EU copy played on a PlayStation 3 Super Slim.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is not a very good game. It attempts to be a Devil May Cry-esque action game with combos and the unique gimmick of stealing enemies' weapons to use against them. The controls can be kinda floaty at times and take a while to get accustomed to. The story is bat-shit insane and kinda difficult to follow due to the lack of any real substantial exposition.
That being said I kinda love this game. The artstyle is the first to pop out at you - it does it's best to feel like what the forces of heaven and hell imagine the mortal plane of existance to look like and it does a damn good job at that with a mixture of harmonising, light colours and incredibly abstract environments and character designs. The design of the player character and the angel helping him feels jarring at first but when you realise they're agents of heaven just wearing some jeans and a shirt with some plate armour, the intent of all these design choices all kind of clicks in your head.
The flow of combat takes a while to get used to and honestly is probably the weaker parts of the game. Stealing enemy weapons and cleansing them feels satisfying but it can be easy in some of the later stages to get overwhelmed and some bosses will intentionally kick your ass with little to no explanation that it was supposed to happen.
The story itself can be very hit or miss depending on how literal and expository you like your plots to be - you play as Enoch, the biblical scribe before the flood, and your task is to hunt down seven fallen angels to stop the flood from destroying the world. On your first play through there is absolutely no way you're going to catch all of that and it feels like the game is being intentionally vague and hand wavy at the best of times. However, if old biblical lore through a modern Japanese lense is your kind of jam then I'd recommend you at least check this game out. If nothing else your eyes will enjoy what they're looking at.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is not a very good game. It attempts to be a Devil May Cry-esque action game with combos and the unique gimmick of stealing enemies' weapons to use against them. The controls can be kinda floaty at times and take a while to get accustomed to. The story is bat-shit insane and kinda difficult to follow due to the lack of any real substantial exposition.
That being said I kinda love this game. The artstyle is the first to pop out at you - it does it's best to feel like what the forces of heaven and hell imagine the mortal plane of existance to look like and it does a damn good job at that with a mixture of harmonising, light colours and incredibly abstract environments and character designs. The design of the player character and the angel helping him feels jarring at first but when you realise they're agents of heaven just wearing some jeans and a shirt with some plate armour, the intent of all these design choices all kind of clicks in your head.
The flow of combat takes a while to get used to and honestly is probably the weaker parts of the game. Stealing enemy weapons and cleansing them feels satisfying but it can be easy in some of the later stages to get overwhelmed and some bosses will intentionally kick your ass with little to no explanation that it was supposed to happen.
The story itself can be very hit or miss depending on how literal and expository you like your plots to be - you play as Enoch, the biblical scribe before the flood, and your task is to hunt down seven fallen angels to stop the flood from destroying the world. On your first play through there is absolutely no way you're going to catch all of that and it feels like the game is being intentionally vague and hand wavy at the best of times. However, if old biblical lore through a modern Japanese lense is your kind of jam then I'd recommend you at least check this game out. If nothing else your eyes will enjoy what they're looking at.