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Samurai Warriors: State of War
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Publisher: Koei
North America Release: March 7, 2006
Number of Players: 1 - 4
Wi-Fi Mode: Ad-Hoc
I purchased this game on the day it was released. When I got it at eb game, it was 1 of 2 last copies left. When I read how it was like an improved version of Dynasty Warriors, I decided to get it since I liked Dynasty Warriors. However, are the improvements really good?
About the game
Samurai Warriors is loosely based on Japan's ancient history. The story in the game is pretty much what really happened as the events & some of the characters are real. However, the game does tell you which part is true & which ones are fake. It provides you with "what if" scenarios to keep the game interesting. Since I don't know much about Japanese history, I'll stop here.
The game is the same as past Samurai Warriors games. This is actually a new game & not a port. It includes all 19 characters from the PS2 game Samurai Warriors Extreme. Instead of just hacking & slashing, the game has some strategy elements to it. So you won't be running around the fields mindlessly killing people most of the time.
In this game, you play as one of the characters from either camps. When you unlock some features, you will be able to play more campaign scenarios from different character perspectives. The firmware requirement for this game is 2.50.
Graphics
The still portraits of the characters in the character selection screen are quite good with an expectation of a few. Some look very good while some look like last minute jobs or little effort was put into them. What's more funny is how the stage clear victory poses of the characters looks so corny. It's basically a detail still pose of your character with sakura petals flying on the screen at a fast speed on a plain dark blue background. Personally, I think the designers can do better than that really.
For the gameplay part, the background scenery can't be seen from a distance. What I mean is you can't see what's up ahead until you actually get there. Sometimes the enemies just appear in foront of you sudden. The background & the sprites are detailed & are quite smooth. Hardly any "blocks" on them. The movements are smooth as they run down the field & swing their weapons. In fact, it's pretty smooth & quick. Overall, the graphics make good use of the PSP's capacities.
Music & Sounds
Nice, crisp, & clean. Although the sound effects weren't great in my opinion. The hitting & cutting didn't sound too real. It's pretty fake. However, but it was fair.
The voices in the game was terrible. The male one are ok, but the female ones really need a lot of work. They didn't seem like they were in the battle. It was like mindless or just plain emotionless. Okuni's voice was annoying & her speeches were weird. For example, when she throws her umbrella out, she says "Bon voyage. Welcome back." Knowing a bit of Japanese, I have some idea what the Japanese one is trying to say & the translators probably made a perfect translation of it. But, the English of it is pretty weird & I won't have mind if the translators used a different line instead for that.
The music did have an Asian feel to it. But I didn't like them. It was pretty boring & didn't fit the mood as you go running around killing people. Also, the music seems to recycle a lot. You pretty much hear the same songs over & over again.
Gameplay
If you have played a Samurai Warriors game before, you pretty much know how it is. Running around hacking & slashing people. If this is your first Samurai Warrior, don't worry as the game is fairly easy to pick up. However, the added strategy part of the game is pretty new. It's quite strict & you really need to plan it out carefully. Occupying more territory than the enemy gives you the upper hand in battle as the fights will be easier. However, if your territory is smaller than the enemy's, it will be hard to deal with. I actually ran in circles from the officers in battle when I had less territory. It was very hard to kill them as my hits put out little effect. Also, they were really strong. Also, if your officer dies in battle, the game will be over if he/she are to be kept alive according to the mission requirements.
There are 2 playing modes: Musou Mode & Free Mode. Musou Mode is basically story mode. Free Mode is where you can revisit stages you have been. Whatever stats & sub-officers you gain from completing the stage gets carried over, provided that you save the game.
As for levelling, the level you obtained from completing a stage does carry over to the next. Also, any weapons you picked up will be carried over. However, it felt like everything was reset to normal as fighting the weaker enemies took a lot of time & effort again. I really question about this levelling situation. However, the points you earned for your stats will be carried over & saved. Plus, any scrolls you picked up or leveled up on will be saved as well. The maximum level of the scrolls is 4 & is determined by the number of KOs you had when you use your musou attack. A problem I find with the leveling system is that it's preset. In order words, you can't gain more than the set character level number when completing a stage no matter much more effort you put into it. However, if you die from a stage, you can still gain levels but at half the rate.
If you have played Dynasty Warriors for the PSP, you will recognize the strategy map system. The stage is broken down into small areas. And the moves you make is quite important for some stages. Defeating emery officers may gain you some items that are required to advance in the stage. Also, if you move away from your allies that show be watched over, you may have a tough time saving them. Keep in mind, the game is turn based, not real time. In other words when as you fight in an area, time comes to a halt for everyone. So, you won't have enemies coming in from other areas or allies coming to your aid during battle.
