Capcom REALLY bothers me as a company from a business strategies perspective. Between the rerelease of MvC3 as Ultimate MvC3 in a year's time, the same being true of Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, the incredibly frustrating DLC for Street Fighter X Tekken, the complete mistreatment of those who want to like their mascot Mega Man, and, perhaps most relevantly, the kind-of-disgusting "selling you the real ending as DLC" in Asura's Wrath.

They're actually at the point where I won't even play their new games, let alone pay for them. I don't want to give them the positive word of mouth, and I'm not going to lie and say I didn't like them if I've played them. And I know I would give them positive word of mouth, because they make some great games! The only reason I'm not playing them is because they make me feel like a cheap whore within a year of doing so.

But people are losing their goddamned minds over Asura's Wrath, calling it one of their favorite games of 2012.

@GlenTennis said:

@Ryan said:

Personally, I thought the demo was kind of terrible, which is a big reason I'm so surprised. And the only way to ever overcome a Capcom boycott would be to open up to trying either their products or whatever business strategies they put out. Otherwise, so long as they're a business, I'll probably just wind up decrying nearly everything they do; I need to pay attention when they do nice things. And one of those things could be funding an extremely strange Japanese cinematic title that sold extremely poorly, but everybody seems to love. The DLC ending is perhaps one of the most damnable business decisions they've ever made, but maybe the overall product still comes out as a positive?

What do you guys think? Should I play Capcom's (somewhat risky) title Asura's Wrath to help me get over some of my own wrath? Or should I continue to not support them as a company, seeing as how I strongly disagree with most of their business decisions?

Play it. Just do it.

@Hailinel said:

Play it. Just do it.

I prefer Godhand as it lets you actually play the craziness and not just... you know... quick-time events.

If you REALLY love big crazy anime, then maybe.

But, personally, I just didn't get it. I mean, it's not long but I felt it was a little boring and even though the cinematics are crazy, I got kind of fatigued by it. Also, I just didn't really like the gameplay, it felt like a very average brawler with some dull Rez-lite bits.

So glad I only rented it, maybe that's the route you should take?

@Hailinel said:

Play it. Just do it.

I prefer Godhand as it lets you actually play the craziness and not just... you know... quick-time events.

@Hailinel: One was led up by Shinji Mikami. The other was not.

I win. You lose. Suck eggs. (I still love you.)

@Little_Socrates: If you didn't like the demo, don't bother with the game. It's just that but longer. I REALLY liked it but I did rent it. Didn't bother with the DLC. It's really crazy and the art style is AMAZING. But yeah, the gameplay is lacking if that's what you're looking for.

If you're willing to drop a boycott because of a particularly good game, the boycott is dumb and you should just forget about the boycott. It clearly doesn't actually mean anything to you. Even the fact that you're considering it makes it seem to me that you don't really care about boycotting Capcom. So just do it.

I am in the same boat as you. I hate the way Capcom does things and have no intention of buying any of their games. If you want play it like I do I would suggest getting it used. That way they don't make any money off of it. It would be up to you if you want to buy the dlc though.

no you should stick to you boycott guns otherwise we all lose.

NEVER unboycott a boycott.

You should judge each game based on it's own merits, not it's publisher.

Lol, boycotts.

@SuperSambo said:

Lol, boycotts.

don't mock him. these boycotts are serious

I'd say that if you've waited this long (as I have), then at least wait until it goes on sale. Everywhere I look it's still $60. Boycotting a company is useless unless you can get others to join you, so if you want to play it, then play it. But wait until it's at a reasonable price, or try to find someone you know and dupe them into buying it, and then borrow it when he/she is done with it.

I know I'm waiting until the price goes down.

Want to watch a crappy, sub-Naruto level anime but too insecure to admit to people that you might possibly like an anime? Then Asura's Wrath is the game for you

@Little_Socrates said:

Personally, I thought the demo was kind of terrible

Bingo.

The game is great and you should probably play it. If anything Capcom should be commended for putting out something so unconventional that was unlikely to sell a whole lot of copies. The game doesn't need the true ending and there is far more actual game in there than most would expect. Rent it, buy it second hand, but it's a game worth seeing if you want something a little different and truly, unbelieveably insane.

So like every boycott it ends because you cant handle not playing a good game. Oh internet warriors, how you make me laugh.

I think the game is great so i got all the DLC. If you don't like the demo then you probably won't like the game, but the story is pretty good so maybe that will over throw your negative feelings towards the gameplay. Basically listen to what @Jack268 said, makes no sense missing out on great games because you don't like who publish it. Don't buy the DLC if you don't like how they are doing it.

yep cant wait to dig into it when it gets a little cheaper, though your boycott must not be strong if you are faltering for this game

Video game boycotts? Now that's nitpicking. Hope you don't wear any sweat shop clothing, or literally anything made in China, or that would make your priorities seem way out of whack.

