Due to an error, this review was originally posted with a score of 6, instead of the score assigned by the author. We have changed the article to reflect the correct score. The text is unchanged. We regret this error.

There's no reason to think that Rengoku II would be good. The original game was an atrocity. But hope lived because there is so much potential for fun in the basic idea of the series. Futuristic androids (A.D.A.M.s) trapped in eternal battle in a tower representing the seven deadly sins for the amusement of the humans who made and then abandoned them? Intrinsically, this is a neat idea.

When you find out the androids can take the guns, blades, flamethrowers and other weapons of horrific destruction and make them part of their bodies, it sounds even better. The robot designs evoke a horrifying but stylish vision of robots and technology.

Unfortunately, all of that isn't enough - just like it wasn't enough for the first game. Being able to make your head an axe, or your chest a revolver with arms, doesn’t make up for not being able to really use those weapons effectively. The combat demands smooth transitions from attack to attack to create the combos you need to survive, but the weapons don't actually allow for those smooth combos. It's usually physically impossible to excel in combat.