The God Of War Knockoff Collection | Failed Franchise Edition

Hello and welcome back to the God of War knockoffs collection. This isn't the first entry in my series of videos on the topic, but you don't need to watch the others to get an idea for what I'm doing here. Basically, around the mid-2000s into the early 2010s, a lot of games attempted to play off of the gameplay formula that God of War had established and make their own game with it. Because massive success begets imitators. This resulted in many many similar games, some good, some bad. The degree to which these games ripped off God of War varies from entry to entry, but it's a very specific weak attack, strong attack, grab, block, quick time event, high angle camera formula that can be instantly recognized. Much in the same way that you can instantly recognize a game that ripped off the Arkham Asylum Style punch counter combat. I was struggling to find a connecting theme for the various potential games I could have covered. Until I realized I noticed a fairly recurring pattern among some of these games. Because here's the thing, most games that attempted to rip off God of War had at least one sequel, wasn't intended to be a franchise, or was part of an ongoing franchise in itself. However there were also a lot of games that were intended to launch franchises, but fell flat on their face from the moment they left the birth canal. There's some cases where you can only presume that it was meant to launch a franchise, but other cases where it's well publicized that they were supposed to be more games, before a sequel ultimately never materialized. So today I thought I'd take a look at games that attempted to launch franchise while attempting to play like God of war, but never made it past the first entry. So this is the God of War knockoffs collection, failed franchises edition. Today we'll be looking at Heavenly Sword, Asura's Wrath, X-Blades, Knights Contract and Marlow Briggs And The Mask Of Death.
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#godofwar #godofwarknockoffs #godofwarweapons

[@conmanwolf405]

Fun fact: The reason Heavenly Sword hasn't had a sequel isn't because of bad sales or market viability. It's because nobody at the development team knew where they wanted to take the sequel. As such, it spent years languishing in and out of development. So it not having a sequel seems to be more an inability to decide on a sequel. So as for whether or not I call that a failed franchise... Eh. It has a definitive ending.

[@mateusfelipecardoso40kview3]

Just make a prequel!

[@ShatteredGlass916]

​@@mateusfelipecardoso40kview3a prequel about the previous owner of the blades sounds cool. Maybe it used to belong to that crazy king's friend, whom he grew jealousy upon, which lead to King Bohan's (is that his name? Sorry) conquest for the blades Or maybe a sequel involving that weird bowgun kid

[@NebLleb]

@@ShatteredGlass916 Actually, a sequel using the concept of the Heavenly Sword being passed on to a different owner would be pretty clever.

[@ShatteredGlass916]

@@NebLleb I mean it's the only way right? Maybe have Nariko's soul trapped inside and the only way to escaped is if the current user's dead and replaced the trapped souls, allowing the previous soul to pass on. Maybe having Nariko's soul so powerful that she can communicate to the next user and maybe they could bond from there. Maybe the king have a secret heir that were exiled during King Bohan's conquest and now just returned to the news that his father is killed and seeks revenge

[@willdiesel8431]

Where did you get that "fun fact"? There's many avenues they could take for sequel, sounds like a copout.

[@seth_k2078]

Asura's Wrath was one game I've wanted to play for years.

[@wallcity318]

Its super simplistic but fun, not really a gow clone but more of a playable anime. Ive wanted more since ive played it

[@ExtremeGameplays1]

Play it on KZbin.

[@deityofcrystals]

Emulate it

[@angelganon8213]

If you have xbox it's on sale right now for 4 dollars

[@commando0110]

its so so fun. im way more interested in it than god of war

[@luxzord865]

Another missed opportunity to call this the "Knock Off War" series.

[@donovanfaust3227]

To me that title sounds like it would be about knock offs in general and not GoW likes.

[@misterboxhead3045]

Knock knock

[@nilesstark]

Right. Sounds more like a Mope Video in terms of Heavenly Sword.

[@StormGardenHedgefleet]

Asura's Wrath also had a DLC involving Street Fighter IV Where Asura fought Not just Ryu/Evil Ryu but also Fought Akuma/Oni Sadly this dlc didnt continue after the Akuma/Oni DLC

[@willdiesel8431]

I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned even in passing.

[@misterboxhead3045]

It didn't because that was the end, after several years of neither won the battle but even so they still keep fighting

[@nilesstark]

And even after 500 years, we still need a winner.

[@rinyahto3852]

Who would you really have him fight after Akuma though?

[@mars7357]

Asuras wrath is so goated and I love it to this day

[@neggaballs3840]

More like asuras mid

[@Raging_Asura]

17:03 Deus literally means ''God'' Edit: yeah, I think Asura's Wrath is not for you, lol (Also the fact that people told you it's a GoW clone is wild. Are all games that have Gods as the main characters now considered GoW clones?)

