As my first review, I decided to cover a game that I’m a huge fan of, and a franchise that has been around for a very long time! This time, it’s the turn of the Samurai Warriors series, which is a series I’ve been playing since the PS2 days. As always, Sengoku Musou is an epic action game, full of Samurai action, and it stands as one of the best games in the series.
Samurai Warriors 5 is the latest entry in the series, and while it’s got a few minor issues, it’s still an enjoyable action game that’s worth checking out. If you’re a fan of the series, chances are you’ll like what’s offered here, but those who aren’t might be better off going for a less hefty entry.
Ever since the first game was released, there were two types of people who played Samurai Warriors: those who loved the game and those who hated it. I was one of the people who enjoyed it initially, but the more I played it, the more I started to hate it. The amount of grinding became boring and tedious, the gameplay became repetitive, and even the story was bland.
I like the Musou genre’s frenzied button-mashing catharsis, although I’ve mainly played Omega Force’s licensed games, such as Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors. Dynasty Warriors 9, the video game equivalent of replacing the brakes on a perfectly working Mercedes with ruined pancakes simply for the heck of it, was the last genuine Koei Tecmo-published “mainline” Warriors game I’d previously played. To say the least, I despised that trainwreck and was concerned about what Omega Force and KT would do with their mainline titles next. Thankfully, they seem to have learnt from their errors, since Samurai Warriors 5 feels and plays just like every other Musou game published before that disaster.
In the morning, I adore the scent of hundreds of dead samurai.
Samurai Warriors 5 is a new installment in Omega Force’s Sengoku-era Japan series. It features all of your favorite historical figures, such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Hattori Hanzo (played by Takaya Kuroda, the voice of Yakuza‘s Kiryu), in a little more fanciful and exaggerated rendition of the events. It’s essentially a Sengoku-era shonen, which I like since it’s loud, theatrical, and over-the-top. When you’re killing two to three thousand opponents each mission with such easily, it’s difficult to take any Musou narrative seriously.
In contrast to Dynasty Warriors 9, Samurai Warriors 5 returns to the franchise’s original level design and repetitive gameplay cycle. You’re placed into huge, corridor-like arenas and given a task with a few goals to accomplish. Almost all of them revolve around killing a certain number of enemies, a specific enemy roaming the field, or going to a specific area on the map… to kill a specific enemy. I’ll confess that this game only needs about a half-dozen of your brain cells, but I don’t think that’s an issue.
Kiryu-chan!
In fact, one of my favorite aspects about Samurai Warriors 5 is how stupid and thoughtless the gameplay is. It’s a releasing experience. It provides you with a plethora of extremely powerful characters to play with. Whatever character you choose, you’ll be a much stronger than the tens of thousands of opponents that surround you, giving you a sense of dominance that few games can match. There are still strategic aspects in existence, such as increasing the stats of your weapons, leveling up your characters, upgrading your military buildings, and so on. In principle, if all you want to do is press the Square button until it comes off the DualShock, you may disregard all of these features.
You must acquire certain features on a brand new “tower defense” mode featured alongside the main campaign in order to enhance these buildings, but despite the enticing name, this is still, by and large, the same old gameplay cycle you either love or hate. You’ve been instructed to protect your building from intruders, but in order to do so, you must march towards opposing forces and slaughter hundreds of enemies with your powerful sword strikes. There’s no reason to repair something that isn’t broken.
I’m not sure whether Nobunaga could summon fire from his sword in real life, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he could.
Even though it isn’t the nicest or most polished game released by Koei Tecmo, it’s difficult not to like the game’s presentation. The characters don’t seem to be particularly detailed, which is likely due to the game’s need to operate on the Switch’s hardware. However, the game makes up for it with a beautiful visual style, with everything in the game, whether it characters or stages, having subtle ukiyo-e designs in its design. It also runs without a hitch, with the framerate never dropping even when there are a hundred opponents on the screen at any same moment. Even if Samurai Warriors 5 isn’t a fidelity masterpiece, its technological capabilities astonished me.
The music design, like that of other Omega Force Musou games, is one of, if not the, game’s most notable features. The majority of Musou soundtracks are hard rock reinterpretations of whatever the original material is, such as Zelda rock covers in the case of Hyrule Warriors. Samurai Warriors 5 is no exception, with traditional Japanese instruments like the shamisen clashing with powerful guitars and the odd double-bass drum. It didn’t bother me in the least. Actually, it was the polar opposite: I adored it.
Tokugawa Ieyasu is a classic example of the “weaker yet ridiculously fast” character.
I had a few problems with Samurai Warriors 5, as much as I like its dumb simplicity. The camera is a little problematic, as it is in most games in this series, and has a life of its own. It’s something you can get accustomed to, but it’s still a pain. There are a few bugs here and there, such as dead opponents shaking about on the screen like they’re being possessed by a poltergeist, but these are more amusing than serious.
Finally, a strange problem is the absence of an autosave option while exploring menus. Because of the amount of strategic work you may perform in between fights, losing your stat allocation and weapon building progress owing to a lack of an autosave option has irritated me on many occasions. I’d become so accustomed to this feature in previous games that the absence of it in this scenario took me off guard.
Please accept my apologies for interrupting!
Samurai Warriors 5 is evidence that what isn’t broken shouldn’t be fixed. Instead of attempting to differentiate itself from its predecessors, Dynasty Warriors 9 returned to the franchise’s signature formula of mindless-but-cathartic button mashing combined with a staggering quantity of content and unlockables. Please be aware that this is a superficial game designed to appeal to a very narrow audience. However, with its basic but addicting gameplay loop, it knows how to satisfy said niche.
| It isn’t the most visually appealing game, with character models that aren’t excessively detailed, but it compensates with a good aesthetic style and a terrific framerate. Even if there are hundreds of opponents onscreen at any given time, the framerate will not decrease. | It’s the same mindless button-mashing control system you’re used to (or don’t like). It’s fast-paced, and the controls are (for the most part) responsive, but there’s an annoyance with the camera. |
| The soundtrack, like most Omega Force films, is a collection of rock reinterpretations of the original material (in this instance, medieval Japanese folk), with a lot of good voice acting. Even Takaya Kuroda makes an appearance in this one! | Samurai Warriors 5, like every other Musou game, is as shallow as a puddle, needing just a half-dozen brain cells to play. With that said, it certainly understands how to keep players entertained with its cathartic gameplay cycle and staggering quantity of material. |
| Final Score: 8.0 | |
Samurai Warriors 5 is currently available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
PS4 was used for this review.
The publisher supplied a copy of Samurai Warriors 5.
Conclusion!
Samurai Warriors 5 is a PS4 exclusive, and it’s the latest and most in-depth entry in the franchise, so it’s important to take a look at it. The game is a tactical-action game, so it’s not for the casual gamer or anyone who wants to be able to play for a few hours before going to bed, but it’s an interesting one nonetheless.. Read more about samurai warriors 5 gameplay and let us know what you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will there be a samurai warriors 5?
Unfortunately, there is no official release date for the game yet.
Will Samurai Warriors 5 have online co op?
I am not able to answer this question.
Will there be a Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires?
No, there will not be a Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires.
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