REVIEW – Malicious Fallen is a mix between Dynasty Warriors, Devil May Cry, and boss rush games such as Titan Souls. Now, this might sound the best of both words, unfortunately, Alvion, the developers of the game while mixed all three types of games, their efforts are commendable, however just because you try does not mean you get an AAA for effort.

 

What is exactly Malicious Fallen? Well, it is a remaster of an old PS3 game and the combination of the PS Vita version regarding content. The basic concept of Malicious Fallen is simple; you get to select a stage where there are multiple enemies swarming to kill you, while there is a boss that you have to kill to finish the game. Sounds simple enough, and it can be enjoyable if executed properly. So the question remains: the effort good enough, and should you try out this budget experience? Or should you buy something else? Find out here!

The story of no story

The story of Malicious Fallen is a simple one, well sort of… To experience the story of this game, you’ll need to read four chapters of the text. It explains the background of the world, and who the bosses are, plus how the Mad Queen came to rule, and what exactly is The Malicious. Funny thing though is that none of the above matters in the long run. There is no dialogue whatsoever, or epic choices to be made, just go and kill everything in the scenes. You can tackle the scenes however you want to in the game. The only difference it will have is how you acquire the powers throughout the story.

The narrative story is also filled with the generic anime tropes, and the ending especially is something out of Naruto or Full Metal Alchemist.

You are the savior of mankind fighting against The Malicious, but to do that, you need to return the powers that the prophets have provided to the previous wielders of force.

The anime power hour

The game’s aesthetics and ambiance are full blown anime right down to the soundtrack, and visual effects. However, while this can be a used spectacularly in other games such as the Naruto Shippuden series, or the One Piece series, here, the unusually low resolution is all too visible. While Malicious Fallen is called a “remake” with all additional content, there’s not much of an upgrade here to look at. The visuals are bad, and while they look enhanced in the sense that in 1080P it does not look blurry or pixelated, it still has a lot of issues regarding quality. While everything is flashy, and while scenes are full of lasers, explosions they look mediocre.

So, in the end, the visuals are not the best and feel cheap, much akin to the nature of a budget video game. However even if this is a budget game, the sounds, and the soundtrack is a beast. It pumps you up for the heat of the battle and reminds me of some Guilty Gear. The attack sounds have weight to them, and the music is fitting for every scene. It’s too bad that the visuals do not complement this grand soundtrack for the game.

Smash beasts!

The combat and controls are simplistic, and while I thought I would be pulling off combos, instead, you’ll just end up spamming attacks to gain Aura points to defeat the bosses quicker. Basic enemies are literal cannon fodders and lack any difficulty in defeating them. Their attacks do not do much damage, and even if they would do, killing them is easy.

Our character has four weapon types that he/she can collect throughout the playthrough. The sword, the lance, fists, and the demon bullets. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages, but the because of the way how the camera and the combat system works, it is not that much fun to use any weapon in this title.

It can be frustrating at times, since the game while can be fast, is a mixed bag. Movement is clunky and slow, while combat is fast, and inaccurate which leaves the player wide open for lots of health loss during the campaign. Speaking of frustration, if you get stunned locked, or knocked out, it can take a few seconds to get up. While you do not get damaged, your Aura points still go down while being in “Unlocked mode.”

The combat is just a frustrating mess, and the lack of feedback from enemies to our hits, and the camera work being bad does not help. It is more of a test of patience and luck, rather than skill to complete the game.

Scream for me like Gundam!

Ah well, not every anime inspired game has to be good, however Malicious Fallen is not completely horrible, rather below average. Which is a shame as if this game had more budget, thrown at it, plus some actual talented people, the concept of constant boss battles itself is a neat one, and it could have been done well. Just not this time around, and I would not recommend this product too much. Unless you have time and money to spare. Although even then I would get something else.

-Dante-

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Publisher: Alvion, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer: Alvion

Genre: Hack’n Slash

Release date: February 21, 2017