[@bwestacado9643]

Yeah I'm in agreement with you. The game plays more like DMC and Bayonetta with Bayonetta's crazy set pieces. Nothing about this game at all reminds me of GoW

[@TheReZisTLust]

Does that mean Pokemon Legends Arceus is a God of War game 🤔

[@TheReZisTLust]

Does that mean Pokemon Legends Arceus is a God of War game 🤔

[@incaseofimportantnegotiations]

@@TheReZisTLust age of mythology is a god of war clone

[@Badboy25251]

​@@incaseofimportantnegotiations megami tensei is a gow clone.

[@IntenseGamer17]

I'm glad Asura's wrath is getting more recognition these days.

[@bread5384]

Same, it's so underrated

[@neggaballs3840]

Nah @@bread5384

[@SacrificAbominat]

Asura's Wrath being an interactive anime divided people from the start, but the ending being DLC was the final nail in the coffin. I genuinely like the game a lot, as well as the DLC which was epic AF, but I can see why it didn't appeal to people back then. I do think people would be more open to a concept like this today, but due to Asura's Wrath's failure CC2 was basically relegated to doing licensed anime games for the past decade instead of making their original IPs. They kind of structure those games similarly to Asura's Wrath from what I've seen, but it would be nice to see them try and do this concept again with an original IP at some point in the future. They do self publish their original IPs nowadays so maybe this will happen again.

[@fishnutz5196]

People would most deffinately love it if it was remade. The combat and boss fights of FF16 is very Ashura's Wrath

[@SacrificAbominat]

@@fishnutz5196 Yeah FF16 was very similar to Asura's Wrath. Though the pacing was more like an RPG with breaks in-between the big fights instead of Asura's Wrath keeping you in the action for most of the experience.

[@fishnutz5196]

@@SacrificAbominat yeah for sure! The set pieces though deffinately gave me Ashura vibes.

[@heitorpedrodegodoi5646]

I still dont understanf what an interactive anime means.

[@SacrificAbominat]

​@@heitorpedrodegodoi5646 Asura's Wrath is setup just like an anime with episodes and midpoint slides for commercials. About 75% of the experience is cutscenes with QTEs that go with action that's happening in them. To say the least this was a very divisive experience for a lot of people at the time. The last 4 episodes, 2 more 2D animated episodes, and 2 Street Fighter crossover episodes being DLC was even more controversial at the time, especially the true ending being DLC. IMO though they were all worth it especially the last 4 episodes which are on the same level as Bayonetta's epic ending. It is worth playing due to the QTEs enhancing the experience. Though if you can't stream it through PS+ or play it through an emulator you can watch a commentary free let's play of it an enjoy it that way.

[@Bardia006plus1]

it's a shame that fans treated some of these games as a "god of war clone" and because of that those games never riched the spot that they deserved.

[@tigerfestivals5137]

​@@ghost656metal8clone implies they have nothing of value to offer on their own, so fans were wrong in cases like Asura's Wrath

[@tigerfestivals5137]

@@ghost656metal8 just because something is a commercial failure doesn't mean it has no value as a game. It just means it didn't reach a wide enough audience to sell enough copies

[@shoken4421]

@ghost656metal8 The reason asuras wrath failed was because the ending was locked behind paid dlc ,maybe actually read up on asuras wrath before typing none sense.

[@tigerfestivals5137]

@@shoken4421 yeah and that was most likely a decision on the publisher, Capcom's', part who was known for doing scummy dlc practices at the time too

[@fusioncell7669]

@@tigerfestivals5137 From what I've heard the DLC was originally meant to be the story for Asura's Wrath 2, but since the game didn't sell well enough to warrant a sequel, they instead decided to take what they had and make it a DLC so that there was a proper conclusion to the story.

[@ShadowD.Joestar]

Personally, I've felt that Asura's Wrath really was more like an interactive anime, intended or not, and I loved it anyway.

[@matthewmccoyd2578]

And that explains everything CyberConnect2 has done since. And I LOVE IT

[@DarkOverlord96]

Wait... a game where the main character is killed but is then revived by a Mesoamerican mask that's also very snarky and now must go and rescue his girlfriend? Did Marlow Briggs just ripoff fuckin' Splatterhouse?

[@jurtheorc8117]

Tep's not quite as mean or snarky as the Terror Mask-- in fact at one point Marlow gets a mean slight in on Tep that makes the *latter* cry :P sweet to see someone know that version of Splatterhouse, though!

