Masters of Anima Xbox One review: An excellent blend of genres
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Masters of Anima for the Xbox One is a unique top-down hack-and-slash RPG that stands out completely from the crowd.
Hack-and-slash role-playing games (RPGs) have been a gaming staple for years now, with franchises such as Diablo and The Witcher leading the way and proving that cutting virtual foes to pieces is pretty damn fun. However, many of these games have come to feel stale over time; more often then not, you’re doing little more than mashing the attack button.
Masters of Anima breaks that monotonous feeling. While you will undoubtedly be wailing on baddies, you also have several different types of units that you can order around, like a real-time strategy game. This blend of two very different genres works excellently, and as a result, Masters of Anima is a fresh and fun experience from start to finish.
See on Microsoft Store
Story: Save Spark from the clutches of evil
Masters of Anima takes place on a fictional world called Spark, which is similar to Earth but different in one key way: Spark is rich with Anima, a magic substance that can be used to create just about anything. People who perfect the art of manipulating anima are known as Masters, and the game’s protagonist, Otto, is training to become one. However, his home is assaulted by a mysterious villain known as Zahr. His fiance Ana, a gifted Master herself, is kidnapped.
After learning of Zahr’s plans to destroy Spark with his own Anima powers, Otto sets out on a quest in order to save his fiance, save the world, and become a true Master of Anima.
The plot of the game isn’t necessarily compelling, but it does feel like a neat fantasy-style spin on the classic «the princess has been kidnapped» story. For a game like this, that’s serviceable enough.
Gameplay: Create and control your army
In Masters of Anima, you engage in combat two ways: fighting with Otto himself, and ordering units to enter the fray.
Your forces, called Guardians, are obedient entities that Otto creates using Anima. There are five different kinds of Guardians, and each one fills a specific role. Protectors, for existence, are great at battling the enemy up close with sword and shield, while Sentinels pepper foes from afar with bow and arrow.
Each unit type can be (and will need to be) ordered around to different locations to give them a better position to do their role, avoid incoming damage, and more. Knowing how to utilize them all effectively is where Masters of Anima’s true challenge lies. The game is never overly difficult, though, and tactically outplaying enemies feels excellent.
Of course, you also can sneak in some hits with Otto himself, too — turns out his staff is good for more than just casting. While it is admittedly pretty brainless button mashing, there’s something so satisfying about fighting alongside your own creations, and this perfectly blends the fun of hack-and-slash with the tactics of real-time strategy.
Presentation: Vibrant and intense
Masters of Anima features a very colorful and vibrant art direction that really makes the environment of the game pop, as well as making the action feel more bombastic. In addition, the musical score is intense and fast-paced, which is a perfect backdrop for an action-heavy game like this.
The only issue present is that sometimes a large amount of visual effects at once can cause the game’s framerate to dip, but it never drops significantly far and you might not even notice it if you’re focused on the battle at hand.
Masters of Anima Xbox One conclusion
Traditional hack-and-slash mechanics, real-time strategy elements, serviceable writing and excellent visuals and music all come together to create one of 2018’s best indie RPGs thus far.
Pros:
- Superb gameplay.
- Decent writing.
- Amazing presentation.
Cons:
- Occasional framerate drops.
Masters of Anima is available now on Xbox One for $19.
99.
See on Microsoft Store
This review was conducted on an Xbox One, using a copy provided by the publisher.
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. You’ll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.
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Masters of Anima Review — Xbox Tavern
Anthony Cole
Masters of Anima is a strategy based game that shares a concept that’s not too unlike that of Overlord.
The game throws you into the role of a young shaper known as Otto and it soon transpires that Otto’s girlfriend has been fragmented by the evil Zahra. It’s not as gory as it sounds, quite the opposite as a matter of fact. Masters of Anima takes place within the fantasy world of Spark, a place in which Anima is a mystical type of energy that’s tethered to everything that exists within the world, think Final Fantasy VII’s life-form. This energy can be harnessed by those that practice its utilization, with Otto being one of them. Ana, Otto’s love interest, just so happens to be a titular Master of Anima. Following her unfortunate predicament, it now falls to the somewhat arrogant Otto to save her.
