Hokuto Musou 2 / Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 (X360, PS3) (2013)
Developer: Koei

Review by Faididi and Co.

Full of man boobs and long, hard... loading times

Story: Above Average

Koei's Hokuto Musou 2 (Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2) is again based on the manga and anime series, Hokuto no Ken. The story tells of the martial artist hero, Kenshiro, and the brutal struggle for survival in a 1980s post-apocalyptic world, where all girls grow up into supermodels with perfect hair and lip gloss, where all boys grow up into bench-pressing muscle monsters who regularly rip off their shirts to bare their sweaty, steroid-sculpted pecs, and where supervillains make a point to never sexually assault women but will gladly dig their burly fingers into other men's chests. Repeatedly.

Those new to the series can jump into this game without suffering through its predecessor. The first installment's tale is retold in fuller detail here, now including episodes such as the battle against the God's Land Army and the encounter against Jackal and the giant. (Personally, we would've loved to see the episode about the gothic horror who is somehow also the master of Nanto Anshoken, but we can't have everything.) Then, Hokuto Musou 2 covers the later story arc about Kenshiro's adventures after the final duel against Raoh. The characters and the plot there are nowhere as compelling, and the final supervillain is little more than a crude caricature. (Raoh at least shows some depth behind his motives and schemes.) The absence of important supporting characters such as Shoki and Locke is strange, given the inclusion of nameless foes like the Colonel of the God's Land Army and the Shura warrior faced by Falco. On the bright side, the game's extra story mode allows more interactions among the good guys and the bad guys from both arcs, further fleshing out their backstories.

Gameplay: Average

Initially, Hokuto Musou 2 is a tactical action fighter that looks like a worrying repeat of its predecessor. It offers two modes of play, the first being a single-Player-only experience that follows the original storyline, and the second retaining more of the classic 2-Player Musou-style gameplay and revealing the events not directly seen in the other mode.

Thankfully, fundamental improvements render this sequel a decent game. Most important among them are the corrected controls, as the characters now respond rapidly to Player input and have smoother movement transitions. The basic jumping action is replaced by easy-to-use evasive maneuvers that better suit Hokuto Musou 2's level design and martial arts themes. The button-prompt challenges are simplified, and they're now interspersed throughout the middle of the boss fights and the cutscenes, upping their interactive factor.

Further good news comes from the old skill points system being dropped in favor of a much more fun upgrade system. In this sequel, the characters gain in experience level, and their stats can be further boosted by the accessory-like scrolls, which are earned via completing episodes and by exploring for item chests. These scrolls are equipped in a grid, and matching the types of stats bonuses across this grid confers greater benefits, strongly rewarding Players who take the time to manage the collection of scrolls.

However, just because this sequel plays significantly better doesn't mean that it's awesome. The original story mode attempts to streamline things by focusing primarily on Kenshiro, but the 36 episodes vary wildly in length, each lasting anywhere from ten minutes to an hour. All the other playable characters (including supporting heroes like Mamiya, Rei, and Ein) may be properly enjoyed solely in the extra story mode. The chance to explore for bonus scrolls sounds nice, until you realize that the episodes regularly rely on timed challenges, and some of the extra story mode's episodes are solo-only single battles, lasting for less than five minutes.

Controls: Above Average

The controls' increased responsivity helps the game feel closer to the Musou classics. The opening or closing of gates occurs during active gameplay again, unlike the first Hokuto Musou's unskippable cutscenes. Working with the new evasive maneuvers is a breeze, too.

Graphics: Average

The visuals receive their share of improvements as well. The defeated enemies explode and chunk in a less-cartoonish manner, especially with the new gore effects of severed entrails splattering through the air. For some reason, the characters' victory animations at the end of an episode are gone, but the visual damage effects are changed so that the male characters can take on a bruised-and-bloodied appearance. (The two playable heroines only get their garments torn up, but not as gradually as in the first game.)

Sadly, Hokuto Musou 2's biggest problem is its ridiculous loading times. If the original story mode lasts for over ten hours, that's because you're spending more time watching the loading screen than actually playing the boss battles. What should be a single cutscene becomes a joke when the game goes through separate loading periods for three characters, each of whom says just one line of dialogue.

Audio: Above Average

The sound effects and the voice acting continue to be strong. (The exported versions no longer bother with dubbing, instead relying purely on subtitles.) Sure, the voices of Zoser and Kaioh may sound wrong, but that's made up by Jagi's maniacal laughter and by Hyoh's extreme kung fu screaming. The extra story mode's dialogue is actually spoken this time, although the silent narration and the recycled poses there feel awkward. The memorable music from the first Hokuto Musou returns with less frequent looping, but the new tunes for the later story arc aren't as inspired.

Overall: Average

Hokuto Musou 2 is what its predecessor should've been. Its smoother controls and its more engaging upgrade system turn this tactical action fighter into something that's finally playable. Its excessive loading times are unfortunate, but with its story covering both story arcs, fans of Hokuto no Ken can skip the piece of garbage that is the first Hokuto Musou and just stick with this sequel. Even if this is the only game in existence where you'll see more grown men crying and embracing each other than girls. XD

Expansion: Average

The downloadable additional content for Hokuto Musou 2 includes access to previously unplayable characters, several manga-original costumes, and 10 new episodes for the extra story mode's miscellaneous challenges section. Unlike the first Hokuto Musou, this sequel separates the characters from the levels for its additional content, providing greater control over which to purchase.

Honestly, the characters aren't a fantastic deal. They can be played only in the extra story mode as free-select heroes (given the lack of their own story chapters), and their abilities are redundant gameplay-wise. The extra characters also miss the opportunity to resolve the severe gender imbalance. As cool as dudes like Han may seem, bringing in heroines like Bella, Toh, and maybe even Jennifer would've been a bolder choice.

The extra episodes are far more useful by contrast, because they award scrolls that may grant combined effects (for example, increasing both offensive and defensive power if your character has low stamina). More importantly, the third and the seventh of these additional levels have special enemy bases that spawn an infinite amount of bad guys, without any computer-controlled allies to get in the way. They allow your characters to rapidly gain in experience level (and to make earning a certain Achievement/Trophy much easier). Other than that, however, the extra episodes differ little from the existing material. They still group all the regular bad guys at the bases, and they still prevent a second Player from joining you if they contain a motorbike or a horse.