I can't really get too mad at its simplistic combat since it came before DMC1 set new standards for 3D action games, it's fun enough when your sword isn't bumping into walls and it has remixes of the Berserk '97 OST so that's cool.
Frustratingly mediocre gameplay holding back a good story
Shitty save system
Man; what did he do to make them that mad?
Vorrei dire che se il gioco fosse stata la sintesi di una parte di Berserk con questo gameplay poteva anche andare bene, invece è una roba stranoiosa semplicemente
Guts' Rage is a really faithful addition to the story of Berserk. It doesn't feel out of place a single time. I wouldn't even be surprised if these events were considered canonical. The music is produced by Susumu Hirasawa, which by default is the greatest thing about this game. Just listen to 'A Sister's Story', it is such a captivating and hauntingly beautiful song; one that perfectly fits in this game and confirms that this truly is a Berserk game. It's bit on the shorter side when it comes to the content of the story, and especially due it being very linear, it's quite noticeable. But hey, as long as the game is enjoyable from beginning to end, that's all that matters. There's not much to do, hack and slash (which is not very interesting). There's no real progression in terms of upgrading Guts or his gear, but you got his trademark hand cannon, throwing knives etc. Boss battles are alright; and of course it's a blast to get your ass beat by the legendary ZODD. Now that I've mentioned the boss battles I want to know WHO it was that named the main antagonist 'BALLSACK'? It was hard to take him seriously with that on my mind all the time; anyway, I'm joking a bit. Outside of the story you got a horde type of challenge mode and I mean, it'll keep you occupied for a solid half an hour and then you're done. Not much else to it.
Dude youre not Arngrim. Chill
You can tell how much they loved this stuff. So much work went into this cinematic and gorgeous game.
This review contains spoilers
It really makes feel like you're fighting Nosferatu Zodd!
Not an amazing game, but it makes for a fun distraction if you got an afternoon or two to kill.
This review assumes you've read Berserk up to the Millennium Falcon arc, so things about the plot won't be explained as in-depth. This games takes place right after Guts, Casca, and Puck leave for Elfheim as they end up taking a detour to a town infested with a plague that turns its victims into rampaging monsters called Mandragorans. The ruler of the town, Balzac (They got away with this name) tells Guts that in exchange for getting a heart of a fully grown Mandagora, Balzac will help Casca retrieve her memories (if you read Berserk and never heard of this happening, this plot is in this game only). The story is alright and gets the job done, it can't really do anything too grand since it takes place in the beginning of an arc that will have many amazing moments much later on, however there is a very sweet moment near the end with Guts and Casca where Casca momentarily regains her memories (even though given things that happen much later, it probably wouldn't have happened nicely as it does now).
The gameplay of Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage is pretty janky all the way through, but it's never unplayable. You play as Guts and use his iconic sword, the Dragon Slayer. Your main moves are a horizontal slash, a vertical slash, a jump that lets you do aerial attacks, and a guard. You can also use a selection of sub-weapons Guts has used during the story such as his throwing knives, repeater crossbow, miniature bombs, and his Cannon Arm (It should be noted that the knives and cannon arm only have limited uses so be careful when using them). Guts has a meter that he can build that lets him go into a Berserk Mode (I actually don't know what it's called but I mean Guts does go Berserk so) that lets him armor through hits, attack faster, deal more damage per swing, and slash through walls. If you know anything about Guts and the Dragon Slayer, then you know that the Dragon Slayer is a really big sword, which is why I think the fact that the any attack with the Dragon Slayer getting stopped whenever it touches the wall is very questionable, it doesn't happen often but when you're in stages with small corridors it gets annoying. The boss fights range from doable while being a bit annoying to Nosferatu Zodd (At least it's accurate :D ). Nosferatu Zodd is by far the most difficult boss in the game even compared to the final boss, and can definitely be a gatekeeper from people beating the game, if there's anything to praise about this music (aside from the music), it's they made Zodd's difficulty accurate to the story. I did have to retry the Zodd fight multiple times until I learned one funny thing about Guts' move kit, his jumping vertical slash. This is move is very special for the fact that it makes Guts very hard to hit, won't collide with walls, and deals good damage. It is the best move in Guts' move kit and it's not close. One other odd gameplay things is a level where Guts has to run to the camera avoiding crumbled walls, where taking any damage causes instant death. Overall while the gameplay can be janky, it's not enough to make it unplayable but can hinder the experience at times, what helps is that the game is very short (Took me 5 hours to finish) so the annoying aspects don't linger for very long.
