Berserk, one of the most recognized manga's of all time and an excellent 90's anime. The Golden Arc Trilogy films and 2016 series are worth watching as well. I consider myself a fan as I am caught up with all 317 published chapters and all the series/films so when I discovered there was a game I didn't hesitate to acquire a copy. 
     Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage was made exclusively for the Sega Dreamcast and to my knowledge is the only NTSC game developed that is related to the series. There is a another title that has been released, Berserk and the Band of the hawk for PS4 but ti doesn't appear to have been released stateside as of yet. If you're not familiar with the story then this review may contain spoilers so read at your own risk but I promise not to give too much away.  Sword of the Berserk takes place after the Golden Age Arc and before the Conviction Arc. Casca has suffered terribly and has the mind of a newborn while Guts has suffered physically, losing his right eye and left forearm. But, both did survive the eclipse and appear to have been traveling for sometime with Puck. Where the games story fits in is when the trio come across a village supposedly plagued with a disease that turns people into Mandragorans (photo is below). Apparently, after saving the city you, Guts, find out that there might be a cure for Casca so your adventure into the twisted world of Berserk begins. 
     I don't want to go into the story too much because it is one of the best features of the game. Imagine if you will, this game plays like reading a chapter of the series. You get to watch the dialogue but play as Guts when hacking down the hordes of enemies and monsters. It's an amazing concept that actually works. It feels like an episode (hence the title). However, in every adaptation, Guts makes his killing sprees feasible. The game is less forgiving. In keeping it articulate with the story, you get the bombs, fairy dust and the arm cannon, they are all extremely helpful which is good. Everything counts. The canon is particularly enjoyable.  You also get to use the hunk of iron of a sword known as the Dragonslayer. All these items are given to you at the very beginning, you don't collect anything except more quantities of the items. As you progress through the game you realize two immediate things, you're going to die and your sword is limited. When I say you're going to die I mean it, you will die. Your fairy dust may revive your health and you can find them in crates but you're going to be the punching bag often. You don't get extra lives, you get continues and it is hard to run out of them. When it comes to using your sword there was only one issue and it is significant.  When you hit a wall or anything that isn't a crate or enemy your weapon is deflected which gives you a second to become the punching bag. This is such an issue because there are multiple times when you're in close quarters and you cannot just swing away or make use of your other attacks.  You have repeat the same strike again over and over or use your fists which makes the bloodbath seem tamed. Also, enemies often mesh into the wall and you have to kill them to proceed. All this means is a pattern of a single strike, deflect and repeat. Or, you just run past the enemies, if possible, to the next area to avoid all this. That is the biggest flaw I wanted to go into detail about. I've listed more cons below. Combat is simple enough, I found myself doing a lot of button mashing but you do have some extra moves that are neat. There are no combos or skill tree, just some classic fighting. One last thing that is important to mention is that you get to go berserk. Once you've shed enough blood you'll go into a invincible state when your screen becomes tinted in red and you fulfill your dream of becoming Guts in his most memorable form. 
     I discussed some key areas of the game and hopefully id not provide too much insight too the story but have created an interest of this amazing series. This game is not for everyone. I enjoyed this game because of the story and my appreciation of Berserk. The gameplay can be frustrating at times, becoming repetitive so it may not keep everyone's interest. Overall, I recommend this for fans and fans alone. If you've never read the manga or at least watched the 1997 series then this game will probably not be a memorable experience.

I'd alos like to state that the best part of this game is having Puck doing a variety of actions on the VMU, it was an excellent touch.

Pros:

• The game really does feel like an episode. The story from beginning to end is intense and feels authentic, the same goes for the characters.
• Susumu Hirasawa, the individual who composed the 1997 anime series score also composed the soundtrack.
• Using the Dragonslayer is a rush, especially when you go berserk. Swordplay will never be the same again.
• For lack of a better term, the boss battle and ending scene are epic. It gives something every Berserk fan has wanted for a long, long time.
• Use of quick-time events to keep you on your feet.
• Awesome enemies and boss fights. Zodd even makes an appearance. 

