Metal Max Xeno has a vibe to it that?s both bizarre, yet distantly familiar. It?s like going back in time to an era when ideas were more fluid, when risks could be taken more readily, and it was totally okay for something with cool ideas and deep flaws to stand right alongside the more polished items on the shelf. Metal Max Xeno doesn?t just feel like a relic from a bygone era, it feels like I?m somehow literally playing a PS2 game in 1080p. From its aggressive energy to its striking but low-fidelity visuals, all patched together by its complex systems and old school mechanics, Metal Max Xeno is a sometimes baffling, but always entertaining game I?m still struggling?yet eager?to wrap my head around all the way.
Frankly, it?s almost hard to believe this game is even part of an established series. It?s a real mess of a series too, dating all the way back to the Famicom, but only having so many new, core titles in its lineage among a sea of remakes and cancelled entries. Only one previous game was ever released in North America, Metal Saga for the PlayStation 2. Several years later, Metal Max Xeno is the first new entry that wasn?t a mobile game since 2013, but much like many other long-running JRPG series, you don?t need to know what?s happened in one to approach another. Could Kick Ass, Could Totally Suck
Metal Max Xeno has the harsh, angry energy of a grimy anime OVA series from the 80s or 90s, one drenched in blood, guts, and violent sexual energy. It?s full of ultra-deta...