You actually don't control Chakravartan's QTEs, those are meant to show that he's playing the same game you are now, by the game's rules. And he's LOSING.
@@voidkingofswing ill be honest, I genuinely never knew that. I always thought you had to press along with the inputs. Every time I played I always pressed cause I was worried I would fail otherwise.
@@bumblesmcfumbles What's even more fascinating is the fact that Chakravartin is the ONLY video game character in recorded history to have his own set of QTEs. Even now, no other video game antagonist nor boss has their own set of QTEs that they use against the player.
To further add on to the chakrartan fight that I haven’t seen a lot of people bring up but (at least to me) asura is fighting the god of creation in his base form. He is fighting Chakravartan this strongest while Asura is back down to his base form. He doesn’t have any of his unique abilities from his other forms all he got is his fist and his wrath
The fact the man that destroyed a entire divine pantheon out of anger eats his daughter's vegetables against his wife's wishes is just the cutest thing ever
The fun of Asura being Wrath incarnate but still being able to love, is that if sadness and empathy cannot take hold of you first, no matter how much fire you pour into the fuel pile, there will be no flame.
To be hateful implies there is value behind the wrath. Anger only exists when there is something needing corrected. It's why he disappears at the final battle. The fury to let the world be at peace is no longer needed.
That’s actually why I think Wrath suits Asura more than rage. Wrath can be described as a vengeful anger, and by that nature requires that it must be in someway pointed, in this case at the seven deities, and retaliatory, the abduction of his daughter,murder of his wife, and though he says he grows tired of hearing about the world, he still defends humanity from the gohma and his former allies. Where if he was just full of blind rage we might have had a character like the younger Kratos who would kill anyone and anything in his way, regardless of if they had ever actually done anything to earn his hatred. The woman his uses to jam up gears especially comes to mind here.
See Asura's Wrath didn't lampshade or otherwise ignore what they were doing. Hell, they had the final boss have some QTE's of his own. Instead of being a substitute for an in-depth game mechanic, they *_were_* the mechanic, and the visual style surrounding them shows that.
What I love the most about Asura is something any father, parents, older sibling can relate to; The undying love for someone close to you. The love of a parent has for their child is something strong, very strong. Its shown time and time again in the real world that parents will risk it all, find hidden strength and do anything to keep their child safe. For Asura, he killed the creator himself to make sure his Daughter was safe. And when Berserk Asura hit the scene, its a moment and scene no parent would ever want to see. They failed, they let their child get hurt, or worse, die. Even if wasnt actually Mithra, she looked and sounded so much like her. And that was enough for Asura to snap. You could say he already did but he still had a goal and a way to focus is rage. With Berserk, he just kinda...lets the rage consume him. No more words, no more weakness. He failed and so the world will pay the price.
And when he does this transformation, it’s less that bellowing shout when he’s throwing or punching someone. It sounds as if he’s crying out in pure anguish and sadness.
And crazy enough, despite all that anger even in his Berserker mode, he didn't hurt any innocent humans or demigods (in case you don't know, which was a surprise for me when I revisited the game, there are apparently "lesser" demigods, which I assume Mithra and Durga would count as)
Liam O'Brian did a phenomenal job voicing Asura in this game. To the point that he even injured his own throat from screaming so much. Also funny how you mentioned the fact that they use the Instrumental version of In Your Belief for the Berserk Asura scene. Cause in the Japanese version, they still use the vocal version.
Ya know I keep forgetting that Bumbles is only mid-20's.Whenever a game in the seventh generation is described as his childhood I have to take a mental step back.
Haha, same. I think my first moment of that was when he talked about watching Dragon Ball Z Kai on Nickelodeon, and I was like "is that where it was aired? I had no idea."
It's really poetic that despite how much is being presented to him by the end, an entire world that could worship him, his daughter being alive and well, him being uncontested because Chakravartin was planning to leave that world to its sole and rightful Guardian Deity. He threw it all away, because he was so sick of the millennia of Worship and anguish that humans had, even if it means that he'd die because of it. The only rightful Guardian Deity in that world, and yet they'd rather die than perpetuate the cycle of worship because they knew that humans no longer needed a god to worship, and that there is no more reason for them to exist. And when the entire thing ended, his memory wasn't that of a god, or an incarnation of wrath, but as a Father that loved his daughter that he's willing to turn the entire world order in its head, and dying multiple times in the process just so she could live freely.
Another thematic thing with this is that, despite him being remembered as a father, his final actions fall perfectly in line with the purpose and nature of Wrath. When that Wrath is sated, when that goal is finally achieved, it doesn't need to continue existing. It can pass on, and make way for new emotions and experiences. The past is now the past. Sure, Wrath may return some day when it is needed, but in this moment, it has done its job. It can rest. Asura gets to rest, knowing that his daughter can be safe and happy, his rage finally fading away alongside him.
I think Yasha being sadness does justify why he’s so spineless. Like you said here, sadness is the fuel for rage. It’s the FUEL. But… what happens when you don’t have a spark to ignite it into that rage? Rage is what gets things done, spurs people into action. He couldn’t reach that until he got hit the spark of anger, Asura. Being depressed really does sap your ability to even want to do things, and getting shown more bad things only makes you less likely to do anything. As for how he treats asura, that’s because of a mix of two things: his sadness/envy and him also being doubt, specifically Asura’s doubt. The things he seems to say all look like thoughts Asura would have in the back of his head while on his mission. But his rage and love overcomes them. But these lines also remind me of what some typical high school bullies are like. He’s envious that Asura has the spark to turn his sadness into rage, one he himself lacks. It also does make him that perfect mirror: he’s Asura without the wrath. He’s Asura without that spark to do something.
Exactly I agree because he embodies melancholy, not sadness, melancholy which is full on depression. for most of the game he's emotionally dead but as the game goes on Asura's actions plus him realizing through Berserk Asura how much he royally fucked up he slowly begins to feel again and at the end amend things with Asura.
I like to add that Yasha was also that one type of person who always puts a cause over any sense of self reflection until that cause contradicts itself (When they used the Bramastra against Bezerk Asura undoing all their work). There are people who would allow the amount of atrocities the deities would do for the simple quote of "The end justifies the means". It is like trying to convince someone who's followed a faith for many years to abandon it afterwards. One of the reasons why he didn't act sooner was because unlike Asura, Yasha was convinced by Dues that this is the most efficient way to rid the problem for good. I do agree it is frustrating that he talks as if he's clueless on why Asura would rebel against this plan. However, all of that remains a moot point when this entire time the creator himself planted the seed of all this suffering just to give a promotion.
@@bumblesmcfumblesdo Shingo, he is the best dividing line between a joke character made for the player to laugh at and a character that makes jokes FOR the player to laugh at. It would be a crime to not have him at least mentioned.
@@devonwilliams5738 Yeah i'd like one too. If that's the case i'd really never be able to enjoy this game again, nobody should have to permanantly ruin there voice or scream BLOOD at a job
@@ariannadravis3934 I can't find evidence of it beyond people on forums talking about it, but even if it was true, this is implied to be done of his own volition. Liam has stated that voicing Asura was both a joy and pain for him on Twitter, without any further details.
Asura is legit one of my favorite characters of all time and I love that you went through the trouble of going through what makes him tick beyond the screaming and punching. He really is incredibly likable when you look at the parts of him that don't revolve around that.
During the birth of berserker Asura, I've always heard Asura let out a single word that isn't an indistinguishable yell. Once the transformation is complete, it always sounded like he was screaming the word "Why" at 32:36. This being his first and only word he says while in this state, I find it interesting how it isn't a pure angry line like "I'll kill you" or a total scream, but instead just "Why". "Why" alone is a very vague word that is single handly trying to express the entirety of the feeling and thoughts Asura is going through in this initial moment before being snuffed out by all the feral yells that come after it.
Asura is genuinely one of my favorite fictional characters. He's an antisocial hothead and the literal god of wrath, but he's also an honest, humble, and slightly bumbling husband and father who's driven by his love for his family and compassion for humanity. Thank you for exploring his character so thoroughly.
To quote the Green Scorpion video on video game berserkers (Asura was #1 on that list): When faced with the evils of this world, happiness gives you the foundation to bear it. Sadness gives you the wisdom to acknowledge it! And anger gives you the strength to oppose it!!! So Rise My Friends, And Be... ANGREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
I don’t think I would ever see the day that someone would make a meaningful video essay about how Asura’s Wrath as a whole, but I am happy it came from Bumbles. He not only has a nice voice to invite you to listen, but he also has the knowledge, and story literacy that really understands Asura beyond just seeing it as DBZ and God of War on crack. And I am happy for what he has done.
38:35 Another thing that I noticed is at the true end of the game when Asura sacrifices himself to give Mithra a peaceful world. In Your Belief played during the credits, but in this moment it’s much more vocal focused. The booming orchestra is gone, the strength of it, and Asura, gone. Mithra would be alone, as would the vocals, but instead the orchestra is replaced with a piano. Nowhere near as strong as the real thing, but much like a memory, it’s proof that it once was there. That in memory, Asura is still with Mithra.
