Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is Fine, Just Fine

I remember way back when in 2017 when America was just rekindling it’s close relationship with hate, my old college friends were mega-hyped for season 5 of Samurai Jack. I never watched it then because I was much too busy getting bullied from my parents for not having a job, and I lost my appetite for cartoons anyway.  

My life’s course is still off track, but perhaps because I feel more in control this time around, I can actually enjoy cartoons again. So, among many, many cartoons I’ve watched since, hearing the release of Samurai Jack Battle Through Time reminded me I never got around to watching season 5 of the cartoon. So I did, and it was very good. 

I kinda forgot what this post is about. A review of a video game? Probably. Let’s do that. 

Battle Through Time is the Type of Game Designed for Games with Gold or Game Pass

This game is a canonical side piece to the tv show, taking place during the few seconds we see Jack in the time portal as he returns to the past to make good on his promise to murder Aku. That is something that I like, because I'd feel less connected to what I’m doing in-game if the story was a stand-alone, non-canonical piece. It’s why I refuse to watched season 3 of Tokyo Ghoul; gimme my cannons y’all. 

Anyway, this game is a strange-cool mix of PS2 era God of War's hack n slash mechanics and Journey's aesthetic. It looks great, even if its resolution and cell-shaded 3D graphics look behind the times.  

Can you even imagine having a dummy thicc neck like that? Ugh, gross. Not gonna lie, its disappointing this game doesn’t support 4K HDR, and it's overall look is pretty dull. I know the cartoon isn’t the most detailed out there, but game is still lacking detail in comparison. Like I said, it still manages to look good even without the jaw-dropping finesse and flavor of the cartoon's distinct style.

Oi, I almost forgot to say that it's quite a smooth looking game. Huzzah, blur effects in a video game with only positive affects. Take note, literally every modern FPS especially Modern Warfare. 

This 2nd clip starts in a menu, but roughly 10 seconds in you'll see what I'd call typical hack-n-slash gameplay. 

As you saw, fighting looks awesome. There’s one problem, though, that can bring the fun to a screeching halt: trying to close the distance between foes. Batman Arkham Asylum, Assassin’s Creed Origins, and God of War have all figured out beautiful solutions to this problem, but Samurai Jack hasn't. 

Each attack and combo ends with a noticeable delay in movement and action, which I imagine is in there so the player character isn't uber powerful, but it's such a drag when you’re pulling off sick combos against multiple enemies to have to awkwardly stop and slowly waddle over to the next one.

Making this worse is that there are a variety of weapons at your disposal, including guns, but really, all you need is the default magic sword and a bunch of air attacks. Most enemies can only take 1 or 2 of those hits and the attack lets you cover distance better than on foot, which is insane. In other words, you don’t have much reason to use other weapons, combos, or strategies and I doubt that was the game designers' intention.

Actually, ya' know what? Jack’s movements feel slow even outside of combat as you'll see in this next clip.

While I love that Jack automatically switches from a brisk pace to a sprint after holding down the control stick in 1 direction,-- Are you listening Literally Every FPS? Take some more notes --I hate the  pause in movement after running off a short step or landing from a jump followed by a return to the brisk pace instead of the sprint. I'm all for making games longer and more enjoyable but this isn't the way to do it. Booo, fake longevity. 

At least if you're like me and you tire of all of the sluggish movement with a sword, you can just bust some caps in robot ass instead. It sounds silly but it's wickedly effective, which is silly, but whatever. I like having the option.

In the end Samurai Jack is a good game that looks great with so-so God of War hack-n-slash fun. It’s the Great Value of hack-n-slash games, if you will. For the price, I personally would wait for a discount or price drop before paying 40 buckaroos for it, but if you’re a big fan of Samurai Jack then then you're probably going to be more forgiving and you should go buy this game right now. 

End of review.

Bye ya'll. Stay saucy. 

FUN FACTS

• Sadly, this is not an adventure game. Again, it's much more-like PS2 era God of War than anything else.

• There's actual voice acting even if it's not always there in every NPC interaction.

• As you take damage as Jack, your gi becomes tattered and worn, Goku-style. It's a very nice touch.