Another thing to mention about the strategy map system is that there is no time limit. The other things you need to watch out for are what your stage requirements are. Most of the time, aside from dying, it's keeping your main camp safe or not let certain ally members fall. Also, don't let the enemy have more territory than you. The scrolls that you picked up in battle can be used to aid allies or attack enemies.
Although there isn't a time limit, the battle system is a bit on the easy or frustrating system. Depending how you want to play it, you can end a battle by attacking the enemy officers immediately after you kill a certain number of peons to make him/her appear. Also, there are timed battles such as killing as many enemies in 60 seconds. For battles without time limits, you need to watch out for your rank level. Most of the time you start out with "A". This level can drop depending how much time you take. It's dependant on the size of your army. If it's smaller than the enemy's, it will drop. The lower the rank, the less experience points you get at the end as well as less area movement for the strategy map system.
In the battle system, there are quite a lot of items to pick up. They include healing items, more experience points, & battle aids. Depending on the difficulty level you set, the game can be quite generous with you. In fact, I found the items to be necessary at times, especially the AttackX2 ones.
When I attack the enemies, it felt like it was going to take forever to knock out a simple peon; even with good strong weapons. Even gaining more territories didn't seem to solve this problem much. It was frustrating that I decided to set the game level to "Easy" from "Normal" & this lows my chances in getting better weapons. Plus, I had a hard time controlling the characters with their attack patterns. It had a lot of openings in it that allowed weak enemies to hit & knock me on the ground with ease. Even when I try to flip myself to normal in the air, I still get pounded. I found myself frustrated with it, even in Normal mode. The game seems unbalanced with these situations.
The sub-officer system is also another element for your strategic brain. Each officer brings a different set of skills & abilities for your character, so you can't just choose them randomly. They can help improve or weaken your character's stats. I strongly recommend that you read the games instruction manual for the list of skills & abilities that are available to the game since there are a lot of them! You can also use the tutorial mode when you play the game. Also, if a sub-officer dies in battle, he/she won't be lost. You will be able to select them again. This is a good thing since you can't monitor their life meters when you are far away from them. It makes protecting them hard. Also, they can be quite useless in battle at times. Most of the time, I'm doing all the attacking while they just stand there or in an area with no enemies around. Take note when selecting sub-officers, you need to see how loyal they are to you. The loyalty is usually dependant on the camp your character belongs to. Also, getting sub-officers can be difficult. You can't get them every time you pass a stage. Although defeating them in battle gives you a high chance of getting them, they don't always work.
Because of the lack of graphics for the background, the game doesn't lag a lot when you hack & slash. Even with a big crowd of enemies surrounding you, the action doesn't slow down. I have seen it slow down a bit, but it's barely recognizable & it occurs mainly when you use musou attacks. As for the loading times, there are hardly any during the game play. Before you start a mission, the game will take around 15 seconds or so to load all the data need for the mission. So, you won't have any load times during your game play which is pretty good.
Extras, Bonuses, & Secrets
As you play the game, you will unlock more characters & have a chance to play different campaign & character scenarios to enhance the game's replay value. There are 19 playable characters & some of them you need to unlock. On the officer side, there are over 200 sub-officers available. Of those 200+ sub-officers, some of them are characters from Dynasty Warriors. The characters from Dynasty Warriors will have their own sprites & attack patterns. The officer biography is quite a nice feature if you are interested in their history even though it is brief.
Replay Value
With 19 playable characters, each having their own attack styles & sometimes their own storyline, this game can keep you busy for awhile. If you plan to unlock everything in the game & max out all the character stats, you probably paid your money's worth. At most, I think the game will last you 6 months. If you play it like crazy, you'll probably finish it in a couple of months or less.
Overall Conclusion
Since this is a hack & slash type of game, it can get boring pretty quick. Even with the strategy map system, you can almost mindlessly do well in it. Once you figure out the pattern, you can easily apply that knowledge with other characters that has those certain stages in their storyline. I would give this game a 6.5/10. The reason behind this score is due to the unlockable extras & repetitive "running away mindlessly killing people" gameplay which I kind of like. Also, the frustration of hitting the enemies to KO them & controlling the character attack pattern sequence really got to me. I even had times of thinking of getting rid of the game & go play something else.
Last updated on June 28, 2007
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