One of the things I think is so cool about getting to fight Ryu and Akuma: Berserk Asura is extremely similar to the Satsui no Hado, and most especially the loss of compassion. Ryu is arguably more powerful than Evil Ryu, but Ryu cares about the people he's fighting for. Evil Ryu simply doesn't. He has embraced the darkness, and in doing so, throws out his last connection to humanity, just like Berserk Asura. It's something that Capcom does surprisingly well, showing the player how destructive they could be without any ethics, empathy, or compassion. Think of Zero versus Omega, Ryu to Evil Ryu, and Berserk Asura. The character's choice to stick to the path of good can be an extremely helpful tool for making that character memorable to the person who played it, as well as the additional feeling that you, the player character, have that capability that the antagonist shows.
Easily the most spot-on, perfect, and comprehensive breakdown of Asura's Wrath I've ever seen. Amazing work, bro! That said, I disagree with you on Yasha. Yes, his inability to act for himself crowned him a spineless bastard, absolutely, and the game could've gone a bit further to have him wallow in this anguish properly. But as I see it, that was the point. He was the bridge between Asura's empathy and a god's superiority. Yasha wanted to protest, but he was so genuinely caught up in his responsibility as a Guardian Deity, that he denied himself the opportunity to feel for others. But not because of arrogance, lust for power, or destructiveness. He was a misguided fool, who fell for the grandeurized ideas of divinity that Deus envisioned. The fact that he went along with petty political deceit simply demonstrates how blinded he was. We see Yasha act self-righteously, arrogantly, coldy, and even dismissively - but that's exactly it, he ACTS. He defies his own heart, closes himself off, and keeps on the mask. Only when he meets Asura face to face again, bears witness to boundless rage born from an, in his eyes, selfish desire for personal happiness over the future of the world, he FINALLY begins to second-guess himself. But it's too late. The damage is done, and he can no longer be the man that Asura has become, the man that can save the world. So, in his final moments, Yasha entrusts Asura with his only remaining shred of humanity: self-sacrifice.
It’s because around this time, Military Shooters was the most popular genre. So Asura didn’t get much because everyone was playing the next Call of Duty, Black Ops, or Battlefield
One miniscule point in defence (from my perspective) of Yasha's "I won't do anything about it". Since 8 Guardian Generals are ageless they don't perceive time like we do, our lifes are limited by the amount of time an average human will live, but for Yasha for whose a day might be just like a second for us it's unnoticable that 12 thousand years have passed and he didn't do anything. It's like in fantasy settings elves meets a human, then meet them again 30 years later and they are suprised that aging exists and humans do more in shorter span of time.
I feel like he is Constantly in a state of "Any day now, this will all be worth it. Aaaany day now, we'll finally destroy all the ghoma. Aaaaaaaany day now all the bad things will prove themselves to have been worth it for the long term greater good." And every day, he's been saying "Maybe tomorrow." Over. And over. And over.
Another important thing is that he represents Sadness. You ever been in a depressive slump? For us, that's binge eating and doom scrolling on our preferred poison of a social media. For a god-like being who has lived for millennia and had the mantra (haha) of "These humans are all beneath us, and definitely beneath the cause", yeah, I think dissociation with all his close ties is pretty understandable. He's capable, but he quite simply doesn't believe in himself. He's a coward, not out of fear, but for his allowance of stagnation. He's naive, and wants what is best, but isn't willing to really think if there are alternatives that he could take, just tired of it all and wanting a way out, a trait he actually shares with Asura in a way. Both characters want this madness to end, with the means most obvious to their character.
1:06:18 Don’t worry Jack I’ve got you covered on that turnabout. So as it turns out CyberConnect 2 had BIG PLANS for Asura’s Wrath, wanting it to be a trilogy of games that told a bigger, better story. But due to a combination of it’s ahead of its time gameplay model, somewhat poor optimization on consoles and a marketing campaign that made it look like a GoW clone, the game failed to turn a profit. The supposed “true ending DLC” is actually a heavily abridged version of the story they wanted to tell, released as DLC to give the game some kind of closure. As for the argument that Capcom basically sold the game’s actual ending for $7 because they were greedy and wanted more money… how is it any different than what Telltale was doing? Remember folks, you had to BUY each new episode of The Walking Dead when they came out, which technically means you did indeed have to pay for the game’s true ending. So how come that gets a pass but this doesn’t? I mostly chalk it up to the rocky reputation Capcom had during the game’s release, not helped at all by the SFXT DLC Kerfuffle. People were always ready to rip into Capcom after that point (understandably might I add), and this fell right into their crosshairs. So yeah, the Asura’s Wrath DLC situation was not good… at the time. Nowadays with the power of hindsight, I think we should be happy Cyber Connect 2 got to give Asura's Wrath a satisfying ending, when so many other games in its exact position don't even get closure. And while yes this does mean Asura's Wrath will technically be incomplete once the Xbox 360 Store shuts down… considering where Capcom is right now in regards to re-releasing their older games, i wouldn't be surprised if we see an enhanced re-release sooner rather then later.
I am sorry but I really find it hard to believe that in the span of 2 months CC2 was able to crank out the true ending dlc and even then they would have had to wait a bit to see how the game sold. I remember hearing somewhere that this was ntentional but not because of greed but because they wanted it to be like a show where you wait a bit for the conclusion. I don't know if that's true but that's more believable than them doing those 4 episodes in 2 months. The last episode is nearly an hour long for goodness sake.
45:46 in Yasha’s defense melancholy is an inwardly expressed emotion. It’s more about introspection and self reflection then the kind of sadness that is reflected in crying and sobbing. Unlike asura yasha doesn’t have a means to express his feelings in fact both augus and asura click on to this quirk of yasha’s due to his reserved nature holding him back from expressing himself. It’s the reason why he wears his mask to keep everything in why he is able to bottle his emotions for the sole purpose of completing “The Great Rebirth”. Everything yasha commits to is for the sake of that ambition and until it’s complete he will holding everything in even telling the contained mithra that she is free to kill him if their plan succeeds.
I somehow convinced myself into believing you already did an Asura’s Wrath video so I now believe I willed this video into existence and I could not be happier
I feel like berserk asura is the prime example fighting a man who really has nothing to lose from ending you Fighting someone with something to protect is one thing Fighting someone with nothing to lose is another, but only because they think they do, sort of like darth vader But fighting someone who both figuratively and mentally has nothing left to lose is an entirely different beast
IT shocks me that well this game never got a rerelease even though it has a strong fanbase, i get never getting a sequel but a rerelease on modern platforms? you think that would have happened by now
Funny enough me and some friends had a conversation about Asura's wrath last night, pretty convenient. I was about to click off following your advice but the jingly keys really brought me back in
I really mean it when I say that giving Chakravartin his own QTEs during the last phase of the battle with him and having him fail them to get across how Asura is prevailing in their battle is the single coolest visual effect any video game has ever done, and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise. I'm honestly surprised that nobody seems to have considered swiping the idea either, and frankly I wouldn't blame anyone for doing so because it is such an INCREDIBLE case of showing and not telling. on another note it's both extremely funny and weirdly fitting to me that this game is apparently part of Street Fighter canon. It feels like it should come from the same brand of utter crack combination that brought us "Big Boss fighting a Tigrex" but at the same time, yeah no reincarnated Asura would just fit perfectly into the roster and I also hate that it's never going to happen now.
I think you undersold Yasha's character here, Yasha being a coward is how he handles the reality he's in, too weak physically to beat Deus and stop the Deities and too weak emotionally to accept that his sister died for the sake of a cause he doesn't really believe is worth the sacrifice, but this isn't supposed to be good or admirable, after the rage Asura situation he does do something about it and finally takes action, and I think beating the shell you've put yourself in to face a reality you thought you had no hope of beating is just as cool as fighting against a league of terrible people who kidnapped your daughter and stopping at nothing to set her free. There's a TON to talk about with the parallels between Asura and Yasha as characters, I think the whole thing is really cool, so if you have any questions please ask, I'd love to elaborate on this
just in time Jack! Death Battle announced pitting this man against Kratos and I wanna catch up to how this guy bodied Hinduism, I look forward to see how this game holds up
31:08 this moment right here is where, to me, the death of the village girl hits so hard. Asura is very well aware that the girl looks like Mithra but is not her, but in the moment where the voices go silent, you can see Asura scream Mithra's name (in the Japanese pronounciation, Misura) if you read his mouth. When I caught that moment, that really made me tear up really bad, and just have the full on waterworks by the end of the chapter, seeing the soul being focused on, possibly being the village girl's soul floating away.
I really wish that Capcom didn't make the True Ending of Asura's Wrath DLC. I didn't have Wi-Fi back when I had a working PS3, so I couldn't play any of the DLC content, including the True Ending and the final fight against Chakravartin.
Luckily the game is like 20 bucks on xbox atm, dunno about the dlc but shouldn't be a pretty penny for it. Played only 20 minutes of it though but I've decided to jump into metal gear rising revengence before commiting to the asura wrath.