It’s a pretty clear cut story as far as fantasy plots go, but it manages to do the trick nevertheless. So, what’s a shaper? Long ago Golems went to war against humanity and the only logical way to fight back was through the use of Anima, thus shapers were born. Shapers, or mages to be exact, house the ability to construct devastating Guardians.
These Guardians were used to fight back against the Golems. The aforementioned antagonist, Zahra, is out to bring back the Golems power, lending the game a backbone good vs evil sort of story to chew on. Prior to these events, Otto was merely trying to prove himself to his lover by leaning different skills to summon a Guardian, subsequently hoping to show her that he was ready for the final test – become a fully fledged certified shaper.
Masters of Anima does a good job at feeding you the basics of play via a short and informative tutorial. Here, you’ll learn the controls, the concept of the previously alluded to Guardians, as well as some other useful tidbits of intel. Gameplay typically consists of moving from one location to the next, killing a bunch of Golems and improving your health and Anima in the process. The game also throws in the occasional puzzle in an attempt to keep the gameplay interesting, but sadly falls flat instead. Masters of Anima reeks of potential, though fails to grasp that that’s really all that it has throughout.
It’s a shame really, because the underlining concept is surprisingly well executed. However, the repetition and lack of evolution just fails to maintain that initial allure.
The controls are simple and straightforward. You can move Otto around with the left stick and attack (B) with your staff, or summon a Guardian via the trigger. Once a Guardian has been summoned, you’re able to guide them exactly where you want them to be, or indeed have them execute whatever command you want them to follow. This amounts to little more than pushing blocks, handling large switches, or neutralizing path-blocking red crystals. Despite the fact that this system gives the game its diversity and unique theme, it hardly bolsters the adventure elsewhere. Masters of Anima is a tough game to overcome. When it’s one on one during a fight, there’s not much of an issue, but when the numbers start tipping away from your favor, the game’s flawed design choices make themselves apparent.
Guardians are mindless, leaving total control up to Otto.
Otto will need to tell them what to do and when to do it. Golems have a wide range of different attacks and will enter a rage-mode when they’ve taken a beating, granting them some addition damage output in the process. The major problem here is that during the beginning few hours of the game, your Anima levels remain low. When you take into account that it costs Anima to summon a guardian and add that Otto stands no chance against a Golem one on one, you have little choice but to give up when three tough Golems have bested your Guardians and Anima. This wouldn’t be so bad if it happened infrequently, but it doesn’t. It happens regularly, so much so that the game just doesn’t feel fun. First impressions are imperative. Masters of Anima must be ignorant to that rule.
You would think that leveling up would alleviate this frustration, but it doesn’t. Instead you’re required to persevere until later on in the game when your resources are much deeper, the problem is, is that by this point you’re likely to have thrown in the proverbial towel due to its unforgiving difficulty spikes.
There’s nothing fun whatsoever about being tasked with taking down enemies that can destroy your units in a few swings, leaving you with no Anima or choice but to quit and reload. If the combat wasn’t so harsh or the Golems didn’t have such wide health pools, this wouldn’t have been so bad. It doesn’t help matters that Masters of Anima is combat-heavy, meaning that outside of the puzzles and some light exploration, this is really the only thing you’ll be doing.
That’s not to say that Masters of Anima doesn’t offer a diverse plate of options, because it does. Otto can call aid from a collection of different minions, each housing their own pros and cons. Though again, this tends to lead nowhere when the enemies that you’re faced with are damage-sponge tanks. You can indeed offer your minions some buffs and abilities to aid you on your way through, which is a nice touch. Skill points can also be distributed among your team between levels. These points go towards increased attack damage, added health and improvements to Otto’s overall capabilities.
This is all explained to you throughout the course of the game, though it’s a system that’s never truly built upon. Masters of Anima certainly would have benefited from more refinement and more testing, that much goes without saying.
Masters of Anima does shine elsewhere. The visuals, although nothing to write home about, do well to keep the game feeling fresh. There’s a lot of color usage in this game, but it never feels like its been overly done. The soundtrack is passable, too, but that’s about as kind as I’m going to get with this adventure. The bottom line in all of this is that Masters of Anima could have been a much better game. The story is there, the visual diversity is there and the concept is there. This, on the other hand, means very little when the core format of the game just isn’t fun or engaging in the long run. Battle this, go there, battle that, go here, solve this, go there and battle that. That’s pretty much the sum of the core loop. This is hindered further by the infuriating combat and fluctuating difficulty.
