A hack-and-slash that pack a little more punch!
I'll start out with my only big gripe about the game. The characters are no where near as memorable as in Dynasty Warriors... Perhaps it's just me, but I felt that you got to know the characters of DW quite intimately, and for some reason, even with the more involved storyline and quirkiness of SW characters, they just are kind of plain to me (with a few exceptions). So far (and I have yet to unlock them all) I've found only a few characters that I loved, but all the others have their place.
Koei added Sugoroku, which, if you don't know already, is an awesome board game, similar to monopoly, but with more paths and a few places to reverse. The goal is to collect a fixed amount of gold (5k, 10k, 15k, or 20k) and you do so by rolling the dice, hopping around the board, buying/challenging properties, collecting your 3 flags, and then returning home. There are shrines, which act as bonus squares, as well as ports, which if you're in the large map, connect you to side panels. The mini games, which you play at shrines or competitively for properties are few but varied, and can be at time tedious and after a few go arounds: dull. But overall, Sugoroku is quite addictive, and it has a few bonuses when you complete games, not big bonuses, but still a nice little consolation prize.
Now to the meat of the review! There are some changes to the character setup from the DWs, and I think it worked out quite nicely. Instead of going in and picking all of the items that you want to add to your character, you simply earn and equip weapons and then use the skill system. You get the choice of 1 bodyguard, just like DW5, and a pony to ride about (if you buy one, and they come in a nice selection over the course of time).
I'll just separate out the character setup into sections and rant about them below:
Weapons:
It's basically the same as all of the other games... 4 weapons, 1 basic, 2 other levels, and their ultimate weapon. A nice touch is that you can upgrade them in the shop (described more in depth in the "Skill System" section). When you win weapons in battle, you often get free slots, and for gold, you can randomly add to them, which can be a letdown, a nice bonus, or really godly (depending on what you’re shooting for)!
Skill System:
The skill system is interesting, but you'll have to make up your own mind about whether or not you like it. Basically, the store interface, in which you can upgrade weapons, buy skills, bodyguards and ponys has been implemented, opposed to the classic: unlock after battle. You get gold by completing tasks, side parts: Survival/Sugoroku, and defeating enemy officers/gate captains. Anyway, the skills are standard for each character, some you have to win from officers, and the rest you have to buy and upgrade. While it's spendy to buy skills, it's worth it, and adds more player involvement. As mentioned earlier, it is possible to earn skills by defeating enemy officers, who carry them themselves, and it saves you some money in the shop, as well as allows you to earn some cool officer-exclusive ones!
Bodyguards:
I was really pleased with the bodyguard selection! There are many, many, many to choose from, and they're all completely different. While most look alike in their jobs, they have different outfits: sometimes only colors, other times different clothes, so you don't get too bored. The best part is that you get to choose from: Samurai, Musketeers, Monks (supportive guards), and many more, plus several different ranks of each. At the beginning, you are supplied with 3 lower level bodyguards, which, if you have them follow you and get upgraded, they become quite strong. SW2 put a lot of consideration into these, and I think that it came out really well. Unfortunately, they can, at times, be too helpful, and tend to finish off bosses every once and a while, especially if you take a strong one along with your new player...
Ponys:
When browsing the pony shop, you'll have plenty of selection (12 in total) that have varying stats in Stamina, Power, and Speed. In addition, they were nice enough to put classifications on the horses: Average (well rounded), Power, and Speed. Which in reality doesn't really do much, but it's a nice touch. As you go through levels, the selection will go up and down, so it's probably best to buy a cheep one if you're so motivated, and then just get a feel for the others. There will be plenty of opportunities to make glue jokes about Chestnut, the lame 800g horse. Unfortunately there are only 3 slots to carry horses, so if you want to "Catch 'em All!" and fill the library files, you have to toss quite a bit of gold out the window...
In SW2, to improve characters, you used an EXP system (no surprised), but instead of a stat screen at the end of each battle, bosses will give you EXP after you defeat them, and can drop EXP-scrolls as well. This is nice because there’s a little less guessing, and you can actually level-up while in battle. In addition, you can get skills for leveling and additional moves. Soldiers also give you EXP once they are slain, but you don’t get the actual numbers, but when in single-player, you can see, next to your little face in the lower-left corner, an EXP bar, unfortunately, this does not show up when playing co-op…
As I mentioned earlier, you gain moves as you level up! Instead of getting max-hit combos on your weapons, it is purely in the characters, and each varies. The more you play a character, the more moves you can unlock, but fairly quickly they will reach their full potential, which isn’t bad. Another nice feature is the “Special Moves,” which can be executed through pressing R1 + square or triangle. While not all of the special skills are unique, each character starts out with them, and like combos, they can be upgraded for longer, larger, and more powerful effects. These “Special Moves” range from performing an extra attack, to powering up allies around you, to calling a horse (my personal favorite), and tons more. Musous generally consist of gigantic combos, especially if there are more people around, but they also seem to be more of a bonus-attack in SW2, rather than a finisher, yet they never cease to get you out of stick boss situations.
The maps modes, in my opinion, are the best part of the game. Unlike the DW series, instead of helping a few goals to get your morale raised, you play a very involved part in battle. There are many missions, and when you complete them you get a gold reward, plus your rating at the end of battle directly corresponds to how well (or poorly) you complete the missions. Often you’ll have to decide what to do, if the battle is busier, giving the battle a different tilt.
Another side piece is the Survival Mode. Which, if I remember correctly, is call something like “The Infinite Tower of Hell” in the Japanese version, well . . . it kind of is… While it can act as a nice way to make some cash, the levels are way too big for what you have to do, the first few tiers are ridiculously easy, and then they become difficult. Often, the job-descriptions are very vague, the best being “don’t let the civilians get harmed” and then an endless amount of enemies charge at you and them knocking the back and forth and then you realize, “hey, I haven’t failed yet?” A few others are the same, but it adds an interesting element to the playing experience. There are several other flaws, but you’re definitely not investing in this game just for Survival Mode, or perhaps you should try something else.
All and all it’s a great game, worth a try, and will provide you with hours, and hours, and hours of fun, laughs, and good times. Despite the few flaws, everything runs really smoothly, and with the increased player involvement, it’s a hack-and-slash treat!