Cons

• The game will sheath your sword during multiple cut-scenes and throw you in a battle right after. Take a hit or be quick on your feet.  
• You can get knocked down or struck multiple times by the same enemy which will drain health quickly in a barrage your practically powerless to stop until it's over.
• You sword is so massive that close quarter fighting is a hassle. Your sword bounces off walls when fighting and you're guaranteed to hit so many walls and other surroundings. In short, you are sometimes unable to swing your sword around and have to stick to a single move because of this fault. Enemies get stuck in walls, creating a frustrating situation when fighting.
• Slow reaction time when blocking or using items. You almost have to be stationary.

     I remember when I was when I first read about Haunting Ground in Game informer. At the time I was uninterested because my PS2 was proving to be difficult which made me hold a grudge against Sony for over a decade. My interest went to another game, Condemned for the Xbox 360. New survival horror games were exciting and I went with the one I wanted to play more. However, as time went on and I successfully survived Condemned there was always this unquenched curiosity about what Haunting Ground had to offer. More time passed and I met other fans of the genre and gaming itself. Fortunately, one of them had the capital to spend and willingness to let me borrow his copy. It was finally time to sit down and discover what I was missing. This review looks at some general aspects without dwelling too much into the story or characters. I split the game into four sections since there are four bosses.  
     First few hours in and it’s going great, you’ve watched a terrifying introduction video (one of the best in my opinion). It was unlike any other survival horror game I’ve played. You play as a young lady named Fiona and you are absolutely defenseless. You can kick but the reality is that it is useless except in discovering items and opening hidden paths. There is an enemy you can defeat with it but that’ll come later. Events have transpired and you’re in unfamiliar territory, lost, confused, hopeless and frightened. Starting off strong. Then you run into the character the enemy that made this game unique, the one I remember reading about in Game Informer, the first enemy of the game, Debilitas (I provided a photo). Then you do what makes sense, you run as fast as you can to avoid increasing your panic levels which will cause you to lose control of Fiona for a brief time. This goes on for a while and is always a nightmarish experience. You solve puzzles, unlock doors and learn the layout which all leads to you finding your new best pooch of a friend, Hewie. Hewie is your friend, weapon and companion throughout the entire game. Let’s jump forward, imagine that you have beaten Debilitas and move onto the second section. This is where this review really critiques the game.
     After the first portion of the game you, obviously, move onto the next part. In the second part, this whole new area with new challenges and a new enemy you pretty much do the same thing. You run, you hide, Hewie saves you and you solve puzzles. The elements that originally caused fear became an annoyance. It is frustrating solving a puzzle, trying to figure things out in the game when you have to stop every few minutes and spend so much time either hiding or running just so you can backtrack to continue what you were doing. This formula does not change. It goes on throughout the entire game. With everyone their character and slight changes (one has a gun and the other a piece of glass) do add more to chase but overall it is tiresome.
     In survival horror games you usually have some sort of means to defend yourself, some item. You may have Hewie but doesn’t always follow you or doesn’t attack all the time so you want to be able to hold your own. Well, while these items exist they are practically useless. The items I used were to improve my speed, kick hiding skills, reduce my panic levels and restore stamina, not fight. The items used to fight are uncreative and scarce. The game relies on you to create most of any item through a system of alchemy. In Haunting Ground, that means playing a timing game to match so many certain colors by using a specific medallion, which proves to be just as scarce. Hewie can locate hidden ones but are you really going to have him search every corner? It’s a massive area and there just are not that many.
This has been a long review and there’s much more but these were the two cons that really disappointed me. Let me sum up the rest and point out the many pros.
 
Cons:

• Formula for the game, while different from pother games in the genere, became boring and aggravating.
• Items were either scarce, too difficult to create or primarily just not needed. I rarely used items and the ones I did were often boots or a choker that you equipped. Rarely was there anything I used frequently. The alchemy system was awful, just awful. I began guessing and sometimes got what I needed.
• Bosses, I spent a total of 10 minutes to beat all four bosses. I am not kidding here. They were too easy. Learning how to beat them took less than a minute. These enemies that stalk you throughout each section, causing fear and panic became the jokes of boss battles. I understand survival horror games aren’t made to have epic boss battles but they were too simple and could have had more thought placed into them.
• There are almost no other enemies. There is nothing to keep you occupied except puzzles and hiding. It feels so empty and drawn out. I cannot say it is entirely empty, remember that enemy I said you kicked to defeat earlier? It’s a little homunculus that scares you. Sounds cool but it ultimately fails to deliver.