Capcom was wishing for the true ending of oscars wrath to be a part of the game instead of being DLC but because of the other engine that runs the game didn't do well Capcom had no choice but to add it as DLC because they thought the game was going to sell well.
Asura’s Wrath has gotta be one of the best and only Anime’s I’ve ever played,shit absolutely bangs and i pray to whatever god that will answer me that Capcom acknowledges this series existence…
1:19:30 I like to think the meteor in this scene is the moon asura punched through having caught up to the planet and broken down after millennium of travel.
Before I finish the video. I saw a little bit of Asura's wrath, and I also thought. I can't just watch a playthrough of this. I need a full on analysis. thanks man!
finding out that there's a story that did chainsaw man's 'hero of hell' mode through berserker asura before the manga even existed and did it in a way that is just as poignant is honestly amazing to see and has convinced me to check out asura's wrath
Nothing reminds me of why I love your style of videos and your wording now than the near end, when you explain one thing as “It’s not a Dragon Ball Z fight. It’s a Dragon Ball fight.” One of those statements that might mean nothing to a ton of people, but to some? That is the highest praise.
I'm so glad I experienced AW close to release. We essentially treated it like two extended Bad-Movie-Nights with me playing and 3 non-gamer friends watching. But as much as I enjoyed it, locking the ending behind a paywall makes the negative reception absolutely deserved. Sometimes, a rejection needs to be painful enough to stop-punch a behavior dead.
I really hope this becomes a series- I really REALLY enjoy these in depth looks at specific things people really like in these games and you're honestly my FAVORITE person when it comes to this-
Shout out to the Street Fighter DLCs at one point not only make you perform the Raging Demon input during a QTE moment, but also makes you perform the actual Raging Demon at the same time as your opponent just to survive.
the golden spider is really quite neat honestly, cause it relates to a popular children's story in japan from 1918. basically the buddhas taking a gander at hell when he notices one criminal in particular. the criminal kandata was a cold hearted criminal with only one good deed to his name: he chose not to crush a spider with his foot. Moved by this single act of compassion, the buddha lowers a single spiders thread down from paradise into hell and allows kandata to climb it. kandata gets about halfway and realizes giddily that he might actually escape hell, but in his musings he notices that other people are climbing the thread. fearing that the thread will break due to the weight of others, he yells that the thread is his and his alone. only when he does yell that, the thread breaks condemning kandata because he was too concerned with his own salvation instead of the salvation of others. and the buddha and paradise continue on regardless of the outcome.
I never thought I'd be getting emotional over a Bumbles McFumbles (not counting Darkus Stinglash), but here I am on the verge of tears listening to that analysis of Asura's character. 420/10, an all time banger!
The thing about Yasha being a massive coward kinda put something about his character in perspective for me. If he’s powered by melancholy, and he knows all this is happening and chooses to do nothing, maybe it was all a part of his own plan? Think of it like this, getting your nose held down in the terrible things you and your allies have caused would make anyone depressed. So it could have been possible that he stood by to let this happen so he could gather the power he knew Asura had and that he could achieve in due time. It doesn’t seem to be written like that in most scenes with Yasha, which is where I take issue and totally see where you’re coming from, but it would’ve added at least some depth to him if that was what they were going for
Even after he starts to turn he talks down to Asura about the plan which is... Very strange if you don't think that he's trying to make Asura hate him completely. Yasha is actively drowning in his sorrow by believing that to stick to the plan he has to live the worst ending. Asura constantly rejecting that idea is what pushes him to finally think that his anguish and sorrow isn't the only way he can be stronger.
Gathering the Souls of humans was the only way to beat Vlitra as far as he was aware. Of course he would only start to crack when that idea is questioned. I have no idea how so many people fail to grasp this.
I wasn’t expecting a fully new format to the video for Asura’s Wrath, but it absolutely makes sense you’d have to do it that way, and Asura’s Wrath has certainly earned this chance. Also goddamn nearly a full hour and a half of Bumbles? Perfect thing to wake up to
The writing in this episode is unparalleled Bumbles. The way you described everything, especially everything revolving around emotions, was like poetry! Kleylson also did an amazing job with the thumbnail, Asura breaking out of the thumbnail is amazing! The wait was definitely worth it!
My first exposure to Asura's Wrath was this one Vinesauce clip of Joel playing the hot springs part, and the couple of seconds after the QTE of Augus one-punching Asura, a Windows pop-up appears and he loses it like usual. Also, watching footage of Augus' fight on the moon and the fact that both this game and Killer is Dead share Symphony No. 9 From the New World was interesting.
Asura's Wrath, yes! I was looking forward to seeing this after seeing your post about playing it. One of the best playable chuuni animes available! Real good show on the cinematics on a lot of the battles. (I believe the folks behind this also did the Naruto games which had real good cinematics as well?) Nothing grips you into a game like having one of the first major bosses be bigger than the planet.
The big damn smile I had the whole hour and 20 minutes I watched this... I am so happy that you went so deep into Asura's character in the video. It's literally one of the reasons why I love this game so much and what really makes the story so impactful and memorable, and many folks who have talked positively about the game barely touch on it at all... Ever since I first discovered this game, I've been hoping that Capcom would wake up and remaster it to bring it to newer systems, and hopefully bring it to PC as well, with all the DLCs included. I never owned any of the consoles it came out on and is/was available on, and I've wanted to experience it with my own hands so bad. But knowing Capcom, that is going to be very unlikely... 😮💨 But until then, I have the amazing Art Book I can still enjoy 😌(which if you manage to find somewhere I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. It has so many info and art, even translations of the dialogues spoken in the unknown human language in Part II!)
Oh I forgot to mention this yesterday, but I seriously love how the QTE is used to enhance the story. One of my favorites moments is the final fight with Yasha, yes, which like you mentioned is so incredibly good with how you get tricked into pressing a button which never happens, and the fistbump. But there is another scene earlier on in Part II that I also find so incredibly good with how they handled it. It's when the Shinkoku army first attack the human village. Eventually Asura picks up the small guy and starts punching him hard, the Burst gauge starting to fill up as per usual with each punch. Same old, same old. But then... Asura notices the girl not too far from him. She is beating a dead soldier with a rock, crying for the death of her mother by their hand. Asura watches her... and then he lets go of the soldier in his hand, the Burst gauge empties out with that gesture. I love this detail so much, it really shows that yes he is driven by his wrath that pushes him to overcome everything in his path, but also fully solidifies that he is not *just* fueled by his rage. What drives him is not mindless rage. The following part about Asura stopping the girl's arm and telling her that he knows how she feels, and to wait for him as he will take care of the army is also so damn good. It shows that he does care. A lot. He hates seeing people suffering. He is angry about what his fellow demigods did to his daughter, yes, but he is also angry that the humans are suffering because of both the Gohma and especially the ones who were supposed to keep them safe. Apologies I ended up in a long rant, it's just that I love Asura's character so damn much, and it drives me crazy that not enough people are aware of him because of all the bad choices Capcom did with this game.
As someone who was more or less raised around Hinduism and Buddhism beliefs, I love this game, even if I never got the chance to play it back when I was younger
absolutely fantastic video, its great to see a video about Asura's wrath not just talking about how cool it is, but also doing genuine analysis of its characters and themes!
I got to try out Asura’s Wrath (and stumble upon the DLC debacle) years after it came out when I was in college and the idea of paying full price for a video game was scary (it’s still scary, but more so back then). The demo was fantastic, but all the research I tried to do leading to the inevitable conclusion I was essentially mulling over getting a “playable movie minus very important additions” ultimately kept me from pulling the trigger. I love the video and the passion Jack puts into properly conveying his interest in hidden gems, rusted trophies, and skeletons-in-and-out-of-closets
Loved the video, love the game, but allow me to try and advocate for Yasha. His emotion is melancholy, which as best I can understand is depresion as an emotion rather than a state of mind. He wants to fight for the betterment of everyone but for who knows how long he's been told by all the other's not named Asura, that defeating the ghoma for good isn't going anywhere as they're currently opperating and need to store up a massive amount of mantra to kill Vlitra once and for all. And he believes it, he's seen how every time they fight Vlitra it doesn't stick, they have to be back there to do the same thing again in another couple of hundred to thousands of years. Even Asura, Augus, and Deus the strongest people he knows can't take it out for good. And when he's told about "The Cause™" it makes sense to him and he rationalizes the saddness he has to live with. "My sister, niece, and brother in law have to suffer imensly, but in the end countless billions won't have to suffer the same way ever again. Right?" And he goes along with it cause it makes sense from what he's seen. When he sees berserk Asura he's faced with the fact that, there is someone who by themselves can rival all the power they've spent the last 12 thousand years acumulating, some alternative solution that can at the very least, spare his niece, and he takes that possibility and sticks with it. Melancoly isn't exaclty an emotion of lashing out, its sort of just, accepting the missery.
surprisingly, asura's wrath is a key moment in my mind, it was a game my dad had and i played a lot of augus's fight, and while my fingers couldnt keep up with the mashing, my dad's were, its one of the games that i will remember often and fondly, i cant get mad about the monetization, bc to me, the rose glasses are stabbing into my face
I'm surprised you didn't mention that when asura went berserk he never targeted any innocents he only harmed the gohma and the shinkoku soliders that proofs that even though that asura has lost all sense and reason his will his spirit and his anger never wants to harm the innocent
This video has given me a newfound appreciation for Asura’s Wrath, I already thought it was a neat game; now I think it’s an interactive art piece. Love the video Jack! (Also algorithm boost comment)
The idea that this game could potentially be canon to Street Fighter is why I love Capcom, even with all of their bullshit. They just decide on a whim what games are canon to what without any logic or reason and it makes me feel alive.