Look at it this way: They made something different and failed. I realize people tend to pick certain things to hate, but if I had to pick one, lack of originality is by far the worst thing. You don't like the company, sure, but they do try new things that are not guaranteed to succeed...and it's not without caveats.

Your call.

@Hailinel said:

Play it. Just do it.

I prefer Godhand as it lets you actually play the craziness and not just... you know... quick-time events.

You're one man in a sea of lemmings. Drop your boycott - they're not feeling the sting.

Do you like Japanese games that are really Japanese, then play Asura's Wrath

I just didn't feel Asura's Wrath the way the Giant Bomb fellas did. Cool shit happened, but it just didn't really blow me away and the parts where you actually played were often a chore. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it were nothing bit QTEs or an actual anime (of course, if it were an anime I likely wouldn't even be aware of its existence). Not worth compromising your values for, even if I personally find boycotts of video games a bit silly.

Maybe you will like it a lot, but it sounds like the gaming population is split on the issue.

@MattyFTM said:

If you're willing to drop a boycott because of a particularly good game, the boycott is dumb and you should just forget about the boycott. It clearly doesn't actually mean anything to you. Even the fact that you're considering it makes it seem to me that you don't really care about boycotting Capcom. So just do it.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

So like every boycott it ends because you cant handle not playing a good game. Oh internet warriors, how you make me laugh.

I think you guys misunderstood. The only reason I'm considering this game is because it's unconventional. Like, fuck SFxT, fuck Dragon's Dogma, fuck Resident Evil 6, etc. This game, regardless of quality, is a pretty significant risk financially, and it's almost certainly not going to build into a franchise based on the sales of the first game. Capcom had a similar experience last year with Ghost Trick (which I bought and played before I began my boycott,) an excellent title where they totally let Shu Takami make a game that wasn't Ace Attorney, was hard to explain or advertise, and also sold like garbage. In my head, Ghost Trick was sort of a one-off experience, the likes of which Capcom hasn't experienced since they owned Clover Studios and made God Hand/Ōkami. But if Capcom can be credited to "horrible business practices that, at least once a year, leads to an extremely strange and awesome expression of good will" then they make quite a bit more sense than I do.

@MikkaQ said:

Video game boycotts? Now that's nitpicking. Hope you don't wear any sweat shop clothing, or literally anything made in China, or that would make your priorities seem way out of whack.

No, it's a very realistic and somewhat selfish reasoning. My priorities are for me as a customer; the guys who abuse the sweatshop economy (you know, practically everybody) generally treat me well as a customer. When I feel repeatedly wronged on a personal level, that's when I step out. It's a very simple and somewhat self-centered reasoning. If I have to buy from bad companies, I'll at least buy from the one that isn't selling an inferior product to me day one to sell me the "full" version less than a year later. I don't consider it activism, I consider it consumer thought.

@CH3BURASHKA said:

You're one man in a sea of lemmings. Drop your boycott - they're not feeling the sting.

True, but I also don't feel like an abused spouse for playing their games. And I don't tell people to play their games, so the handful of friends who trust me about games aren't buying them either. Again, it's not really activism, I'm just voting with my dollar.

@Matiaz_Tapia said:

Look at it this way: They made something different and failed. I realize people tend to pick certain things to hate, but if I had to pick one, lack of originality is by far the worst thing. You don't like the company, sure, but they do try new things that are not guaranteed to succeed...and it's not without caveats.

Your call.

This is kinda what I'm asking about. But if they didn't give it enough funding, time, or talent to be any good, it doesn't really matter, and if the concept just wasn't good to begin with, it's not fair to call every different title a "failed innovation" rather than a mistake.

And, based on what people are saying, it's really not that innovative, it's just a pretty generic anime that's got some button prompts in it; they thought they could capitalize on the anime community and have seen mixed results. I'd be interested in reading an argument countering that statement, but that seems to be what people agree upon.

@Little_Socrates: Your misunderstanding my post of laughing at you for having a boycott against a game company. A good game comes around so you thought fuck the boycott. I am still laughing, play what ever games you want capcom arent going to care one person is not buying their games. Just hire short single player games its what i do.

@Hailinel said:

Play it. Just do it.

I prefer Godhand as it lets you actually play the craziness and not just... you know... quick-time events.

It's a really shitty game, so don't worry about it.

Game's awesome. The DLC's amazing.

Not just for the craziness. It's full of surprisingly touching moments, too.

@Little_Socrates: Sur, but you started by saying that some people are saying it's good. So you can either believe them or believe everyone else that say it's shitty. Who do you respect the most? ( you know that Ryan detest petty generic anime shit more than most people, you can start measuring there)

it was also an ambitious production for sure. If it failed, it didn't failed because it was bad... But you can find a lot of people who will believe it is because it didn't sell, that how we measure things. That's another bad thing.

