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El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron[lower-alpha 3] 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. A port for Microsoft Windows was published by Crim in September 2021.[2] A Nintendo Switch port is also in development.[3]

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Ignition Tokyo[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)	UTV Ignition Games[lower-alpha 2]
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
Engine	Gamebryo
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Release	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 JP: April 28, 2011 NA: August 16, 2011 EU: September 9, 2011 Microsoft Windows WW: September 1, 2021
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.

Synopsis

Seven fallen angels called the Grigori steal pieces of God's wisdom and descend to Earth, having become infatuated with humans and unnaturally accelerating their evolution. The Grigori are led by a former member of the Council of Heaven called Semyaza; the other Grigori are Azazel, Ezekiel, Armaros, Sariel, Arakiel and Baraqel. They also create the Nephilim, hybrids of humans and the Grigori which threaten to destroy the world. Due to these events, the Council of Heaven has decided to trigger a great flood destroying all life including humanity. Enoch, a man originally brought to heaven to act as a scribe, is sent down to Earth by God to stop the Grigori, being overseen by the guardian angel Lucifel and four Archangels. The immortal Enoch searches for three hundred years for the Grigori's base, an isolated spacial realm holding a structure known as the Tower, with each Grigori controlling a floor of the Tower. As he proceeds through the Tower, through notes left by allied human Freedmen and statements from the Grigori, it is revealed the Grigori were tempted to fall by an entity of Darkness called Belial, who gives the Grigori power in exchange for the souls of humans who die in the Tower.

Enoch fights enthralled humans, meeting a human Freedman girl called Nanna and her non-hostile Nephilim companion Neph. When Sariel is defeated, the Nephilim born from him die. It is revealed that Baraqel was devoured by one of his Nephilim when it went berserk, and Arakiel died as the Grigori fell from Heaven. During his fight with Armaros, Belial tricks Enoch into the Darkness by kidnapping Nanna. Armaros, who considered himself a friend of Enoch's before coming to Earth, sacrifices himself to the Darkness to retrieve Enoch and Nanna. While Enoch's soul recovers, the surviving Grigori massacre the Freedmen, and a despairing Nanna finds the skull of the ancient warrior Ishtar, becoming her new incarnation and fighting the Grigori until she too grows corrupted by the Darkness. A recovered Enoch defeats Ezekiel, which kills her Nephilim children including Neph. On the top floor, Enoch fights Azazel. When Azazel is defeated, he attempts to continue the fight, but Belial kills him and sends the corrupted Armaros against Enoch. Enoch defeats Armaros and purifies Ishtar, the two discovering that Semyaza has already died. A final narration reveals that Enoch's action ended the Tower's influence on humanity, prompting the Council of Elders to halt the flood, and the Archangels swear to watch over the world forever.

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]

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.[15]

Notes

References

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