I have never played this game (I have never even had the thought to touch an Xbox, so that's probably why), and besides some scenes and discussing the akuma vs shao khan results by taking account of his fight with him, I had zero knowledge about thos game. And yet, the way you have talked about it, about a world I have only just sniffed, has enamored me. Such emotion, the suffering Asura had to endure an his breaking point, and the way you filled the script with such passion to the point of commotion (and I have Asperger sindrome, I know my stuff about hyperfixated rants, yet you still impressed me above and beyond). After I took some time to adjust my thoughts, and take a very hot shower with that instrumental theme song you talked about on repeat, I can just say... Wow. This is now by far my favorite video on this channel (If you are wondering, before was a tie between the bionic commando one and the spongebob movie game one), and I'm probably going to rewatch it over and over again. As I've said before, you're on my top 5 favorite youtubers of all time, and this video does nothing but consolidate that choice even more. Jack, let me tell you this, you are awesome, great, magnificent even, and I just want to let you know that you have earned a spot between the cream of the crop. And the fact that (right now) this video only has 12K views is criminal. Congratulations for an excellent video, and I'm already ready to see the next one. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart.
I'm so glad you covered this game as in depth as you did. Asura's Wrath is one of my favorite games ever made and I'm loving that it seems to be getting the respect it deserves all these years later (although a complete edition re-release would do wonders). I remember when the game came out and critics seemed to just say it's neat, but nothing really all that special. I didn't play it till years later (like 2014 or 2015) and when I did I had the experience of a lifetime. I went for all of the trophies, although never got a couple of them. It's a game I could replay over and over again without ever getting tired of it similar to many of my other favorite games.
I'm surprised no one has tried to get it on Switch (to any degree noticeable outside of the companies) since complete editions of ten year plus old games is sort of the Switch's bread and butter
As much as I love your style of humor and how it always manages to get a chuckle out of me, I can't help but adore your serious analysis even more. The section where you explain Asura's anger after the loss of everything he was fighting for was phenomenal. I quite literally just came back to watch that point of the video because I really adore the way you expressed why it works so well.
Every time someone makes a video essay about asuras wrath, every playthrough all of it. asuras wrath is such an experience and just hearing people talk about it brings me enough joy i could cry. more than i already am as i tear up seeing the fist bump every time. immaculate video. was funny seeing the confusion of the chakravartin inputs. never knew people interpreted that as pressing his buttons.
The Asura in SF6 has the same energy as a friend giving you a really good pitch for a game, and you now having to live knowing this absolutely brilliant idea will never get turned into reality.
I would say that Yasha's sadness is actually a pretty big part of his character. I would say that he knows about the killings but instead of bringing up the courage to fight, he wallows in his sadness and despair as he feels too weak to do shit about anything that's happening. So instead of being proactive like Asura, he's reactive. Like a protestor that only has balls when they see another, he doesn't have the courage or confidence to confront the injustices he sees. Instead he wallows in it, moaning about this greater cause because he has nothing else. If he fights and wins, he might not have the strength to fight off Vlitra. If he fights and loses, he won't be able to avenge his sister and niece. To him, it is a lose-lose situation until Asura shows him another way.
My first contact with the game was a mention of the Gongen Wyzen fight in a video some years back (a video talking about epic video game bosses), then I saw a french let's play (less of a game reel, ) by popular french UA-camr Bob Lennon some times after; they were the first videos of his I saw, and it was quite fun even if I only got some of the references in the later episodes years after. I loved the art of the game so much that I did downloaded some of the concept art in my old phone (still using this one for taking photos), and some fan-art of it. Didn't even know the prompts of Chakravartin were also the player's. I always assumed that the prompts appearing for them weren't interactible and were a way to represents their own power; so omnipotent they're bassicaly doing similar things as the player. I guess that'll teach me not playing the game. One day, whatever if it's via Xenia (that xbox 360 emulator. I did heard the DLC's contents were also dumped online or are accesible via Xenia options or something like that) or a rerelease for Switch, I shall play it. Thanks for the essay, McFumbles. Probably one of your bests, even with the (understandable) Yasha slander. P.S. the Chakravartin fight overall gives me more Gurren Lagann vibes than DBZ, mainly because of the more explicitly "cosmic" aspects of it all, with the final sparing between them and Asura being reminiscent of the one in the second Gurren Lagann movie (Lagann-hen/All the light in the Sky are Stars). Especially when I rewatched let's plays of the game AFTER watching Lagann-hen. Like, I do know Goku do make a sort of mega construct of himself in one of the DBS chapters against that Moro dude, but still. I do not invalidate the DBZ comparaison though, we just have our different frames of reference.
You don't play the Chakravartin QTEs, he was wrong about that bit. Those Sanskrit symbols are not on your controller. They're on His. That is him fighting as you do, not just the "You" that is Asura, but the "You" that is hitting buttons on the controller. And the moment when he FAILS a QTE, when he cannot mash the button fast enough to stand up after you knocked him to his knees is one of my absolute favourite moments of ludonarrative. It's one of the best examples of why you Need to play the game to truly feel it. Because it tells you that YOU, the PLAYER are more powerful than Chakravartin, because YOU cleared all the QTEs. It's almost like you're playing PvP against something beyond the game, that is controlling Chakravartin as you control Asura.
Holy shit this couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I spent most of this year finally trying to play this game after knowing about it for over 10 years. I had a really rough time because I didn’t know how to download the DLC, but when I got it working I streamed it all and had one of the best times ever with a video game. I even ended up crying with the facecam on, it was really embarrassing but so fucking worth being able to go back and see those experiences. This game is amazing and genuinely ahead of it’s time (for better or worse)
Also im among the few who genuinely loves how the game plays and controls against bosses specifically. Against enemies it’s not the best but boss encounters are genuinely some of my favorites, even if they aren’t super “deep”
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You actually don't control Chakravartan's QTEs, those are meant to show that he's playing the same game you are now, by the game's rules. And he's LOSING.
@@voidkingofswing ill be honest, I genuinely never knew that. I always thought you had to press along with the inputs. Every time I played I always pressed cause I was worried I would fail otherwise.
@@bumblesmcfumbles What's even more fascinating is the fact that Chakravartin is the ONLY video game character in recorded history to have his own set of QTEs. Even now, no other video game antagonist nor boss has their own set of QTEs that they use against the player.
To further add on to the chakrartan fight that I haven’t seen a lot of people bring up but (at least to me) asura is fighting the god of creation in his base form. He is fighting Chakravartan this strongest while Asura is back down to his base form. He doesn’t have any of his unique abilities from his other forms all he got is his fist and his wrath
What people think Asura is like: "I will rip out your spine"
What Asura is really like: "I will rip out your spine for what you did to her"
The fact the man that destroyed a entire divine pantheon out of anger eats his daughter's vegetables against his wife's wishes is just the cutest thing ever
"Sadness is very very good at filling voids where love once called home" banger quote
The fun of Asura being Wrath incarnate but still being able to love, is that if sadness and empathy cannot take hold of you first, no matter how much fire you pour into the fuel pile, there will be no flame.
Oh, and of course, Asura's title is technically "DEMIgod of Slaughter", he is man before god
Bro think he the poet😭
To be hateful implies there is value behind the wrath. Anger only exists when there is something needing corrected. It's why he disappears at the final battle. The fury to let the world be at peace is no longer needed.
That’s actually why I think Wrath suits Asura more than rage. Wrath can be described as a vengeful anger, and by that nature requires that it must be in someway pointed, in this case at the seven deities, and retaliatory, the abduction of his daughter,murder of his wife, and though he says he grows tired of hearing about the world, he still defends humanity from the gohma and his former allies. Where if he was just full of blind rage we might have had a character like the younger Kratos who would kill anyone and anything in his way, regardless of if they had ever actually done anything to earn his hatred. The woman his uses to jam up gears especially comes to mind here.
asura’s wrath is relatable to the average gamer because the gamer mind is instantly launched into a boiling rage as soon as they see a qte
It feels nice to have grown up with 'em
I wholly disagree, qtes can be fun
@@flaretheragegamer8451 One of the fortunate few
See Asura's Wrath didn't lampshade or otherwise ignore what they were doing. Hell, they had the final boss have some QTE's of his own.
Instead of being a substitute for an in-depth game mechanic, they *_were_* the mechanic, and the visual style surrounding them shows that.
@@flaretheragegamer8451 When the Sonic is Frontiers:
When I'm in a not taking accountability contest and my opponent is Yasha.
literally, he was this close to fleeing to Argentina
It could be worse. It could have been Ramba Ral.