[@gmradio2436]

Why do people call Asura's Wrath a GoW-like? The mechanics resemble DMC 3 more. A single primary attack button with pause combos, a ranged attack, a style button, devil trigger equivalent, lock on, and evasion being the defensive option.

[@DarkOverlord96]

I think it's MOSTLY because of the story and characters, really.

[@gmradio2436]

@@DarkOverlord96 Angry dad kills god. I can see it.

[@shoken4421]

@DarkOverlord96 if you played the game you know asuras wrath plays NOTHING like gow there's no weapons,no health or armor upgrades ,heck there aren't even loot boxes in the game ,where how had multiple levels and mini stages asuras wrath was basically a beatem up in every sense of the word . The story lines aren't even similar,kratos gets tricked into killing his family and asura is branded a traitor for killing a fellow deity which he didn't do ,he also had his daughter kidnapped by his comrades and his wife was murdered by these same comrades. How that makes asura a gow clone is not even close . Asuras wrath was loosely based on Hindu and Japanese folklore .

[@rastapopoulos5808]

Yeah it doesn't make any sense when GOW is itself a DMC knock-off, from the combo system to weapon upgrade it owe everything to it. That the video doesnt seem to address this is kind of dishonest.

[@shoken4421]

@@rastapopoulos5808 guess the uploader forgot to mention that lol

[@kennydarmawan13]

18:00 Also known as Despair. You forgot to mention that there was a time when people thought Asura was Kratos done right. And I think they're confusing being sympathetic with being complex/deep/appealing. Asura, as a character, is sympathetic. He was merely a family man before he was brutally wronged. And never lashes out at the undeserving. And behind his raging, screaming exterior is just a guy who wants to stop evil. However, that only makes him likable, not getting the audience to like him as a character in the same vein as Walter White. Trust me, Greek-era Kratos wasn't perfect, but he was a complex figure. TBP definitely made a video discussing that in great detail. And no over-the-top button mashing moment in AW can match the time Kratos had to push away his daughter the same way he kills those hideous beasts.

[@ariwilliams513]

Fr

[@ArcadeFanatic99]

Videos like this remind me that the real tragedy of Asura's wrath isn't the fact that it's an underrated gem, it's the fact that people who do talk about it barely know anything about it.

[@ARStudios2000]

You had me in the first half, not gonna lie.

[@danieladamczyk4024]

Thats a film with qta. What did you expected?

[@revolverjesus98]

As a Kingdom Hearts fan, finding out X Blade exists is going to forever bring images of this game whenever I hear the word keyblade

[@XxSpirothKurotamaMOONLIGHTxX]

so what.

[@revolverjesus98]

@@XxSpirothKurotamaMOONLIGHTxX Nah man, there's no way in hell you actually named yourself like it's 2006 💀

[@PhantomBones101]

Marlow Briggs is highly intriguing to me. Not just because of its God of War gameplay, but because its so rare we get games with Aztec or Mayan themes and its something I always keep an eye out for in gaming. The closet thing we've had outside of this have been lack luster at best.

[@wilm2109]

I know what you mean, it's slim pickings out there, but there are a few. There is Aztez, a beat-em up/strategy hybrid, and Expeditions Conquistador, a historical crpg. I think Guacamelee also counts, but I never played it. I have a hard time thinking about anything close to games based on Mayan/Aztec in the last decade, I wasn't even aware about Marlow Briggs.

[@jurtheorc8117]

Can't help with games, but Maya and the Three is an animated Netflix series that takes inspiration from Mesoamerican cultures for its entire world and three of the main characters (Aztec/Maya mix for the main character, Aztec for an archer, Peruan inspiration for a barbarian. There's also a mage, but him and his culture inspirations lie with Caribbean influences, if i'm not mistaken). It's not a 1-to-1 representation of historical Mesoamerican stuff, think of it more as a fantasy world with that specific setting.

[@PhantomBones101]

@@jurtheorc8117 I saw that that was actually a pretty good show

[@PhantomBones101]

@@wilm2109 The closest things I've been able to find in current gen consol is Aztech the Forgotten Gods and Mulaka. Both are good but highly unpolished

[@Mankey619]

Marlow Briggs looks like a rejected Dwayne Johnson movie project, that turned into a video game.

[@oharaandrew314]

In X-Blades, the use of spaces as the thousands separator in large numbers isn't weird at all; it's actually the international standard as defined by ISO 31-0. It specifically discourages the use of periods or commas as the separator, since those characters are reserved for use by the decimal sign.

[@GiordanDiodato]

it is Hungarian so make of that what you will

[@lightmohamed5700]

Asura’s wrath mentioned again? Damn been a while. Poor game it deserved better

[@HishamA.N_Comicbroe]

Asura's Wrath was always one of the coolest games ever for me. Ik it gets flake for being full of cutscenes but the gameplay is great.

