TL;DR: Hack and slasher at blistering speed with a kickass soundtrack following your every step.
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A genuinely exhilarating hack and slasher that bellies a surprising amount of depth on all fronts.
The combat revels in its brutality, all at the pace of blistering speed and delivers super satisfying stunts and visual effects that accompany it.
It feels fantastic to master the combat system, and even when at first you struggle with a boss or enemy, once you revisit it and unleash all your fledged skills, you feel like a force of nature itself.
Additionally, you can unlock different weapons as you make progress, all of which have a distinct battle style and different skills you can upgrade.
The game's main mechanic that you use all the time is its slicing attacks. You are able to cut up your enemies into tiny bits using Blade Mode, which is enabled by an energy gauge refilled by attacking enemies. That same mechanic can be used on a number of objects throughout the game, including building columns, furniture, soda dispensers, you name it...
This is a game where a blade ACTUALLY cuts!
It would be an understatement to say that MGR:R's story, or rather its characters, is a thing that the game is renowned for.
Even though the story often doesn't take itself seriously, it also has moments of soberiety among its storm of absurdity and comical relief where it manages to ask nuanced questions, and shed light on topics that would be more fitting among the original series this game was derived from.
The protagonist, Raiden, has intriguing character development throughout the story, even to those not familiar with the character from previous installments. The story in this game entails his mission to take down a group of terrorists that have intentions involving something that he has a personal vendetta for, an agonizing reminder to his past.
Minor spoiler: The theme of the game is "we are the same, you and I" and about accepting oneself. The bosses each represent an aspect of himself that Raiden has to tame and take control of.
MGR:R is also known very well for one other thing...its soundtrack!
The game's soundtrack and sound design in general is absolutely fantastic and embelishes an already great video game.
There is a selection of vocal tracks, among which most of them belong to bosses; but the way they are used in the boss fights is remarkable.
Basically, the first phase of a boss fight uses the instrumental version of the song, but after you lay down enough damage, the song's vocals kick in for the second phase.
This build up is incredible, and it's almost like a straight adrenaline shot; I wish more games did this.
What's also cool about the boss themes is that each of them tell a story or give you more background information about the characters themselves and what their motivations are, and maybe even why.
The soundtrack itself is a body of hybrid electronic-rock tracks, some of them even have orchestral accompaniment, and some of the songs also have remixed versions called Low Key versions, which are used in different scenarios adjusting to when you sneak around enemies.
The game has very good replay value; Difficulty modes to unlock through completing previous ones, collectibles/secrets, extra missions, two separate DLC stories, unlockable gear, etc. etc.
Point is, there is a lot to do in the game even after you beat the main story campaign, and even though its runtime (around 8 hours) is short, the extra content more than makes up for it.
The only complaint I have about the game, is the camera.
The camera will, in all honesty, probably be your worst enemy on the field; The game gives you a parry move that you have to perform in the direction of the enemy attacking for it to work. But the game doesn't always do a good job of showing you everything you need to see, hence it can be frustrating to get knocked down because of something that was not shown in your FOV.
I also think the FOV is very zoomed in, almost too much sometimes for good readability of your surroundings.
For a lot of people, the camera system is a huge problem, but when you're really into the action on-screen, it is possible to look past this flaw.
A fantastic game all around with a few problems, but overall, it's simply awesome.
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A genuinely exhilarating hack and slasher that bellies a surprising amount of depth on all fronts.
The combat revels in its brutality, all at the pace of blistering speed and delivers super satisfying stunts and visual effects that accompany it.
It feels fantastic to master the combat system, and even when at first you struggle with a boss or enemy, once you revisit it and unleash all your fledged skills, you feel like a force of nature itself.
Additionally, you can unlock different weapons as you make progress, all of which have a distinct battle style and different skills you can upgrade.
The game's main mechanic that you use all the time is its slicing attacks. You are able to cut up your enemies into tiny bits using Blade Mode, which is enabled by an energy gauge refilled by attacking enemies. That same mechanic can be used on a number of objects throughout the game, including building columns, furniture, soda dispensers, you name it...
This is a game where a blade ACTUALLY cuts!
It would be an understatement to say that MGR:R's story, or rather its characters, is a thing that the game is renowned for.
Even though the story often doesn't take itself seriously, it also has moments of soberiety among its storm of absurdity and comical relief where it manages to ask nuanced questions, and shed light on topics that would be more fitting among the original series this game was derived from.
The protagonist, Raiden, has intriguing character development throughout the story, even to those not familiar with the character from previous installments. The story in this game entails his mission to take down a group of terrorists that have intentions involving something that he has a personal vendetta for, an agonizing reminder to his past.
Minor spoiler: The theme of the game is "we are the same, you and I" and about accepting oneself. The bosses each represent an aspect of himself that Raiden has to tame and take control of.
MGR:R is also known very well for one other thing...its soundtrack!
The game's soundtrack and sound design in general is absolutely fantastic and embelishes an already great video game.
There is a selection of vocal tracks, among which most of them belong to bosses; but the way they are used in the boss fights is remarkable.
Basically, the first phase of a boss fight uses the instrumental version of the song, but after you lay down enough damage, the song's vocals kick in for the second phase.
This build up is incredible, and it's almost like a straight adrenaline shot; I wish more games did this.
What's also cool about the boss themes is that each of them tell a story or give you more background information about the characters themselves and what their motivations are, and maybe even why.
The soundtrack itself is a body of hybrid electronic-rock tracks, some of them even have orchestral accompaniment, and some of the songs also have remixed versions called Low Key versions, which are used in different scenarios adjusting to when you sneak around enemies.
The game has very good replay value; Difficulty modes to unlock through completing previous ones, collectibles/secrets, extra missions, two separate DLC stories, unlockable gear, etc. etc.
Point is, there is a lot to do in the game even after you beat the main story campaign, and even though its runtime (around 8 hours) is short, the extra content more than makes up for it.
The only complaint I have about the game, is the camera.
The camera will, in all honesty, probably be your worst enemy on the field; The game gives you a parry move that you have to perform in the direction of the enemy attacking for it to work. But the game doesn't always do a good job of showing you everything you need to see, hence it can be frustrating to get knocked down because of something that was not shown in your FOV.
I also think the FOV is very zoomed in, almost too much sometimes for good readability of your surroundings.
For a lot of people, the camera system is a huge problem, but when you're really into the action on-screen, it is possible to look past this flaw.
A fantastic game all around with a few problems, but overall, it's simply awesome.