 
Pros:

• Excellent soundtrack. It suits the game so well. I highly recommend you listen to it regardless if you play the game or not.
• The atmosphere and story in the game is of the highest quality a survival horror game can produce. I was always in awe of the scenery, the messages, reading Fiona’s mental notes. Everything just made the game so uncanny.
• Hewie, though he has his hiccups is a brilliant AI that does what is expected of him throughout the entire game.
• The characters are terrifying. Every one of them was well crafted and provided notable dialogue in their respective cutscenes.  

 
     Haunting Ground is a survival horror game fans of the genre and PlayStation2 collectors alike strive to get their hands on. A complete copy as of now is just shy of $100.00, making it a collector’s item for sure. So, is it worth the price tag? Or is it even worth taking the time to play? Yes but only if you are a fan of survival horror games or feel like you need to justify you spending the amount the game cost. I’m glad I borrowed this game (I wouldn’t mind owning a copy though), it did not meet my expectations. It has multiple endings and a lot going for it if you like the genre and it is the only one of its kind that I know of. Being honest here, I’m still thinking about the game and everything I felt as I played it and most of my feelings are those of being disturbed and that is notable. I beat the game in just under 9 hours and there are a lot of content and other features I did not go over but I hope this review will help you decide if Haunting ground is a game you really want to play. 

This review is incomplete as I have yet to fully beat the game. What I consider beating the game is having gone through each mission through 'Mission Accomplished' status. Medals and trophies don't necessarily concern me but I have to conduct some more research to see if they are necessary in unlocking anything. As of this point I have completed the game once. The goal here is to inform you, the reader as to some basic pros and cons within the game. Let's begin with the pros.

1) New ships have been introduced. The Walker, an idea in Star Fox 2 that never saw life it's creation was one of the best parts of the game. I enjoyed running around having speed and mobility that the Landmaster could not offer. The Gyrowing was a fun concept but ultimately did not deliver, I'll talk about this in the cons. 

2) The game follows the pattern everyone is use to from the N64 and GameCube. I am little disappointed that they copied so much from the N64 like similar levels but overall, if it works why would you change it (i.e. Starfox Adventures). 

3) The challenge given in Zero is the best in the entire series. I died multiple times because of the difficulty found the levels and boss fights. It will take sometime to become good enough to make a run through without any deaths, something all too common in 64 and Assault.

4) The story is awesome, it is essentially a re-imagining of 64 from what I observed. 

Now, the cons.

1) The Gyrowing missions. I like Gyrowings, they are fun, easy to control and not as common as planes in most games. In Zero, it is just that. It's enjoyable to play but where it failed were the missions itself. You utilize the new vehicle more of a stealth/hacking craft than anything else. I think introducing a new idea to the game was a good move, similar to allowing Fox to walk around in Assault but it just wasn't enjoyable. One mission in particular you are in an open, still area where you dodge lights and hack yourself into bases. Sounds like a good idea but it isn't a Star Fox good idea.

2) The motion controls, they are not as bad as everyone has stated, or at least that is my opinion. However, you can turn them off and use the game pad as a basic controller so you have an option. Yet, they still are not as fun as I was expecting so I used the basic controls throughout. I just wish the Wii U had refined the controls to where anyone could enjoy them as a whole instead of serving as the primary reasons games are criticized (i.e. Skyward Sword).

3)Co-op, this was the worst part about the game. I should have read about it or set my expectations so high. Co-op plays something like this, one player controls the ship and the other shoots. There you go, that's it. Some people may have enjoyed it more but I was so immensely disappointed. 

