Customer Reviews

Rise of Kasai

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Pros:
- Similar to Mark of Kri in mechanics.
- A little more violent than its predecessor.
- Now includes level bosses and deeper stealth play through the introduction of Rau's sister, Tati.
- Most levels involve cooperative play with a computer partner.
- Playing with a computer partner is better than I expected. There are times when you just want to let your partner do most of the work while you hang back and throw knives or shoot arrows from a distance. Or you can take out the horn blowers before your partner runs in to take everyone out.
- Hint: if you don't want your computer partner to go charging into a fight, make sure you are in unarmed stealth mode. This will tell your partner to do the same.
- Partner AI seems decent for the most part but sometimes it ignores enemies it should be fighting- especially annoying during boss levels.
- Tati's ability to stand against a wall and then fade into it adds to the stealth aspects of the game that is quite enjoyable. Guards can walk by and cannot see you.
- Also Tati's ability to throw or attach poison mushroom bombs to surfaces (including people) and have them detonate when they are near someone makes the stealth aspects a bit more strategic. For example, you can plant mushrooms where the guards will appear through a door and deliberately walk into the open just to lure them in. Also you can attach a mushroom to a guard and when he walks by his comrades it will detonate killing them all or knocking them all unconscious.
- Cutscenes are far more elaborate but animated in a consistent cartoony style.

Cons:
- Story jumps about a bit and can be difficult to follow.

This is a fitting continuation of Rau's saga. All the concepts, stunningly original art and fighting moves from the first game have been retained, and considerable depth is added to the game by having two characters (hence two paths) for each level. There are two types of characters, what I would describe as the barbarian (Rau/Baumusu) and the assassin (Rau's sister Tati/old Griz) classes each with their own signature moves and weapons. The elegant timed combo system from the first game has been kept intact, so having played Mark of Kri one can jump right in and deliver crushing Fua Usu Faahus at will. The plot is expanded upon the first in the series, and jumps around in time and hence is confusing at times, but I have yet to finish the game so I'm sure things will become clearer with additional revelations of the plot.

Very enjoyable game overall. Definite keeper, and a good deal for the price.

Before playing this game you should play the preceding title of the series "The Mark of Kri" which is a truly fantastic game. It introduces a beautiful atmospheric world, unique controls, great action, and an interesting story. One of the best title's I've played for the PS2.

That said, I have a bone or two to pick with the sequel here. I really wanted to give this game a shining review but I have to be honest with you. For the record I found this game to be quite beautiful like MoK and the controls were very much alike. I became accustomed to fighting alongside a computer controlled ally and learned to like it. I played as the new characters and came to like them too.

The painful things about this game are the bugs/glitches! I've played a lot of PS2 titles, I can safely say that even among the worst titles I've played, none of them had this many bugs. What happened Sony? Did you pull the plug on this one and rush it to store shelves? Here's a list of bugs I have experienced commonly in this game:

1. In stealth mode, half the time, enemies somehow magically see you when you're completely concealed around a corner.
2. Floors disappear and stay gone during play, and make you appear as if you are walking on air. Sounds cool but it isn't. It's sloppy.
3. Sometimes when you flip a switch and you computer ally attempts to flip it too, door jam closed instead of opening for you.
4. Your character gets stuck in a wall sometimes permanently.
5. When attempting to complete level challenges such as completing certain combos on enemies, the correctly and successfully performed combos will go undetected after dozens of attempts. (this one really irks me)
6. You computer controlled partner freezes in place
7. The entire game freezes.

It's heartbreaking really. I love the series and the story but I can't help but get really frustrated at the sloppy programming behind this game. I expect more from Sony, especially since MoK was such a wonderful game. Try it at the very least.

Mark of Kri was a game I "just found". I don't remember why I bought it or how it came into my possession, but I enjoyed it for its unique combination of stealth strategy and barbarian action. And the graphics (almost Disney-esque with blood and decapitations) was a real joy to behold. When Rise of Kasai came out, I was really looking forward to it.