If there's anything that is 5 Stars in this game, it's the music. The soundtrack was done by Susumu Hirasawa, who was the composer of the 1997 Berserk anime, and has done music for other Berserk pieces of media. His music is always wonderfully done and this game is no exception with some stands out being Forces II and Indra.
Overall while a janky game that can be annoying at times, I'd recommend this to any Berserk fan who has an afternoon or two to kill.
Not an amazing game, but it makes for a fun distraction if you got an afternoon or two to kill.
This review assumes you've read Berserk up to the Millennium Falcon arc, so things about the plot won't be explained as in-depth. This games takes place right after Guts, Casca, and Puck leave for Elfheim as they end up taking a detour to a town infested with a plague that turns its victims into rampaging monsters called Mandragorans. The ruler of the town, Balzac (They got away with this name) tells Guts that in exchange for getting a heart of a fully grown Mandagora, Balzac will help Casca retrieve her memories (if you read Berserk and never heard of this happening, this plot is in this game only). The story is alright and gets the job done, it can't really do anything too grand since it takes place in the beginning of an arc that will have many amazing moments much later on, however there is a very sweet moment near the end with Guts and Casca where Casca momentarily regains her memories (even though given things that happen much later, it probably wouldn't have happened nicely as it does now).
The gameplay of Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage is pretty janky all the way through, but it's never unplayable. You play as Guts and use his iconic sword, the Dragon Slayer. Your main moves are a horizontal slash, a vertical slash, a jump that lets you do aerial attacks, and a guard. You can also use a selection of sub-weapons Guts has used during the story such as his throwing knives, repeater crossbow, miniature bombs, and his Cannon Arm (It should be noted that the knives and cannon arm only have limited uses so be careful when using them). Guts has a meter that he can build that lets him go into a Berserk Mode (I actually don't know what it's called but I mean Guts does go Berserk so) that lets him armor through hits, attack faster, deal more damage per swing, and slash through walls. If you know anything about Guts and the Dragon Slayer, then you know that the Dragon Slayer is a really big sword, which is why I think the fact that the any attack with the Dragon Slayer getting stopped whenever it touches the wall is very questionable, it doesn't happen often but when you're in stages with small corridors it gets annoying. The boss fights range from doable while being a bit annoying to Nosferatu Zodd (At least it's accurate :D ). Nosferatu Zodd is by far the most difficult boss in the game even compared to the final boss, and can definitely be a gatekeeper from people beating the game, if there's anything to praise about this music (aside from the music), it's they made Zodd's difficulty accurate to the story. I did have to retry the Zodd fight multiple times until I learned one funny thing about Guts' move kit, his jumping vertical slash. This is move is very special for the fact that it makes Guts very hard to hit, won't collide with walls, and deals good damage. It is the best move in Guts' move kit and it's not close. One other odd gameplay things is a level where Guts has to run to the camera avoiding crumbled walls, where taking any damage causes instant death. Overall while the gameplay can be janky, it's not enough to make it unplayable but can hinder the experience at times, what helps is that the game is very short (Took me 5 hours to finish) so the annoying aspects don't linger for very long.
If there's anything that is 5 Stars in this game, it's the music. The soundtrack was done by Susumu Hirasawa, who was the composer of the 1997 Berserk anime, and has done music for other Berserk pieces of media. His music is always wonderfully done and this game is no exception with some stands out being Forces II and Indra.
