Let’s discuss Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Part 2).

You know, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with my brother a couple of weeks ago.  He was really excited about the then-upcoming release of Revengeance; knowing that I tended to keep a pulse on game reviews, he asked me if I thought it would get good scores -- especially in comparison to the fresh-on-the-market DmC.  I gave him my prediction.  “No, it probably won’t get good reviews.  There’s no denying that it’ll be good, but the scores won’t be as high as DmC’s.  People will probably say the story is stupid, or confusing, or something.  Or some other flaw.”

And then the scores started popping up.  And indeed, it has seen some favorable reviews -- not enough to put its Metacritic score over DmC’s, but it is a close race.  That length seems to be a major sticking point.

But if there’s one thing that I’m starting to learn as of late, it’s that reviews are merely a suggestion of quality, not a confirmation of it.  Maybe my standards have just become annoyingly high in the last few years, but the sheer number of nines and tens from the gaming press seem to be less and less likely to translate into a “great game, great experience”, at least in my eyes.  I’m the kind of guy who READS the reviews, not just glances at the score.  And when I read about issues with the new Tomb Raider and issues with the new God of War, I’m starting to fear that I need to start magnifying those problems to figure out if a game is right for me.  Maybe I need to be doubly-negative.  If reviewers won’t be critical, I guess I’ll have to.

Which brings us back to Raiden’s Ass Kicking Jamboree.

WARNING: You are in for a crap-ton of spoilers if you read carelessly, so if you’re looking to play the game first with a fresh perspective, do so immediately.  Also, don’t do what I did and forget that the Select button lets you access the Codec and plenty of conversations with your pals.  Cripes, I’m terrible at Metal Gear games…

Let’s discuss Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Part 1).

It’s great.  Go play it.

What, you want more delicious words?  All right.  If you say so...

I Hraet You, Revengeance

Confession time: this was originally going to be a post dedicated solely to I Hraet You.

I’ve been thinking about the story a lot recently and what I want to do next.  I have a pretty solid idea of where this next chunk of chapters will go; whereas the first part was all about Lloyd discovering his powers and the stakes and consequences, this one will have him put his skills to the test.  He’ll have to become aware of his weaknesses -- even those that he didn’t know existed (and if you’re savvy enough, you’ve probably figured out what one of them might be).  He’ll have to put himself out there to “save” people he couldn’t save before.  And most of all, he’ll take a step forward in realizing his dream…and building the unbridled world of love he so…uh…loves.

There are still things that I need to do, though, and I’ll get to them in a moment.  But there’s been a slight change of plans.  See, I tried out Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance not too long ago, and if you’ve been following this blog you may know that I’ve been very concerned about it.  I’ve been worried about its quality, its reception, its status relative to the less-than-pleasant DmC, and its effect on me.  Would I end up hating it?  Would I end up being ousted as a hypocrite?  Would I tear apart a game that seemed like the last bastion of stylish crazy action?

Several times in the past -- and here on this very blog -- I said something like “Let’s see how Metal Gear Rising turns out.”  Well, it’s out.

And it is amazing.