Anarchy Reigns General Discussion

[MadeManG74]

I'l try it again through the week and see if I can get any online play in, and start the game again on Normal to see if it's less grindy.

I just think... this game can't last very long with the weird concept and reliance on big online multiplayer matches to be fun. There's not going to be enough people online at the end of the day... I wish it had some kind of offline multiplayer, then it might have some more life in it.

[Gagaman]

Gotta be honest guys, not really feeling it. Combat is really clunky especially compared to Bayonetta. That and I'm just finding it too difficult both in the single player on Normal and online where I don't get a chance to throw a single punch.

Mind you I had this same problem with mad World, and seeing as this is a sort of sequel to that I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. To be fair the only Platinum game I did get along with was Bayonetta, and even that game was too hard for my liking a lot of the time but it had...workarounds, that made it more manageable (infinite flute glitch haha).

Vanquish was nigh on impossible for me to get the hang of too, just too many controls and stuff to remember. I love what these guys do in terms of style, setting etc, but their games are too often way above my league to actually play. A real shame, I really tried to like it.

[max_cady]

I finally got ahold of my copy of Anarchy Reigns. Shipped before Christmas, arrived today! I was starting to go bonkers!

But anyway, here are my first impression on the game:

From what I played of the first 30 minutes, it's easy to understand why Anarchy Reigns is a very tough sell.
At it's core, it feels like Streets of Rage, but in 3D and it features a free-roaming portion giving the player the impression that it's a sandbox game. So it's a neat idea, but right from the start, I have some small issues with something as trivial as the interface.

This might not seem much but the overlay of green interface with big green letters is somewhat confusion, interface design 101 mistakes really.

I'm not also a big fan of the same 30-second loop from this soundtrack. The cinematics in particular have some of the worst lip-synch I've seen since those poorly dubbed kung fu movies from the 70's.

Now having said that, so far, I'm doing OK with the gameplay, the controls are very tight... I should have more on the game soon.

[MadeManG74]

I started the game again in Normal mode and it removed almost all the grinding BS, so that's much better. Unfortunately I still wasn't able to find any matches online because, you know it's a bomb.

It's a shame because the single player feels like a total waste of time since the game was clearly made to be a multiplayer experience, and because all of twelve people bought the game there's nobody to actually play against in Australia. I'm not sure if I can be arsed to finish the game or if I'll just drop it in favor of something else. Or just play Bayonetta again.

Madworld was much better as a single player game I feel.

[loempiavreter]

The cinematics in particular have some of the worst lip-synch I've seen since those poorly dubbed kung fu movies from the 70's.

A lot of people who collect kung fu movies from this era (from the bashers, shapes, swordsplay genres) prefer dubbed... It's the New Wave genre from the late 80s into the 90s when dub was bad.

[max_cady]

Thanks for the correction. I remember seeing old kung fu movies with bad dubs, but I didn't quite remember the time period. When I think of exploitation I gravitate to the 70's.

But anyway, I've been playin' for a few more hours and here's the thing... I am starting not to enjoy the game as much as earlier, on Normal. from what I heard seems to be much less grindy than Hard Mode, if that's the case than I'm OK. But I'm starting to think that Easy Mode should've been the default difficulty.

I don't know exactly how many stages I have to go through but I am already starting to feel a tad bored. And by doing so I am starting to notice other things... The hub worlds, it's a good idea to have the actual multiplayer maps as a way to explore them, but they end up feeling too small. Same goes with cinematics and as such, this game to me is starting to look like something you'd have your B-Team workin' while the top team is workin' on other better projects ( such as Metal Gear Solid Rising Revengeance).

[MadeManG74]

^I think that's just because we are playing the single player only. The game was clearly made to be Multiplayer, with the single player being an afterthought that was tacked on.

The whole singleplayer experience is basically just fighting endless bots with very basic challenges, nothing about it is particularly fun or interesting, even the boss fights devolve into mashing.

I can see when playing human opponents it would get far more in depth and fun, but there's just not enough of a community to get online and play consistently. If it had offline we could at least play it with friends and whatnot...

[max_cady]

Yeah, I am not too crazy about not having offline multiplayer options to be honest. Though I can understand that Splitscreen is not always a good option, especially if you have a small television.

But back to Anarchy Reigns, I just finished Jack's side of the story and now I'm going into Leo's story. The Story Mode is not all bad, it at least provides some background to all the characters that are available. It also serves it's purpose for allowing you to then use them for multiplayer matches.

Though, for SEGA if there was any game that needed a PC port, this would be the one. I mean, at least on the PC, it would have something of an audience.

[ROJM]

Well its this generation's SPIKEOUT BATTLESTREET that's fer sure. For what it is, its a good/okayish game especially for the price, so its nothing to complain about considering how much games can cost for a less enjoyable experience. My thing is that i wouldn't want this game to be the last Sega published Platinum game to be made because if there were not going to be any more Platinum/Sega collaborations, it shouldn't end with this game.

[Ben]

I'm working my way through the single player mode. Got to the 2nd area after seriously considering trading the game in and I have to say I'm liking it better at this point. Get past the terrible first level and things start to look up, let's see if it keeps it this way. (Surprisingly emotional cutscenes, and a much more interesting 2nd area.)

[MadeManG74]

Urgh, i hate those BS cutscenes about his daughter or whatever. He has a fucking chainsaw on his arm and spends his days fighting robot bulls that say 'horny' a lot. Don't even fucking try and shoe-horn in some bullshit about his dead daughter.

Fuck.

Anyway, are you talking about the Chinatown level? It's much a muchness for me. I still just can't shake the feeling that playing single player in this game is like playing arcade mode in Street Fighter...

[max_cady]

To me the hub world feels like your character in a friggin' prison yard. You can't walk two feet without some goons jumping you.
I already finished the entire single player mode on Normal. Hopefully Easy Mode doesn't make me grind as much.
The cool about finishing all the chapters is that on Stage Select you can pick any of the characters you fought on Story Mode and do all the Free Missions and Story Missions in that particular area.

With Jack I didn't have much a problem with, the Chinatown stage is a little tricky on Normal. I only get a Bronze Medal on the first mission, so I had to spend a considerable amount of time just beating thugs up. But after that it was smooth sailing.

[Ben]

Yeah I'm at that Chinatown part now. I'm almost through it though, which is good.

Urgh, i hate those BS cutscenes about his daughter or whatever. He has a fucking chainsaw on his arm and spends his days fighting robot bulls that say 'horny' a lot. Don't even fucking try and shoe-horn in some bullshit about his dead daughter.

I thought they were well done. I agree that they don't fit AT ALL with the dialogue in the gameplay itself, but I wish they did; I wish the dialogue in the game itself was better.


I actually like the visuals; I know they aren't technically impressive but the art direction seems based on games like Mortal Kombat and I love that series' art direction. I also like much of the soundtrack, and the hub world music gives me a bit of a modern Genesis vibe.

[max_cady]

They also seemed to rip bits of dialogue from Bayonetta: "I feel like a f***ing celebrity in this town."

[Ben]

Definitely the writing is a step down from MadWorld.