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El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron


WTF
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ESAoMHeader.jpg

Developer: Ignition Entertainment

Publisher: Ignition Entertainment

 

Lead Designer: Takeyasu Sawaki

Most of the art people from Clover Design

 

Other People sort of Involved: Shane Bettenhausen (Former 1up/EGM guy)

 

Release Date:

April 28th Japan

End of Summer (US and EU)

 

Platforms PS3/360

First Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUFROkKk_9s

Gameplay Video

 

Voice Actors:

Blake Ritson As Enoch

Jason Isaacs As Luciphel

 

Hands on Previews:

Siliconera

Gamesradar (brief)

Joystiq

GiantBomb Quick Look

I'll add more later :P

 

 

A few things to note:

The game possesses no HUD or interface menus like that.

There is an easy transition between 2D and 3D segments of the game. Apparently you start most levels with no weapons though Enoch can throw punches and kick enemies. You do reclaim weapons easily at the start regardless.

Enoch doesn't have a lot of dialogue and just says he's fine whereas Luciphel will keep talking to you and sometimes pull a Bertolt Brecht.

It features mostly 1 Button combat but the focus for this game is art design though gameplay will be similar to 3rd person platform actioners (after all most of these guys are of the original DMC, viewtiful joe team).

The game can be completed in about 12-15 hours though Luciphel will taunt you to try and finish it in 8.

You'll be visiting the realms of fallen angels for each level and the level design varies depending on the nature of the angel.

You'll face a lot of enemies though certain weapons will help you just move through without having to fight them.There are unescapable enemies though.

 

 

Of course the game has been extremely popularised via memes.

 

PS3 Retail

EnochPS3.jpg

 

Xbox 360 Retail

Enoch360.jpg

 

Boxart

 

1685251-el_shaddai_box_super.jpg

 

Screenshots

11596.jpg1294942289_8.jpg1294942288_6.jpg

 

Official Sites

Global http://elshaddaigame.com/index.html

Japan http://elshaddai.jp/

 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ElShaddaiGame

 

 

 

P.S. I'm not in any way associated with this game, but I thought it would be nice if we could make official threads for games with all info on it which would make it easier for us to find it if we want.

Edited by WTF
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  • 3 weeks later...

Just added GiantBomb's quick look in the main post. It's basically Shane Bettenhausen and the GB guys showing a small portion of the game, intro levels. The video is about 30mins long and is in their usual style. But if you had an hangups about combat or the like I'd suggest watching the video :)

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I don't think the title is bad at all. Sure the full thing isn't very snappy but if that bothers you just call it El Shaddai. Otherwise Ascension of the Metatron has a nice ring to it.

 

As for the actual game I've been following it with interest sine I first heard about it but I can't decide whether I like the graphical style or not. I get that they're going for an abstract, minimalistic aesthetic with the backgrounds, but I can't help but think the lack of detail makes them look a little...well amateurish.

 

Also, WTF could you explain the reference to Brecht? Which Brechtian elements does the game use?

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I don't think the title is bad at all. Sure the full thing isn't very snappy but if that bothers you just call it El Shaddai. Otherwise Ascension of the Metatron has a nice ring to it.

 

As for the actual game I've been following it with interest sine I first heard about it but I can't decide whether I like the graphical style or not. I get that they're going for an abstract, minimalistic aesthetic with the backgrounds, but I can't help but think the lack of detail makes them look a little...well amateurish.

 

Also, WTF could you explain the reference to Brecht? Which Brechtian elements does the game use?

 

The title's fine in my eyes as well. I mean there have been worse names for games ranging from infinite undiscovery to pro evolution soccer (winning 11 is much better imo, since that makes sense.)

 

I'd say don't judge the game from the minimalist approach. If you've watched the previews you must have noticed that the world isn't entirely a minimal world. They've gone for a lack of HUD which they probably should have in Okami. However it's the Okami, DMC and Viewtiful Joe etc part of Clover that's working on it sans of course the leads from the latter two titles. Most of Okami's original team from Clover is working on the game which explains the art style.