You're cooked
What I love the most about Asura is something any father, parents, older sibling can relate to; The undying love for someone close to you. The love of a parent has for their child is something strong, very strong. Its shown time and time again in the real world that parents will risk it all, find hidden strength and do anything to keep their child safe. For Asura, he killed the creator himself to make sure his Daughter was safe.
And when Berserk Asura hit the scene, its a moment and scene no parent would ever want to see. They failed, they let their child get hurt, or worse, die. Even if wasnt actually Mithra, she looked and sounded so much like her. And that was enough for Asura to snap. You could say he already did but he still had a goal and a way to focus is rage. With Berserk, he just kinda...lets the rage consume him. No more words, no more weakness. He failed and so the world will pay the price.
And when he does this transformation, it’s less that bellowing shout when he’s throwing or punching someone. It sounds as if he’s crying out in pure anguish and sadness.
And crazy enough, despite all that anger even in his Berserker mode, he didn't hurt any innocent humans or demigods (in case you don't know, which was a surprise for me when I revisited the game, there are apparently "lesser" demigods, which I assume Mithra and Durga would count as)
@@kianrodriguez4455Yep
Liam O'Brian did a phenomenal job voicing Asura in this game. To the point that he even injured his own throat from screaming so much.
Also funny how you mentioned the fact that they use the Instrumental version of In Your Belief for the Berserk Asura scene. Cause in the Japanese version, they still use the vocal version.
Came for the Asura's Wrath, stayed for the character analysis of Asura
Ya know I keep forgetting that Bumbles is only mid-20's.Whenever a game in the seventh generation is described as his childhood I have to take a mental step back.
Haha, same. I think my first moment of that was when he talked about watching Dragon Ball Z Kai on Nickelodeon, and I was like "is that where it was aired? I had no idea."
It's really poetic that despite how much is being presented to him by the end, an entire world that could worship him, his daughter being alive and well, him being uncontested because Chakravartin was planning to leave that world to its sole and rightful Guardian Deity. He threw it all away, because he was so sick of the millennia of Worship and anguish that humans had, even if it means that he'd die because of it. The only rightful Guardian Deity in that world, and yet they'd rather die than perpetuate the cycle of worship because they knew that humans no longer needed a god to worship, and that there is no more reason for them to exist.
And when the entire thing ended, his memory wasn't that of a god, or an incarnation of wrath, but as a Father that loved his daughter that he's willing to turn the entire world order in its head, and dying multiple times in the process just so she could live freely.
Another thematic thing with this is that, despite him being remembered as a father, his final actions fall perfectly in line with the purpose and nature of Wrath.
When that Wrath is sated, when that goal is finally achieved, it doesn't need to continue existing. It can pass on, and make way for new emotions and experiences. The past is now the past. Sure, Wrath may return some day when it is needed, but in this moment, it has done its job. It can rest.
Asura gets to rest, knowing that his daughter can be safe and happy, his rage finally fading away alongside him.
“Sorry about the change in format” I’M GLAD YOU’RE DOING A VIDEO ON THE GAME AT ALL!
I think Yasha being sadness does justify why he’s so spineless. Like you said here, sadness is the fuel for rage. It’s the FUEL. But… what happens when you don’t have a spark to ignite it into that rage? Rage is what gets things done, spurs people into action. He couldn’t reach that until he got hit the spark of anger, Asura. Being depressed really does sap your ability to even want to do things, and getting shown more bad things only makes you less likely to do anything. As for how he treats asura, that’s because of a mix of two things: his sadness/envy and him also being doubt, specifically Asura’s doubt. The things he seems to say all look like thoughts Asura would have in the back of his head while on his mission. But his rage and love overcomes them. But these lines also remind me of what some typical high school bullies are like. He’s envious that Asura has the spark to turn his sadness into rage, one he himself lacks. It also does make him that perfect mirror: he’s Asura without the wrath. He’s Asura without that spark to do something.
Exactly I agree because he embodies melancholy, not sadness, melancholy which is full on depression. for most of the game he's emotionally dead but as the game goes on Asura's actions plus him realizing through Berserk Asura how much he royally fucked up he slowly begins to feel again and at the end amend things with Asura.
I like to add that Yasha was also that one type of person who always puts a cause over any sense of self reflection until that cause contradicts itself (When they used the Bramastra against Bezerk Asura undoing all their work). There are people who would allow the amount of atrocities the deities would do for the simple quote of "The end justifies the means". It is like trying to convince someone who's followed a faith for many years to abandon it afterwards. One of the reasons why he didn't act sooner was because unlike Asura, Yasha was convinced by Dues that this is the most efficient way to rid the problem for good. I do agree it is frustrating that he talks as if he's clueless on why Asura would rebel against this plan. However, all of that remains a moot point when this entire time the creator himself planted the seed of all this suffering just to give a promotion.
This is not the King Of Fighters Iceberg I expected, but I will take this with a giant smile on my face.
Soon
@@bumblesmcfumbles ok but when am I gonna get the joke characters in fighting games video?
@@joeferri3491 If I ain't allowed to do shingo, never
@@bumblesmcfumbles you can include him
@@bumblesmcfumblesdo Shingo, he is the best dividing line between a joke character made for the player to laugh at and a character that makes jokes FOR the player to laugh at. It would be a crime to not have him at least mentioned.
The game that ruined Liam O Brian's throat so bad he was screaming ACTUAL BLOOD, to the voice he can't even raise his voice to these levels anymore.
That explained why he is so soft spoken
Can I get a source on that?
@@devonwilliams5738 Yeah i'd like one too. If that's the case i'd really never be able to enjoy this game again, nobody should have to permanantly ruin there voice or scream BLOOD at a job
@@ariannadravis3934 So you'd rather have the effort be wasted by not enjoying the game he injured himself working on.
@@ariannadravis3934 I can't find evidence of it beyond people on forums talking about it, but even if it was true, this is implied to be done of his own volition. Liam has stated that voicing Asura was both a joy and pain for him on Twitter, without any further details.
Asura is legit one of my favorite characters of all time and I love that you went through the trouble of going through what makes him tick beyond the screaming and punching. He really is incredibly likable when you look at the parts of him that don't revolve around that.
During the birth of berserker Asura, I've always heard Asura let out a single word that isn't an indistinguishable yell. Once the transformation is complete, it always sounded like he was screaming the word "Why" at 32:36. This being his first and only word he says while in this state, I find it interesting how it isn't a pure angry line like "I'll kill you" or a total scream, but instead just "Why". "Why" alone is a very vague word that is single handly trying to express the entirety of the feeling and thoughts Asura is going through in this initial moment before being snuffed out by all the feral yells that come after it.
I never noticed, that’s so cool but so sad
Asura is genuinely one of my favorite fictional characters. He's an antisocial hothead and the literal god of wrath, but he's also an honest, humble, and slightly bumbling husband and father who's driven by his love for his family and compassion for humanity. Thank you for exploring his character so thoroughly.
To quote the Green Scorpion video on video game berserkers (Asura was #1 on that list): When faced with the evils of this world, happiness gives you the foundation to bear it. Sadness gives you the wisdom to acknowledge it! And anger gives you the strength to oppose it!!! So Rise My Friends, And Be... ANGREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
That was such a fantastic speech
I don’t think I would ever see the day that someone would make a meaningful video essay about how Asura’s Wrath as a whole, but I am happy it came from Bumbles.
He not only has a nice voice to invite you to listen, but he also has the knowledge, and story literacy that really understands Asura beyond just seeing it as DBZ and God of War on crack.
And I am happy for what he has done.
38:35 Another thing that I noticed is at the true end of the game when Asura sacrifices himself to give Mithra a peaceful world. In Your Belief played during the credits, but in this moment it’s much more vocal focused. The booming orchestra is gone, the strength of it, and Asura, gone. Mithra would be alone, as would the vocals, but instead the orchestra is replaced with a piano. Nowhere near as strong as the real thing, but much like a memory, it’s proof that it once was there. That in memory, Asura is still with Mithra.
One of the things I think is so cool about getting to fight Ryu and Akuma: Berserk Asura is extremely similar to the Satsui no Hado, and most especially the loss of compassion. Ryu is arguably more powerful than Evil Ryu, but Ryu cares about the people he's fighting for. Evil Ryu simply doesn't. He has embraced the darkness, and in doing so, throws out his last connection to humanity, just like Berserk Asura.
It's something that Capcom does surprisingly well, showing the player how destructive they could be without any ethics, empathy, or compassion. Think of Zero versus Omega, Ryu to Evil Ryu, and Berserk Asura. The character's choice to stick to the path of good can be an extremely helpful tool for making that character memorable to the person who played it, as well as the additional feeling that you, the player character, have that capability that the antagonist shows.
Best video to watch right when Kratos vs Asura was confirmed to be a matchup in the freshly Kickstarted Death Battle.
That sounds amazing and so so one sided
Wait for real? Need to see that!
Not really the two angriest dads in gaming are quite equal
Huh, I wasn’t sure someone would mention Death Battle in this Comment section.
