Samurai Warriors 5 Review

One of the most powerful power fantasies in video games is to dress up as a samurai and play it. There are many award-winning games that allow you to play as a fictional character set in historical settings. But what about being a legendary, historical, and legendary samurai? All while engaging in dramatic shonen rivalries?

What does it mean to say that historical accuracy is not accurate?

If you're up for anime quality battlefield-fu or are curious to play the other side of the genre spectrum of Ghost of Tsushima, Samurai Warriors 5 is here to slash that itch. The series is narratively focused this time, focusing on the relationship between Nobunaga Oda, the legend, and Mitsuhide, a man who forever alters his fate.

Samurai Warriors, which is Koei Tecmo’s flagship Dynasty Warriors sister series, is not known to many. The games are set during Japan's Sengoku/Warring States period. The gameplay follows the same pattern as the other Omega Force games that were developed under the Koei Tecmo banner. It is based on their 1-vs-1 hack and slash style.

Samurai Warriors 5 marks the return of the mainline series after more than six years. Samurai Warriors 4-II came out in 2015. There had to be some kind of change, as the games were missing nearly an entire generation of consoles. Within a matter of minutes, the first major change is apparent.

This entry is the most beautiful Warriors game in an absurdly long catalog, other than licensed Warriors-styled games such as Age of Calamity and Persona 5 Strikers. The animation cutscenes and transition screens, which describe the various scenarios leading up to and after battle, are beautifully rendered in classical Japanese sumie brush and watercolors. This makes the dense Feudal Japan lore much more digestible.

After you have gotten past the battle screen, you may be surprised at how different this game is from other Dynasty or Samurai Warriors titles. The graphics aren't anything groundbreaking, but they have always been solid, especially in the character models.

SW5 however stands out by brightening the color palette and using cel shading to treat the battlefields like works of art. This may be a tie-in to the game's early years of Nobunaga. He was a young man who had great ambitions and a bright mind before he became "Demon King".

It's an interesting twist for the series, with the focus on Nobunaga younger and his forces. This, along with the new art style, lends itself to the possibility that this game is a soft reboot. The new character designs are a great example of this "reimagining", as Koei have said. Many of the most iconic characters in SW games are now past their prime due to almost every game built up to the Feudal period.

We start at the beginning Nobunaga's journey so legendary warlords such as Shingen Takeda and Kenshin Uesugi get to tell you why they have that status. It can be jarring to see characters younger than their actual age, but it gives you the feeling that, despite all the games in this series and how many media pieces are available, you're still seeing something new.

The series's new visuals are crucial because they show how often you will likely be replaying the same stages. Some of the features in Citadel Mode, a new mode for SW5, have been integrated into the main story mode. Citadel Mode focuses on gathering materials to improve vendor locations such as the Shop, Blacksmith and Your Castle.

Story missions will be replayed under Free Mode to unlock level-up items. This will allow you to perform better in Citadel Mode, which allows you to upgrade your skills, weapons, and mounts for story missions. The game's grinding is a bizarre addition that, while it doesn't impede progress, can cause the game's rapid pace to grind to a halt.

The game's rapid pace is due to SW5's tendency to throw new objectives at you at an alarming speed when you're on a mission. Previous games had additional or hidden objectives that felt more evenly distributed in levels. You are constantly bombarded by the sounds of war horns six to nine times per battle, in constant chaos to tell your to do something.

Frustrations with some of the mechanics aside, the game is truly beautiful and a breath of fresh air, as well as an infinitely better re-imagining than the mess that was Dynasty Warriors 9. This installment brings in fewer characters than the previous ones, but it actually reduces them and focuses more on the story and the relationships between them.

It's fitting that the game follows two famous characters in a very intimate way. It's a bold move for a developer and company who are often criticized for not changing anything.

It is possible to focus on a single series of characters, which not only makes it different from all other games in the series but also allows for other characters that were overlooked to emerge. Shingen and Kenshin were mentioned, but Yoshimoto Imagawa is the most prominent example. Yoshimoto, who is a clown-like high class noble from the foppish high society, wants to unify the land by playing kemari (hackysack) for westerners.

He's glowing with energy and a charisma that makes it clear why Nobunaga's victory over him is so significant. From being a comic relief character, he becomes a warning to you about Lu Bu when he appears on a map.

Although the central story is not historically accurate, it's compelling to focus on Nobunaga or Mitsuhide, especially in the sense that the game attempts to give an air of mystery to both characters.

Their friendship and betrayal do not have a definite 'hero' or "villain" label. It is simply a story with two protagonists that allows us to see the reasons and how they are seen today as heroes and demons, depending on who we ask. It does tend to be more positive towards Nobunaga than the other games in the franchise, but that could just be their way of ignoring his vilification in every other game.

My biggest complaint is not only the grind mechanics mentioned above but also the most amazing thing about the game. It is the fifth installment in the series, and it serves as an excellent gateway to Samurai Warriors in general, as well as historical Feudal Japan for anyone who is interested. SW5 has the franchise-reboot feel that makes it one of the most welcoming Warriors games I have ever played. And I have played many.

However, the flip side is that dramatic irony is the driving force behind the entire story of the game. The Nobunaga/Mitsuhide romance is defined by a eventual betrayal which makes their story even more compelling. You probably don't, even if you are a newcomer. But the game assumes you do. It feels like Star Wars prequel trilogy marketing, as it assumes that you know the most important twist in cinematic history.

The game also draws on the Feudal Japanese history, which is less well-known in Japan, and can be a barrier to others. The loading screens are useful for educating players about the characters of the grand Sengoku theatre.

Since the release of the last SW, Samurai games has come a long ways. Nioh and its sequel, a GOTY candidate in Ghost of Tsushima and even a GOTY winning character in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, have all claimed the genre. Samurai Warriors 5 won't make gamers forget these games any time soon. However, it offers its own charm and fun, allowing you to play as a cast member of a samurai animation, which, honestly, may be a better power fantasy.