The Legend of Korra | |
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Developer(s) | PlatinumGames |
Publisher(s) | Activision |
Director(s) | Eiro Shirahama |
Producer(s) |
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Designer(s) | Isao Negishi |
Writer(s) | Tim Hedrick |
Composer(s) |
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Platform(s) | |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action, beat 'em up |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Legend of Korra [lower-alpha 1] is a 2014 third-person action beat 'em up video game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Activision, based on the animated television series of the same name which aired on Nickelodeon from 2012 to 2014. It was released in October 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and received mixed reviews.
The game is one of two video games based on the same plot from the series. The other, The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins, is a turn-based strategy game for the Nintendo 3DS.
The game was removed from sale on all digital storefronts three years after its release on December 21, 2017.
The Legend of Korra is a third-person action game, [2] supporting single-player play only. [3] Players control Korra, the series' heroine, as she fights villains from the first two seasons of the series [4] with the bending arts, a spiritual and physical practice similar in appearance to Eastern martial arts by which practitioners move and alter the elements of water, earth, fire and air. Korra can switch between four different elements on the fly, each with its own combat styles and special moves.
Waterbending is acquired first and specializes in ranged attacks. Earthbending, acquired next, features slow attacks that are very powerful and cannot be blocked. Firebending is a balanced style that once upgraded, features all three forms of attacks: Fast combos, slow but powerful, and ranged. Airbending, acquired late in the game, features fast and powerful attacks that can affect all surrounding targets. Korra also acquires the "avatar state" near the end of the game; it lasts a shorts period, but grants Korra powerful attacks that combine all four elements.
The game tries to persuade the player into using counterattacks. The player can initiate a counterattack by blocking an enemy attack just before it connects. Counterattacks are orders of magnitude more powerful than direct attacks. Counterattacking is the only way of defeating bosses in a reasonable amount of time, as defeating them with direct attacks can take hours. Electrical and earth-based attacks cannot be countered.
The game takes about four [4] to six hours to play through, [5] but contains "a New Game+ of sorts". [5] These include an endless runner with Naga, [6] and pro-bending matches, where teams of three try to bend each other out of an arena. [7] This mode, which implements the pro-bending rules depicted in the series, is available after completing the game, with the player controlling the "Fire Ferrets" team made up of Korra and her friends Mako and Bolin. [1]
The game takes place in the two weeks between the second and third seasons of the series, which aired in 2013 and 2014 respectively. [7] Korra is opposed by a "chi-blocker" who, at the start of the game, strips Korra of her bending abilities, which she has to regain over the course of the game. [4] The game's main villain, Hundun, is named after a chaotic entity in Chinese mythology. An ancient, evil being previously trapped in the spirit world, he was released into the physical world by Korra's opening of the spirit portals at the end of the second season. The game sees him sow chaos in the world and pursue his grudge against the Avatar. [8]
The Legend of Korra , the animated drama TV series [9] on which the game is based, aired on Nickelodeon and online from 2012 to 2014 as a sequel to the series Avatar: The Last Airbender . It received critical acclaim, and was commissioned to run for four seasons and a total of 52 episodes.
The game based on the series was announced in June 2014. It was developed by PlatinumGames, known for the Bayonetta series of action games among others, and published by Activision. [7] The game is scripted by Tim Hedrick, a writer of the TV series, who collaborated with series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino on the plot and main villain. The cutscenes are animated by Titmouse, Inc., and the cover art (chosen by public vote) is by series character designer Christie Tseng. [10] The game made use of the voice actors and the music of the TV series. [4]
Robert Conkey of Activision explained that they chose Platinum on account of their record of developing action games, which he described as having a "very smooth, very flashy, and very cool" style. [6] Platinum producer Atsushi Kurooka said that Platinum chose to adapt The Legend of Korra, a series unknown in Japan, after watching it with the aid of translated scripts, and being impressed by the series's blend of "interesting action, a really good story, comedy, and romance". [5] According to Kurooka, the studio aimed to make the game emulate the look and feel of the television series as closely as possible, including its visual and sound direction: Kurooka said that screenshots of the game were indistinguishable from those of the series. [6]
Aggregator | Score |
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Metacritic | (PC) 64/100 [11] (PS4) 54/100 [12] (XONE) 49/100 [13] |
Publication | Score |
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Computer and Video Games | 2/10 [14] |
Destructoid | 7/10 [15] |
Eurogamer | 4/10 [16] |
Game Informer | 5.5/10 [17] |
GameSpot | 3/10 [18] |
GameTrailers | 6.5/10 [19] |
IGN | 4.2/10 [20] |
PC Gamer (US) | 63/100 [21] |
Polygon | 5/10 [22] |
Hardcore Gamer | [23] |
Metro | 3/10 [24] |
Appraisals of the game during development were positive. After playing an alpha build of the game in June 2014, Destructoid described the game as a "pretty solid action brawler". The reviewer praised the thorough implementation of the various bending styles, the detailed and fluid combat system, and the cel-shaded art style. [4] GameSpot 's reporter was "encouraged by the art style and some aspects of the combat", but uncertain whether the developers would be able to balance the demands of faithfulness to a franchise and the expectations of quality combat gameplay raised by their previous titles. [3] IGN described the early version as having "all the depth I’d expect to see from this developer bundled with a faithful artistic interpretation" of the source material, noting the "surprisingly deep" combat system and the "tastefully re-created animations" from the series. [25]
The Legend of Korra received "mixed or average" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. [11] [12] [13] It was panned by Dan Stapleton of IGN as a "poorly made tie-in that can’t even stand up as a competent third-person action game". The reviewer noted the game's simplistic combat, the absence of the series' wit and charm, and the low-quality cutscenes. [20] Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot was also highly critical of the game, writing that it "tries its best to boot M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender film out of its rightful position as 'worst Avatar-related thing yet produced.'" [18] Chris Carter at Destructoid summed up the game as a "nice but brief romp" with no real narrative that "plays out like a 'light' version of Platinum's previous games". [15] At Polygon , Philip Kollar described the game as a "shallow, short experience full of segments that feel poorly designed and ill-considered", with frustrating mechanics and annoying mini-games. [22] Paul Tassi of Forbes , noting the "scathing" reviews the game received, wrote that, like other adaptations of the series, it showed "a fundamental misunderstanding of the source material, all but completely devoid of a plot and other characters outside Korra herself". [26] For Eurogamer 's Simon Parkin, the game's shortcomings were the "hallmarks of a work-for-hire project rushed to meet a Christmas deadline", and he considered the game "a misfire that means Platinum's name no longer guarantees quality". [16]
Avatar: The Last Airbender, also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in some regions, or simply Avatar or The Last Airbender, is an American animated fantasy action television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio.
