4/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage.

System: Dreamcast Started: November 2016 Ended: November 27, 2016 Flashback Review I got into Berserk after watching the Golden Age Arc trilogy movies in the mid-2010s and then went to reading the manga after hearing that it's far superior to the anime shows. The art panels and the extended story really hooked me in that I breezed through reading the manga chapters until I was finally up to date when Guts and crew finally got off the boat. I didn't know there was a Dreamcast game based on Berserk until I was browsing through the complete Dreamcast catalog of games, and I had to get this game. 2016 was a pretty dark year for Berserk, thanks to the release of that 3D anime adaptation. Playing Sword of the Berserk was a great alternative and was the first Dreamcast game I played through entirely. Interestingly, Berserk creator Kentaro Miura was also part of the development team that worked on the story for this game, meaning that it's an exclusive Berserk chapter in video game format. This Berserk story arc is actually pretty good, as it includes fully voiced cutscenes. The story fits well within the franchise, mainly focusing on killer Mandragoras taking over an entire village. It's still funny that the main villain’s name is Balzac. There are characters from the manga, like Puck, and even Nosferatu Zodd made an appearance. Sword of the Berserk is a great, bloody hack-and-slash action game, as you get to swing Guts’ Dragon Slayer sword, and hearing that iconic heavy sword-swinging sound effect is still cool. The game also features a Berserk mode that allows Guts to swing his sword faster, deal double damage, and fight comfortably in enclosed areas, as his sword is way too big. You can also use Guts’ secondary weapons, such as throwing daggers, grenades, his arm crossbow, and even his powerful arm cannon. A few complaints I have with this are things like the inclusion of the Quick Time Events (QTE) segments. I guess it was popular since Shenmue was also released that same year of 1999. Sometimes you need to be quick to press the buttons, but other times, if you're not fast enough, you have to redo the entire QTE segment. On the bright side, during some levels, if you fail a QTE, the game continues, and you might stumble upon a different path, adding replay value to check out the other segment in a level. This game is fairly short too, as it can be beaten in a single day. At least there are unlockable bonus games and gallery photos available if you complete the game at a certain difficulty level. For a short game, Sword of the Berserk is underrated among Dreamcast titles. It remains my favorite Berserk game, though I have yet to play the Japan-exclusive PS2 game. It's a shame it never received a re-release; the only ways to play it are through emulation or by owning a Dreamcast console. If you want more Berserk, this is the game I recommend. I suggest playing it after reading the manga or at least after finishing Conviction and The Lost Children story arcs.