This game is sort of a spin-off of the ever-expanding Dynasty Warriors series, taking place in Japan rather than China. The gameplay is pretty much the exact same thing. There are various levels, and in each one you must hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies to complete missions and whatnot. While this is plenty of fun by itself, I find that what makes this game so enjoyable is the history surrounding it. If you, like me, are interested in the history of the samurai and Japan and all that, this is a good game to pick up. (Especially look for Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends, as it has an entire section devoted to such information).
The music and visuals are all good, and while they are not the greatest to ever be seen and heard, they go along perfectly with the style of all the other Warriors games. Some of the voice acting in the came can be somewhat irritating, though, but this is remedied by the fact that you can play the game in either English or Japanese, whichever you prefer.
The controls are quite simple to figure out. Even if you are completely new to this type of game you won’t find it hard to figure out what each button does, even without a tutorial or anything. Also, there’s only a couple things you need to know how to do to be able to beat this game; namely, attack and move.
This game starts out with five playable characters, and has a total of 15 characters to play, not to mention the custom characters you are able to create. Each main character has a secondary outfit to unlock by completing the game with them, as well. In addition to all that, there are also several other modes to play, involving completing various challenges for records and rewards. As can plainly be seen by now, there is plenty to do in this game and thus a lot of replay value.
This game can be purchased for probably $30 or $40, as can the expansion to it, Xtreme Legends. While $60-$80 may seem like a lot for a single game…well, it is a lot, I’d recommend just renting Samurai Warriors and importing the data from it into Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends and then just own XL, as you can get everything from the first game in it. Of course, you’ll have to pay the cost of the rent, but it’s really worth it for all of the playtime you’ll be getting out of this.
