I have never played Akuji before in my life; not even the demo from the those old playstation demon discs. In fact, beyond the Gex games I have never played a game developed by Crystal Dynamics. But, searching through the playstation games here I happened upon Akuji. Remembering it from someplace I decided to dive right into.





Story





Akuji's story is very predictable from the get go, and very entertaining in the least. In fact there are total four of characters in the story. protagonist, damsel who you barely see, person who tells what to do, and unseen "antagonist". Akuji could've had a neat story considering that you play as dead guy that journeys through the underworld, but instead they go for a very predictable story.





Graphics





The graphics were well made for the time it was made, though it shares graphical similarities to other Crystal Dynamics games like Tomb Raider. However, while I found the animations to be good, I found the melee animations for Akuji himself to be awkward looking. Another issue is the textures. While rather nice, they have tendency to shift position. What looked perfectly straight one moment will look crooked when you take a step. It also doesn't help that the game can be too dark that you can't see where to jump to next and you die.





Sound





Voice acting is rather nice but nothing I'd ever rave about. Sound effects are well made and very clear for everything in the game. The music uses this tribal style, which sounds nice but it very sticks in your head.





Gameplay





Like Gex Akuji uses a hub that is used to travel between levels. Within these levels you must use your platforming skills to get the portal at the end. However, there are a few of obstacles that stand in his way. First are these big stones that act as key that let you progress through the level, and used in every single level, every one. Second are the enemies, which are more annoying than difficult. These are killed either through magic or melee. Magic in Akuji works exactly like a shooter complete with "ammo". Players can pick up differeent types of magic (represented by horned skulls) that can be useful, but soon lose their luster when you keep missing thanks to awkward aiming and camera angles. You can go into first person to shoot easier but it makes you very vulnerable. Also you are not allowed to switch magic while the "bullets" are still flying. Frankly, that is why I found melee to be the better choice due to the fact that enemies get stun locked when you strike them repeatedly. Plus no reliance on ammo. There are also the awkward camera angles that make rather difficult to tell where you jumping next. Now, scattered throughout the levels will be these figurines and floating heads. You can increasing your health by collecting 100 figurines scattered through the levels. The floating headsare needed to unlock the boss (just like Gex 2 & 3). And just like the enemies, the bosses are more annoying than difficult, as they will just barrage you with their magic. They are also the only time that using magic is actually mandatory.





Akuji was a rather dull experience for me, and not something that I'd play again. A predictable storyline that doesn't inspire players to keep going. A featured mechanic that is ultimately out weighed by a lesser, and frankly more useful, mechanic. Akuji does very little to inspire more games based off vodoo mythology.

Well this seems like an honest review from an objective gamer. While I hate to see games get bad ratings, I know the bad ones are out there (and far more of them than we'd care to admit lol), so negative reviews are necessary. Good job here.

Eirinn : objectivity is not very easy in entertainment media, it is vastly subjective. What may be the best thing ever to one person may be the worst thing ever to another. Ride to Hell: Retribution is considered to be the worst game in 2013, but i'm sure someone liked it possibly. yep..Ride to Hell: Retribution (PC) has 42 positive user ratings. http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/ride-to-hell-retribution/user-reviews?dist=positive

Also what is it with the media turning every god of the dead into a villain. These deities may be not the best people, but barely anyone of them are hostile against mortals. Disney turned Hades into a villain, but in mythology he is fairly neutral like the rest of the greek gods.

Indeed. E.T. is considered by many to be the worst game of all time, but I can easily name games that are worse than it (Slaughtersport and Dark Castle to name a few). And Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde is a widely hated title (also considered one of the worst games ever), but I actually enjoyed it. I just appreciate seeing negative --but mature-- reviews once in a while because it keeps people more informed. If every game review raves about how good a game is, what is the point in reading them anymore? We should then just buy/play every game ever made!

As for the question you asked, I suppose people tend to view death as a bad thing, but in all honesty, it really isn't. Look at a 100+ year old person. Given how far downhill they usually have gone in health, why would they want to live another 100 years? Or the gravely/terminally ill, with all of the pain they feel toward the end, death is something of a release for them physically (if you believe in the spiritual, that can be a different story. I do). So just as often as death is bad, it's also good. If anything I'd call it neutral.

Eirinn : I never heard of slaughterport or dark castle

The deities that I know to be evil are Loki, Angri Mainyu, and Set

This seems like a fair review, I agree to most of the things you pointed out in Akuji. You even made me realize all of the flaws in the game to. Nice review, good job!