Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory

"Interactive Artwork"

Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory can only be described as an interactive piece of artwork. The storyline is not very twisting, yet somehow it has depth. Conversation is limited but you still manage to get inside your character's head. It's similar to the piece of artwork you see that seems so simple but holds so much depth. The same applies to this game

Story: 10/10
Many say there IS no story, but they fail to appreciate a story that isn't told with words. This is a story told with actions. You play through this game as a type of robot known as an A.D.A.M. You can name your A.D.A.M. anything but since the default name is Gram that is what I will refer to the main character as. Right from the get go, there's a religious tone right there, with Adam and Purgatory, two well known names from Catholicism already seen from the get go. You travel up this tower, fighting through endless wave of robots. The story comes in little snippets before each boss fight. As you climb, Gram questions why he is fighting, and what the tower is. He soon realizes that the answer lies at the top. As you go along the game, you will constantly change and improve Gram, which shows Gram's mental evolution as he slowly continues to become the ultimate robot. There are heavy themes of Reincarnation involved in the game. There is also a heavy catholic theme that does not become apparent until the very end. The story is short, but it's like a beautiful poem. It only lasts a moment but there is so much behind it.

Game-play: 9/10
The game-play can either be tedious or exciting, depending on how you play. As you start the tower, you have only a gun and a sword which you can equip to your robot however you wish. As you go through the first floor when you defeat robots, doing damage to them after their life runs out increases your chances of getting equipment they had. You collect this equipment as well as an item called "elixir skins" from the robots. After all of this, you return to a central terminal room, where you can customize your A.D.A.M., save, or teleport to different floors. Customization works by equipping weapons, armor, or power ups into slots in Gram's head, chest, arms, or legs. This is actually rather fun as almost every weapon has a unique look. You can use the Elixir Skins to improve Gram's stats, upgrading his Life, Defense, slots for equipment in Gram's limbs, and how fast Gram's weapons heat up. This adds an RPG element to the game, as you may have to make more then one run-through of a floor to get your stats high enough, or find better equipment, for the next boss.

Here is where the game-play splits into different styles. You can load up with as many guns as possible and run through bullets flying, or you can go melee and dash in close combat. Then there are different types of guns. There's machine guns for quick potshots, power heavy cannons, and normal handgun style weapons. Then with the melee weapons, there are different types of swords, claws, axes, chainsaws and hammers which all attack differently. Then you can combine melee and gun weapons to effectively fight from all ranges. Many who find the game-play repetitive most likely assumed the game was "just a shooter" and completely ignored all of the melee weapons and 'weaker' guns.
Also, by double tapping the directional buttons, which is surprisingly easy, you can make Gram dash or side-roll, dodging all attacks. This leads to high speed fights forcing the player to calculate whether to attack up close, or back up and use a gun. Planning is essential, adding a strategy element. The game is also challenging. When Gram is defeated, all of his weapons are dropped. This can become frustrating and even aggravating, but can be overcome by saving frequently and soft resetting instead of trying to reclaim your equipment.

The Boss fights are pure fun, as you face off one on one with another robot of equal or higher strength as Adam. These fights can either be quick with one of the two competitors being blown away within several seconds, or they can drag out in a grueling fight to the death leaving the player with that satisfying feeling when they emerge victorious after several minutes of furious combat.

Multi-player function seems well, as you can play with other players via the ad-hoc mode, and trade items as well.

Sound: 8/10
The music is very fitting, a heavy adrenaline rush techno beat which provokes the feeling of mechanical battle. It does get a tad repetitive, but the music is different for every floor so it changes shortly after getting old. Sound effects are good, but limited. They seem to match the weapons. A rat-a-tat-tat for a machine gun, a BOOM for a cannon, a BLAM for a gun, and a strange sci fi blast for a plasma gun. Sound is important in the game, as different alerts and noises sound when Gram is low on health, his weapons overheat, and have to cool off, or when his weapons reload automatically. There's even a sound effect for when a new enemy appears in the room, giving the player ample warning of an oncoming attacker.

Visuals: 8/10
The graphics in the game are slightly above standard. At times they seem a wee bit blocky, and at other times they seem to be on the level of PS2. Curves on the equipment seems well done, however the ground seems to be arranged in squares. black dots occasionally appear between these squares while dashing. It gets annoying, but is easily overlooked as nothing else glitches. The special effects from some of the weapons are simply great, and the character designs are innovative. They're similar to the designs from Evangelion, yet they seem more robotic. There is also a large variety of equipment shapes, and the enemies mostly look unique. There is an artwork option on the main screen which shows off the various drawing and sketches of the bosses and other characters. The two cut-scenes in the game are absolutely stunning, easily on the level of Playstation 2.

Replay Value: 8/10
You have to traverse the tower twice to complete the storyline and the third time up,although no new story the enemy robots become much stronger with newer weapons. Also, playing various styles, all melee, all weapons, etc. Also setting challenges for yourself such as playing through the game with only basic weapons, or without raising stats adds further reason to play-through. There are also rare weapons that may take hours extra to find. The game takes roughly 5 to 6 hours to beat, but it could easily last from 7 to 8 hours to find all weapons and get maximum stats.

OVERALL: 9/10
A breathing piece of artwork, though short lived, Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory, simply put, is thrilling. The action is fresh and fun, if sometimes aggravating when you die. The story is deceptively deep, and the graphics and music are up to par with the other PSP games out. And if you enjoy it the game can provide many hours of replay value. If there is ever a sequel it would have to be far more story driven, and possibly with a jump button, but the game is amazing as it is.

RENT OR BUY?
Rengoku is amazing but if you don't absolutely love the game you may not feel inclined to play it after beating it once or twice. For that reason, rent it, and if you enjoy it, buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/31/05