 

There's plenty of Brechtian elements used here particularly because of Luciphel. Firstly we have the Verfremdungseffekt or the estrangement effect brought forth by continual Luciphel narrative where he pretty much talks to Enoch and the audience and puts us at a distance from the story and lets us observe this tale as a neutral observer even if one was heavily into Bible Studies. It's particularly used with the usual breaking of the fourth wall as well as time travel. Giving the character jeans (which are also sold in the real world and sold out), using time travel and thus having cell phones and the like. The game isn't trying to get us to have an emotional connection but wants us to observe the events as a neutral observer and then comment on the actions. It might have to do mostly with Japanese interpretations of Abrahamic lore really. But the implementation of this story is definitely not trying to give you an emotional engagement but can be said to be more like Sartre's No Exit to some extent. Not to mention the game has an interesting representation of reality when it tells us that where Enoch goes is Earth but before God punishes the people. Also this is different to what sort of interpretation the west would have of this myth which would mostly have Greco-Roman overtones.

Edited by WTF
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  • 2 months later...

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-ex-el-shaddai-ascension-of-the-metatron/17-3937/

Oh man, this game looks so amazing. The art style is absolutely captivating, and the combat makes a one-button system incredibly deep and complex. The demo was a blast, and I was instantly hooked on what little background story the demo gave me. This is definitely in my "Must Play" list of games; maybe at the top, before such known quantities as Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3.

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  • 2 months later...

The production value seems low to you? Seems medium-high to me.

 

I didn't say low, I said PSN. As in, it seemed like a smaller-scale project and not a bigger, AAA-type game.

The visuals are certainly very minimalistic and artsy, which I'm not saying is a bad thing, just that you normally see that in PSN/XBLA releases more often than in retail ones.

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I didn't say low, I said PSN. As in, it seemed like a smaller-scale project and not a bigger, AAA-type game.

 

Sorry, but since when have only AAA-type games (good lord I fucking hate that term) been the ones that sell for $60? I'll buy this at $60 any day over a Call of Duty game.

 

just that you normally see that in PSN/XBLA releases more often than in retail ones.

 

So no one is allowed to do anything different this generation? Last generation people had no problem with it.

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I didn't say low, I said PSN. As in, it seemed like a smaller-scale project and not a bigger, AAA-type game.

 

Sorry, but since when have only AAA-type games (good lord I fucking hate that term) been the ones that sell for $60? I'll buy this at $60 any day over a Call of Duty game.

 

just that you normally see that in PSN/XBLA releases more often than in retail ones.

 

So no one is allowed to do anything different this generation? Last generation people had no problem with it.

 

What the hell are you talking about? I never said that the game should be a PSN release. That's just the impression the demo gave me.

I find the 60$ price crazy not because the game is not AAA but rather because I was absolutely unimpressed by the demo.

I would not have purchased it as a PSN release, which I thought it was, so yeah I was a bit shocked when I realized the pricetag will be 4 to 6 times higher.

 

And who the hell said anything about the game being "too different" ? All I said is that games like this are most often found in smaller channels like PSN and XBLA, not that that's the only place they should exist. Learn to read, dude.

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I've really grown interested in the game, but unless I can find a deal soon, I don't think I could justify blowing $60 right now. It seems more like $40, though I guess there is some replay value according to the Gametrailers review.

 

I'm going to Redbox for Deus Ex to see if I'll like it, but even if I do, it'll have to wait as well.

Edited by Atomsk88
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Yeah, I hate to be negative or harsh...but the demo was fucking dreadful. :P

 

Mind-numbingly boring and clunky combat that really would've benefitted from a HUD, terrible platforming with an unhelpful camera, and I had no interest in whatever story it was trying to tell. Plus, for all the visual boastings, the character models don't mesh with the surroundings.

Edited by Hot Heart
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I find the 60$ price crazy not because the game is not AAA but rather because I was absolutely unimpressed by the demo.

 

You know, how impressive a demo is does not determine the game's price.

What? Sure, it does! All those PSN games are priced at 10 bucks because they all had terrible demos.

That's just how it works, dude. You might want to read up on some of the finer points of the industry before you start arguing, otherwise you just end up looking stupid...

Edited by FLD
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I didn't realize the demo came out long ago, so I played it last night.

 

Ugh, it was very mediocre. I'm sure the actual game will be better, but there could have been a HUD of some kind or other game elements to not make it feel like you're hacking away to oblivion. I know there are some that say Okami should have had less of a HUD, but this game shows that you need at least something.

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