Overall while a janky game that can be annoying at times, I'd recommend this to any Berserk fan who has an afternoon or two to kill.
Wow did this game surprise me. I went into it expecting a whatever-game.
Gameplay was fun, the story was interesting, and the music was incredible. As a huge Berserk fan this game satisfied my itch for more Berserk content.
Only issues were the amount of Quick Time Events in cutscenes that can give you game overs, and the length of the game being so short.
Gameplay was fun, the story was interesting, and the music was incredible. As a huge Berserk fan this game satisfied my itch for more Berserk content.
Only issues were the amount of Quick Time Events in cutscenes that can give you game overs, and the length of the game being so short.
it is filler in terms of story but still fun even if a bit short
and u get to fight a very hard Zod
and u get to fight a very hard Zod
The first berserk game made and it sure feels like it. The biggest issue with this game is that whenever your sword slashes comes into contact with the wall it retracts, leaving you open to enemy attack for a few seconds. This wouldn't be a problem because realistically swinging a sword as big as gut's would do that. However this game is littered with tight areas making it hard to engage in combat. If there's one thing i could praise about this game it's the soundtrack but that's about it.
Tl;Dr: vale a pena jogar uma vez no normal pra ver a história, já que o jogo é curtinho.
Os controles são meio bunda, mas o jogo é jogável. Dá para se zerar tranquilamente no normal. Não há motivos para jogar em outra dificuldade, todavia (provavelmente tem todo o conteúdo da prize box por aí na internet). A história é boa.
Os controles são meio bunda, mas o jogo é jogável. Dá para se zerar tranquilamente no normal. Não há motivos para jogar em outra dificuldade, todavia (provavelmente tem todo o conteúdo da prize box por aí na internet). A história é boa.
Aunque no sea canon del manga, como fan de Berserk es un juego corto y bastante entretenido
I was expecting way worse for the first Berserk game, but honestly this ended up being pretty solid. The gameplay is nice and simple though I do wish there was a bit more meat to it. Like I would've liked to be able to use the arrows outside of one spread attack, but still does the job well enough. I do like how the levels don't exactly have a set path, it should make going back and replaying it interesting. And the original story isn't bad either. It's not much but still it's an enjoyable filler arc and does fit nicely in the Millennium Falcon arc. If I were to have some grips with the game it's that I think a good deal of the levels don't really compliment Guts's move set with a lot of them being crammed spaces. I also think the Zodd boss fight needed some adjustment as the only way to really effectively damage him is to do a jump slash and even then that'll take a while. Which leads to what should be a cool boss fight becoming dull.
Anyway I do think this game is worth playing for any Berserk fan as it's fun filler and can easily be cleared in a single sitting (It's only like 3 hours long).
Anyway I do think this game is worth playing for any Berserk fan as it's fun filler and can easily be cleared in a single sitting (It's only like 3 hours long).
Devil May Cry 1 if it was actually good.
Not bad for being a pre-DMC action game. Surprising that it also did QTE before/same year as Shenmue.
It's okay! Going through a new story as a Berserk fan is cool and the controls aren't bad. Otherwise, it's a normal arcade-like beat them up.
Bem curtinho mas muito bom, as músicas são maravilhosas e a estética do jogo é muito bonita, as bossfights são ok e a história é até que interessante, a única coisa que tenho a reclamar é da mecânica da dragon slayer bater na parede e ricochetear, o que não seria um problema se o jogo não tivesse tantos locais fechados, fora isso é um jogo muito bom.