I'm waiting until it's cheaper. I'm sorry, but I'm not paying $60 for a season of television wrapped up in quick-time events. Seasons of TV cost about $30 on DVD, so that's the price point I'm looking at.

That game does produce some REALLY nice wallpapers, though.

@Matiaz_Tapia said:

@Little_Socrates: Sur, but you started by saying that some people are saying it's good. So you can either believe them or believe everyone else that say it's shitty. Who do you respect the most? ( you know that Ryan detest petty generic anime shit more than most people, you can start measuring there)

it was also an ambitious production for sure. If it failed, it didn't failed because it was bad... But you can find a lot of people who will believe it is because it didn't sell, that how we measure things. That's another bad thing.

You're right, of course, which is why I wanted a second opinion.

But who do I trust about anime stuff? I trust fans of the medium over people like Ryan who literally only pay attention when things go bananas; that's the only way they'll acknowledge anything like character development, which is usually far better in a less ridiculous series. Fans of anime seem to be going back-and-forth on it, which is why I say "mixed" results.

@Bourbon_Warrior: Pretty much. It is pretty funny though.

It's a great game.

get it used!

Looking at your achievements; doesn't seem like that ban on Capcom games is going very well.

@Little_Socrates: hmm, you say fuck Dragons Dogma but that game is a pretty significant risk for Capcom and for them it is a pretty unconvential game, an open world RPG with DMC-like combat, Day and Night cycles which incorporate Resident Evil-like atmosphere at night and a strange, potentially interesting online social system. On top of that its the most expensive game they have ever made with a massive amount of people working on it.

Not saying you shouldnt boycott Capcom for their ridiculous practices but Asuras Wrath was awesome, the DLC was mind-blowing and beautiful at times. In fact, Dragons Dogma and RE6 look to be Capcom bringing things that people want, at least in the West.

Truthfully, i felt the game without the DLC still ended pretty well, even if it did leave it a bit open, it was kinda of a twist at the very end, that had not much to do with the rest of the story told. The actual stuff that happens throughout the game is wrapped up, so i feel the DLC thing isn't quite that bad. That said, they're calling it the True Ending DLC themselves, so their own fault.

If you want to keep your Capcom boycott AND play the game, i guess you can take solace in the fact that this isn't a game that's going to do awesome, and if it does, it won't be the DLC that they look at, but the fact that they made a unique game.

Boycotts are stupid, I play games when they're good and I enjoy them. Skipping games I would enjoy is just stupid. I play games for fun.

@CL60 said:

Boycotts are stupid, I play games when they're good and I enjoy them. Skipping games I would enjoy is just stupid. I play games for fun.

Psh, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm gonna boycott Heart of the Swarm because they divided their campaign into 3 games. That'll show Blizzard!

@Shirogane: Pretty sure I've tried reasoning this out for people in 2 other threads but you know how it is..."DLC?! RARAJRNGNGGEGEGNGG"

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

So like every boycott it ends because you cant handle not playing a good game. Oh internet warriors, how you make me laugh.

You got a giggle out of me.

@Little_Socrates: Play games for what you want. And yes, it is a very very good game.

I didn't get what Patrick, Brad and Ryan had been raving about. It was one of the more boring gaming experiences of the year and I enjoyed Binary Domain (a game I was playing at the time I had Asura's Wrath) a hell of a lot more.

None of the epic moments ever feel earned which bugged me and the flow to the game was awful. I know it's meant to be like that but I hated it, it get's going then BAM! End of episode. Some might like that, I didn't.

It as its moments, but very few. Worth a rent but I don't recommend a purchase. I went into Asura's Wrath super excited after hearing the bombcast but left disappointed by a pretty mediocre game. A friend of mine is playing it at the moment and seems to feel the same.

Tastes and opinions I guess.

@Kidavenger said:

Looking at your achievements; doesn't seem like that ban on Capcom games is going very well.

Well, I'm looking at them, and the only Capcom game I've played since December 4th is Resident Evil 4, which I bought at release. I started the boycott in...December, I think, or maybe January, but I haven't bought any new Capcom games since then. It's not like I'm gonna pretend the games I do own by them aren't good, I'm just not gonna buy any more of their games and won't recommend people buy their upcoming materials.

Not much of a game, but man what a fucking ride and experience it is. Loved it.

It's okay, but nothing to lose your head over. Game is only 4 hours long and has little to no replay value. (at least for me) Unless it's like $10 do what I did and just rent it.

You know the point of a boycott is to resist doing things you might want to do out of principle, right?

In this case, the point of boycotting Capcom games is to not play Capcom games that you might love the shit out of out of principle, as a protest against Capcom's business practices.