Ar hack n slash game with some unique game play elements that set it apart from the cliche games.
Bad: Monotony will settle in after awhile of playing; not enough innovative features to draw a line from mediocre to good; the weapons don't have a stat menu, so they all do the same exact damage. Genji is the first game for the Ps3 and definitely makes a mark. The graphic show what the Ps3 can pull off, but overall the game doesn't do anything to keep you from getting bored quickly. When you first start off, your a young warrior named **** Your part of some clan in ancient Japan, and you get attacked by an enemy clan called the Heishi. They infiltrate your palace and after some fairly short cut scenes you begin to play. The first thing you'll notice is that the camera is very weird. The angle is always that it looks like your watching a movie, in fact, its been used in many other games from movies. The camera can get pretty screwy at times, but can give you a good feel to the game. As you fight, you use the classic combos in hack n slashes, but it feels a lot more smooth in this game. Each combo can be linked over and over again so you can make some really good looking moves. The animations when you slash look great, I cannot stress enough on how slick they look. Its one of the amazing parts of this game. You can collect items that heal your health, and collect weapons, but these do little to redeem game play value out of this game seeing that they are all very similar. Monotony is a factor that will swiftly set in as you play and will become very apparent after awhile since the environment doesn't change very often. Another contributing factor that leads to the downfall of the game play value is the poor level design that leaves you wondering where to go. It can get both frustrating and angering as you play, but doesn't ruin overall value.
Thankfully the graphics add a lot of the games greatness. The graphics are amazing, each and every character model, and environmental component is detailed and it manages a pretty stable frame rate. The environment is pretty detailed, but changes infrequently. Some areas of the game will feel sort of tacked on graphically wise, but most of it really shows the graphical power of the Ps3. The cut scenes have amazingly life like character models, but the environment looks the same as in-game. The sound is pretty good. All the sound effects are great and the music is very good. It gives you the "feudal Japan" feel during game play and overall adds a new level to game play.
Overall Genji is a good game, but has minor problems, mainly concerning monotony and its repetitive nature. Its a fair launch title that is really under appreciated. Its one of the best hack n slash games, and I would recommend it as a rental, or if your a fan of the genre, a purchase.