After being postponed several times previously, Naraka: Bladepoint now looks set to be released for the Nintendo DS this March. Despite battle raging fatigue among many gamers, the new game from Big Fish seems to be finally going places. If you had any doubts before then, you’ll no doubt be convinced once you’ve tried the demo. Let’s take a look at this game’s major features and game walkthrough.
Naraka: Bladepoint takes place in the world of FINAL FATality where the player assumes the role of a NARAKA, a powerful warrior who stands a great chance of overcoming the enemy on all fronts. The game starts with a prologue where you’re given control of a lone NARAKA to accomplish a task while battling hordes of tough robots. This introductory cut scene is where we get to know our hero better as he gathers up strength and learns about the unique fighting system involving up to four characters (NARAKA, BOSS, Ripper, and Shaman) and detailed map mechanics. The Prologue is a great introduction to the game as it gives the players a good idea of what to expect in terms of gameplay and the overall difficulty. We also get introduced to the various NARAKA characters, their abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and strengths against specific enemies. The maps are also presented in greater detail.
This prologue also gives us an idea of the various battle royale type moves that NARAKA can make during the game’s main storyline. The battles themselves are well designed with lots of details and they’re not too random. For example, there’s a pre-chore where you have to protect the NARAKA from the boss character (the one that attacks in the prologue) as well as several other NARAKA characters along the way. This bit of gameplay is a nice touch and helps develop the characters further.
The first boss of the game, the dread wraith, is a tough opponent. You’ll have to use your teamwork in order to take him down. The wraith has four arms that shoot out and attack using spiked balls and energy shields. Since this game plays mostly in first person view, the player is also allowed to use melee weapons such as the katana and mace. There are also some powerful ranged weapons used by the enemy, including the incinerator, chainsaw, flail, and sniper rifles. All the mentioned weapons are powerful and inflict a good amount of damage against the opponents.
The combat system is similar to the previous games in the Narakas series. Your objective is to defeat the bosses and collect items like the katana, hammer, sword, grappling glove, and the dragon statue before they reach the final area, which is a temple containing the final boss. During combat, you can use items to aid you in defeating the enemies, but they can only be used once or twice by the characters fighting in the game; the rest of the time they are used by the grappling arm, which is the weak point of the enemy characters.
The Narakas series features some really cool animation and the battle scenes are especially amazing. When the wraith attacks the player, his movements are fluid and you never know when he will swing his sword at you. In addition, the intense fighting makes you want to keep fighting even after being taken down a few times. The game features eight playable characters; you can switch between them at any time during battle to make sure you are never left in the same level for too long. The eight available characters include the ninja assassin, ninja warrior, white magician, warlock, thief, knight, wizard, samurai, and the buccaneer. There is also an additional bonus mission that can be played after you have beaten all the main missions on each level of the game and it involves getting your partner to join your group; if you win a set number of matches with him, he will join your crew and you will get a chopper for free!
Step Two of the Narakas series features the optional battle royale stage where you have a chance to fight against each of your opponents armed with their own weapons and abilities to attack you. The battle royale involves the use of two swords: one is yours and the other is the opponent’s, you must defeat him without using your weapon first. The weapons are circular motion and allow you to attack faster and more accurately than the normal melee combat system.
The characters in NARAKA: BLADEPOINT is not bland and boring. They are very interactive with unique abilities, and NARAKA: BLADEPOINT really pushes the limit of what a fighting game can offer its players. As a result of this innovative gameplay, Nintendo has received good reviews from both gamers and critics alike. Although there are many factors that can be credited to the success of NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, especially considering a large amount of content included, the game does lack some features that may frustrate hardcore players, but overall this is one of the best games for the Wii that you could find.