1. The Gameplay
Heavenly Sword had the strongest free-flow fighting system of its time, setting a standard that wouldnt be matched until the release of Bayonetta and even now has seldom been outdone. Using a combination of three fighting styles, Nariko battles with a swift elegance that allows players to perform a brutal dance across the screen, slicing her opponents to pieces with a series of brutal combos. Each fight is a joy to play, the rich expanse of attacks preventing the combat from ever becoming repetitive or boring; pitfalls 9/10 hack n slash games fail to evade. Players can change stance to enable each style, changing the structure of the sword to accommodate the new move set: the speed stance causes the blade to split in two, thus giving players speedy ninja abilities; the ranged stance also splits the blade into two, but puts them on the end of chains to give a Kratos like feel to the combat; and thirdly the power stance, which has Nariko hold the full blade with both hands to perform slow yet sovereign blows upon her foes. This tends to mean simple button mashing isnt a reliable tool, with bosses like Whiptail requiring players to use real strategy and thought to emerge victorious. Each boss has their individual weaknesses/strengths, and players must determine what they are if they ever want to proceed through the game, meaning a certain level of skill is required to get through to the end. Whether this is a pro or con very much depends on what you want in a title, but for those who enjoy a challenge this game comes on par with the hardest difficulty of God of War 3, one of the most popular games in the entire genre. Heavenly Sword was also one of the only games to implement the dualshocks motion control, a feature used in game to change the trajectory of projectiles. This was never particularly enjoyable or realistic however, so perhaps its an element of the game best omitted in future. Despite this one weak point the gameplay is largely solid, providing some diverse fighting mechanics, epic mass battles, and intensely enjoyable boss encounters throughout. So maybe, just maybe, Sony will give this classic another chance... Are there any underrated games you think deserves a sequel? Share your thoughts in the comments.