[@matthewmccoyd2578]

Press LS to Bro-Fist

[@Rust324]

Finally, a new god of war knockoff video, now, I shall eat pasta while vibing to it

[@jurtheorc8117]

May the pata and the video both make a good experience that elevate each other.

[@Rust324]

@@jurtheorc8117 real

[@JcgLounge]

0:00 Beginning 1:53 Heavenly Sword 15:59 Asura’s Wrath 27:54 X-Blades 38:40 Knight’s Contract 51:24 Marlow Briggs

[@tituikabussaa]

Thank you savior

[@maskedhobo]

I think in Asura's Wrath was using Deus because it is Latin for god.

[@tigerfestivals5137]

Yeah how could he not know that

[@MagiaBased]

Asura's Wrath is the greatest experience ever and you can't convince me otherwise

[@devonwilliams5738]

5:40 Wow, that was a quick turnaround. I bet this is the first proper piece of media to make a "Giant Enemy Crab/Massive Damage" joke. Overall, Knights Contract and Marlow Briggs are both games I'm going to look out for now.

[@super8bitable]

If Asura’s Wrath did the Telltale approach (have the first episode free and have the rest be paid for the digital version while having the physical version contain everything) it probably wouldn’t have gotten the kind of reputation that it did.

[@micshork]

I absolutely love Heavenly Sword. I really wish it had gotten a sequel.

[@dominiquejones3805]

Facts

[@tituikabussaa]

Or pc port

[@Badboy25251]

Sadly, from what I last remember, the developers didn't know where to take the sequel, so it kinda got pushed aside. Sony seems to have a thing with releasing good games and never making sequels or prequels. One of my favorite forgotten Sony games was the legend of dragoon. The game was supposed to get a prequel, but because of poor sales at the time, it was scrapped. They even scrapped the main character for Sony all stars.

[@girlywolfpup1588]

I personally don't have an issue with Ayumi's design but I will agree with the take that Nariko from Heavenly Sword has the far more visually interesting design if we're comparing the two.

[@DarkOverlord96]

So... sexy women give gaming a bad reputation and are an embarrassment... but not the increasingly realistic gore and violence... ...huh?

[@tigerfestivals5137]

Modern double standards

[@neliaironwood7573]

Gameloft had a God of War clone called Hero of Sparta for mobile and PSP. There are literally green orbs and blue orbs from killing enemies. Though I could see Hero of Sparta on the Medieval Edition alongside Garshap: Monster Slayer, Conan (2007), and Tehra: Dark Warrior. I could see a Horror Edition with Splatterhouse (2010), Bloodforge, Ninja Blade, and Alice: Madness Returns.

[@tigerfestivals5137]

Getting colored orbs from killing enemies isn't really an original thing though. Even Jak and Daxter does that

[@q306005]

I remember when Marlow Briggs came out, my favorite KZbinr made a video on it that was just them going "Oh my god! Fuck yeah! This game is so awesome!" For roughly 30 minutes. I ended up getting the game free on Steam a few years after that. Never played it, but it always looked super awesome and fun.

[@rbrick3685]

Maybe not fully related, but I do wanna say we’ve come full circle with the Kratos and Diablo comparison. People now see the Barbarian in Diablo 4 and go: “Kratos rip off” but forget that Kratos’ tattoos were made red because people were calling HIM a barbarian rip off from Diablo 2. Honestly wild

[@Tom-tp1yg]

17:00 "Deus" is latin for God, and it's still used in many languages. It's a god named "God" it is weird, but they might not have thought of "Zeus" when naming him.

[@InternetNinja100]

I bet Tactical would have a heart attack after playing Bayonetta because that game is horny as Hell

[@DarkOverlord96]

Weird because he DOES mention Bayonetta from time to time and always in a positive light.

[@InternetNinja100]

​@DarkOverlord96 maybe his political views have changed

[@neliaironwood7573]

Bayonetta is more like Devil May Cry than God of War, so its unlikely to be on future installments because its too well known. Plus, Bayonetta at least plays pretty solidly unlike most of these knockoffs he plays. Most games he plays on this series averages around 50-70 on Metacritic or sometimes lower than that.

[@Deriv44]

Heavenly Sword, I believe, had great potential for at least sequel if not a trilogy

[@henros4188]

Asuras Wrath isn’t failed it’s A MASTERPIECE

[@dominiqueodom3099]

I personally couldn't get into Heavenly blade due to how badly the motion Controls were implemented when it came to those sections that forced mandatory aiming the Arrow's Flight Trajectory towards enemies heads.

