Capcom’s ‘Monster Hunter for kids’ is half-right, yet upon starting up Gaist Crusher it soon becomes apparent that it shares less in common with Monster Hunter than initially assumed. Sure Rathalos is available to fight but Gaist Crusher is much, much faster based with short battles and short journeys to each boss (gaist). The story in Gaist Crusher is seemingly irrelevant in relation to the action but is something akin to the gaists attacking humans so you play as the red haired boy (other playable characters later unlockable) and literally become a ‘gaist crusher’.
Developed by Treasure (wiki them for their what’s what), the game starts off where the demo starts off, unfortunately having to repeat the said stages they are thankfully very intuitive, especially to the non-Japanese speaker. Despite less about monster hunting that Monster Hunter, Gaist Crusher proves that gaist crushing can be an appealing alternative. Playing (and looking) more like a children’s version of EX Troopers than Monster Hunter, the combat plays much like a 3D Final Fight, there’s even a nod to Street Fighter II with a tiger-esque uppercut.
The more you progress the more you unlock with customisable characters, gaist gear and weaponry. Each alters the tactics required to beat the game and add an incredible amount to it. After just an hour in I found my dream gear allowing an amazing Double Dragon-esque drop-kick bouncing from bad guy to bad guy. The fighting peaks with the two power-ups the protagonist can achieve: the first being akin to vintage Hulk Hogan ‘Hulking up’, the second being EX mode where you become a gaist for a limited time. Defeat more bosses to unlock the boss gaist!
Speaking of the bosses they are quite simply awesome. Appearing similar to the bosses in Ocarina of Time (in size and tactics needed to defeat them) with sadly just the cinematic intros used in Zelda V missing. However there is more than enough cinematics in the game with each mission and boss battle preceded by some impressive animation all fully voiced. Each boss is reached quickly with emphasis on fast pace throughout. On one hand there is always constant action and brawling with the next boss battle just a few geeks away, on the other it often leads to burn out and repetition.
The basic gameplay structure of Gaist Crusher is: select mission, watch cut scene (it is fast forwardable in-case you’re wondering), defeat geeks, defeat more geeks, defeat the same geeks over, endure another cut scene, fight boss, and repeat. It’s not just the repetition that spoils the fun as despite all the customisable aspects the game is actually very linear with little of Tokyo to explore and each set of geeks or boss battle taking place in what effectively is an arena. It’s such a shame as fundamentally Gaist Crusher is almost an amazing game.
Almost enough as each time you play after putting down for a couple of hours it feels hyperbolically as the best game ever until the same repetition kicks in. Graphically and sonically Gaist Crusher cannot be faulted and it truly stands up there with the best brawlers on the system. Admittedly I haven’t had the opportunity to play the game with the ‘Gaimetal’ add-on toys yet so may amend my score at a later date if deemed necessary but for now I regrettably can only give a score in-between the excellently shambolic Toriko: Ultimate Survival and the excellently non-shambolic One Piece: Unlimited World R.
7/10
