Game #946: Avatar the Last Airbender - Into the Inferno

  Stop it, I haven't watched the show yet. Sue me.

 With Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno under my belt I've already played every game based on the show, only missing the one based on the movie. Regardless, what a mediocre ride it's been. Avatar was one of Nickelodeon's big hits and these games were all that they could muster? What a disappointment.

 Into the Inferno shakes things up again, and this is the most ambitious game in the series yet, completely overhauling the game. Clearly built for the Wii, the right analog stick moves a pointer around the screen that you can use to bend elements. Aang can use every element, making him the only character that can get a use out of this with no elements in sight, since he can just shoot air. Katara, Toph and Zuko need sources of water, earth and fire respectively to be able to use this feature in combat. Sokka can use his boomerang, so he is also free from the elemental limitation. 

 This bending mechanic actually makes puzzles more fun than they've ever been, even though they are still super simple. The fact that you are playing around with elements and affecting the environment make it slightly more fun than you'd think. When it works, anyways. During the Wind Temple stage I used water to revitalize bushes and a tree.... and I spent like half an hour jumping around wondering what to do. I found a source of fire and I figured I must burn the tree, but it wouldn't catch on fire. So I looked it up online.... and I had to burn the tree. And it wouldn't work. I had to reset the game and skipped using water and then, finally, somehow, I burned the tree. Not fun.

 The game is still very linear and the game decides your two-man party on every stage, although this time around the CPU won't take over the other character, so you can just swap between them in case one gets hurt. It makes more sense in parties when Aang isn't present, since Aang can bend any element so you can solve every puzzle just using him.

 So the adventuring is slightly better.... but combat turned into a slogfest. Now combat is all about mashing square so that your character can cycle between his or her two attack animations until the enemy is weak and your character performs a finisher. It takes SO long to defeat enemies, and waves feel endless, and you deal so little damage. Sometimes the game lets you use bending to help, but it still takes TOO long. It's so boring. There's no block or dodge, which is incredibly poor design since enemies can just decide to block mid-way through your attacks and counter attack THROUGH your attacks. Eventually I figured that jumping and attacking as soon as they started blocking was the way to go, but it's dumb and you feel dumb. The bosses too, they are so boring, and in some cases it's hard to tell if you are actually dealing damage to them. Like the Azula and her lackey boss fight, I didn't know if I was doing something right or not, I just kept running with Sokka, spamming the boomerang until I stunned the lackey, hitting her, and then avoiding Azula's attack. And it took SO long to defeat them, and there was no hint or signal or anything to know that what I was doing was working.

 And the bugs.... besides the one I already mentioned, one time I got a soundless cutscene. Another time Toph got stuck next to the catapult. I couldn't move away, kill myself or reload a checkpoint. Right when I was about to give up, and I stopped pressing buttons, Toph un-stuck herself. Somehow. I don't know.

 Thus ends Avatar's run on the home consoles of its era, with a loud whimper. I can safely say that this was the most promising of the bunch, and the one that had the most interesting ideas when it came to bending, but I can also say that it's boring and unpolished. I'd stick with the first one, it was the most fun, and avoid the two sequels.

 4.0