[@deroriginalealucard]

Oh man, that was a nightmare. 😅

[@elmono6299]

Oh my God. Thank you for bringing that up. I absolutely hated the "after touch" controls, and it made some levels frustratingly difficult to beat (looking at you, semi-final boss fight). I swear if this game ever got an HD remake, they really need to get rid of those horrible "motion capture controls" and replace them with more traditional controls.

[@ealexjrdn1]

​@@elmono6299it's more that the motion controls needed to be tightened up than replaced. The basic concept was sound, the rpg folklore on ps3 was a perfect example of the sixaxis controls being implemented and working perfectly. It's the same feeling I have for older Ubisoft assassin's creed games; strong ideas that would have been excellent with refinement, but got continuously taken out instead of improved.

[@dominiqueodom3099]

@@ealexjrdn1 the controls being tightened up and used on the right areas fits here. Rather than forcing the Archer Girl to be utterly useless without a Bow and forcing us to game with the Axis,just make her a Long Distance Archer/Glass Cannon type character and have her focus on Counterattacks and peppering her enemies with Shots. A good example for how the Axis could be used in smaller ways is in Ghost of Tsushima where they just have you guide the Axis controller through a Path on screen as you play the Flute during Slower moments of the game rather than in the Middle of Combat. The music is beautiful,the Scenery is Gorgeous and there isn't anything fanatic to get in your way of the combat.

[@mookiedt]

I actually found it fun to use

[@VRHyoumaru]

Marlow Briggs reminds me a lot of the Splatterhouse reboot, in ways both good and bad including the "unfinished story with no sequel" part.

[@DarkOverlord96]

So I wasn't the only one who noticed lol

[@Hatsworthful]

Considering that CC2 both did a crapload of anime fighting games (often capturing setpiece moments/fights really well) and uses it to basically fund their own passion projects (that being stuff like asura and .hack were, and that FUGA/the other little tail bronx games are), the influences and why they went so hard on lore depth and quantity. Solatorobo sorta did the same, adding a crapload of lore ranging from ancient culture to household appliances and fashion, but it had the benefit of being a ficctional setting built from the ground up and one that was already established, despite tail concerto not really telling much about the world itself. And they are still going with it with FUGA 1 and 2 expanding things even further.

[@qitiandasheng2597]

All due respect because I love your takes. However, Asura's Wrath was meant to be looked at as an interactive anime more than just a video game. That's why it's quick time events and cutscenes to immerse you into the things that happen. Yes, the gameplay is flawed and could use work, but otherwise, the game is meant to be played and looked at in an anime pov not just a game.

[@mundanehatred]

Hell yeah, new video to help get me through my work shift, already know its gonna be good, keep up the great work ❤

[@benvanasdale6273]

I never knew what kind of game Marlow Briggs was, but I got it free through XBL Gold a while back. As soon as you started talking about it and I saw the combat, I turned my Series X on and started downloading it. Thank you for shedding a light on games I would've missed out on otherwise! Awesome job, as always.

[@gameplaynia5021]

Sadly Asuras wrath was dealt a bad hand with the ending being sold separately and bad frame rates. I remember the lowering the resolution to 720p on the PS3 hoping it helped.

[@Dowux]

How dare you called Asura's Wrath a knockoff.

[@jayDee92133]

Heavenly Sword is cool but damn it's really short.

[@Kate_Hanami]

for those that don't know (including TBP over there) God of War 2 was intentionally delay and was put on the PS2 instead of the PS3 because Santa Monica wanted to close the PS2's life cycle with a bang by squeezing years of experience instead of dropping everything and try to dabble (and fail) trying to make a game for a newer console with an architecture no one known too much about yet

[@louissanchez4782]

Asura's wrath is amazing and with a good story

[@17bergman]

Heavenly sword wouldve been fine if we didnt hav to control kai as much because the aiming was almost too difficult for me to even try

[@markula_4040]

5:20 "one of the most obnoxious fictional characters I've ever encountered" Damn, that's harsh criticism. Tiny Tina from Borderlands gets my vote in that dept. Would have been fine if they just left her as a quest giver in the one game and that's it but no. They had feature her as much as possible going forward forcing me to either endure or just give up on the entire series because they will never move past her.

[@erocrhyder]

Pretty sure Asura's wrath isn't a failure, that game was great.

[@Badboy25251]

The games story and world are great the sales were not.

[@endplanets]

Great stuff. ZP's review of X-Blades is also the only time I have heard of it. Having light/heavy attacks is pretty common. Like saying Mortal Kombat Shoalin Monks is a GoW ripoff.