Masters of Anima has a decent concept and a worthwhile story, but sadly falls short almost everywhere else. The combat is tedious, often unfair and utterly frustrating. Take into account that outside of light puzzle solving and exploration, this is pretty much all that you’ll be doing. It doesn’t help matters that Masters of Anima rarely evolves as you proceed, making for a game that’s not only annoying, but repetitive too.
This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox One. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version.
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Good
- Good story setup.
- Diverse colorful visuals.
Bad
- Gameplay rarely evolves.
- Combat is overly tedious and difficult.
- Just isn’t fun enough to stand out.
4.8
Poor
Gameplay — 3
Graphics — 6
Audio — 5
Longevity — 5
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Anime review Mushishi («Master Mushi»)
Not all that glitters is gold . I think this is the phrase that best characterizes the anime Mushishi («Master of Mushi») . The fact is that at first glance there is nothing special about it — a simple story of a traveler studying mysterious phenomena throughout Japan, gloomy and atmospheric. But it is worth taking a closer look, and you will no longer be able to take your eyes off the magnificence that appears before you.
It’s rare to find an episodic anime that rivals a good book in depth, but Mushishi is one of them. The number of issues and ideas that are covered in each episode is really great and it’s a pleasure to think about them. So, I present to your attention a review of fantasy anime Mushishi («Mushi Master») .
Brief information
Mushishi — fantasy anime, released by the Artland studio (in addition to Mushishi, is famous for the release of good Syonan, Kuu, and spacecraft and cosmic blockbustera In total, two seasons were released — the first consists of twenty-six episodes, was broadcast in 2005; the second consists of twenty episodes, aired in 2014 (it was divided into two parts, so there are roughly three seasons). There are also several short films. In this review, I will only touch on the first season of Mushishi. The scenario is based on manga , which, according to a survey conducted in Japan in 2007, ranked ninth among the best manga of all time (for those interested — here is link ).
Mushi are creatures invisible to the ordinary human eye, which are an intermediate link between spirits and animals. Only a few people can see them, and many people endowed with such a gift become mushi masters — wanderers traveling around the country and collecting information about all kinds of mushi they meet. Not all mushi are good, not all mushi are evil — they are just different, and if you know how to get along with them, then nothing bad will happen. However, sometimes a collision between a mushi and a person can lead to sad consequences. Ginko is a mushi master who helps ordinary people who have suffered from mushi mishandling. But unlike most of his colleagues, Ginko does not consider mushy to be evil, and tries to solve problems without harming both man and mushy.
Characters
There is only one main character in Mushishi — Ginko, and the white-haired master copes with the role of the central character perfectly.
His calm nature and measured manner of speech on a subconscious level inspire trust and confidence. When you see Ginko, you understand that he will put things in order, because such a self-confident person simply cannot be wrong. A pleasant personality, original appearance, a developed mind, a willingness to help, and the presence of moral principles that he adheres to — all this makes Ginko a first-class character who does not get tired of watching. It is also worth noting how competently and gradually his past is revealed. They don’t throw facts in your face, but unobtrusively provide them as the plot develops.
No matter how good Ginko was, without quality secondary characters, anime would never have succeeded. You can rest assured that the secondary characters are no less good than the main character. It is possible that you will not remember all of them, but their stories will be deeply embedded in your memory. There are really a lot of secondary characters, but they are united by one fact that I have repeatedly paid attention to while watching — among the whole variety of characters there are practically no hostility or rejection.
This is amazing, considering the number of people passing before your eyes. The women in Mushishi are beautiful and selfless, and each is unlike the last. Men are brave and generous, and are ready to make sacrifices for the sake of their loved ones. It’s rare to find such a balanced line-up of secondary characters.