Appreciate that you did.
@@zexa252with only on screen stuff? Oh absolutely! If you stretch the GoW lore and mythology to beef Kratos up? Now there's an actual debate
Easily the most spot-on, perfect, and comprehensive breakdown of Asura's Wrath I've ever seen. Amazing work, bro!
That said, I disagree with you on Yasha. Yes, his inability to act for himself crowned him a spineless bastard, absolutely, and the game could've gone a bit further to have him wallow in this anguish properly. But as I see it, that was the point. He was the bridge between Asura's empathy and a god's superiority. Yasha wanted to protest, but he was so genuinely caught up in his responsibility as a Guardian Deity, that he denied himself the opportunity to feel for others. But not because of arrogance, lust for power, or destructiveness. He was a misguided fool, who fell for the grandeurized ideas of divinity that Deus envisioned. The fact that he went along with petty political deceit simply demonstrates how blinded he was.
We see Yasha act self-righteously, arrogantly, coldy, and even dismissively - but that's exactly it, he ACTS. He defies his own heart, closes himself off, and keeps on the mask. Only when he meets Asura face to face again, bears witness to boundless rage born from an, in his eyes, selfish desire for personal happiness over the future of the world, he FINALLY begins to second-guess himself. But it's too late. The damage is done, and he can no longer be the man that Asura has become, the man that can save the world. So, in his final moments, Yasha entrusts Asura with his only remaining shred of humanity: self-sacrifice.
Not enough people talk about it.
Oh yeah. This game is an amazing trip. It doesn't get nearly enough credit or exposure.
Yeah it’s a neat movie to watch from time to time… wait your telling me it’s a game?
Agreed
Its a great game
It’s because around this time, Military Shooters was the most popular genre. So Asura didn’t get much because everyone was playing the next Call of Duty, Black Ops, or Battlefield
One miniscule point in defence (from my perspective) of Yasha's "I won't do anything about it".
Since 8 Guardian Generals are ageless they don't perceive time like we do, our lifes are limited by the amount of time an average human will live, but for Yasha for whose a day might be just like a second for us it's unnoticable that 12 thousand years have passed and he didn't do anything.
It's like in fantasy settings elves meets a human, then meet them again 30 years later and they are suprised that aging exists and humans do more in shorter span of time.
I feel like he is Constantly in a state of "Any day now, this will all be worth it. Aaaany day now, we'll finally destroy all the ghoma. Aaaaaaaany day now all the bad things will prove themselves to have been worth it for the long term greater good."
And every day, he's been saying "Maybe tomorrow."
Over. And over. And over.
Another important thing is that he represents Sadness. You ever been in a depressive slump? For us, that's binge eating and doom scrolling on our preferred poison of a social media.
For a god-like being who has lived for millennia and had the mantra (haha) of "These humans are all beneath us, and definitely beneath the cause", yeah, I think dissociation with all his close ties is pretty understandable.
He's capable, but he quite simply doesn't believe in himself. He's a coward, not out of fear, but for his allowance of stagnation. He's naive, and wants what is best, but isn't willing to really think if there are alternatives that he could take, just tired of it all and wanting a way out, a trait he actually shares with Asura in a way.
Both characters want this madness to end, with the means most obvious to their character.
God Hand shown in the first 30 seconds thank you Jack
1:06:18 Don’t worry Jack I’ve got you covered on that turnabout. So as it turns out CyberConnect 2 had BIG PLANS for Asura’s Wrath, wanting it to be a trilogy of games that told a bigger, better story. But due to a combination of it’s ahead of its time gameplay model, somewhat poor optimization on consoles and a marketing campaign that made it look like a GoW clone, the game failed to turn a profit. The supposed “true ending DLC” is actually a heavily abridged version of the story they wanted to tell, released as DLC to give the game some kind of closure.
As for the argument that Capcom basically sold the game’s actual ending for $7 because they were greedy and wanted more money… how is it any different than what Telltale was doing? Remember folks, you had to BUY each new episode of The Walking Dead when they came out, which technically means you did indeed have to pay for the game’s true ending. So how come that gets a pass but this doesn’t? I mostly chalk it up to the rocky reputation Capcom had during the game’s release, not helped at all by the SFXT DLC Kerfuffle. People were always ready to rip into Capcom after that point (understandably might I add), and this fell right into their crosshairs.
So yeah, the Asura’s Wrath DLC situation was not good… at the time. Nowadays with the power of hindsight, I think we should be happy Cyber Connect 2 got to give Asura's Wrath a satisfying ending, when so many other games in its exact position don't even get closure. And while yes this does mean Asura's Wrath will technically be incomplete once the Xbox 360 Store shuts down… considering where Capcom is right now in regards to re-releasing their older games, i wouldn't be surprised if we see an enhanced re-release sooner rather then later.
I am sorry but I really find it hard to believe that in the span of 2 months CC2 was able to crank out the true ending dlc and even then they would have had to wait a bit to see how the game sold. I remember hearing somewhere that this was ntentional but not because of greed but because they wanted it to be like a show where you wait a bit for the conclusion. I don't know if that's true but that's more believable than them doing those 4 episodes in 2 months. The last episode is nearly an hour long for goodness sake.
FINALLY, my asura wrath is…..gone.
I fear for the day that Jack discovers deadly premonition
The Wyzen and Augus fights are so iconic, they were also the demo fights too.
45:46 in Yasha’s defense melancholy is an inwardly expressed emotion. It’s more about introspection and self reflection then the kind of sadness that is reflected in crying and sobbing. Unlike asura yasha doesn’t have a means to express his feelings in fact both augus and asura click on to this quirk of yasha’s due to his reserved nature holding him back from expressing himself.
It’s the reason why he wears his mask to keep everything in why he is able to bottle his emotions for the sole purpose of completing “The Great Rebirth”. Everything yasha commits to is for the sake of that ambition and until it’s complete he will holding everything in even telling the contained mithra that she is free to kill him if their plan succeeds.
I somehow convinced myself into believing you already did an Asura’s Wrath video
so I now believe I willed this video into existence and I could not be happier
thank you for willing this video into existence, !!!
I feel like berserk asura is the prime example fighting a man who really has nothing to lose from ending you
Fighting someone with something to protect is one thing
Fighting someone with nothing to lose is another, but only because they think they do, sort of like darth vader
But fighting someone who both figuratively and mentally has nothing left to lose is an entirely different beast
IT shocks me that well this game never got a rerelease even though it has a strong fanbase, i get never getting a sequel but a rerelease on modern platforms? you think that would have happened by now
Crazy how I’m just checking out your page and then I refreshed and then this video popped up
I've been looking forward to this one since your Yasha post. I love this game's visuals and crazy scale, so having you talk about it is great 😄
Funny enough me and some friends had a conversation about Asura's wrath last night, pretty convenient. I was about to click off following your advice but the jingly keys really brought me back in
Well, I was about to leave but the point you made at 4:35 just kept me hooked in
I really mean it when I say that giving Chakravartin his own QTEs during the last phase of the battle with him and having him fail them to get across how Asura is prevailing in their battle is the single coolest visual effect any video game has ever done, and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise. I'm honestly surprised that nobody seems to have considered swiping the idea either, and frankly I wouldn't blame anyone for doing so because it is such an INCREDIBLE case of showing and not telling.
on another note it's both extremely funny and weirdly fitting to me that this game is apparently part of Street Fighter canon. It feels like it should come from the same brand of utter crack combination that brought us "Big Boss fighting a Tigrex" but at the same time, yeah no reincarnated Asura would just fit perfectly into the roster and I also hate that it's never going to happen now.
I feel like a better Description for Asura is "Man gets so angry, he yells and punches God, Because God made his Daughter Cry"
I think you undersold Yasha's character here, Yasha being a coward is how he handles the reality he's in, too weak physically to beat Deus and stop the Deities and too weak emotionally to accept that his sister died for the sake of a cause he doesn't really believe is worth the sacrifice, but this isn't supposed to be good or admirable, after the rage Asura situation he does do something about it and finally takes action, and I think beating the shell you've put yourself in to face a reality you thought you had no hope of beating is just as cool as fighting against a league of terrible people who kidnapped your daughter and stopping at nothing to set her free. There's a TON to talk about with the parallels between Asura and Yasha as characters, I think the whole thing is really cool, so if you have any questions please ask, I'd love to elaborate on this
just in time Jack! Death Battle announced pitting this man against Kratos and I wanna catch up to how this guy bodied Hinduism, I look forward to see how this game holds up
1:00:54
Asura: "I've been waiting for this! Did ya see that Yasha?"
31:08 this moment right here is where, to me, the death of the village girl hits so hard.
Asura is very well aware that the girl looks like Mithra but is not her, but in the moment where the voices go silent, you can see Asura scream Mithra's name (in the Japanese pronounciation, Misura) if you read his mouth.
When I caught that moment, that really made me tear up really bad, and just have the full on waterworks by the end of the chapter, seeing the soul being focused on, possibly being the village girl's soul floating away.