[@charleschamp9826]

All I know about Heavenly Sword before this video was that one gif showing the amount of time between an input on the controller and Nariko responding to it. Though after this I wouldn't mind seeing it be revived, starting with porting the first game forward to current systems. Boost the frame rate to 60fps, make it more stable, lower the input response times, revise the controls somewhat, and you can have a similar type of game to God of War that can alternate releases with that series. Would like to see Asura's Wrath ported forward, with all the DLC just included in the base game, as well.

[@elmono6299]

Please remove the after touch controls and replace them with traditional controls to make some levels playable.

[@XBlazePS3]

Good GOW knockoffs in my opinion are DarkSiders (the first one) castlevania lords of shadows and dante's inferno

[@jurtheorc8117]

Bacon's made a few other videos on this subject that showcase those very games. Not yet the sequels, though.

[@thiefthearcher9907]

Heavenly Sword and Asuras Wrath were games I was always salty never got sequels or remakes. Imagine the time and polish really making them pop. Maybe one day. That and Dante’s Inferno

[@EatWave]

At the very least, X-Blades had the potential to be a decent game which Blades of Time realized. Since it wasn't quite the jump that Street Fighter 2 was over Street Fighter, there was little chance of Blades of Time kickstarting a franchise.

[@derrickhaggard]

To add to that said reboot aka Blades of Time which like you said was loved by fans the issue was Konami who had bought the rights to X-Blades when making the reboot Blades of Time they didn't market it all a example of this was the fact Konami finally decided to drop Blades of Time's announcement trailer on it's release day. And yes I had both X-Blades, and Blades of Time for my 360.

[@MaximG.]

7:33 - wow, so this is where the angel/demon modes in DmC came from

[@treasureedison548]

Female main characters are loved in gaming since metroid in zero suit samus

[@DarkOverlord96]

Yeah, but she's a gorgeous curvy blonde outside her suit so she apparently doesn't count anymore.

[@tigerfestivals5137]

Lots of cool female characters in JRPGs as well

[@treasureedison548]

@@tigerfestivals5137 yes your right jrpg have good female main characters how that the future one are just as good

[@AVGB.Karma_Bitches]

I've not played any of these games, but Heavenly Sword gives me a bit of Fable vibes.

[@jurtheorc8117]

how so, if i may ask? I'm having trouble seeing the correlation, but am curious to know why.

[@AVGB.Karma_Bitches]

@@jurtheorc8117 ... Mainly, there's a slight resemblance of the same kind of moral ethical system. Not saying that there's matching gameplay in Heavenly Sword, but I could see the MC having her clothing darken and so on, for each unethical or immoral deed she did.

[@mateusfelipecardoso40kview3]

By The graphics or plot format?

[@jurtheorc8117]

@@AVGB.Karma_Bitches thank you for clarifying. I really don't see the affiliation on the moral front between Fable and Heavenly Sword, though. From what i know of Fable, the moral/ethical system comes from player choice on how to progress a story, but i don't know the depths of it. The unethical or immoral parts to Nariko's story come from the designations of others. Such being born a woman instead of a man, like an ancient prophecy foretold, and for actually taking up the Heavenly Sword to wield it as a weapon despite it being reserved for said warrior of prophecy. Due to the obsession around the Sword and its related prophecies, Nariko's life was over before it ever began. Faced life-long discrimination within her clan for it, and while she may take up the blade she loathes it with all her being for it. That becomes a theme in the game-- that an object, so revered, held sacred, and fetishized (in the religious form of the word, not the Freudian one) is the cause of the very conflict that it is foretold to end. Regardless of anyone actually wielding it or not. Inside an active conflict or not, the Sword's very existence claims victims. It's quite incredible that Nariko's managed to stay her ground on good morals all the way through. And that she is willing to fight for those that through fear, frustration and prejudice from an old story (the prophecy) brought a lot of grief into her life.

[@SAINZHALLOW]

If there is one good thing Cyberconnect can do, it's spectacle if we go by their Naruto fighting games. Capcom did a good choice when using them for such a bombastic game as Asura's Wrath. It's hard to really say how a sequel for that series can really work. It was a pretty compact story (even when some of it was DLC). I guess a remake might work with reworked combat if Capcom can give them resources from the DMC team. Think a meshing between base Asura and Devil May Cry level exploring/puzzle solving/combo fighting might do it some good.

[@ShatteredGlass916]

"Capcom never shy away from killing unsuccessfull franchise" **me looking at Sengoku Basara's corpses**

[@Sora623898]

I'm glad to see Marlow Briggs getting some attention. That game looked so interesting when it came out and it has a great sense of humor. I watched a friend playing it, and was disappointed I couldn't get it myself at the time. Disappointing that we'll never get a new game.