Plot
Twenty-six stories connected only by the main character. Mushishi is a rare piece of episodic anime that doesn’t have any pronounced flops or ups and downs. Each individual series is original, interesting and deep. Each series has a unique emotional background — Mushishi also has horror stories, like those about mushi controlling dead bodies; and good stories, like chasing rainbows; and surrealistic stories, as about children born because of mush every six months; and philosophical stories, like the possibility of rebirth or all-seeing eyes. The fantasy of the author of the original manga (the name of the mangaka is Yuki Urushibara) is amazing — I can’t even imagine how such a huge number of original ideas could be born in one head.
I understand that she borrowed a lot from Shinto myths and legends, which in no way diminishes the merits of the mangaka. Based on each story, it would be possible to create an independent full-length film, and collect a good box office in cinemas. The plot is the strongest side Mushishi , for which this anime is worth watching. One of the best episodic anime ever.
Mushishi teaches us to respect the world around us. It teaches not to be afraid of the unknown, for fear leads to ignorance and mistakes. Mushi are like snakes. If you don’t know how to handle them, or, even worse, you start teasing them, they will bite you, and only you will be to blame. However, in a person’s head, danger is equated with evil, and evil must be fought. Mushishi shows that, as a result, such an unnecessary struggle leads to losses on both sides, and there are no winners in it. Ginko repeatedly claims that in any situation there is a peaceful outcome, and he is, of course, right. It’s just that peaceful ways of solving problems, as a rule, are not as simple and straightforward as direct aggression. Instead of fighting, we must learn to coexist.
In fact, I’m a little surprised by Mushishi’s high positions in the world rankings: at the time of writing, the anime was in the top thirty on MAL and in the top twenty on World Art. Surprise not because the anime is bad. On the contrary, it fully deserves high marks. The fact is that not every viewer will be able to appreciate Mushishi. Just as not everyone can appreciate the beauty of a winter snowfall, a quiet evening in the depths of a forest, a distant night sky, and other beautiful materials that do not shout about their beauty, but quietly radiate it. After all, it must be taken into account that the majority of the audience is made up of young viewers, who, as a rule, are indifferent to high matters. Being younger, perhaps, I would have passed Mushishi by the side, giving up watching the first episodes, and calling the anime boring. So the abundance of people who appreciated such a deep anime, I was pleasantly surprised.
Drawing
The color scheme in Mushishi is deliberately muted. Almost the entire territory of medieval Japan was occupied by monotonous forests and mountains, the peasants survived solely through agriculture and fishing, and feudal traditions were stronger than ever. The life of the people was short and difficult. In Mushishi, in addition to everyday problems, mushi fell on the peasants’ heads, from which you don’t know what to expect. So it is not surprising that the color scheme is muted — muted colors are ideal for conveying the atmosphere. For 2005, the art is at a very high level: the character designs are original and enjoyable, the backgrounds are detailed enough for the time, and the close-ups still look great to this day.
Music
Sounds. The smallest sounds that give you goosebumps. Mushishi is a unique phenomenon of how background music is simply unnecessary. In this anime, the emphasis is entirely on the sounds of nature — the rustle of the wind, the flow of water, the chirping of cicadas, and other minor rustles, which, when combined, create an incredibly atmospheric spectacle. Mushishi takes you to faraway pre-industrial Japan, where there is no place for extra noise. If the anime uses background music, it is very beautiful and melodic, and only slightly enhances the effect of the most emotional moments. Silence, tranquility and enjoyment. Opening The Sore Feet Song performed by Ally Kerr fully confirms the above — the beautiful should not be noisy. Quiet singing to a calm melody is the best fit for the atmosphere of Mushishi. Magnificent work of composers and sound engineers.
Ratings
Characters — 9.0. Excellent main character, and excellent secondary characters.
Plot — 10.0. Mushishi rivals many established books in depth and variety. The strongest side of anime.
Drawing — 9.0. An excellent drawing for 2005, which still looks very worthy to this day.
Music — 9.0. Excellent work of composers and sound engineers. That rare case when sounds have almost more influence than background music.
Atmospheric — 10.0. More «Japanese» anime will be hard to find. An incredible atmosphere that changes the emotional background from series to series. There are both funny and extremely dark stories.
Conclusion
A wonderful anime from any point of view that not everyone will like. Mushishi has no action, no colorful characters, and some may find it boring. But it has an extremely deep and varied plot, an inimitable atmosphere, excellent musical accompaniment, and more than decent drawing for its time. For people who love to think, Mushishi provides a treasure trove of information that makes traveling a pleasure. Such anime is not ashamed to be cited as proof that anime is art. Watching Mushishi is like reading a good book in which the author pays close attention to every little detail. All that glitters is not gold .