I really wish that Capcom didn't make the True Ending of Asura's Wrath DLC. I didn't have Wi-Fi back when I had a working PS3, so I couldn't play any of the DLC content, including the True Ending and the final fight against Chakravartin.
Luckily the game is like 20 bucks on xbox atm, dunno about the dlc but shouldn't be a pretty penny for it. Played only 20 minutes of it though but I've decided to jump into metal gear rising revengence before commiting to the asura wrath.
@@nzpowa._.6662 Sadly, I don't have an Xbox.
Capcom was wishing for the true ending of oscars wrath to be a part of the game instead of being DLC but because of the other engine that runs the game didn't do well
Capcom had no choice but to add it as DLC because they thought the game was going to sell well.
Asura’s Wrath has gotta be one of the best and only Anime’s I’ve ever played,shit absolutely bangs and i pray to whatever god that will answer me that Capcom acknowledges this series existence…
1:19:30 I like to think the meteor in this scene is the moon asura punched through having caught up to the planet and broken down after millennium of travel.
I hate how much I agree how cool Asura being a Street Fighter character would be
Same
The potential dialogue with Ryu vs Akuma would be everything
They literally only need to release a complete version of this game and it’d be GOATed
This was actually the one and only time a game made me cry ugly tears
The Berserk Asura scene legit got me crying, fucking aces on this game I love it
Before I finish the video. I saw a little bit of Asura's wrath, and I also thought. I can't just watch a playthrough of this. I need a full on analysis. thanks man!
finding out that there's a story that did chainsaw man's 'hero of hell' mode through berserker asura before the manga even existed and did it in a way that is just as poignant is honestly amazing to see and has convinced me to check out asura's wrath
Hell yeah, Asura's Wrath is kino.
Me, who’s already played asura’s wrath: oh, they’re talking about that game with the screaming guy
“DESPITE ALL MY RAGE, I AM STILL JUST A RAT IN A CAGE”
- Smashing Pumpkins
Thank you for talking about one of my favourite games of all time
I choose to think Yasha was in a sort of depression induced fugue state that lasted 12,000 years. It's why he has a "blindfold" on the whole time.
Nothing reminds me of why I love your style of videos and your wording now than the near end, when you explain one thing as “It’s not a Dragon Ball Z fight. It’s a Dragon Ball fight.” One of those statements that might mean nothing to a ton of people, but to some? That is the highest praise.
God I miss OG Dragon Ball fights.
35:11 "sadness is good at filling voids where love once called home" - Bumble McFumbles, 2024
that's gonna be my next tattoo
The berserk moment with the music never fails to get me teared up
I'm so glad I experienced AW close to release. We essentially treated it like two extended Bad-Movie-Nights with me playing and 3 non-gamer friends watching.
But as much as I enjoyed it, locking the ending behind a paywall makes the negative reception absolutely deserved. Sometimes, a rejection needs to be painful enough to stop-punch a behavior dead.
Also, AW seems to be one of the prime(r) examples of Digital Piracy being somewhat needed, like it or not
THIS IS THE HARDEST THUMBNAIL EVER MADE, GODDAMN.
I really hope this becomes a series- I really REALLY enjoy these in depth looks at specific things people really like in these games and you're honestly my FAVORITE person when it comes to this-
Shout out to the Street Fighter DLCs at one point not only make you perform the Raging Demon input during a QTE moment, but also makes you perform the actual Raging Demon at the same time as your opponent just to survive.
the golden spider is really quite neat honestly, cause it relates to a popular children's story in japan from 1918. basically the buddhas taking a gander at hell when he notices one criminal in particular. the criminal kandata was a cold hearted criminal with only one good deed to his name: he chose not to crush a spider with his foot.
Moved by this single act of compassion, the buddha lowers a single spiders thread down from paradise into hell and allows kandata to climb it. kandata gets about halfway and realizes giddily that he might actually escape hell, but in his musings he notices that other people are climbing the thread. fearing that the thread will break due to the weight of others, he yells that the thread is his and his alone. only when he does yell that, the thread breaks condemning kandata because he was too concerned with his own salvation instead of the salvation of others.
and the buddha and paradise continue on regardless of the outcome.
I never thought I'd be getting emotional over a Bumbles McFumbles (not counting Darkus Stinglash), but here I am on the verge of tears listening to that analysis of Asura's character.
420/10, an all time banger!
The thing about Yasha being a massive coward kinda put something about his character in perspective for me. If he’s powered by melancholy, and he knows all this is happening and chooses to do nothing, maybe it was all a part of his own plan? Think of it like this, getting your nose held down in the terrible things you and your allies have caused would make anyone depressed. So it could have been possible that he stood by to let this happen so he could gather the power he knew Asura had and that he could achieve in due time. It doesn’t seem to be written like that in most scenes with Yasha, which is where I take issue and totally see where you’re coming from, but it would’ve added at least some depth to him if that was what they were going for
Even after he starts to turn he talks down to Asura about the plan which is... Very strange if you don't think that he's trying to make Asura hate him completely.
Yasha is actively drowning in his sorrow by believing that to stick to the plan he has to live the worst ending. Asura constantly rejecting that idea is what pushes him to finally think that his anguish and sorrow isn't the only way he can be stronger.
@@cgkase6210 Yeah that makes sense, and he probably is playing into making Asura mad on purpose if he knows that it's his power source
Gathering the Souls of humans was the only way to beat Vlitra as far as he was aware. Of course he would only start to crack when that idea is questioned. I have no idea how so many people fail to grasp this.
@@trutyatces8699 Right, it’s been a while since I played the game and I kinda forgot that Asura is just built different lol
I would also like to say, when Asura turns into Berserk Asura, it’s less like he’s screaming, and more like he’s crying.
The power of friendship is but a flea to the full raging bear that is fatherhood
I wasn’t expecting a fully new format to the video for Asura’s Wrath, but it absolutely makes sense you’d have to do it that way, and Asura’s Wrath has certainly earned this chance. Also goddamn nearly a full hour and a half of Bumbles? Perfect thing to wake up to
ASURA’S WRATH! IT’S HERE! THE BUMBLES MCFUMBLES VIDEOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The writing in this episode is unparalleled Bumbles. The way you described everything, especially everything revolving around emotions, was like poetry! Kleylson also did an amazing job with the thumbnail, Asura breaking out of the thumbnail is amazing! The wait was definitely worth it!
My first exposure to Asura's Wrath was this one Vinesauce clip of Joel playing the hot springs part, and the couple of seconds after the QTE of Augus one-punching Asura, a Windows pop-up appears and he loses it like usual.
Also, watching footage of Augus' fight on the moon and the fact that both this game and Killer is Dead share Symphony No. 9 From the New World was interesting.
Asura's Wrath, yes! I was looking forward to seeing this after seeing your post about playing it. One of the best playable chuuni animes available! Real good show on the cinematics on a lot of the battles. (I believe the folks behind this also did the Naruto games which had real good cinematics as well?)
Nothing grips you into a game like having one of the first major bosses be bigger than the planet.
The big damn smile I had the whole hour and 20 minutes I watched this...
I am so happy that you went so deep into Asura's character in the video. It's literally one of the reasons why I love this game so much and what really makes the story so impactful and memorable, and many folks who have talked positively about the game barely touch on it at all...
Ever since I first discovered this game, I've been hoping that Capcom would wake up and remaster it to bring it to newer systems, and hopefully bring it to PC as well, with all the DLCs included.
I never owned any of the consoles it came out on and is/was available on, and I've wanted to experience it with my own hands so bad. But knowing Capcom, that is going to be very unlikely... 😮💨
But until then, I have the amazing Art Book I can still enjoy 😌(which if you manage to find somewhere I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. It has so many info and art, even translations of the dialogues spoken in the unknown human language in Part II!)
Oh I forgot to mention this yesterday, but I seriously love how the QTE is used to enhance the story. One of my favorites moments is the final fight with Yasha, yes, which like you mentioned is so incredibly good with how you get tricked into pressing a button which never happens, and the fistbump. But there is another scene earlier on in Part II that I also find so incredibly good with how they handled it.
It's when the Shinkoku army first attack the human village. Eventually Asura picks up the small guy and starts punching him hard, the Burst gauge starting to fill up as per usual with each punch. Same old, same old.
But then... Asura notices the girl not too far from him. She is beating a dead soldier with a rock, crying for the death of her mother by their hand. Asura watches her... and then he lets go of the soldier in his hand, the Burst gauge empties out with that gesture.
I love this detail so much, it really shows that yes he is driven by his wrath that pushes him to overcome everything in his path, but also fully solidifies that he is not *just* fueled by his rage. What drives him is not mindless rage.
The following part about Asura stopping the girl's arm and telling her that he knows how she feels, and to wait for him as he will take care of the army is also so damn good. It shows that he does care. A lot. He hates seeing people suffering. He is angry about what his fellow demigods did to his daughter, yes, but he is also angry that the humans are suffering because of both the Gohma and especially the ones who were supposed to keep them safe.
Apologies I ended up in a long rant, it's just that I love Asura's character so damn much, and it drives me crazy that not enough people are aware of him because of all the bad choices Capcom did with this game.