[@MichaelChristol]

We need an Asura's Wrath remake real bad

[@user-dh6pz5eo2r]

Really great video bro🎩👏

[@Imspiderman14]

Asura’s Wraith, was one the greatest games ive played growing up as a kid. It may felt like God of war, but It was different in its on way. The story alone was immaculate and different. I haven’t played the others named in the video but if you have a chance play Asura’s Wraith. You won’t be sorry.

[@HimryJr]

Asura's Wrath is definitely not a knock off of GOW, those two games arent similar in any way imo

[@RacerC45]

Come on, X Blades wasn't even that bad, and you're going to complain about how a character is dressed? Need I introduce you to Tifa from Final Fantasy 7, Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury, or Miranda Lawson and Jack from Mass Effect 2?

[@DarkOverlord96]

Or 2B from NieR: Automata, Ivy Valentine from SoulCalibur, the entire female cast of Dead Or Alive and Bayonetta?

[@i7i.525]

Thanks for this video brother TBP

[@alanezequielfarias7230]

Nice video. Keep the good work!

[@Shockwerk]

"twing twang" Zero Punctuation, anyone?

[@elmono6299]

I actually liked Heavenly Sword, and I enjoyed the game for its story, hack & slash mechanics, art direction, and Andy Serkis as King Bohan. I also fond Nariko to be pretty hot and easily one of my video game crushes. However, my biggest criticism about that game has got to be the terrible "After Touch" controls, which feels like a poor attempt to copy the Wii's motion controls with the PS3 controller but it was very tedious to control and it made some levels almost unplayable for how frustrating they are. It doesn't help the fact they're done in airplane style controls.

[@mistahbeardo]

A few GoW knockoffs you should check out are Splatterhouse (2010), Conan (2007), and Disney's Bolt.

[@Sammy-jt7wp]

Thank you for more game recommendations. 😇

[@TheAsianLover]

X blades is a game a played on a old 360 demo disc and swiftly forgot it, 4 years later I buy x blades (In the Aus the case is the back half of her) and I played the first level and gave up and it sits on my shelf now.

[@Mr.Foxhat]

I remember hearing that Pandora's Tower for the Wii was a God of War like.

[@erlanddrow7950]

A new one to binge now that I finished moving 🙃

[@Revan058]

Sir. Sir. _Sir_ . I will not hear any slander against Marlow 'That's Nasty!' Briggs! He's a hero to us all! Seriously, though. That cutsceen on a budget tech they had, with the stopped-time panning was hype as hell. I super hope to see someone else pick that trick up, I loved it.

[@jurtheorc8117]

I see *someone* watched Best Friends Play's series on Marlow Briggs from back then.

[@felman87]

I remember Conan the Barbarian being one of those God of War clones. I saw it and thought "hey, this looks pretty good for the PS2" only to realize it was actually on the HD consoles. I remember it being ok, with the gimmick being you can pick up weapons that are dropped by enemies. Oh yeah, there was also a licensed game that wanted to mimic God of War. Ghost Rider. Yeah, the Nicholas Cage movie got a video game adaptation. As for why most people didn't hear about it, well it was released in February 13th 2007. Literally a month before God of War 2 would drop on March 13th 2007. But, if you couldn't wait any longer for God of War, didn't have a PS3 and needed something to play in the meantime until GOW2 did release, it did the job.

[@venomherlet2825]

You started talking about Asura just as I finished nerding off about Chakravartin to my friend with whom we are brainstorming a mod together xD

[@sundrynow766]

The are elemets from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Warrior Within that were brought into the original God of War. So there is no surprise that early franchise will take some notes from a newcomer. With leads to the game that needs to take a look in the context of God of War knockoffs - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (PS3, XBOX 360 and PC)

[@Childishxmarkeeloo]

I remember playing the marlow Briggs demo on Xbox 360 and loving it

[@vahlok1426]

Marlow Briggs is surprisingly good, for real. Its almost Metal Gear Rising levels of insane at times, too.

[@jurtheorc8117]

@@vahlok1426 The Avatar of Chac comes to mind. The giant cycloptic tentacle beast.

[@redshepherd32]

Asura is still one of my favorite Liam o' Brien roles. He massively injured his throat after all the screaming. That's how dedicated he was to the role

[@incaseofimportantnegotiations]

funniest part about xblades was the cosplayer they've hired to promote it at conventions she had a giant colourfull tattoo on her belly so it was poorly painted over as if they couldn't hire a girl without a tattoo

[@assafgoldlust140]

as someone that played asura several times over, i can say that you were pretty much on point asside from a few issues. 1:while i also believe that deus is a stand in for zeus, (a leader of dietys that uses lightning as a means of attack) the name is not indicator for it. the word "Deus" is simply the word for "God" for god in ancient greek. 2: as for the 5 minute cutscenes for each combat areana. you are not wrong saying this, but it is important that this game really trying to be an interactive anime and most of the cutscenes are interactive, and for that games its actually works.

