This is an updated review of a game that I finished on the sixth of June, 2022. Most of the stuff will be unchanged from its source whilst anything added to it will be marked in a section called Update.
Gintama Rumble, or Gintama Ranbaru, is a Musou-type action-adventure game that was released on the 18th of January, 2018 on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. It was released three days after the manga’s 666th chapter and the anime’s 343rd episode. This will play a role in the story arcs covered in the manga.
Gameplay: 7/10 – A mix of Dynasty Warriors without the camp thing. It can get grind-heavy at times and it has simple RPG elements to boot.
Update: Story mode in and of itself is fun to play through especially when you are a fan of the series. Kabukicho Ultimate Rumble is a different story.
Kabukicho Ultimate Rumble is a mode within the game wherein you are presented with a simplified version of Dynasty Warriors wherein you have to defeat a certain number of characters to gather the 12 “magic balls” and grant a wish.
Think of it as one of those filler episodes if you’re familiar with the anime but you get to grind your chosen character to unlock more collectibles, gain more skills, and unlock special attacks.
Controls do work fine in this type of a game but you can get lost in the moment when it’s time to move the camera using the right analog stick. If you’re heavy into chaining combos to do flashy moves though, the late game might not be for you because you can just mow through the competition while holding Triangle or Square to do a skill attack.
Graphics: 7/10 – It may depend on what console you have but in some cases, there are noticeable slowdowns when there are multiple enemies on screen and most cutscenes are just 2D stills from the anime but it graces you, the player, with beautifully animated 3D cutscenes at times.
Sound: 4.5/10 – The soundtrack isn’t as memorable as the TV show’s (probably because AUDIO HIGHS didn’t compose for the game).
Update: It turns out, I was right. Neither series composers AUDIO HIGHS or Eichi Kamagata did the soundtrack for the game.
Audio duties were handled by Soundlab MI Corporation, who did audio production for titles such as the Senran Kagura series and Oneechanbara, and MIT Gathering, aka the ones who handled Animetal The Second’s two albums.
Now you know why I said that it kind of resembles Gintama music but it doesn’t feel like Gintama. Oh and SPYAIR did the insert song for this game.
Story: Only for Gintama fans/10 – Some important arcs are missing in this game (acceptable for the lack of Silver Soul arc because the anime just adapted five chapters out of the arc four days before the game was released, not acceptable for the first Harusame arc).
Overall: If you’re a Gintama fan, this is for you. I’d suggest to get the PS4 version as the English version exists only for that console. You would need a modded PS Vita and a downloaded English patch to play this in English on the portable console.
Update: If you’re new to Gintama and you wanted to experience the series withouth slogging through 369 episodes and a movie or read through all 704 chapters of manga, you may use this as a starting point but take note that they didn’t include the final arc as it was airing on TV at the time and it’s missing some important arcs from the manga, I’d suggest to play the game then watch or read the arc you’ve just finished to get the whole story.
Rayas-WEB 