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Asakura! (which is the abbreviation for Assault Crisis, with "Asa" being "Assault" and "Kura" being "Crisis"; it also means "Oh Sakura!") is typically refered to by Sodom, the developer, as a Mega Man + Metroid hybrid in the sense that the player controls like Mega Man but with the exploration of a Metroid title. While the game isn't entirely like either (and sets itself apart further as the game series progresses), it's still an enjoyable enough game in its own right.

This is the third (and recently released at C78) installment of the Asakura series. This game attempts to play more like a true Action RPG; you now gain experience points and raise your parameters with levels (notably HP and MP). The game also has status ailments such as darkness (limited field of vision), confusion (reversed left and right movement), slow (run at a slow pace), etc. The shop people still are shilouettes and you still get the standard items (life and magic potions, etc.). The dungeons in this game are HUGE compared to the previous installments. You can find map pieces to see room layouts and such too.

Your heroine was simply relaxing after recovering the four jewels from her previous adventure...until the cliff behind her house collapsed and revealed an area inhabited with more demons. Given her heroic nature, she decides that she should investigate the new ruins...and so her quest begins anew.

The visuals have once again seen minimal, but somewhat noticeable improvements (in terms of animation anyway, and the heroine has a slightly new look), and the game has yet another excellent soundtrack. The puzzles and dungeon romping has been pumped up a great deal; you will do a lot of exploring and puzzle solving. For example, to get certain items, you will have to be "pushed" by a sonic wave emitted from black orbs since your normal jump at the time can't get you the distance. One dungeon, the "Trap" dungeon, is really complex, full of invisible blocks, spikes, hidden walls, trick falls, weird doors...the works. The game will seem annoying for a while, but here's a tip; just buy keys early on...try to have about 25-30 of them (no less than 15 if you can). Enemies drop keys, but they're rare.

Other annoyances? Enemies only give 1EXP point (or percent, if you will) and you need 100 to level up. You also only gain one HP and MP per level too. To remedy this, you fight enemies in a more annoying fashion than the original Ninja Gaiden...enemies are freakin' EVERYWHERE! They pop up like crazy, even if you stand still in areas where there are clearly no visible enemies. However, it also adds a much needed element of challenge...so this may be good for some (like me) and bad for others. Trust me, after a while, it won't seem hard at all to kill 100 foes to gain a level. You slowly get stronger and more defensive after many levels too, so it gets progressively easier to slay demons by the hundreds. There's so much mayhem in this game, it feels more like a bullet-hell ARPG...just like Tirkiss: Princess Shade. I think I still like Tirkiss more, but this game is still fun with lots of exploration. You can find the game at:

http://home.dlsite.com/work/=/product_id/RJ067088.html