If you've been listening for the past couple of days, you'll know that Takeyasu Sawaki, the director of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, said he will announce a new project over the next two weeks. It is precisely for this reason that with our new issue of GameScope we are going to talk about his previous work, released in 2011 for the consoles of the last and very welcome last generation (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360). When it arrived, El Shaddai was immediately labeled as a controversial and far from the usual title that could mirror a title of its kind. We are talking about a Japanese-style action, but which thanks to its themes, its decidedly unusual graphic sector, and the gameplay choices, has been shaped under a unique and unmistakable style.
Certainly uniqueness is often not seen only as a positive thing, and consequently in the criticism and in the users (very small compared to other AAA titles) a vertical split has been created, to divide the praises and those who disdained it. The reasons will be clear shortly, and without the need for precise explanations. The game tells a version of the biblical events of the old testament based on some apocryphal texts (texts that despite being part of the tradition, have been branded by the Church as non-canonical and therefore ignored as if they did not exist). In the game version Enoch Noah's grandfather (who in the sacred texts is made to ascend to heaven for his merits) is commissioned by God through his spokesman to bring back some fallen angels to the fold as some of their actions could indirectly cause great devastation through their offspring, the mission Enoch's will serve as a soft attempt before moving on to hard ways and unleashing the universal deluge upon the world. Enoch on his journey will be accompanied (spiritually) by the four archangels and will have in Lucifer the direct correspondent with heaven and with God.
As you can see, the plot is intriguing but twisted, which has led some to reject the game due to its very difficult storyline to understand and with a translation that is not exactly excellent. The visual impact of the game is also wonderful for often dreamlike and colorful environments, but that undoubtedly causes the abundant use of cel shading have brought the game to be branded for life: many have defined the graphics sector as a horrible work, but which can be (and should be) seen with a view to representing surreal scenarios that cannot and should not be confused with a world realistic.
The gameplay of the title shows itself as a fairly classic action, but with great peculiarities related to the use of the weapons that we will find. Speaking of successful stylistic choices, there is no game interface, and Enoch's health is represented solely by the parts of the divine armor he wears. Obviously of supernatural resistance, to withstand the blows of beings far superior to humanity. The fight takes place by exploiting the aforementioned divine weapons of heaven against their former owners: Enoch will in fact be able to steal them and use them as his own. This means that both Enoch and the enemies use the same set of weapons and that therefore one soon learns to use them based on the context of the fight with discrete skill. To conclude, El Shaddai: Ascension of Metatron is a title that is unusual but that can reserve twists and an unconventional plot capable of kidnapping you, and we advise you at all costs to recover it if you had left it on the street ...