This review contains spoilers
first off do not be a moron like me and buy a whole ass Dreamcast just to play this damn game cause it ain't worth it at all
where to even begin the combat itself is pretty mindless but enjoyable enough to where I wanted to keep playing. It doesn't help the game is short af
but man oh man when this game wants to piss you off it exceeds tenfold the fucking fight with Zodd was like you were put into a room with Hulk Hogan during his prime jacked on steroids and you're only weapons to fight back were a butter knife and some rocks
the story is just plain average it's clear Miura (RIP Legend) wrote this game in like an afternoon and honestly feels on par with reading the prototype story except for the weird ass shit where at the end casca is cured from her illness and is able to talk to guts for a few secs SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT THAT'S NEVER BROUGHT UP IN THE MANGA EVER AFTER THIS GAME
the voice acting was average Cam Clarke (Liquid Snake) does a really annoying ass voice as Puck IMO and the sound mixing during cutscenes was awful you can barely hear characters sometimes
overall a mediocre game that has no value to anyone who isn't a fan of Berserk and if you are you can just look up Brendo Sp's video on all the Berserk games review he covers this game and the other two games very well
where to even begin the combat itself is pretty mindless but enjoyable enough to where I wanted to keep playing. It doesn't help the game is short af
but man oh man when this game wants to piss you off it exceeds tenfold the fucking fight with Zodd was like you were put into a room with Hulk Hogan during his prime jacked on steroids and you're only weapons to fight back were a butter knife and some rocks
the story is just plain average it's clear Miura (RIP Legend) wrote this game in like an afternoon and honestly feels on par with reading the prototype story except for the weird ass shit where at the end casca is cured from her illness and is able to talk to guts for a few secs SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT THAT'S NEVER BROUGHT UP IN THE MANGA EVER AFTER THIS GAME
the voice acting was average Cam Clarke (Liquid Snake) does a really annoying ass voice as Puck IMO and the sound mixing during cutscenes was awful you can barely hear characters sometimes
overall a mediocre game that has no value to anyone who isn't a fan of Berserk and if you are you can just look up Brendo Sp's video on all the Berserk games review he covers this game and the other two games very well
Guts is literally me
Blud thinks he’s Kirito 💀
Do you think Miyazaki played this game, saw the sword hitting the wall mechanic, and a lightbulb popped up on his head.
A short, but sweet arcade-style hack & slash that acts as a sort of sidestory set in-between the Conviction and Millennium Falcon arcs of the iconic manga, complete with a soundtrack from Susumu Hirasawa and some challenging, kickass boss fights that'll certainly keep you on your toes. This was allegedly a big influence on the original Devil May Cry so if you're a fan of that series this is certainly worth giving a go (physical copies are expensive so just burn a .cdi or play on Redream).
It's also kind of funny hearing the voice of Raziel from Guts, and a very squeaky, nasally Liquid Snake from Puck.
It's also kind of funny hearing the voice of Raziel from Guts, and a very squeaky, nasally Liquid Snake from Puck.
This game was fascinating. I wouldn't call it a "good" game, but there were ideas in place that were cool enough for me to want to keep playing. I don't regret the time I spent playing it, I guess?
From what I understand, this was the first Berserk-related thing to be officially localized - before the manga was published by Dark Horse Comics, and before the 1997 anime was dubbed into English. Considering it takes place after the Golden Age - after what happened to Casca - the setting must've seemed so bizarre to those unfamiliar with Berserk. And at the time, that would've been a LOT of people, save those that were reading scanlations on late 90's internet.
The game has an original story written by Miura himself, and it has some cool ideas, but its self-contained nature doesn't really give way to anything interesting in the long run. I recall one moment involving Casca that got to me, but I won't spoil it. The cutscenes (as well as the abundance of them) also really make it apparent just how important Miura's detailed, impactful artwork was to the story in pretty much every regard. The animations in this game are so stiff, gliding between keyframes with no tweening and no sense of stillness. It's awkward to watch characters move in this game. I also didn't HATE the English dub... but it wasn't great, and it's inconsistent in how they refer to Guts, sometimes calling him Gatsu for some reason. I guess they didn't feel like re-recording lines?