Overall, the game is a great addition to the series. I have enjoyed it a lot and Star Fox Guard isn't half bad either but I still have to play that one more. I highly recommend it and think every Star Fox fan, new and old should give this a full play through before casting judgment. The game length is pretty short but rewarding. If you have the amiibos I also recommend using them. Fox lets you use the SNES version of the Arwing while Falco provides you the Black Arwing which is stronger than usual but does not take damage well. 

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comment section or message us on our Facebook page. I hope to write a part 2 once I have finished a 'Mission Accomplished' play through.

I can honestly say that if you are a fan of B grade films, monsters and the satisfaction that comes from enjoying those themes than this survival horror may be one you should consider playing. Otherwise, just enjoy the art from afar. So, why is this the game you never wanted to hear about?  Because it's one of many games that had so much potential, well, at least some, but ultimately failed to deliver. The potential is the notable facts that...

1) You are indeed on an island.
2) There are a lot of bugs on it.
3) You have a flashlight and rocks, a good starting survival kit.
4) There are objectives per level and items to collect.

Here's where it all went wrong.

1) The survival and horror aspects never came to fruition. 
2) The bugs were like bugs in real life, easy to kill.
3) There were gorillas in the game. Big. Hairy. Not bugs gorillas.
4) The objectives are tedious and the items that you collect would take 2-3 playthroughs to have any actual effect.

Here you are, Ray, a gentle human-being who is love with Michelle, a brilliant young entomologist. With you also is your pal Mike, a man who doesn't give two thoughts about gun safety and solely exists to steal your love. Bad enough yet? You're on an island for your crush who is there to study the rich variety of insects. Mike is there to be Mike which translates to the character you have to tolerate. After a unbearably long cut-scenes (let me make it clear, the game has almost no videos. You have to read poorly constructed conversations instead of watching them) you finally get to walk around and explore. Some other commentators have mentioned that the controllers resemble tank controls. I disagree but they are not good at all, just very rigid. After a little exploring and a pinch of surviving flying fish, you heard me, and insects you finally have finished one of nineteen areas. Why is this so important to mention? It is the only part in the game that might actually create tension in you. That's right, from here on it's all downhill. 

I'm not going to attempt to describe the story that hardly exists,this game doesn't deserve it. From here on I'll be trying to convince you not to play the game. The game lacks two major components, surviving and horror. You'd think it would be terrifying to fight giant insects, at least I did but what you find out is that your first set of weapons, rocks and a tree are so effective that you could go through half the game and never need to change. You do get other weapons but with so few attacks there's just a cosmetic appeal and slightly higher power. You might be wondering what about bosses? Aren't they tough? My response, no one is mightier than a rock. Nobody. Another fun note is that the game is like a plagiarized paper, it took great ideas from other survival horror games but failed in doing so. There goes all sense of horror. 

This game remind me of the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. There are lizard women and canine men. More enemies that have no relation to insects but who cares at this point, surely not the developers. The bugs themselves are cool looking, that's the truth. But the only one that really hurts you is a swarm of tiny gnats or something similar which can drain your health quickly. Secret to defeating them is not turning on your light. Then no one can stop you and the mighty rock. As for health, I have so much food it wasn't funny. I mean that, I was so disappointed in the fact that I never had to fear for my characters life because I had so much food. There goes all sense of survival.

If I haven't convinced you yet then let this may the ultimate warning. You're going to reach what you think is the final boss. You're going to be itching to kill him and never play the game again. But wait, here's where the story comes into play and gives you the middle finger. You wake up, look around and guess what, you've had a dream in a different dimension, time zone, whatever. The point is, you wake up at the BEGINNING OF THE GAME. That's right, you have to go through the entire game again. Everywhere you've looked around is still reveled and the only addition to spice the game up are additional caves which hold useless items you don't need and a single new area. I didn't have any fun but  I beat it. So help me, I beat the game. I made a mad dash to get to the end, kill the boss, save the girl and beat the game. Ghosts n' Goblins logic has no power here.

After my first completion I felt empty. If some other game company had made this game it could have been really good. I've left a lot out that serves no purpose in mentioning, if you feel interested in playing this game to learn more then please do. I promise you that you will be the only one among your friends that will ever play it.