As someone who was more or less raised around Hinduism and Buddhism beliefs, I love this game, even if I never got the chance to play it back when I was younger
absolutely fantastic video, its great to see a video about Asura's wrath not just talking about how cool it is, but also doing genuine analysis of its characters and themes!
I'm going to put this quote from Lord of the Rings and it perfectly cements Asura's rage scene "No man should be forced to bury their own child."
"Angry is just sad's bodyguard" -my primary school principal
I got to try out Asura’s Wrath (and stumble upon the DLC debacle) years after it came out when I was in college and the idea of paying full price for a video game was scary (it’s still scary, but more so back then). The demo was fantastic, but all the research I tried to do leading to the inevitable conclusion I was essentially mulling over getting a “playable movie minus very important additions” ultimately kept me from pulling the trigger. I love the video and the passion Jack puts into properly conveying his interest in hidden gems, rusted trophies, and skeletons-in-and-out-of-closets
With Terry and Mia showing up in SF6, I, too, now hope that Asura will show up in that game
Loved the video, love the game, but allow me to try and advocate for Yasha. His emotion is melancholy, which as best I can understand is depresion as an emotion rather than a state of mind. He wants to fight for the betterment of everyone but for who knows how long he's been told by all the other's not named Asura, that defeating the ghoma for good isn't going anywhere as they're currently opperating and need to store up a massive amount of mantra to kill Vlitra once and for all. And he believes it, he's seen how every time they fight Vlitra it doesn't stick, they have to be back there to do the same thing again in another couple of hundred to thousands of years. Even Asura, Augus, and Deus the strongest people he knows can't take it out for good. And when he's told about "The Cause™" it makes sense to him and he rationalizes the saddness he has to live with. "My sister, niece, and brother in law have to suffer imensly, but in the end countless billions won't have to suffer the same way ever again. Right?" And he goes along with it cause it makes sense from what he's seen. When he sees berserk Asura he's faced with the fact that, there is someone who by themselves can rival all the power they've spent the last 12 thousand years acumulating, some alternative solution that can at the very least, spare his niece, and he takes that possibility and sticks with it. Melancoly isn't exaclty an emotion of lashing out, its sort of just, accepting the missery.
surprisingly, asura's wrath is a key moment in my mind, it was a game my dad had and i played a lot of augus's fight, and while my fingers couldnt keep up with the mashing, my dad's were, its one of the games that i will remember often and fondly, i cant get mad about the monetization, bc to me, the rose glasses are stabbing into my face
I'm surprised you didn't mention that when asura went berserk he never targeted any innocents he only harmed the gohma and the shinkoku soliders that proofs that even though that asura has lost all sense and reason his will his spirit and his anger never wants to harm the innocent
This video has given me a newfound appreciation for Asura’s Wrath, I already thought it was a neat game; now I think it’s an interactive art piece. Love the video Jack!
(Also algorithm boost comment)
The idea that this game could potentially be canon to Street Fighter is why I love Capcom, even with all of their bullshit. They just decide on a whim what games are canon to what without any logic or reason and it makes me feel alive.
Great video, really liked the analysis. Never knew Asura’s Wrath had such an interesting story before this.
I have never played this game (I have never even had the thought to touch an Xbox, so that's probably why), and besides some scenes and discussing the akuma vs shao khan results by taking account of his fight with him, I had zero knowledge about thos game. And yet, the way you have talked about it, about a world I have only just sniffed, has enamored me. Such emotion, the suffering Asura had to endure an his breaking point, and the way you filled the script with such passion to the point of commotion (and I have Asperger sindrome, I know my stuff about hyperfixated rants, yet you still impressed me above and beyond). After I took some time to adjust my thoughts, and take a very hot shower with that instrumental theme song you talked about on repeat, I can just say... Wow. This is now by far my favorite video on this channel (If you are wondering, before was a tie between the bionic commando one and the spongebob movie game one), and I'm probably going to rewatch it over and over again. As I've said before, you're on my top 5 favorite youtubers of all time, and this video does nothing but consolidate that choice even more. Jack, let me tell you this, you are awesome, great, magnificent even, and I just want to let you know that you have earned a spot between the cream of the crop. And the fact that (right now) this video only has 12K views is criminal. Congratulations for an excellent video, and I'm already ready to see the next one. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart.
I'm so glad you covered this game as in depth as you did. Asura's Wrath is one of my favorite games ever made and I'm loving that it seems to be getting the respect it deserves all these years later (although a complete edition re-release would do wonders). I remember when the game came out and critics seemed to just say it's neat, but nothing really all that special. I didn't play it till years later (like 2014 or 2015) and when I did I had the experience of a lifetime. I went for all of the trophies, although never got a couple of them. It's a game I could replay over and over again without ever getting tired of it similar to many of my other favorite games.
I'm surprised no one has tried to get it on Switch (to any degree noticeable outside of the companies) since complete editions of ten year plus old games is sort of the Switch's bread and butter
As much as I love your style of humor and how it always manages to get a chuckle out of me, I can't help but adore your serious analysis even more. The section where you explain Asura's anger after the loss of everything he was fighting for was phenomenal. I quite literally just came back to watch that point of the video because I really adore the way you expressed why it works so well.
Every time someone makes a video essay about asuras wrath, every playthrough all of it. asuras wrath is such an experience and just hearing people talk about it brings me enough joy i could cry. more than i already am as i tear up seeing the fist bump every time. immaculate video. was funny seeing the confusion of the chakravartin inputs. never knew people interpreted that as pressing his buttons.
Perfect time to do this with Death Battle's doing Kratos vs Asura sometime this or next year. (teaser on Devilartimiss's channel it looks so good)
The Asura in SF6 has the same energy as a friend giving you a really good pitch for a game, and you now having to live knowing this absolutely brilliant idea will never get turned into reality.
I would say that Yasha's sadness is actually a pretty big part of his character. I would say that he knows about the killings but instead of bringing up the courage to fight, he wallows in his sadness and despair as he feels too weak to do shit about anything that's happening. So instead of being proactive like Asura, he's reactive. Like a protestor that only has balls when they see another, he doesn't have the courage or confidence to confront the injustices he sees. Instead he wallows in it, moaning about this greater cause because he has nothing else. If he fights and wins, he might not have the strength to fight off Vlitra. If he fights and loses, he won't be able to avenge his sister and niece. To him, it is a lose-lose situation until Asura shows him another way.
My first contact with the game was a mention of the Gongen Wyzen fight in a video some years back (a video talking about epic video game bosses), then I saw a french let's play (less of a game reel, ) by popular french UA-camr Bob Lennon some times after; they were the first videos of his I saw, and it was quite fun even if I only got some of the references in the later episodes years after.
I loved the art of the game so much that I did downloaded some of the concept art in my old phone (still using this one for taking photos), and some fan-art of it.
Didn't even know the prompts of Chakravartin were also the player's. I always assumed that the prompts appearing for them weren't interactible and were a way to represents their own power; so omnipotent they're bassicaly doing similar things as the player. I guess that'll teach me not playing the game.
One day, whatever if it's via Xenia (that xbox 360 emulator. I did heard the DLC's contents were also dumped online or are accesible via Xenia options or something like that) or a rerelease for Switch, I shall play it.
Thanks for the essay, McFumbles. Probably one of your bests, even with the (understandable) Yasha slander.
P.S. the Chakravartin fight overall gives me more Gurren Lagann vibes than DBZ, mainly because of the more explicitly "cosmic" aspects of it all, with the final sparing between them and Asura being reminiscent of the one in the second Gurren Lagann movie (Lagann-hen/All the light in the Sky are Stars). Especially when I rewatched let's plays of the game AFTER watching Lagann-hen. Like, I do know Goku do make a sort of mega construct of himself in one of the DBS chapters against that Moro dude, but still. I do not invalidate the DBZ comparaison though, we just have our different frames of reference.
You don't play the Chakravartin QTEs, he was wrong about that bit.
Those Sanskrit symbols are not on your controller. They're on His. That is him fighting as you do, not just the "You" that is Asura, but the "You" that is hitting buttons on the controller.
And the moment when he FAILS a QTE, when he cannot mash the button fast enough to stand up after you knocked him to his knees is one of my absolute favourite moments of ludonarrative.
It's one of the best examples of why you Need to play the game to truly feel it. Because it tells you that YOU, the PLAYER are more powerful than Chakravartin, because YOU cleared all the QTEs.
It's almost like you're playing PvP against something beyond the game, that is controlling Chakravartin as you control Asura.
Holy shit this couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I spent most of this year finally trying to play this game after knowing about it for over 10 years. I had a really rough time because I didn’t know how to download the DLC, but when I got it working I streamed it all and had one of the best times ever with a video game. I even ended up crying with the facecam on, it was really embarrassing but so fucking worth being able to go back and see those experiences. This game is amazing and genuinely ahead of it’s time (for better or worse)
Also im among the few who genuinely loves how the game plays and controls against bosses specifically. Against enemies it’s not the best but boss encounters are genuinely some of my favorites, even if they aren’t super “deep”
Would that be on the channel you used to make this comment with? I'd like to see that reaction.