The core combat is pretty solid, even if it IS a little janky and lacks the depth of something like Devil May Cry in hindsight. I was definitely more forgiving, seeing as the game was released before all of the defining 3D action games were released. Combining light and heavy attacks feels pretty good, and Guts has a few moves that can juggle enemies and spice up combat. His Arm Cannon feels AMAZING to use. It completely decimates enemies you hit it with, but you have to use it sparingly. I'm not a huge fan of how the iconic Dragonslayer feels somehow both weightless and stiff to swing around, but I eventually got used to it. I also find it ambitious how the results of the quick-time events can lead to branching paths in levels; apparently, this was one of the first games of its kind to do something like that. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
My biggest issues with combat stem from the claustrophobic level design and the unbalanced difficulty. It seems obvious, but swinging a giant sword around in a corridor results in you smacking it against walls a LOT, unless you're in your special mode. I have no idea why they designed the game like this. The difficulty is a huge issue as well when it comes to boss fights; this game clearly lacked extensive testing.
The game is also paced very strangely, being a 2-3 hour game comprised of 50% cutscenes and 50% game, with save points only being after an episode ends, NOT when the game says "clear." It's a little unclear how saving works when you want to beat the game over multiple sessions, and could potentially result in you losing progress if you try to load your save. Saving itself just sucks in this game; you have to quit the game to save, and then load your game from the options menu when you come back, and I sure hope you know where you are ACTUALLY allowed to continue from, otherwise you're gonna be replaying a few combat sections.
It's hard for me to really enjoy this game as a whole. I appreciate elements of it for sure, and I had some fun tearing enemies apart for a while, but I don't consider it worth anyone's time other than EXTREMELY curious Berserk fans.
From what I understand, this was the first Berserk-related thing to be officially localized - before the manga was published by Dark Horse Comics, and before the 1997 anime was dubbed into English. Considering it takes place after the Golden Age - after what happened to Casca - the setting must've seemed so bizarre to those unfamiliar with Berserk. And at the time, that would've been a LOT of people, save those that were reading scanlations on late 90's internet.
The game has an original story written by Miura himself, and it has some cool ideas, but its self-contained nature doesn't really give way to anything interesting in the long run. I recall one moment involving Casca that got to me, but I won't spoil it. The cutscenes (as well as the abundance of them) also really make it apparent just how important Miura's detailed, impactful artwork was to the story in pretty much every regard. The animations in this game are so stiff, gliding between keyframes with no tweening and no sense of stillness. It's awkward to watch characters move in this game. I also didn't HATE the English dub... but it wasn't great, and it's inconsistent in how they refer to Guts, sometimes calling him Gatsu for some reason. I guess they didn't feel like re-recording lines?
The core combat is pretty solid, even if it IS a little janky and lacks the depth of something like Devil May Cry in hindsight. I was definitely more forgiving, seeing as the game was released before all of the defining 3D action games were released. Combining light and heavy attacks feels pretty good, and Guts has a few moves that can juggle enemies and spice up combat. His Arm Cannon feels AMAZING to use. It completely decimates enemies you hit it with, but you have to use it sparingly. I'm not a huge fan of how the iconic Dragonslayer feels somehow both weightless and stiff to swing around, but I eventually got used to it. I also find it ambitious how the results of the quick-time events can lead to branching paths in levels; apparently, this was one of the first games of its kind to do something like that. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
My biggest issues with combat stem from the claustrophobic level design and the unbalanced difficulty. It seems obvious, but swinging a giant sword around in a corridor results in you smacking it against walls a LOT, unless you're in your special mode. I have no idea why they designed the game like this. The difficulty is a huge issue as well when it comes to boss fights; this game clearly lacked extensive testing.
The game is also paced very strangely, being a 2-3 hour game comprised of 50% cutscenes and 50% game, with save points only being after an episode ends, NOT when the game says "clear." It's a little unclear how saving works when you want to beat the game over multiple sessions, and could potentially result in you losing progress if you try to load your save. Saving itself just sucks in this game; you have to quit the game to save, and then load your game from the options menu when you come back, and I sure hope you know where you are ACTUALLY allowed to continue from, otherwise you're gonna be replaying a few combat sections.
