First off, I enjoyed this game, like every Warriors title since 2002 and 80% of the spin-offs, these titles are stress relievers. Repetitive, yes, but it can be argued every game has a repetitive loop. And if you have enjoyed this series of games, you will enjoy this one too. As of writing this review I have put around 45 hours into it, completed both Campaigns (yet have not finished every Musou mission in Reverie), unlocked 34 of the 37 characters and completed around 15% of the Citadel Mode, so many hours left to grind the Platinum. But it must be stated there is a lot in this title that irks me something fierce. Reeks of rushed, fix it in and fill in the blanks in Xtreme Legends/ II or Empires...
However the "fresh re-imaging for the series" Koei spoke about in the lead up to launch turned out to just be a cel-shaded graphics, drastic character overhauls in personality and appearance and weapon changes.... yet in terms of story telling and mission structure, choosing two warriors per battle, this is a direct sequel to Samurai Warriors 4... if only they had build upon the groundwork from the Previous (and un numbered SW game) Spirit of Sanada (SoS), we may of got something that they thought they were giving us.
Samurai Warriors 5 follows the exploits of Nobunaga Oda and Misuhide Akechi, both have their own paths to play through leading up to Honnoji. Spread across 6 Chapters, Nobunaga has 34 Story Missions, with one being post his story arc. there are 25 Mitsuhide missions, yet he doesn't get a branching mission Until Chapter 5. there is also A Reverie Chapter unlocked post Nobunaga that has What If Scenarios, sadly, there are only 9. Story is told the same, Intro exposition, characters sitting or standing talking about events, battle, more sitting and standing, next mission.
Gone is a Hub world of a few of the previous Warriors games, your MY CASTLE is literally a menu now... yup, just a menu. My Castle can be upgraded as you progress thru the game to unlock better items, horses and such, but the fact this was just all thrown into a simple menu is just pure Koei. The hub in SoS gave you some down time between missions and even had a few, if not deep, mini games you could do, you could also go out on forage missions to gather supplies for upgrades and complete quests. I was hoping for the next main line entry into the series this would be build up, yet alas, it was not.
And, so, if you are familiar with the Sengoku Era and the Samurai Warriors series as a whole, you will know this is only a portion of the story and battles we have had for 17 years in Samurai Warriors.
No Yukimura Sanada, the poster boy of the series is locked away behind the inevitable Xtreme Legends (or Samurai Warriors 5-II, if they follow SW4s branding) for now. The roster has been cut to 37--down from SW4/IIs/ SoS 55. While that may seem drastic, it is all the more by the fact that 10 new faces join the cast.
Each returning character has had a overhaul to look, personality and weapon. Sounds good, right? Well, when there are only 15 weapons in the game, and 37 characters... that is where the big issue is in this game. 15 weapons, that is it. Characters will have a proficiency in a weapon class, some 2, that will unlock Ultimate Skills, and in the moveset characters will have unique charge attacks, but basic animations are all cloned in that weapon class, down to the Musou attack animations (the annoying Musou Ending animations are back, they are at least unique, but once again, they are there to put a holt to the flow of battle once again). Sad, DW6 may get accused of cloning but at least the 17 characters who had their own Musou Mode got a unique weapon and the Free Mode officers got the Cloned movesets. But Nobunaga and Mitsihide couldn't even get a unique moveset even being the main characters of this title.
In saying that though, every moveset plays and feels great.. However returning Hyper attacks have been limited to a Triangle/ Charge button only, no linger do they have their own combos. Game runs brilliantly on a PS4Pro, zero drops in framerate.
And to make the cloned movesets even more diabolical, every character can use any weapon... a feature I have loathed in Warriors since DW7. at least DW8 offered a rock, paper, scissors feature to the system. but SW5 is just one weapon held on a character. if they were going to abridge the cast, making everyone unique should of been the main priority. Clones have been in Dynasty Warriors for the most part, but Samurai Warriors had never had that issue, until now. Yet, I am positive there will be new DLC weapons that give unique movesets, and then these weapons will be added to a character in the next XL/ II version of the game. Koei 101 since 2011.
There are also Ultimate skills that can be slotted to R1 and used on cooldowns. Much like Fist of the North Star, One Piece and DW9. While 4 abilities can be mapped, there are a dozen to chose from, some being attacks--each character has 2 unique, and some are buffs.
Citadel Mode replaces Chronicle Mode from SW4 and is the new addition yet feels more of a 'we need another mode fast' implementation. It is a tower defense type of mode and it looks like to unlock every building to max a lot of grinding will be needed to be done to get everything to Max in this mode. Progress to start off with is limited to how far you have progressed in Musou Mode which is why I am only about 15% through it at the time of writing this review.
Gone are augmented items, (Attack up + XX as an example) a mainstay in the series. No Create a Character, either. a feature that seems to be a "Aim for the bullseye" if it will be in a Warriors title or not.
The game is Sub only, while some may say that it is more 'authentic' is simply does NOT work in a Warriors title. the amount of pausing to read the Log for all the dialogue that characters say in battle that I missed as I was scrapping away really kills the investment to the story. And a lot of dialogue is never subtitled, which makes it more frustrating.
While it may sound like I did not enjoy my time with SW5, I did, yet as a Warriors veteran it would be remiss of me not to mention what I believe to be serious let downs with the game. I did enjoy the cel-shading look, giving a more Anime appearance to a series that always felt anime inspired in concept. Mitsuki would have to be my favorite character of the new cast, along with Shikanosuke. Hanzo has the best overhaul from previous characters, and Yoshimoto Imagawa is much improved, a lot more imposing and less of a jest. The Horse leveling system is a nice return, as well.
All in all, I enjoyed what turned out to be another Warriors title. I just wish they had built upon Spirit of Sanada that came out in 2017. THAT was more of a 'remake' than this title which in turn makes a lot of it feel like a step backwards. Yet if you are also a Warriors fan this will be another title for you, if you have missed a few titles and were thinking of returning. I would suggest Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Complete edition and Samurai Warriors Spirit of Sanada if you have not yet played those.
I also got it for an amazing price and next day delivery so top not service there from Amazon, thank you.
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