07-22-2012, 03:31 PM
I personally love the game so I'm going to write a lot about it.
The campaign is... okay I guess. It's only about 4-5 hours on Normal, and in my opinion got a little tedious a couple times. It's probably the easiest way to unlock the characters though. And no, it's not co-op. However, throughout various story missions you're given the choice to play certain characters, and when you beat the whole campaign (or maybe only a stage, I don't remember), you unlock a stage select which lets you play through stages you've beaten with any character, which was a nice addition. Really, this is only useful for unlocking abilities/finding concept art/getting platinum on each mission/etc, but is still a nice feature.
In multiplayer, there's a ranking system which works kinda like any other ranking system in games like SMNC. Once you get enough XP, you rank up etc and it's just to show off how much you've played the game/how good you are and all that stuff. However, at various ranks you can unlock various things, and you can actually unlocked all the characters this way too. So if you don't feel like playing the campaign, you don't need to at all. There's a good variety of modes and maps, and the ATE (action trigger event) system keeps the game pretty fresh. Even when I'm lagging (which is nearly all the time because Japanese servers), I still manage to usually have fun with the game... usually. If you don't feel like lagging, you can always play any of the multiplayer modes with semi-competent bots, though this rewards no XP. There's a nice variety of items you can use during a game as well, like a barrier that acts as a constant shield, a sniper rifle which can take out characters in pretty much 2-3 shots, and a dueling thing that when equipped initiates a one-on-one duel between you and someone you hit, just to name a few. Some of the modes get as simple as a 16-man (I shit you not) Battle Royale, Team Deathmatch that has two teams of 4 fight each other, and a Cage Match which pits one person against another in a completely undisturbed environment. Then some of them have more depth to them, like a Team Battle which is kind of like the Team Deathmatch except each player on each team is given a role (such as a Medic which has to heal and regenerate friendlies by holding up an OA system) based on their performance and must try to kill the enemy Squad Leader as much as possible, and Deathball which is basically a traditional "get the ball into the goal" except with a little more to it.
There are also 18 total characters, 16 if you don't count Bayonetta and Gargoyle, so you're bound to find someone you like.
In short, campaign is okay, multiplayer is fantastic (in my opinion at least) but you're probably going to lag due to Japanese servers unless you have friends to play with.
The campaign is... okay I guess. It's only about 4-5 hours on Normal, and in my opinion got a little tedious a couple times. It's probably the easiest way to unlock the characters though. And no, it's not co-op. However, throughout various story missions you're given the choice to play certain characters, and when you beat the whole campaign (or maybe only a stage, I don't remember), you unlock a stage select which lets you play through stages you've beaten with any character, which was a nice addition. Really, this is only useful for unlocking abilities/finding concept art/getting platinum on each mission/etc, but is still a nice feature.
In multiplayer, there's a ranking system which works kinda like any other ranking system in games like SMNC. Once you get enough XP, you rank up etc and it's just to show off how much you've played the game/how good you are and all that stuff. However, at various ranks you can unlock various things, and you can actually unlocked all the characters this way too. So if you don't feel like playing the campaign, you don't need to at all. There's a good variety of modes and maps, and the ATE (action trigger event) system keeps the game pretty fresh. Even when I'm lagging (which is nearly all the time because Japanese servers), I still manage to usually have fun with the game... usually. If you don't feel like lagging, you can always play any of the multiplayer modes with semi-competent bots, though this rewards no XP. There's a nice variety of items you can use during a game as well, like a barrier that acts as a constant shield, a sniper rifle which can take out characters in pretty much 2-3 shots, and a dueling thing that when equipped initiates a one-on-one duel between you and someone you hit, just to name a few. Some of the modes get as simple as a 16-man (I shit you not) Battle Royale, Team Deathmatch that has two teams of 4 fight each other, and a Cage Match which pits one person against another in a completely undisturbed environment. Then some of them have more depth to them, like a Team Battle which is kind of like the Team Deathmatch except each player on each team is given a role (such as a Medic which has to heal and regenerate friendlies by holding up an OA system) based on their performance and must try to kill the enemy Squad Leader as much as possible, and Deathball which is basically a traditional "get the ball into the goal" except with a little more to it.
There are also 18 total characters, 16 if you don't count Bayonetta and Gargoyle, so you're bound to find someone you like.
In short, campaign is okay, multiplayer is fantastic (in my opinion at least) but you're probably going to lag due to Japanese servers unless you have friends to play with.