Mugen Souls Z Review

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Mugen Souls Z is a port of an old PS3 game to PC. For that reason this game should not be taxing on most PC builds. The graphics still hold up really well considering its age. This is mostly due to the style of them though. The graphics of Mugen Souls z is presented in a toon shaded style. This cartoon aesthetic helps deliver the anime look and feel that the developers were going for. The animations for attacks are also great. The attack animations are flashy and catch the viewer’s attention. As for cut scene the characters are still images that are in the anime style artwork. The cut scenes do a good job of delivering good character development and providing some fun humor at the same time. While moving your characters around on the field the character models really pop, the toon shading here makes them look like they’re from a cartoon.

The gameplay is a turn based RPG system. You move the characters around a small field and when you are close enough to attack you can select from a variety of commands. You select commands such as; attack, skill, item, switch, defend, and retreat.  Depending on the move you select determines how long it will take until your next turn. For example the stronger skills that deal a ton of damage may have you wait a long time until you can make your next move. It is a risk reward system. The nice thing about the skills is that they are really nicely animated and are fun to watch. They also have a lot to choose from so it is always interesting. Another neat feature is the mech ship battles. These battles playout like a game of rock, paper, scissors. When playing these sections the crew will often give you hints as to what move you can make. Based on how well you perform in these scenarios the crew will act differently to you, like for example if you are constantly taking damage they will break the fourth wall and yell at the player. These sections are not too hard though as the crew’s hints are really helpful so this shouldn’t be to difficult for the player.

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The music in this game is really good. The music always fits the current mood of the characters/ what is currently going on at the time. The battle music is outstanding, it helps get the player pumped for battle and always wanting more. The sound design is also really good as well. The characters are all voice acted and the voice acting is done surprisingly well. The voice acting further adds to the emotion and character depth that was already amazing. Another part of the sound design that is impressive is the attack sound design. Much like other games in this genre they add to the already flashy attacks making battles more engaging.

The plot of Mugen Souls Z is a traditional over the top story as seen in many anime inspired games. It sees the main character chou-chou seek to defeat the ruler of the 12 worlds galaxy. After her lust for power gets the best of her she than loses all of her powers and must find a way to reclaim it. Because of how well-developed the characters are they help enhance the plot thus make the events more impactful. A lot of these story segments feel like something you would see in a Saturday morning cartoon and are often incredibly strange. For this reason not everyone will enjoy the game’s plot.

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As for replay value Mugen Souls Z offers a lot of reasons to come back. The most prominent being for the player to try and unlock the True ending of the game. The others are that this game offers a ton of in-game collectables and that the overall gameplay experience is enjoyable. The gameplay really shines during the ship battles
(at least to me). Also this game supports steam trophies if you’re into that.

Mugen Souls Z is a really good game. It has fun, interesting characters, Great gameplay (especially when in the mech sections) and a compelling albeit weird plot. Also for a game that is a port of a PlayStation 3 title it still looks great! I will say however that I don’t think this game will be for everyone. The extremely strange anime aspects might keep some players from enjoying the game the way it should be. Also some segments such as the ship battles may turn some players away because of the gameplay mechanics. It is for these reasons that I give Mugen Souls Z an 8/10.

rating-8

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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