Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Ridiculous, funny, overtly political and shockingly prophetic. MGRR combines the idiosyncratic characters and storytelling Metal Gear is known for with Platinum's radical lack of subtext for a story that in it's best moments comes alive and speaks to the player in it's own uncompromised language. It's a pointed critique of the American military industrial complex and a broader contemplation of the nature of war and ideals, though it's characters are so eccentric that those who seek no deeper meaning will still enjoy themselves. Unfortunately it suffers from an all too vague and inconclusive ending that offers a bunch of "where are they now" fluff while bringing no resolution to the question at the heart of the games narrative (I don't want to speculate but this feels like an ending designed to make way for a sequel :/ ). Nevertheless MGRR makes up for it's shortcomings with a consistently baffling ability to predict the future. Despite being first released in 2013 it creates the illusion that it was released yesterday (no doubt due to Platinum's aforementioned lack of subtext).

MGRR's gameplay can be a bit of a mixed bag, between an awkward camera system, underexplained mechanics and some truly boring (but optional) VR Missions, it can be a slog at some points. However, when MGRR is at it's best it is nigh electric and distinguishes itself from it's spectacle fighter ilk. Whereas games like Bayonetta or DMC give players somewhat accessible tools to pull off long and flashy strings, MGRR demands quick reaction times to pull off parries while still pressing your advantage. You will inevitably be funneled into constantly using the game's masterfully animated centerpiece, the Zandatsu, a move that I have likely seen 500 times and have not yet tired of. The game is undeniably at both it's most fun and most challenging when pitting you against a boss. Unfortunately there is a bit of a power differential, some (like Sundowner and Mistral) are relatively easy while others (like Armstrong and the clones) will push you to your limits. But even the easiest boss is amped up to 11 by what I can only refer to as their "stage presence". MGRR is the only time a taunt line from a boss has made me legitimately angry, and that speaks as a testament to how well these fights are framed.

Overall MGRR is a game in which disparate elements combine to make a game occasionally frustrating but always interesting, despite being from 2013 it is one of the few games within the past 5 years to legitimately shock me with it's audacity and bluntness. As big budget games become more homogenized and inoffensive, MGRR is likely a phenom we will never see again.

Salvo uma exceção (já chego nela) o combate é um absurdo de bom e obviamente a estrela do jogo. Extremamente fluido, complexo na medida certa e satisfatório. O Blade Mode é uma das melhores ideias do subgênero de character-action, usá-lo nunca fica cansativo.

Sei que não é consenso isso, mas minha ressalva fica com o parry. É um sistema difícil de compreender de início e o jogo faz pouco esforço pra te ensinar. Além de confuso, é bem complicado de dominar. Acertar a direção dele e evitar realizar um golpe indesejado foram meus principais problemas.

Fora o combate, não tem muito o que destacar. Os bosses são legais, mas não exigem muito mais que uma habilidade razoável e uns dois itens de cura. E visualmente também não os acho impressionantes. A história é divertida mas rasa, o jogo tem pouco tempo para explorá-la. De qualquer forma, se encaixa perfeitamente ao "mythos" de Metal Gear.

Standing here
I realize
You are just like me
Trying to make history

But who's to judge
The right from wrong
When our guard is down
I think we'll both agree

That

Violence breeds violence
But in the end it has to be this way

I've carved my own path
You followed your wrath
But maybe we're both the same

The world has turned
And so many have burned
But nobody is to blame

Yet staring across this barren wasted land
I feel new life will be born
Beneath the blood stained sand
Beneath the blood stained sand

MGRR delivers hard as fuck on the action. The system is tight and intuitive, and there's always an opportunity to enjoy it to the fullest. All killer, no filler.

Add to this an incredibly fun and intense soundtrack, and a crazy story that is actually extremely interesting, and you have a no-brain purchase here.

I was too quick to dismiss this game at first since I thought that execution was more important than anything else thanks to the parry and Zandatsu systems, but while those are still important parts of the combat they are just cogs in a complex machine.

