'tis pretty decent, but
not much more.
There's no genre that
completely adapts to what Kengo is, the
closest you can get is, probably, a fighting game, but it's so much
more than that. You have life bars, you have combos, you have an energy bar(Ki) and you even have a super move that requires said bar! However, it's far from it,
I'd like to call it a "Sword Fighting Simulator", now stay with me, since while the fighting is a big focus of the game, it's
not it's biggest.
For starters, the first mode that's highlighted when you start the game is "Story Mode". Instead of being an arcade ladder of sorts, you are to choose from one of three different characters, and while their
initial stats favor different actions, you eventually get to build them up however
you like. After choosing a character, you choose an initial style, and then you are to take on the 7 different Sword fighting dojos. For each Dojo you have to use a wooden sword to defeat 10 opponents in a row, with little healing in between and then challenge their master, who you may kill(And earn the
ire of his students, having to face them in combat with real swords) or make them surrender and earn their swords. Eventually you are to go into official tournaments and finally earn the mastership of your Dojo.
Fighting students also reward you, sometimes, with moves from their style. You can use these moves to customize up to four different three hit combos, which you can alternate by hitting the four shoulder buttons. In Story mode you also raise your stats by defeating opponents, up to a certain maximum. Said maximum can actually be increased by performing various minigames. These get
old and
boring after a while, and you
will need to increase your stats if you plan on tackling the harder fights.
As for the gameplay itself, you have a attack button, pressing it alone executes your three-hit combo, while combining it with directions produce different single slashes. There's also a block/dodge button, a parry button and the triangle that executes your special move, after a very
long wind up. There's also a Ki bar, it raises when you shout from afar, successfully hit your oponent or dodge his slashes, and it decreases by blocking or missing. If your Ki decreases to the minimum, you'll get slower and deal less damage. The most interesting feature of the game, is that you fight with either wooden swords or real swords, fighting with real swords can actually produce wounds that make the opponent
bleed to his death!.
The presentation is very
minimalist and ugly. The character models look really bad and haven't aged all that well, and some animations look
weird. Heck, characters
don't even move their mouths when they talk. On the flip side, characters actually get bloodied up when they recieve damage. The enviroments are very simple, some walls actually look textureless, but they are interesting, to say the least. There's barely any music in the game, altough the ending theme is pretty neat. To be fair, the lack of music actually lends itself to the game, so in a way, it's a
plus. The sound effects are actually very satisfying, so there's
that.
Besides Story Mode, you have Tournament(Survival) and VS. You can unlock a dozen or so characters by playing Story Mode, and they do have different movesets and stats, you can also import your Story Mode character if you feel like
overpowering your opposition.
Is Kengo a hidden gem? Nope, not at all, but if you are looking for a very japanese swordplay game, you can do no wrong with Kengo, specially if you want more after playing the superior, in my opinion, Bushido Blade.
5 out of 10
