The story is presented in the style and format of an episodic series of cinematic scenes, including opening and closing credits, with the gameplay shifting between third-person combat, a rail shooter, and interactive sequences with player input in the form of quick-time event button prompts.

In order to do this, players must successfully defeat enemies, inflict large amounts of damage and press the current quick-time prompt correctly and in time.

Once filled to maximum, players can unleash a powerful burst attack, which in the majority of cases is required in order to finish off strong opponents and advance the plot/gameplay, even commencing another cutscene.

[1] The third-person action sequences resemble "beat 'em up" style gameplay where the player must defeat enemies in close combat, utilizing light and heavy attacks, counters, dashes, and projectiles.

If however the player character is knocked back, they have a chance to quickly recover by landing on their feet and saving additional health.

While a few sequences may continue regardless, certain quick-time events have degrees of success where the player may attempt to press at an even more specific time than when the prompt immediately and initially appears.

[2] Asura is one of the Eight Guardian Generals, techno-divine beings who fight an eternal war with the Gohma and their creator Vlitra, the hostile spirit of their planet Gaea where humans live and give worship to them, which empowers them and their Karma Fortress with an energy called "Mantra".

Encouraged by a Golden Spider, Asura escapes into the living world after 12,000 years, finding the Guardian Generals have now dubbed themselves the Seven Deities and slaughter humans to gather Mantra quickly.

When Deus's second-in-command Olga tries using the Karma Fortress to kill Asura's enraged form, Yasha defects as he sees this as misuse of the humans' lives and Mithra's suffering.

After crippling the Karma Fortress, Yasha restores Asura to himself, and the two join forces to kill Deus and free Mithra.

It reveals its true identity as Chakravartin, creator of the universe who bestowed Mantra to humanity's ancestors and set up and manipulated every action of the conflict with the Gohma to find a worthy god to rule Gaea, choosing Asura for this role due to killing Vlitra as the final test.

In an interview, Hiroshi Matsuyama commented on the principles behind the game's creation: "Our main concept was that we wanted to reach out to audiences all over the world with Asura's Wrath.

In an interview, Kazuhiro Tsuchiya stated that "We tried a lot of different options and determined that Unreal Engine 3 was a perfect solution.

The announcement trailer showed the title character battle multiple foes before being confronted by a planetary sized enemy.

[8] Downloadable content includes a two-dimensional fighting mode using the Super Street Fighter IV mechanics, as well as two characters from the game, Ryu/Evil Ryu and Akuma/Oni as opponents, with voices only available in Japanese.

Chikayo Fukuda composed the main theme and its variation, entitled "In Your Belief" while the vocalized version was sung by Tomoyo Mitani.

"[citation needed] TeamXbox praised the overall presentation as "the best adaptation of the Anime episode structure ever in a videogame", that is suited the characters and overarching narrative.

Jeff Cork of Game Informer commented that "the combat may not be as deep as other hack and slash offerings, but it does a great job of making Asura feel (and play) like the unhinged demigod", in which he felt the story was the focus rather than the combat, finding it "a nice change of pace from other hack-and-slash games, featuring an interesting story that’s not blocked off by insurmountable difficulty.

"[19] GameTrailers echoed this view saying that if approached as a game, Asura's Wrath will leave you wanting, but as a piece of multimedia, it's intriguing.

[20] Luciano Howard of The Digital Fix gave the PS3 version nine out of ten and stated, "Its presentation is fabulous, with letterboxing where needed, colourful and bountiful art and animation, a mix of pastel shading and traditional game colouring mixed together plus awesome sound quality and variation, especially when considering the music which stands out, head and shoulders above the effects.

"[33] Liam Martin of Digital Spy gave the same console version four stars out of five and said it was "undoubtedly a niche title, and the lack of extended player input will leave some feeling a little short changed.

For those with an appreciation of Eastern animation and quirky video games, however, Asura's Wrath is one of the more intriguing releases of this year, not to mention this console generation.

"[28] David Jenkins of Metro gave both console versions seven out of ten, calling them "A wonderfully imaginative and beautifully presented interactive anime, but one that cannot maintain a regular enough supply of surprises to justify even its short running time.