The game has lots of well executed mechanics that can make combat very varied. Blade Mode is the big one. Technologically impressive for the time and the hardware available but also very flexible in terms of gameplay. Can be used to cancel most attacks (along with the dodge and other stuff), delimb enemies and perform the Zandatsu on basic enemies.
The delimb system also is great, stunning enemies for a moment and interrupting their attacks while changing their moveset. And thanks to Blade Mode you also have quite a bit of control of what you want to cut. The cuts in particular don't have to be very precise except for some bossfights, which is a good decision since during normal encounters it would become too tiring. The game still has some collectibles that require precise cuts on normal enemies but those are few and far between and only have to be collected once (there is also a section that gives the opportunity to take a safer route if you manage to cut the hand of a soldier but it's a one of and it isn't repeated during the campaign).
The Zandatsu is the technique that will require the most precise cuts during normal encounters, and even then it isn't a big deal. Performing it successfully will reward the player with a total refill, both health and fuel cell (meter used to enter in Blade Mode and Ripper Mode), making the combat easier than it should be, since it's almost always safe to perform and enemies don't do enough damage except for the Revengeance difficulty. You can also carry almost 2 health bars worth of healing items, which can also be easily found in the enviroment (these cannot be purchased however, which was a smart decision since they could have been abused even more otherwise).
Another element that lowers the difficulties a lot is Ripper Mode, a super mode that can be activated when your fuel cell meter is full. It buffes Raiden's attacks to a ridicoulous degree, making certain attacks OHK even some of the tougher enemies on the Revengeance dificulty.
Aside from this there are more interesting instant kills setups in the game, like the perfect parry (that can also be redirected) and executions, awarded if you manage to stun an enemy.
The dodge is also well done, granting decent i.frames (a lot less than something like Bayonetta's dodge) and cancelling attakcs. The dodge is also an attack, so you can theoretically always be on the offensive.
Raiden's arsenal is a little lacking. He has access to multiple swords that have a few special attributes but the same moveset. Not counting the infinite combo you can do by mashing light attack, he only has 4 unique ground combos, which isn't a lot but those are still enough to cover every situations you'll encounter. The air moveset also is tiny, but it's not the focal point of the combat. Raiden also has 3 secondary weapons which excel in a particular area already covered by the sword (mobility, charge attacks and AoE attacks), so they are a nice options if you want to specialize. Their moveset is also very tiny, more than the base sword, but despite this all are very useful.
Aside from this you also have access to the sub-weapons, limited use weapons which can be used in battle to gain an advantage. These are very useful even if it doesn't seem at a first glance, and their usage can mean a lot if used effectively.
The way you swap between all of these leaves a lot to be desired. Not only you can only have one weapon at a time (secondary weapons overriding your heavy attack despite the fact that there is still space on the controller), but you can only swap them on the ground, from a menu, and only if you are completely still. Blade Mode here comes in handy, but it's a bad system.
The enemies in the game are pretty well designed. All of them are aggressive and have a varied moveset. The game also mixes them intelligently to create tough but fair battles. There is always an answer for them and most of them can be instantly killed if you know how (like the Gekkos that can be either killed if you parry their charge or if you hit them with a perfect parry, hard to do since they backdash after you parry them, but can be hit if you parry another enemy and redirect it to the Gekko or simply parry it when it's near a wall).
The normal enemies can also be dispatched with stealth kills, which are very shallow. The stealth sections in general are very simplistic and don't offer a lot to play around with. They boil down to going behind or above enemies, pressing B/Circle and passing on the next. If you fail you have to face against some of the tougher battles in the game, meaning that it's better to simply restart and try again, since there is no incentive to do so.
Almost all of the enemies have a big problem however: the lack of audio cues. While their visual cues are great, thanks also to 2 types of flashes (one for attacks that can be parried and one for those that have to be dodged), their audio cues are very lacking. This is especially a problem since the camera in this game is pretty bad. It's too zoomed in and sometimes will snap behind a wall, blocking your vision. I don't know why the camera is like this since in Bayonetta (done by the same studio 4 years prior) the camera worked fine.
Also the enemy variety is a bit small. It's not that big of a problem, since the game is short, but a few more unique enemies wouldn't have hurt.
The other big missed opportunity in this game is the use of the enviroment, or the lack thereof. Almost every piece of the enviroment is interactable but hardly useful in battle except for a couple of exceptions. This is a shame since with this engine and Blade Mode the game could have been on of the action games with the most interesting use of the enviroment.
The bossfights, like the normal enemies, are also well designed. Most of them are pretty easy but are decently inventive and have a few unique elements to them. Armstrong is definitely the best and hardest, mainly because he takes a lot of elements from previous bossfights. This also means that the other bosses don't have a lot going on for them compared to Armstrong, and they could have used some more mechanics unique to them (like Monsoon for example). Despite this all of them have a fantastic presentation, with great cutscenes and QTEs (even though they become repetitive on repeat playthroughs) and dynamic music.
During the battles you are incentivized by the ranking system to play in a certain way if you want the S rank, but it still has enough leeway to not completely pidgeonhole you into one playstyle only. You can in fact either try to no damage the fight, making other categories irrelevant, as far as ranking goes, or trying to get every ranked category to the max, making the ranking system more interesting (also thanks to the no kill bonus). The game also avoids a lot of frustration thanks to the quick retry system, which is a godsend and every game with checkpoints should have it.
The game is pretty short. Beating it in 4 hours isn't out of the ordinary, and while I would have liked to have some meatier final confrontations with normal enemies before the final bosses, it's not a huge deal since the game is very replayable.
There are also a lot of collectibles, unlockables and costumes in the games, which is always a nice thing to have.
The last thing I want to talk about is the difficulty levels. MGR in fact has another difficulty above Very Hard, Revengeance. This is like Heaven and Hell from DMC but done right, in the sense that it's a gimmick difficulty (with perfect parries doing massive damage to everything, making them even more OP) but that offers still a great and unique experience. Instead, Very Hard is pretty standard, with enemies dealing less damage compared to Revengeance but you also dealing less damage to them, since the perfect parry doesn't halve the health bar of most bosses.