Avatar Aang, or simply Aang, is the title character and protagonist of Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang is the last surviving Airbender, a monk of the Air Nomads' Southern Air Temple, and the youngest ever airbending master.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Video Game is a 2006 action-adventure video game based on the animated television series of the same name. It was released for the Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox. The game was a launch title for the Wii in North America. All versions feature an original story set between Book 1 and Book 2 of the series, except for the Microsoft Windows version, which features a different story, based on Book 1, and different gameplay.
Toph Beifong is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, voiced by Michaela Jill Murphy in the original series and Kate Higgins and Philece Sampler in the sequel series.
Michael Dante DiMartino is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, both on Nickelodeon.
PlatinumGames Inc. is a Japanese video game developer that was founded in October 2007 as result of a merger between two companies, Seeds Inc. and Odd Inc. Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, and Hideki Kamiya founded Seeds Inc. after the closure of Capcom's Clover Studio, while Odd Inc. was founded by Tatsuya Minami. A year after the studio was founded, video game publisher Sega announced that it would be publishing four intellectual properties developed by the company: MadWorld, Infinite Space, Bayonetta, and Vanquish. Their partnership later extended to include Anarchy Reigns. Most of these games were met with positive reception. Over the years, PlatinumGames had developed an expertise in action games and one of their key philosophies was that the team would not follow conventional game design concepts.
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno is a 2008 video game based on the Nickelodeon animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Like the previous two games which were set in the first and second seasons, the game's setting is based upon the show's third and final season. The Wii version was released on October 13, 2008 in North America and on November 1, 2008 in the UK. A PS2 version is also available and was released on October 31, 2008 in the UK.
The Legend of Korra, also known as Avatar: The Legend of Korra, or more rarely simply as Korra, is an American animated fantasy action television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon. A sequel to DiMartino and Konietzko's previous series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired from 2005 to 2008, the series ran for 52 episodes ("chapters"), separated into four seasons ("books"), from April 14, 2012, to December 19, 2014. It has been continued as a comic book series.
Avatar Korra, commonly simply known as Korra, is the title lead character in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, in which she is depicted as the current incarnation of Raava's Avatar—the spiritual embodiment of balance and change—responsible for maintaining peace and harmony in the world. She is the immediate reincarnation of Avatar Aang. The character was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and is voiced by Janet Varney, and by Cora Baker as a child.
Tenzin is a major character in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. He is voiced by J. K. Simmons. Tenzin's father, Aang, was the Avatar who preceded Korra and kept world peace by preventing the Fire Nation from taking over the world during the Hundred Year War, which occurred about seventy years before the beginning of The Legend of Korra. Tenzin's mother, Katara, greatly assisted Aang in his efforts to save the Earth Kingdom from destruction. Tenzin is the youngest of the three children of Aang and Katara.
Book One: Air is the first season of the American animated television series The Legend of Korra created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Consisting of twelve episodes, it was initially intended to be a stand-alone epilogue miniseries sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender before the series was expanded to an order of four seasons ("books") of fifty-two episodes ("chapters") in total. Book One: Air aired from April 14 to June 23, 2012, on the Nickelodeon channel in the U.S., and is broadcast in other countries beginning in June 2012.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is an action hack and slash video game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Activision. It is inspired by IDW Publishing's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series. It was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 24, 2016. Less than eight months after its release, the game was removed from sale from all digital storefronts on January 3, 2017. This was the last Nickelodeon game to be published by Activision, with the rights for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game series being given to Dotemu.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, or simply Avatar, is an American multimedia franchise consisting of two animated television series, a live-action film, comics, books, video games, home media, and soundtracks. The franchise began with the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series is set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world in which some people can telekinetically manipulate one of the four classical elements: air, water, earth, or fire. Only the titular "Avatar" can bend all four elements and is responsible for maintaining balance in the world.
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