9.5/10
Rudean, special for AwesomeReviews.ru
Sword Art Online anime review (Sword Art Online, SAO)
As the theme of my tenth anniversary review, I decided to choose one of the most popular and sensational anime recent years. It could not leave a single person indifferent: part — exalts him to the skies, part — lowers him below the plinth. This time I decided to describe my feelings from watching the first season of anime Sword Art Online
Introduction
Sword Art Online is an anime produced by A-1 Pictures in 2012 and consists of 25 episodes. It is based on the light novel series (light novel) . The story tells us about how 10,000 players were trapped in the world of VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality MMORPG) «Sword Art Online» — the first game with full immersion. With the help of a special helmet, the consciousness of the players is transferred to the virtual world, while their body remains lying in the real world.
After launching the game, all logged in players found that the exit button was missing from the game menu. Many thought that this was a mistake, but soon the creator of the game — Kayabo Akihiko , dispelled all doubts, stating that this was not an accident. To return to the real world, players must complete 100 game levels, and defeat all the bosses that are in between. There is one more condition — if you die in the game world, then you will die in reality : the helmet on your head will miss an electrical impulse that will damage the brain. If someone in the real world tries to take off this helmet, you will also die instantly. This is how the Sword Art Online universe met the players in such an unfriendly way.
The main character of the anime is Kirigaya Kazuto , or simply Kirito . He was a beta tester for SAO, and the most nerdy of them all. His knowledge of the game surpasses that of most players, allowing him to level the fastest. For certain reasons that are highlighted in the anime, he decides to be a loner and not join any guilds or groups. He also became the first to be able to defeat the boss during the raid. Yuuki Asuna helped him in this battle (or simply Asuna ) who is proficient in the fast rapier technique and her fighting style is a perfect match for Kirito’s. In the future, their paths will cross more than once.
Thus, the first arc of SAO tells how players level by level go through the world of Aincrad — a 100-level fortress suspended in virtual space. The second arc — about Alfheim online , is of much less interest, and it’s impossible to tell about it without spoilers, so I won’t do it.
A moment of reasoning
In the circles of «advanced» anime fans, it is considered good form to scold popular anime.
SAO is the clearest example of this behavior. Here and there on the forums you can find huge manuscripts in which criticism is poured out in the most angry forms. After all, it is so important to show that you are not like everyone else, that you are not included in 90% of other, ordinary people who liked anime. I don’t know why some do it, and I don’t think I ever will. Perhaps this is a form of self-affirmation — to compare everyone with the herd, and prove to yourself and others that you are not like that. In my opinion, this is stupid and ridiculous. If millions of people have found something good in this anime, is it possible that this is really good in it? What’s the point in denying it? And I saw the largest number of angry reviews in relation to Sword Art Online (only 9 can compete with this0003 the second season of Tokyo Ghoul , but more on that some other time). Some have simply lost the ability to enjoy watching anime , and this cannot but sadden . ..
Benefits
First of all, is an MMORPG component. The very fact that SAO is an anime about an MMORPG attracted a lot of viewers, as the audience of people who watch anime overlaps very much with the audience of people who have played an MMORPG at least once. That is why the universe of Aincrad, the world into which the players got, was so carefully worked out. Although the scriptwriters did not give a detailed description of the possible combat abilities and classes of characters, however, there is enough information for the viewer to have a general picture. Perhaps if this information were more detailed, it would only hurt. It’s hard to say for sure. However, viewers who have played an MMORPG at least once in their lives will find it really interesting to watch the world of SAO. Bosses, raids, dungeons, guilds — Sword Art Online has it all, and a lot of attention is paid to it.
Secondly, is atmospheric.
The feeling that ordinary people really got into a situation where their lives are in constant danger did not leave me for a second while watching the first 14 episodes. At the same time, despite the initial confusion, most of them did not panic, but began to solve their problems in an organized manner. If this happened in reality, people’s behavior would be exactly the same. Absolutely also, some would not believe that when a person dies in a game, a person dies in reality, and in order to experience the thrill, they would begin to engage in PK-shnichestvo (killing players, player killer). And absolutely also there would be those who fought on the front line, and those who would remain sitting in the initial city. The atmosphere of a world full of dangers, as well as the behavior of people in this world in SAO, is excellently portrayed.