Overall MGR:R stands as one of the best action games ever made despite his flaws and missed opportunities. It has both great enemies and bosses, with a robust combat system to support them while also having some unique elements in its own right. The game is endlessy replayable and is great for challenge runs (since they fix the low difficulty the game would otherwise have).

Unlike the slow, stealth-focused main-line games that mainly feature Solid Snake, Metal Gear Rising focusses on fast-paced gameplay with cyborg-ninja Raiden, although there is scope for stealth in some sections.

Taking place after Metal Gear Solid 4, while on a mission to protect an African prime minister, Raiden is defeated after being attacked by Desperado. With a new cybernetic body, Raiden heads back out to stop Desperado and uncovers a child kidnapping organisation and a terrorist plot.

You begin with an optional tutorial to explain the combat, but then have to watch quite a lot of cut-scenes before trying the combat. After the intro chapter, you are given some new combat skills, but you only get to kill a few enemies before more cutscenes and dialogue. Then you are told you can avoid combat by staying out of your enemies vision, even stealth-killing them. Then you are up against a tough boss. I think this is poor game design because you were expected to be comfortable with the combat mechanics, but yet weren’t given enough chance to practice. I know one of my friends abandoned the game at this point.

I went into the practice arena (VR missions) until I got better at counter attacking, and understood the healing mechanic. After that point, I started to enjoy the game, although it’s pretty shallow.

Some sections can be finished by completely avoiding fights. Walk behind an enemy and press B to one-hit kill them. If you are spotted, you see the "alert" status and hear the iconic alert sound, then it’s back to the standard combat until you clear the area of enemies.

Raiden’s main weapon is a katana, and can easily move and swing at speed. The combat is based primarily on the X and Y buttons for light and strong slashes. Holding Right Trigger makes Raiden do a Ninja Run which allows him to deflect all bullets, and leap up some walls or small objects. Pressing X and a direction will parry enemies attacks. You can unlock extra moves, and a useful one is where you can press X and A to perform a dodge.

When enemies are near death, an icon appears to prompt you to use the Left Trigger to enable Blade Mode, which slows down time, and allows you to use the Right Stick to manually slash at certain body parts. Cutting through the marked target then pressing B allows you to replenish your health. Blade Mode can actually be activated anytime, and you can still hit foes even if not at appropriate moments - it just becomes a standard attack. This mode is also vital in boss fights during the end of each phase.

There’s plenty of bosses, some cyborgs, and some vehicles. The bosses are often split into multiple phases, but can have check-points so you don’t have to redo the entire battle.

The game has a good sense of humour and can even joke about itself. The dialogue is funny when you discover the Box power-up so you can do stealth sections in true Metal Gear-style. I also liked when the robot plugged in a USB cable and it didn’t go in first time, so he rotated it. Classic nerd humour.

The overall feel of the game is a mix of Ninja Gaiden and Bayonetta. It’s very stylish and over-the-top. I felt there was much more nuance to Bayonetta’s combat mechanics, whereas a lot of Rising’s combat ultimately came down to spamming attacks, then following up with the Blade Mode mechanic to restore your health.

The camera is a major annoyance since it is zoomed in far too close and often re-adjusts even if you have just manually repositioned the camera. This doesn’t encourage you to use the parrying mechanic when it is hard to see when enemies are attacking.

The level design is pretty linear. The only exploration is just to find the treasure chests, but they aren’t too hard to find when you can press Up on the D-Pad to enable an augmented view.

Graphically, the game still looks good today. The music is quite interesting, going for some pseudo-metal like in some Sonic games. The voice acting can be quite over the top, and Raiden’s voice seemed to constantly change but I wasn’t sure if this was intentional or not - he is a schizophrenic character with his other persona being “Jack The Ripper”.

People say the game is really short (5/6 hours), but I think this is because the in-game timer doesn’t count the cut-scenes, and possibly when you restart from a checkpoint. I’d imagine it would be more like 8-10 hours.