So far, there's nothing really wrong with this game. It just doesn't really add a lot to the original. What was fun in the first now just seems like something I've played before. The only major change is the addition of 3 playable characters with their own minor quirks and the use of teamwork on some stages. But these alone do not seem to be enough to get me into the game. Maybe after I play a little more, I'll change my review.

On the plus side, the graphics are still there. The world is colorful, the movies like beautifully animated cave paintings. If you've never played Mark of Kri then it's definitely worth checking out. And if you have, well, it's still pretty good. Just don't expect to be blown away.

This game was alright, but I believe Mark of Kri was a better. I enjoyed it a bit more than this game.

Oh my God, if you have played "The Mark Of Kri" and you loved it! you are going to like this one even better, Very good experience with seller, the item arrived on time, no scratches, no damage, no problems at all, get yours with this seller, trust worthy, great experience, thanks amazon, thank you seller. bye

I picked this up for a grand total of about $3.30 so my expectations are probably set lower than some, but I really enjoyed the game. I didn't play the first game, Mark of Kri until later, but I was able to pick up the story well enough. Some review sites said it was confusing because it jumped around, but I found it perfectly fine.

Before I get into reviewing, there are two important things you need to know.

1) All the cheat sites say that having a Mark of Kri save on your memory card will unlock all the costumes. That's not entirely accurate. You must have a completed game save and then it only unlocks the remaining outfits that you cannot unlock by beating the Arena challenges.

2) BE VERY CAREFUL COMPLETING THE CHALLENGES! If you finish all the tasks, but then die before you reach the save point, do not save your game. There is a fatal glitch when unlocking content that will register all tasks as completed, but won't unlock the associated content if you die before you save. You're only solution then is to delete your save file and start over!

I can respect the targeting control scheme that they settled on, even if I don't particularly care for it. You use the right analog stick to paint targets on your enemies, then use one of the four shape buttons on the controller to target them, regardless of if they are on screen or not. It's a nice idea, but I found it seemed to mess with my successfully executing combos. It also limits the number of moves you have, so there's no jump button. Looking around corners is a royal pain, though you do have an ability to possess the lamppost things and use them to sneak a peak at enemies. The stealth in the game was hit and miss, but when it worked the stealth kills were pretty cool. Really though, you can mostly play the whole game just running right into the mess of bad guys and coming out on top. I never bothered to do much of anything with it until the very end of the game.

You have a total of four choices of characters, though characters play in pairs. In past levels, you can pick either the Barbarian or the stringy guy. In current levels, you can pick the Barbarian or the chick. In either case, one plays like a big warrior, the other a faster assassin. Personally, I went with the faster warriors almost every time. You also have some choice of weapon you use and it matters where you use them. For example, you can go with bigger, slower weapons, but you might get overrun by faster enemies. If you fight next to a wall your big long axe will bounce off walls or get stuck in wooden beams. It was nicely done overall.

The real problem comes from all the glitches. I did get stuck in a wall once, but was able to escape by attacking an enemy. The combo system is a train wreck, with combos failing to register more often than they work. The AI on your partner is a little flaky at times and just sits there for no reason, but is often really handy in the fights. I had numerous freezes when watching the movies. Normally you could just skip the movies, but they're really the point to playing the game at all. It was annoying to have to finish a battle, watch part of the movie, see it freeze, then restart and have to fight the battle again. The game provides a really good number of save points that you can use or even skip if you want the challenge, but they would have done much better to let you save before you trigger the movie.

If you're looking for a really deep game you can play over and over, you probably want to look elsewhere. If you're looking for something inexpensive that tells a good story and is enough fun to play through once, then by all means give it a try.

quality overlooked title. try it for cheap!

not a waste of time.

If you loved Mark of Kri you will love this one. If you missed on the first then go ahead and buy the second. The graphics and presentation are great. The violence is back with 3 new characters besides the original hero.

Imagine Winnie the Pooh killing stuff ... a fantastic concept! The animation and graphics remind me of the art style of the old Winnie the Pooh cartoons and not in a bad way.

The animation is excellent, the story is engaging and I've found no glitches to speak of.

One of my favorite PS2 games. In my opinion a must buy.