Despite the fact that the world is full of dangers, the players were able to adapt to it and began to perceive it as a reality. And reality consists not only of suffering, but also of joys.
Gatherings in a tavern, communication with fellow guild members, mutual assistance of people who met by chance … SAO perfectly shows that even in the darkest situation there are bright sides. And Kirito perfectly demonstrates this in the scene next to the tree, when Asuna scolds him for idleness. “After all, now you and I live in Aincrad. You have to enjoy life.»0005 .
Thirdly, is drawing and music. The picture of SAO is really bright and memorable, and the music is in perfect harmony with it. Great openings and endings. Once you hear it, you won’t forget it.
Fourth, is a plot. SAO was filmed based on a light novel, so the material is based on good and proven. The scriptwriters managed not to spoil it, and convey it in sufficient integrity, albeit throwing out some details. If we talk about the first 14 episodes, I don’t know at all what could be changed in them. Each series is in its place. I regret that the first arc lasted so short, it would be great if the writers allocated 2-3 more episodes, since the end of the arc looks a bit forced.
If we talk about the second part of the first season, it came out much weaker, although it is understandable: a lot of sensations are lost in the absence of a threat to the life of the protagonist. There is no longer that sharpness of sensations from viewing. In fact, the first season could have been safely ended at episode 14, without losing anything, but even winning.
Another advantage of the plot is that the anime hooks from the first episode and does not let go until the very end. I wanted to watch more and more. I really don’t like it when events swing for a long time, and the writers save the interesting for later. It’s a good thing they didn’t do that in SAO.
Fifthly, is the combat component. The fights turned out to be extremely dynamic. The boss fights are just awesome, it’s a pity there aren’t many boss raids in the story.
Sixth, is a romantic line. Kirito and Asuna look harmonious, they want to empathize and rejoice with them.
Some even consider them the best anime couple ever born. I am afraid of such statements, but nevertheless I agree that the romantic line is made soundly. Those who love romance will not be disappointed. If the heroes had not started playing family with a computer girl-daughter, then everything would have been generally wonderful.
Disadvantages
First of all, is a harem. Well, I really don’t like it when they try to cram a harem into anime. This automatically adds a certain second-rate quality even to a good work. There are at least 5 Kirito harem candidates in Season 1, and it’s annoying and completely out of place.
Secondly, is the second arc, about Alfheim online. It turned out to be much weaker for the reason voiced earlier — nothing threatens the main character. In addition, it starts with some kind of nonsense: somehow some players in Alfheim online took advantage of the bug, took pictures, and somehow Egil noticed these pictures and showed them to Kirito.
Sorry, but this is a rare nonsense that only a very unpretentious viewer can believe in. In addition, the writers began to resort to the use of stamps, which they did not notice in the first arc.
Thirdly , slurred ending. The last episode is just awful and I absolutely did not like it. Was it really not possible to end the season on the penultimate episode, when Kirito comes to Asuna, and give the viewer the opportunity to think out what’s next for themselves? I don’t think there’s a better moment to end the season…
Ratings
Characters — 7.0. Kirito and Asuna are decent heroes, secondary characters are more formulaic but not bad either.
The plot is the first arc 9.0, the second 3.0. The plot at the second arch looks too illogical, and something is not very believable in what is happening in it. Too many accidents.
Drawing — 9.0. Excellent visual component, clearly traced characters, backgrounds, bright picture.
What more could you want?
Music — 10.0. As I mentioned, the openings and endings are great. And in general, the music is at a very high level.
Conclusion
So what’s the bottom line? The first arc, that is, the first 14 episodes of the season, is a curious and extraordinary sight. The second arch is stamped, but watchable, even if I viewed it rather by inertia. Therefore, in total, for the two parts of the season, I still put a fairly high mark, since the beginning of SAO deserves attention. I watched without stopping. If you love anime and have played an MMORPG at least once, it’s still worth getting acquainted with the title.
