There are a couple of reasons to be excited about a Legend of Korra game that just happens to be developed by PlatinumGames, of Bayonetta series fame. You may be a fan of the Legend of Korra or Avatar cartoons on Nickelodeon, which were extremely popular among kids and adults alike. You also may be a fan of PlatinumGames previous works, particularly those in the third person action genre, often garnering high praise. For these reasons, this game had a lot working in its favor. That’s why it’s all the more unfortunate that it somehow managed to fall short of expectations.
Let’s start with the source material angle. The game was scripted by Tim Hedrick, one of the writers of the original TV series. That’s why it’s a mystery as to why the game’s story feels so empty and soulless. To be honest I have no exposure to the original cartoon, but I am somewhat familiar with the original Avatar series. My understanding from those who are more familiar with the series is that this is an original side story which is not too directly connected to particular events of the series. It certainly feels that way as well: The villain has motivations that are thin and best, and the plot was obviously constructed around finding a way to strip Korra of her bending abilities and then slowly introduce them back into the game for the sake of mechanics.
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| Korra features a typical Platinum shop-based upgrade system. This one features Iroh though, one of my favorite Avatar series characters! | Plenty of large enemies also make appearances here, including giant robots! |
Let’s be fair though, you probably never play a Platinum game for the story (even though PlatinumGames did not actually write this story). What Platinum always brings to the table with their games is some of the most refined controls and mechanics available in action games. Korra is no exception to this. Anyone who has played a game in the Bayonetta series will find the controls reasonably familiar, but with more of an emphasis on guarding and countering as opposed to dodging to get into Witch Time. This is the main reason that even though Korra feels like Bayonetta in so many ways, it ends up falling short in general game-play feeling as well. If you’ve never played a Bayonetta game, then it’s not very likely that you’ll feel the same. Bending with the various elements does lend a distinct feeling of difference to the game-play though, and it is fun to figure out which element best suits each situation or boss that you encounter.
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| If you’re going to make it through the Naga portions of the game, I hope you like endless runners! | Not only do we have giant robots, but we also have giant spirit…things! |
There are a couple other distinct styles of game-play to be found here apart from the usual combat though. The Pro-Bending sections (there is even an entire mode dedicated to this once you complete the story) are extremely fun, and a nice surprise for fans of the series. The game involves Korra and two partners on one side of a field, and three opponents on the other side. Your job is to knock them back in position with your elements of choice until they are knocked off of the field. The same can’t be said for the fun factor during the sections where you get to ride on polar bear dog Naga in an endless runner style of game. Though the actions you can perform with Naga do develop in later sections, the core involves you knowing exactly when to jump over pits or slide under obstacles. The frustration comes in when you realize that if you don’t have lightning quick reflexes or the ability to memorize long stretches of course, you will repeatedly die after one failed jump or slide attempt. And with infrequent check points, these sections are made to feel way longer than they actually are.
As with most Platinum games, the general difficulty level even on Easy or Normal is rather high compared to most other action games. This may prove to be a turn-off to someone who is playing this game because it is The Legend of Korra, and not because it is developed by PlatinumGames. I’m glad that Platinum did not sacrifice their identity simply because they were developing a licensed game here, but I also feel it might have been appropriate for them to tune down their usual high difficulty curve.
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| In a very Platinum move, you do get to play as a giant version of Korra in one part. | Pro-Bending mode, one of the most fun parts of the game! |
In the end my biggest problem with The Legend of Korra may be that I played it after Bayonetta 2. Previously stated gripes aside, Korra is a very solid action game. However it’s undoubtedly lacking the glitz and just general uniqueness of Bayonetta, and I just can’t manage to get past that. While it’s obvious that many elements of Bayonetta could simply not be applied to Korra due to needing to stick to the source material (and rightly so), I just can’t shake the feeling that maybe a few more of them could have been implemented here to make Korra a slightly more satisfying experience.