Old Gems: "The Cursed Crusade" by Atlus

This gem had a demo a while back on the PSN and XBLA, and its developer showed promise, for Atlus has a reputation of low release prices and rather untouched topics (Not often you get medieval ground hack n' slash, eh?), but a relatively low-release/post release hype.

The Review:
Story: "The Cursed Crusade", I'd say, is interesting, to say the least, two men linked through a common "curse", Denz de Bayle, a man raised by a Templar who had left for the previous crusade, but had yet to return, is seeking out his father to reclaim the father's property, since he is the only one who can reacquire it; the other, Esteban Noviembre, a rather "low-life" traveling thief, is simply a thief, and is traveling, seeking riches.

• The Curse connecting them: The curse, implied to be a result of the biblical, "The sins of the father", Exodus 20:5, is the beginning connection between the two protagonists. Both are damned to hell vicariously, and for this reason, are allowed to see in the hellish world of their reality, as well as use powers through it that can damage others and heal each other. The caveat, however, is that they are chased throughout their lives by a personification of "death", one only seen through their hellish alternate reality, intent on condemning them to hell personally, it's later implied (explicitly, if I remember correctly) that "Cursed" individuals are his favorite to take.

Prologue(s): 

Denz is returning to his home town, where he meets some people that are completely insignificant, and they attack, fight ensues, and if you don't suck, you win. It is then that Death appears, and the curse is shown. At the time, the characters are not equipped to fight back, so Denz flees to a church, of which he knows from previous experiences is something Death in this form cannot enter. /Denz prologue

Esteban is resting at a makeshift campfire at a crossroads, when some individuals approach calling Esteban one who has cheated them in a previous heist. Again, if you don't suck, you win, Death appears, but in this instance, Esteban believes these situations to be a nightmare, and then runs to a church and proceeds to "sleep it off". /Esteban prologue

The Official Story:

The protagonists meet through an assault on a castle, hired as mercenaries, they team up through necessity, of sorts, and the combat follows. They progress to the apex of the tower/objective, where they meet a Templar of the previous Crusade, one that knew the Templar's son through his father.

After the initial finishing of the combat (typical boss fight, two parts, second they're stronger/new mechanic involved), the Templar reveals himself as another cursed, in the next scene, Esteban believes it to be a nightmare once again, and Denz reassures it is not, and they proceed to fight the ex-Templar.

Afterwards, the "Benefactor" of the assault comes forth and removes the protagonists from the scene. Denz, of course, wants to know more of his father, so he is not a happy camper.

Yadda yadda yadda, both continue together, since Denz saved Esteban's life through the curse's implications, Esteban believes he owes Denz a life-debt, so stays with him. Denz believes his father is still alive, this belief reinvigorated by the encounter with his father's previous Crusade buddy. They go to a tournament being held  to recruit people for the next crusade, and meet the same people from the previous assault on the castle.

Especially a certain one with the curse, who, throughout the story Denz and Esteban fight nearly 4 times, and defeat each time, but keeps coming back, it's pretty damned annoying. Not to mention he's the opposite of affable.

Next, crusade is derailed because of "needs for funds" to repay their debt to the Venetians for funding the crusade. They stop at some island that's name is unimportant, assault this island, meet another cursed individual, benefactor comes forth with ulterior motives, they leave for their destination.

SPOILER ALERT: SOUND THE KLAXON

Same thing happens about twice maybe, thrice more. they then end up sacking and taking control of the next city, Denz and Esteban have their moral qualms and etc, as expected.

Funny reference to 300, then a frustating bossfight ensues, then another fight begins with absurdly easy for its premise bossfight, in which two characters immediately die before control is handed to the main characters, shame, for I thought they were interesting.

Benefactor's ulterior motive is revealed, they are trying to absolve themselves from the curse by acquiring and using in whole the holy relics of the crucifixion: the Spear, the Crown of Thorns, Ashes of the Cross, and something else that Denz' father was carrying, the major reason the Benefactor is chasing the father, and the reason for this crusade.

This is where the game ends, for some disappointing reason.

Final cutscene shows the father, who had a left a clue for Denz to find him, waiting for his arrival.

The Benefactor arrives first, and the very first part is them drawing their swords and charging.

SPOILER ALERT OVER

Combat: This game's combat is the usual rigmarole of button-mashing, with some interruptions of triggers and tertiary buttons. Parries, dodges, combos, combos are unlocked as the game progresses and you do well/find extra objectives; combos usually aren't too easy to pull off, since most combat is not one-on-one, and when it is, unless it is on "Nightmare" (Insanity?) difficulty, combos are not really viable to be finished. And I, as one of those flashy combo guys in video games, as compared to the "jabbers" and "x'ers", I was somewhat disappointed when I had to block every two hits. Instructions in the game are satisfactory in all respects except the "grab" option, after two playthroughs, I still did not fully understand it.
Combat gives good visual clues for parry opportunities, but the cursed vision makes these two harder to discern, especially for those with difficulty from discerning green from red, myself included.



I believe this part to be of special notice: the voice-acting.
Denz de Bayle is probably one of the most monotone characters I've ever seen, at times, it's pretty hilarious, especially compared to Esteban's jocular attitude and voice.
Coop makes this game much better, especially if you're directly communicating with them, friends work even better. Singleplayer, can't say the AI makes it that enjoyable, but I've not seen many things I'm annoyed by.
Overall, this game is the definition of a "Hidden Gem", it's not unbearable, it's not perfect, it may be considered "sub-par", but it definitely something worth trying out, for cheap. Fuck's sake, the link has 9,99 USD brand new. What are you doing reading this, dumbass? Go get it. Don't act like you're going to play this like the midnight release of Halo, play like you just wanna have fun, and enjoy yourself.

I give it 4 arbitrary things out of 7 arbitrary things.


Next time, I'll review Hunted: The Demon's Forge, one I honestly liked more than "The Cursed Crusade".

Witty Catchphrase