Quite the nice and insightful review you have here. Well done. I had thought about picking the game up since it's one of those DVD player playable games, but after playing one of Hiramkei's previous releases and how horribly it carried over, I decided against it. Besides, that 2 hours of knife and gun explaination might prove far too uninteresting for me to go past. Still great job, need to see more like this on MT.
Phantom of Inferno ova,game Review
Story & Playability
So as to keep things clear there are two parts to this review. One covers Phantom of Inferno (Game, based off the DVD version) and Phantom: The Animation (OVA).
Inferno:
The game gets started a slow pace, unless you happen to be a combat or hunting nut. The first hour and a half to two
hours will teach you more then you have ever known about guns and knives. It is good to get you to understand the mind
of an assassin. After you get over this you are treated to a very good and well thought out story. The overall story
takes place in 3 chapters and assuming you make the right decisions you can get all the way to the end. The main
characters get great attention and your really drawning into their lives. Side characters don't always get this.
Lizzie, Issac, Raymond McGuire get very little attention. Throughout the story I felt that Lizzie was important enough
of a side character but one that we find out very little about her.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Animation:
Very quick moving and action packed but at a cost. Very little is explained and the characters are no where near as
interesting and deep as in the game. Main character Zwei is credited as Reiji/Zwei though it is never mentioned anywhere
that his name is anything but Zwei (his assassin name, in the game you learn his real name is Reiji). Overall the anime
is a mismash of the 1st chapter of the game, though it cut out some of the most crucial parts of the story. Though this
could mean the anime might be going in a different direction, but with only 3 episodes they would have done better if
they tried more on the story and not the explosions.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Since I have to give a single review for each topic you'll see one review for both.
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10 (could have been much higher if only the anime had been better)
Rating:
Graphics
Inferno:
Seeing as how the DVD game is an adapted hentai sim game, it shouldn't be a surprise the art is mostly still character shots with different lips and posture on backgrounds. Luckily when bringing it to DVD, they decided to add a few CG sequences though they are few and far between. The characters are, as expected par for the course, nothing overally special: the expressions usually change and match the lines. The backgrounds and CG images are where the art really shines. The dimly lit apartment, dark brick alley, or dreary warehouse where the characters train are well drawn and very descriptive. They add much to the feel of the game. With the success of the images, the CG movies seem to fall short. They seem to be just tacked on but their very simple and seem similar to something a novice could do. The Ferrari seen during a CG movie is only a few steps ahead of the car seen in the opening of AMV Hell 3. Luckily as I mentioned they are few and far between and manage to not ruin the feel of the moments.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Animation:
The anime manages to blend the good contemporary anime art with the awesome backgrounds of the still images of the game.
At many times your treated to just a few still images which might seem out of place at first but you quickly see how
valuable they are. The level of gore increases greatly since this is anime and not still shots. The anime pulls no
punches with blood and goes straight for Kill Bill. Blood just seems to explode out of people as they get shot or die
(of course not for the main characters). Luckily its not too over the top and even starts to tone down in the final
volume as things are wrapping up to give it a more serious end.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10 (since I have to give whole numbers)
Rating:
Sound
The main thing that set the DVD game apart from just about all other versions of the game was the included voice acting. All 20 hours or so were done with full voice acting. And the voices aren't just some fill ins: Belldandy shows her dark and evil side as Claudia, Ryoko (from Tenchi) is Claudia's bodyguard Lizzie, Fei Wong from Tsubasa fills as a very creepy and well done Scythe, Advent Children's Cloud is the main character Zwei, and Ruri from Nadesico as main assassin Ein. There's no lack of stars in this cast. They give a wonderful performance throughout the entire game and into the anime. The music to the game and anime are different but both shine just as nice. The game really gives you some dark music as you go through the impending assassination. The opening and closing of the anime is are done extremely well.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Rating:
Fun
Inferno:
With it being a game it is to be expected but with 13 different endings to the game they tend to be hard to get (getting to chapter 3 is quite a chore) all of the adventure (I'm still missing an ending since I'd have to replay the entire game 15 hours worth). The other problem with the DVD game is the need for passwords. If you're playing this game through a TV DVD player you have to wait until you get a password before you can stop and take a break. Computer DVD players are nicer with bookmarks though it took different DVD software to get the subtitles working. These problems aren't nearly as bad as you might think and are easy to overcome. I really don't think it made the game any less enjoyable and in the end it was still fun
Rating: 8 out of 10
Animation:
I think I managed to say this before, but the fast pace and shallow characters made this much less of a draw then the
game. By the end of the anime you have enough of the characters to start to know them but by then its too late. If you
do happen to watch the anime it does help to have played the game as you probably are already well knowledgeable about
the characters and care for them and their blight.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10, without the game the anime just suffers
Overall: 7 out of 10
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.6667 (good)
Reviewed by Roguespider, Feb 03, 2007
Comments
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shoujoboy Feb 03, 2007
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SchRita Jan 15, 2010
Thanks for the review!
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mmay Feb 08, 2011
thank you for the comment ~~
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