Black Rock Shooter: The Game is a PSP digital download only game that's stealthily released stateside, unknown to many PSP users. Only BRS fans knew about this game. I'm no fan of BRS but I've been eyeing this game after seeing the Japanese version because of its unique combat.
The story is about the extinction of human race and there are only a handful of them (most of them are men) left fighting for survival against the strange alien invaders. They resorted to wake up a Grey (hybrid alien) known as Black Rock Shooter and ask for her assistance.
BRS: The Game's story is like watching an anime OVA. It's in Japanese language with English subtitles. You are greeted by a nice anime intro with emoish rock music. I wont be giving too much of the story. It's good with some twists on later parts that will make you say "What the-" but there are few memorable characters and few backstory to understand it.
Some of your actions and decisions will have some impact in the story and it's minimal.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is linear, you run around a level, pick-up some treasures and items and fight robotic enemies that frustratingly looks the same but different in color and size.
The combat is a combination of JRPG and 3rd Person Shooter. Initiating a combat will take you to a combat plane, this is where the fun starts. You control BRS in an active battle and use her Rock Cannon to shoot the enemies while aiming manually using the analog stick or the direction buttons, don't worry aiming assist is present.
BRS can't move around freely in the battle area but she can block attacks and sidestep to evade attacks. Don't get too trigger happy or dodge often, because BRS have a heat meter that increases on every shooting and dodge you execute, the higher the meter the less effective the attacks and you won't be able to dodge. The meter decreases when BRS isn't doing anything. But if the meter goes up to 100% you cannot do any actions, so you're defenseless 'till the meter goes back to 0%.
BRS' will find abilities that can be assigned on 4 face buttons. In combat, press R + any face button to use the abilities. These abilities have a cool-down time after using them. Items can be accessed by pressing L.
The combat in this game is fast and require some human dexterity and reflexes especially when there are lots of enemies and screen-covering attacks.
There are some parts in the game where BRS will ride an awesome motorcycle and rush to her next destination while evading enemies on a straight 3-lane road and slashing them using the motorcycle. Quickly defeating 5 enemies charges the guns of the motorcycle that eliminates all enemies in the lane she's on for a short time.
Boss battles are fun, they have different movement patterns and skills so it requires strategy to defeat them. When a boss ran out of health you will be prompted to a button-mashing QTE, which to my disappointment, is all the same with the rest of the bosses. There are no any thrilling QTE varieties in the boss battles, which sucks out the fun you're having earlier.
You can customize BRS by equipping different types of Rock Cannons and swords, you can also change her clothes that can be acquired as a story reward or by completing a challenge. The clothes have stat boosting properties that is barely noticeable plus it's a fan-service.
The Challenges are in-game achievement/trophy system that rewards you with abilities, upgrades, clothes, artwork or music every time you complete any one of these challenges.
GRAPHICS
Like I said, the game is like an anime. The game have good anime-ish graphics, it looks good if you retain that anime mentality but it will look even better if cell-shaded. BRS and the other characters and bosses have very awesome design. Their in-game 3D models and their animation is great. The common robot enemies looks nice, they're varied in design, size and abilities but still looks similar.
The environment is bland to most people and it's lacking few effects like you see in the in-game cutscenes. But if you consider the art style of this game, this environment graphics won't bother you.
MUSIC
There's very fitting music is in every mood or situation in the game. In my opinion the music sounds like alien kind of eerie. Some music are nice and it will take some time to get them off your ear. The battle and boss music makes you feel energized as you fight the enemies.
REPLAY VALUE
The game's maybe linear but you can comeback later to find some yellow beacons and treasures that you've missed. After finishing the game for the first time, more challenges and missions are unlocked (if you downloaded the expansion) to extend the game's lifespan. There are lots of unlockables in this game so better tackle and beat those challenges if you're a completionist.
CLOSING REMARKS
Black Rock Shooter: The Game have solid controls, good story and graphics, and awesome combat mechanic. I really like it because it's a great portable game that is fun and very addictive. This is a game made for BRS fans and JRPG/Shooter fans. From what I've read, this is the localization effort that is petitioned by fans. Without the effort, the game will never get off the Japanese shores. This game is released near the end of the PSP generation, so it's better we still got it in digital form than nothing.
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