.

Wanna show off your PS3? get this game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have played this game for a week now, on a hdtv+hdmi connection and so far i have enjoyed it really much...yes the camera angles sucks and the recover time after being hit is way too long but c'mon its just the first wave of games! this will get better and better

In fact i have enjoyed it more than resistance! wich story line leaves many loose knots eventough graphics are great.

Genji provides a a great visual display on colors, textures, facial expresions, details on enviroment and inmersive soundtrack... if you liked onimusha, final fantasy series....you should go ahead and try ...

Great game but not complete

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you have played Genji-1 on PS2, then you will be a bit disappointed in the way G2's gameplay was detailed. G1 had a unique reference to counterattacking and timing as G2 did not. If youre interested in playing the history, try it. If youre interested in samurais, try it. Its a great game with great concepts but left out a lot of specs from the first game

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