This game had to walk before Bayonetta could dance.
Entry number seven of the list of obscurity is Gungrave, recommended by Retyl. Thank you very much for the recommendation, this game is truly a sight to behold.
Before even getting into the game, I was greeted by this intro. Not to toot my own horn, but I uploaded it to my account simply because I could not find an HD version of this... magnificent and mesmerizing opening. It was actually kind of irritating because this is an intro that should be seen by everyone for just how stylish it is and how it gets you right into the mood to play this game.
Gungrave is quite possibly one of the most aesthetically pleasing games I have ever played, which makes complete sense as the character designs are all done by Yasuhiro Nightow, the author and artist of the critically acclaimed Trigun. All of the characters, from our protagonist Grave, to the various bosses and enemies, ooze with this kickass late 90's-early 2000's anime feel. The music as well composed by Tsuneo Imahori reminds me a lot of Cowboy Bebop... which makes it unsurprising that he contributed several tracks to the show.
The game itself is extremely simplistic. Press Square to shoot things. Rinse, Lather and Repeat. Of course, it isn't that simple, but that is what you will be spending a majority of the game doing. I would find this to be much worse if the game wasn't just under 2 hours, and if it wasn't as fucking fun as it is.
The way Grave begins dancing with his guns when you start shooting in place, allowing you to just turn and slaughter at ease, the way that like a John Woo film, you can jump in various directions while firing rapidly to avoid attacks yet deal massive damage, the way using Demolition Shots can just erradicate enemies and bosses, it's just pure kino to me.
Of course, there's also shit I had a serious problem with, that being the camera. This game does not have a manual camera, and while there are games that can do that well, Gungrave ain't one of them. The camera only turns when Grave turns, which in certain moments while in tight narrow hallways, makes it borderline impossible to fucking see.
During boss fights it is especially noticeable, as bosses will often just fly off screen where you can't see them and angling back towards them can be awkward if you don't know about the lock-on feature, which I didn't until the Bunji boss, which is the second to last boss in the entire game.
Onto the story, it starts as a very vague mafioso revenge story. You play as Beyond the Grave, or just Grave for short, as you mow down hordes of goons of various types. You attack various places, a nightclub, then a drug lab, and eventually a fucking blimp. There's a feeling of slow escalation as you get further up the city.
You notice it in the second level, where the drug lab for some reason has bodies in test tubes, and in the third level where you fight Bob Poundmax, a big chungus who then turns into a robotic chungus. There's this feeling of science fiction and the super-natural seeping into the woodworks. Of course, the super-natural and science fiction were always there, Grave is a perfect example.
So it's no surprise that the final level has you entering what appears as an artificial heaven, filled with various experimented beings that look very inhuman. The final boss itself looking like a cosmic deity from the beyond.
While the story isn't overly deep, I do recommend you play the game yourself to truly experience it. There are a lot of moments that will have you questioning the true nature of the game, thematically and all.
Do I recommend Gungrave? Yes, but I will fully admit that this is a guilty pleasure game. It doesn't really ask anything of the player for the most part and is almost completely mindless, but ultimately it is satisfying fun from beginning to end.
Entry number seven of the list of obscurity is Gungrave, recommended by Retyl. Thank you very much for the recommendation, this game is truly a sight to behold.
Before even getting into the game, I was greeted by this intro. Not to toot my own horn, but I uploaded it to my account simply because I could not find an HD version of this... magnificent and mesmerizing opening. It was actually kind of irritating because this is an intro that should be seen by everyone for just how stylish it is and how it gets you right into the mood to play this game.
Gungrave is quite possibly one of the most aesthetically pleasing games I have ever played, which makes complete sense as the character designs are all done by Yasuhiro Nightow, the author and artist of the critically acclaimed Trigun. All of the characters, from our protagonist Grave, to the various bosses and enemies, ooze with this kickass late 90's-early 2000's anime feel. The music as well composed by Tsuneo Imahori reminds me a lot of Cowboy Bebop... which makes it unsurprising that he contributed several tracks to the show.
The game itself is extremely simplistic. Press Square to shoot things. Rinse, Lather and Repeat. Of course, it isn't that simple, but that is what you will be spending a majority of the game doing. I would find this to be much worse if the game wasn't just under 2 hours, and if it wasn't as fucking fun as it is.
The way Grave begins dancing with his guns when you start shooting in place, allowing you to just turn and slaughter at ease, the way that like a John Woo film, you can jump in various directions while firing rapidly to avoid attacks yet deal massive damage, the way using Demolition Shots can just erradicate enemies and bosses, it's just pure kino to me.
Of course, there's also shit I had a serious problem with, that being the camera. This game does not have a manual camera, and while there are games that can do that well, Gungrave ain't one of them. The camera only turns when Grave turns, which in certain moments while in tight narrow hallways, makes it borderline impossible to fucking see.
During boss fights it is especially noticeable, as bosses will often just fly off screen where you can't see them and angling back towards them can be awkward if you don't know about the lock-on feature, which I didn't until the Bunji boss, which is the second to last boss in the entire game.
Onto the story, it starts as a very vague mafioso revenge story. You play as Beyond the Grave, or just Grave for short, as you mow down hordes of goons of various types. You attack various places, a nightclub, then a drug lab, and eventually a fucking blimp. There's a feeling of slow escalation as you get further up the city.
You notice it in the second level, where the drug lab for some reason has bodies in test tubes, and in the third level where you fight Bob Poundmax, a big chungus who then turns into a robotic chungus. There's this feeling of science fiction and the super-natural seeping into the woodworks. Of course, the super-natural and science fiction were always there, Grave is a perfect example.
So it's no surprise that the final level has you entering what appears as an artificial heaven, filled with various experimented beings that look very inhuman. The final boss itself looking like a cosmic deity from the beyond.
While the story isn't overly deep, I do recommend you play the game yourself to truly experience it. There are a lot of moments that will have you questioning the true nature of the game, thematically and all.
Do I recommend Gungrave? Yes, but I will fully admit that this is a guilty pleasure game. It doesn't really ask anything of the player for the most part and is almost completely mindless, but ultimately it is satisfying fun from beginning to end.