El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron could have been one of those revolutionizing video games for the gaming industry, but it just fell short.. very short.
I wanted to like this game for the fact that the graphics and the game designer also created Dante from Devil May Cry. The graphics were absolutely stunning in some of the environments such as this one.
The game play is a third person action adventure, that basically ends up being a very boring button masher. In the beginning of the game, you learn the basics of fighting and eventually learn how to steal your enemies weapons. Sounds fun right? The problem is that there are only 3 weapons to use in the entire game, with very little variation in the fighting style. Let’s just say that Dynasty Warriors characters have more moves and combos than the main character in this game.
The first weapon is called the Arch, which is the most interesting weapon to pound demons heads with. It is a dual sided blade that looks more like a bow designed to stab and fight off hordes of demons from the heavens. It is 
also given a unique feature to help Enoch glide around the stages.
The second weapon is the Gale, which is a long ranged bow attached to Enoc’s back. This weapon is fun for about 5 minutes but then gets very difficult to keep enemies at bay.
The last weapon is called the Veil, which used to be a shield for one of your enemies but Enoch decides to break it in half and receive gauntlets. The Veil weapon is just a pound away attack that makes you feel like your character is running around with Hulk hands.
The story of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is from the book, Apocryptic of Enoch,which follows the main character Enoch as he travels the Metatron looking for the seven fallen angels to stop them from destroying the world. Enoch is consistently being guided by Lucifel who is in charge of protecting the world.
The seven fallen angels are all angels that broke away from God’s reach and heaven, with their own plans to start civilizations and rebellions of their own. It’s up to Enoch and his guardian angel, Lucifel, to Ascend through the Metatron and save the world.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Rates
Gameplay 4/10 This was the main reason why I couldn’t continue playing El Shaddai. The game play is supposed to be action adventure, but really it is slow button mashing battle with the same actions over and over again.
Graphics 9/10 The graphics are a unique blend of cell shading animation combined with a very Japanese stylized art. At a few parts of playing El Shaddai, I had to just stop and look at the environments.
Audio 7/10 The audio is meant to sound like the background sound effects are coming from a “heavenly” voice which ties into the game plot well.
Replay Value 5/10 The game play is just too boring to keep on replaying this game.
If you are into Japanese art and experiencing a new kind of game play in video games, I would suggest renting this game at least once. It seems like the developers of this game were focused on the graphics and then realized that they needed to actually make this a playable video game and rushed it. If the developers found a way to make the game play more enjoyable, this game could have easily been a 9 out of 10.