It's hard for me to really enjoy this game as a whole. I appreciate elements of it for sure, and I had some fun tearing enemies apart for a while, but I don't consider it worth anyone's time other than EXTREMELY curious Berserk fans.
This is a game of all time. It has all the elements there to make a really cool Berserk experience, but clunkiness and hitting your sword against the wall ten times in a row hold it back a bit. Cool music and vibes though.
nope still not convinced that this game was play-tested for the hard difficulty. not with that Zodd fight at least lol.
This deserves credit for ambition - I wouldn't necessarily have expected the first Berserk game to have a new story written by Miura, music composed by Hirasawa, etc. Befitting that, there's a strong focus on the characters and cinematics and it actually does a solid job of bringing the vibe of the manga to the somewhat limited medium of a Dreamcast game, with a good localization and all. (They even did Puck pretty well!)
Unfortunately, the game side of things is a bit of a letdown, with simplistic combat, a very short length, one absurd difficulty spike, and a deeply annoying camera. Oh, and worst of all, this game inexplicably goes way, way out of its way to depict the realism of Guts not being able to effectively swing his famous massive sword in tight quarters, deliberately putting you in confined spaces where it'll bounce off walls every time you try to combo, and keeping the ability to swing through them behind your powered-up state. This is authentic to the source material, I guess, but good Lord above is it annoying, and a baffling design choice that seems to exist just keep the fun levels tamped down.
Because it IS fun, obviously, to go full sicko Gattsu mode with the sword and start chopping people to into big bloody pieces five at a time. In its best moments, this lets you do that, and occasionally you'll be hacking away and accidentally realize that you can do something sick like slide dodge into a small enemy to pop them up and then follow with a jumping combo at which point HAIIIIIIII YAI FORRRCES will start blaring in your head like the Kill Bill siren,,,, but then that brief combat encounter will be over and you'll be doing a QTE or watching a lengthy cutscene or be in an idiotic CRASH BANDICOOT run-towards-the-camera stage for no good reason.
Again, I appreciate the ambition here, and it does look and sound and, in brief flashes, feel pretty great, but focusing a bit more on the fundamentals and expanding, you know, the actual gameplay might have been wise.
P.S.: On a personal note, this was in my physical backlog the longest of any game ever - I bought it twelve years and four months ago. The time was finally right!
Unfortunately, the game side of things is a bit of a letdown, with simplistic combat, a very short length, one absurd difficulty spike, and a deeply annoying camera. Oh, and worst of all, this game inexplicably goes way, way out of its way to depict the realism of Guts not being able to effectively swing his famous massive sword in tight quarters, deliberately putting you in confined spaces where it'll bounce off walls every time you try to combo, and keeping the ability to swing through them behind your powered-up state. This is authentic to the source material, I guess, but good Lord above is it annoying, and a baffling design choice that seems to exist just keep the fun levels tamped down.
Because it IS fun, obviously, to go full sicko Gattsu mode with the sword and start chopping people to into big bloody pieces five at a time. In its best moments, this lets you do that, and occasionally you'll be hacking away and accidentally realize that you can do something sick like slide dodge into a small enemy to pop them up and then follow with a jumping combo at which point HAIIIIIIII YAI FORRRCES will start blaring in your head like the Kill Bill siren,,,, but then that brief combat encounter will be over and you'll be doing a QTE or watching a lengthy cutscene or be in an idiotic CRASH BANDICOOT run-towards-the-camera stage for no good reason.
Again, I appreciate the ambition here, and it does look and sound and, in brief flashes, feel pretty great, but focusing a bit more on the fundamentals and expanding, you know, the actual gameplay might have been wise.
P.S.: On a personal note, this was in my physical backlog the longest of any game ever - I bought it twelve years and four months ago. The time was finally right!
If you play this on hard it'll really make you feel like Guts (Gatts) when you fight Zodd (Zoddo).
O Jogo é um lixo, faça o favor a si mesmo e veja só as cenas do jogo no Youtube, porque a história é realmente muito boa