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Released in North America for the Sega Dreamcast on April 26, 2000 by
Sega, and developed by Atlus, Maken X features first-person
hack-and-slash gameplay.
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The Sega Dreamcast is not exactly a system known for its first-person
shooters. The console only features a handful of games in the genre, and few of
those could best be described as "good," let alone "great." How even more
bizarre then, that it is home to a first-person...stabber?
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Starring Stabby McStabberston?
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Maken X, directed by Persona-series director, Katsura Hashino, is
certainly an oddball. The 2000 release contains the perspective and most of
the mechanics of a first-person shooter, but your character generally carries
some variation of a sword, and can rarely launch any sort of projectile.
Instead, the game focuses on close-up, hack-and-slash combat. Befitting this
unique concept, is a bizarre, nearly nonsensical story about a
spirit/AI-infused sword that must brainjack various sword-fighters in a battle
against some type of cosmic force foolishness. This plot is absolutely
ridiculous, and pushed forward by lengthy, unskippable cutscenes, which are
just about the strangest things to ever feature into an American-released
video game. The cutscenes are so incredibly ludicrous and difficult to follow,
they'd almost succeed on entertainment factor alone, if they weren't so
tedious.
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Yes.
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No.
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Thankfully, the gameplay aspect of
Maken X, though simple, is
pretty fun. The game's combat system allows the player to lock on to an enemy,
and features weapon-swinging and blocking, quick backward-dodges, and a gnarly
leap-over-your-enemy-and-stab-them-in-the-back-critical-move that's a cinch to
pull off, and nearly always satisfying. The controls are pretty tight and
intuitive, and the game runs very smoothly, as you blaze a fast path through
your enemies. You can even use the R-trigger to strafe in conjunction with the
Dreamcast controller's joystick, which is actually an ingenious and successful
remedy for the controller's lack of dual joysticks.
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I feel like this person's idea of "dual sticks" is different than
mine.
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You can also unleash a special attack by holding down your
weapon-swinging button for a few seconds, then releasing, which drains a
little bit of your health. Pick-ups include health packs, and a special
power-up that temporarily increases your attack power. That's about it. The
basic game mechanics are pretty minimal, but quite successfully utilized, and
lead to some pretty epic sword fights as the game progresses. Of course, the
twist here is the game's brainjacking mechanic, which allows the player
to--permanently, if they choose--take over the body of new characters.
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You will want to brainjack out of some of these characters just
because of their obnoxiously obtrusive HUDS.
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Several of the game's roughly 20 stages give the player a new
brainjacking target, as long as the player's psi-level is high enough. This
brings a light RPG element to play, as the player earns psi-orbs for every
enemy they defeat. Grab enough, and you fill your psi-meter, and thus level
up. Better fighters require a higher level in order to be brainjacked,
especially some of the late game badasses. I say "late game," but really,
Maken X is a short one. Your average player will make it through to the
end in under ten hours, though the game does at least include multiple
endings, which depend upon which brainjacked character you beat the
final boss with.
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Just like Q said it would be! Coincidentally, also the other of
Maken X's storyline.
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As far production values go,
Maken X is solid, with workmanlike
graphics. The environments generally consist of hallway areas, though there
are a few outdoor sections that are generally just outdoor corridors. The wall
and floor textures look fine. Character design fits the crazy storyline. The
bad guys in this game look like mutated insanity, with a flying gangster
butterfly man standing out in particular. The most important thing is that, at
all times, the game runs silky smooth. I can't stress enough how fast
Maken X feels for a first-person game from this generation.
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Smooth like a butterfly gangster man.
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I told you this game was crazy!
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The music is your general Dreamcast clubby-dance sound, not much
different from the background music in
Sega Marine Fishing. It does its job, and that's about it. Sword slashes sound great, though
it's weird that you're doing all that slicing and dicing and not drawing any
blood. Overall,
Maken X is about the most balanced combo of "plays just
fine" with "but this game is bugnuts crazy" as possible. It's uniquely weird,
but doesn't really play out of the ordinary, despite its unique concept and
nutso story and character design. For those curious,
Maken X is most
definitely fun enough to warrant a playthrough. There's little frustration
here, even if there's also little wow factor.
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Yeah, you're right, that last statement was overly harsh. I really
do like this game.
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