El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron[lower-alpha 1] is an action video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles. It is developed and published by UTV Ignition Games, a subsidiary of UTV Software Communications (who are owned by The Walt Disney Company India). The development was led by Sawaki Takeyasu, who had previously worked as an artist and character designer on Devil May Cry, Ōkami and Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.[1] The game was released on April 28, 2011 in Japan, on August 16, 2011 in North America, and on September 9, 2011 in Europe. An upcoming PC port will be published by Crim.[2]

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
North American cover art
Developer(s)Ignition Tokyo
Publisher(s)UTV Ignition Games
Director(s)Sawaki Takeyasu
Producer(s)
  • Kashow Oda
  • Masato Kimura
Designer(s)Yusuke Nakagawa
Artist(s)Sawaki Takeyasu
Writer(s)Yasushi Ohtake
Composer(s)
  • Masato Kouda
  • Kento Hasegawa
EngineGamebryo
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows
ReleasePlayStation 3, Xbox 360
  • JP: April 28, 2011
  • NA: August 16, 2011
  • EU: September 9, 2011
Windows
TBA
Genre(s)Action, hack and slash
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

El Shaddai is a third-person action game featuring platform game elements, in which players control Enoch. Enoch wears holy armor that loses its pieces as the player takes damage, although it can be restored using hearts found by breaking objects. If the player is damaged when Enoch has no armor left, they are given a small amount of time to repeatedly push buttons to repair the armor before they have to restart at the last checkpoint. Throughout the game, Enoch and the majority of his enemies utilise three weapon types; Arch, Gale, and Veil, each with their own strengths and weaknesses in and outside of combat. The Arch is a swift close range weapon which can perform quick combos and allows Enoch to descend slowly whilst jumping. The Gale is a long-range weapon that fires projectiles at enemies and allows Enoch to perform dashes over large gaps. Finally, the Veil is a slow but powerful weapon that can easily damage enemies and break certain objects that the other weapons can't. Enoch can retrieve these weapons by stealing them from enemies after they have taken enough damage or by taking them from icons found during platforming sections and boss battles. These weapons dull over time, requiring Enoch to purify them to restore their power, or steal a new weapon from an enemy. After a certain point in the game, Enoch will gain the assistance of the archangel Uriel and can activate 'Overburst' mode, increasing the power of Enoch's attacks and allowing him to perform a special attack combo.

Plot and setting

The story is inspired by the apocryphal Book of Enoch, and follows Enoch (Shin-ichiro Miki/Blake Ritson), a scribe seeking seven fallen angels to prevent a great flood from destroying mankind.[3] He is helped in his quest by Lucifel (Ryota Takeuchi/Jason Isaacs), a guardian angel in charge of the protection of the world who exists outside of the flow of time, alongside four Archangels: Michael (Kazuaki Yuguchi/Martin Glyn Murray), Gabriel (Atsuko Tanaka/Kirsty Mitchell), Raphael (Hirofumi Nojima/Adam Sopp) and Uriel (Hiroki Yasumoto/Chris Obi).[3]

Development

El Shaddai began development in 2007 and was formerly known as Angelic: Ascension of the Metatron. A work in progress trailer featured different designs of the characters.[4]

The game's aesthetic is anime-styled, loosely drawing on sources such as Studio Ghibli.[5] Enoch is a silent protagonist, as Takeyasu wanted to increase the connection between the player and Enoch.[6]

El Shaddai was promoted with a trailer shown at the 2010 E3 press conference, as well as the Tokyo Game Show. It was met with strong feedback, which has been attributed to a line of dialogue spoken by Lucifel to Enoch: "You sure that's enough armor?". This quote earned first place of the Net Buzzword Awards 2010 Grand Prix in Japan. Despite the trend being the creator's intention, it exceeded their expectations.[7] Other than the game's promotional movies, pre-release merchandise such as Edwin jeans and action figures were available for sale.[8] Bandai also produced several figures of the game's protagonist, which were featured in a Tamashii Features event in Akihabara, Osaka and Taipei.[9]

A PC port was confirmed in 2020.[2]

Reception

The game's reception was generally positive. Reviewers praised the sophisticated and visually arresting aesthetics and remarkably deep and nuanced, yet easy to grasp, combat system.

Legacy

A spin-off role-playing game, titled The Lost Child, was released by Kadokawa Games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in August 2017, with a Western release via NIS America released in 2018. The Lost Child features Enoch, Lucifel and Michael as supporting characters, but centers around a new protagonist.[14]

Notes
  1. Japanese: エルシャダイ アセンション・オブ・ザ・メタトロン, Hepburn: Eru Shadai Asenshon obu za Metatoron

References
  1. Andrew Park (2010-06-17). "El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Impressions - First Look". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  2. Romano, Sal (December 7, 2020). "El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron coming to PC". Gematsu. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  3. Mike Fahey (June 18, 2010). "El Shaddai Has God On Speed Dial". Kotaku. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  4. "El Shaddai: The Prototype". Andriasang.com. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
  5. "News - Interview: Beautiful, Creative El Shaddai Is Daring To Be Weird". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
  6. 『エルシャダイ』竹内良太×木村雅人プロデューサー／竹安佐和記ディレクター. Seiyuu Grand Prix (in Japanese). Shufunotomo (April 2011): 57–59. 2011-03-10.
  7. "Net Buzzword Awards 2010 Grand Prix decided, the first place is "You sure that enough armour?"". Sankei Shimbun Co., Ltd. June 18, 2010. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  8. "El Shaddai - エルシャダイ - OFFICIAL WEBSITE". Archived from the original on 2010-10-23. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  9. "大天使ルシフェル様 浅草でPV収録｜バンダイコレクターズ事業部×エルシャダイ まさかのコラボ実現！？". Archived from the original on April 19, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  10. "El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PS3) at Game Rankings". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  11. "El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (Xbox 360) at Game Rankings". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  12. Splechta, Mike (December 28, 2011). "GameZone's Game of the Year Awards Day 2: Technical Awards". GameZone. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  13. "1UP's Best of 2011 Awards: Editors' Picks". 1UP.com. December 22, 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  14. http://kotaku.com/el-shaddai-creator-announces-new-rpg-for-ps4-and-ps-vit-1795459008
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