Asura's Wrath is on Full Display, Even Without Arms

Until recently, Asura's Wrath has been nothing but a very long chain of ridiculous action sequences. The game I've lovingly nicknamed God Hand of War - for obvious reasons - is shaping up to be all I've ever wanted in an action brawler. The E3 trailer gives us a look at some of Asura's story, a complete departure from the frenetic scenes such as GALACTIC BUDDHA FINGER. 

After watching an armless Asura be humbled by a God twice as cool-tempered as the fiery one, watch the clip below, which is more of what I expect from this title. With a surprising lack of quick-time events, no less! The initial thinking was that the gameplay of Asura's Wrath would be heavily comprised of QTEs, but whispers from E3 are starting to debunk that theory. Success! Deep, meaty gameplay with lovely stylized action is always welcome. If the story has enough to be the glue that holds together the amount of insanity concentrated in Asura's Wrath, then this game will be a success. And if not, I will take a melee-centric Vanquish any day of the week. Or maybe a better parallel would be a Dragron Ball Z action title? Either way, do want!

Asura's Wrath Cannot Be Contained by Captivate

Out of Capcom's recent Captivate event comes more news on Asura's Wrath. The blissfully mad action has had me gravitating toward this title since it was first discussed at last year's Tokyo Game Show. Developer CyberConnect2 has experience in frantic anime action, with plenty of Naruto games under their belt, and Asura's Wrath looks to continue that trend. The build at Captivate was not playable by attendees, but developers were showing off their moves to any and all onlookers.

What was seen, according to Destructoid's Nick Chester, was a healthy amount of quick-time events, some light on-rails shooting, and some pre-recorded video of the third-person brawling. Nick says it all looks as ridiculously insane as the initial trailer made it seem, and that excites me. I know a good percentage of gamers will sigh disgustedly at the abundance of quick-time events, but I'm cool with that. Some type of action can only be portrayed a certain way, and while I'm confident in my abilities to play a style-laden game the way it should be played, some people may not be able to pull it off. QTEs makes it so that everyone plays the same. And while that may not seem like a good thing from a gameplay standpoint, it makes sense, at least visually. And for a game like Asura's Wrath, where the visual aspect is an integral part of the experience, QTEs may be the right choice.

While the Captivate trailer for Asura's Wrath isn't as hyper as that shown at TGS, it's got a serving of GALACTIC BUDDHA FINGER, and that's what counts. 

Asura's Wrath Gallery

An Unfriendly Reminder from Asura's Wrath

You remember Asura's Wrath, the CyberConnect2 helmed God Hand of War that caused me to seek a change of underwear after watching the initial trailer? Oh yes, how could we forget. All has been quiet on that front, with nary a shred of information, screenshot, or trailer since Tokyo Game Show. Until just this week!

Asura is back in a big way, granted not on the scale of our first look at the world of the warring Gods from the east. Where the hell is my Galactic Buddha Finger?! I demand every Asura's Wrath trailer prominently feature it. GBF or not, I'm still loving how this title is looking. Watch Asura's perpetually pissed eye-glow be redirected to different outlets of his unending anger. Sword catch! Face punch! Suplex! The more I see, the more excited I get. It's not obvious is it? 

TGS 2010: Asura's Wrath, or God Hand of War

You know how much I love games that blend religious themes with eight ounces of mindfuck to create something unique, right? That's exactly why Asura's Wrath is giving me goosebumps. 

Capcom has collaborated with CyberConnect2 (developers of .hack and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja) to develop the third-person action title which looks to be loosely based on the ultra-violent past times of Buddhist deities, you know, when they're not busy being in Nirvana. Nice!

The action is as we like it: flashy, ridiculous and overdone, with the seemingly immortal protagonist running through a torrential downpour of spears to unleash divine justice on anything standing between him and his bearded counterpart. And then something amazing happens. Galactic Buddha Finger. Oh, my, GOD. This could be one of gaming's greatest moments, no lie. 

Asura's Wrath looks like a mix of God of War and God Hand. God Hand of War?! Hell yeah. CyberConnect2's influence is clearly visible throughout, and it's nice to see their hyper-stylized action sequences in something aside from a Naruto game for once. I am eagerly anticipating updates for this title, and I'll post 'em as I get 'em.

Asura's Wrath Gallery (6 images)