[@PBart7]

Asuras Wrath NEEDS a remaster.

[@Darkyan97]

Asura's Wrath deserves a remake. It's a one of a kind experience.

[@rahteljackson433]

Seriously bro its too sick

[@drjuice3180]

You missed out on one of the best God of War clones. Dantes inferno

[@Vernafveik]

I don’t know why but I actually want to play Knight’s Contract now Medieval Fantasy mixed with themes of immortality is something I’m surprisingly familiar with and fond off

[@donovanfaust3227]

Says "I don't know why", then proceeds to explain what draws them to it.

[@adamastor9869]

I bought and completed it back in the day and did not regret it. It's a diamond in the rough that was not understood in its time but is filled with passion and a fair amount of creativity.

[@DarkOverlord96]

NOW we're getting more and more female heroines/main characters in gaming? Isn't that something some guy said on Twitter and his only examples were Aloy, Ellie and Abby while ignoring all the female videogame heroines from the last 30+ years?

[@Buzterer]

The Wololo ability is something so simple that could have turn Marlow Briggs's franchise into its own beast had they given it some proper care in the sequel

[@NemesisOgreKing]

30:19 When you get upset over how 1s and 0s look. 🤣

[@soulstech414]

I remember playing heavenly sword when it first came out when i was a like 16 or somethin.. had a decent time with it. And i agree with what you said about combat engines. Like sekiro shadows die twice has pretty simple combat on its face but could be the best combat ive ever played

[@Larry]

If a character has a projectile weapon in the game, wouldn't it be more of a Devil May Cry clone, rather than God of War?

[@eur0be4t3r]

It’s so cursed seeing regular gameplay of Asura’s Wrath cuz I’m used to the interactive anime type cutscenes

[@justaddressmeasking6625]

Dante's Inferno was good and I wish we got the sequel😔.

[@inspectahgex1910]

I just finished Final Fantasy 16 last night and many things from that game remind me of Asura’s Wrath. It’s a real underrated gem that gets overlooked a lot but it’s nice seeing some of its DNA in newer games. The best way I can describe FF16 is if Asura’s Wrath was actually given a good budget and more time without all of capcom’s bullshit from back in the day.

[@angelosa.3178]

I thought me and other 3 people have ever played Knights Contract. Whenever I mention it to another gamer I sound like an alien.

[@TheDiscoGenre]

The anti-coomer rant wasn't necessary for X-Blades. Its just a bad game that just happened to be coomer stuff.

[@DarkOverlord96]

Honestly, it just makes me wonder if TBP resents games from recent years that still have sexualized designs for their female characters. Like, if he thinks he can't call NieR: Automata a great game because Yoko Taro is a self-admitted pervert who had 2B designed to have her big ass covered with basically her underwear and with an achievement that you get from looking up her skirt a bunch on times. You know, stuff that "gives gaming a bad name" or something.

[@1eyeddevil929]

Gaijin gotta project

[@neliaironwood7573]

@@DarkOverlord96 Well, at least NieR:Automata plays much better than X-Blades and its not as frustrating as X-Blades, because X-Blades tried to market its game via skimpy girls and it looked terrible. The only character that I know are about as skimpy than Ayumi from X-Blades is the Amazon from Dragon's Crown because she was meant to represent lightly armored female barbarian warriors, but at least that game looked much better than X-Blades though it being a different genre from it.

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Like how the first pic on the thumbnail looks like a movie poster.😂

[@SrMiguelHache]

I think it’s safe to say that GoW drew much inspiration from DMC. And possibly Rygar PS2

[@samalmond2321]

I can't remember if you've covered it already but I think Knack makes for quite a good God of War clone.

[@Gatorade69]

Knack 3 is releasing on the 25th of November.

[@samalmond2321]

@@Gatorade69 And you know this how?

[@Gatorade69]

@@samalmond2321 Pascal told me. He has numerous sources in the industry. He also told me that Elden Ring 2 and Super Mario Odyssey are dropping in a few short months. What a wonderful time, isn't it ?

[@Twiztedgoalie]

Deus literally means god. It’s probably just Japan using words that sound cool again. Like how final fantasy somehow has Odin and shiva and bahaumut all blended together despite being from 3 different religions.

[@DarkOverlord96]

Sound cool? But all those names for the characters, though?