Customer Reviews

Warriors Orochi

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unlike previous Warriors games where you pretty much knew where you were fighting next, Warriors Orochi brings many of the scenarios from the last games together and gives a random matchup of warriors to use throughout each.

The game features four new story lines, and a new Weapon-Fusion system. It literally lets you create your own unique weapons. And, no longer do you have to use one warrior through one story at a time. You now make a team of three to switch between at anytime a-la Sonic Heroes, only more refined.

The storylines are great, however, some of the best voice actors from the original games have been replaced or given new accents. It throws you off for a second but still sounds great. There is no Create-A-Warrior this time, again, and the enemies are now a lot tougher as you rise in difficulty, which makes Chaos mode exactly as hard as it sounds.

My favorite part of this game is the team set-up, which has to be Koei's best idea to date, next to Warriors Gundam. Many folks have talked about Legendary Matchups in this game, and they do work quite well, however, it's best to experiment.

Koei's made a great game. I recommend buying it outright if you're a Warriors fan and renting it if you're not so sure, but for forty dollars, you can't go wrong.

This may be a bit bias because I'm a big fan of the Warriors series, especially Dynasty Warriors. I've read the book, I've played many of the other games based on the 3 Kingdoms era (Dynasty Tactics, Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, Destiny of an Emperor) This game is what Warrior fans have been waiting for. Its like a fanboy-gasm. My heart stopped when I saw Yukimura Sanada and Zhao Yun drop from the top of the building and start fraggin' baddies in the opening cinematic. Besides the crossover, its everything a Warriors game usually is (which is a good thing): find items, weapons, and first and foremost kill lots and lots of people. Switching between 3 characters in a stage is awesome, and useful to power up low level characters, because you can take a strong one with you just in case things get ugly. You can swap out any of your 3 warriors between stages in story mode too! Also because there are so many Warriors to choose from you would think it would be hard to level them all up. But Koei thought of that, and in every stage you play you earn spendable experience points (Beside the normal exp the warrior you use gains from defeating enemys and such) so you can level up a character you have never used before you actually go into battle. You still have to find a better weapon, but the Lv ups are a nice head start.
As the other reviewer said, they changed many of the voice actors, and no sir, I don't like it. But that really is my only gripe. The plot is actually pretty cheesy even from a huge fan's perspective, my wife just rolled her eyes when she heard the narrator tell how Orochi melded the 2 time periods together for his own unscrupulous purposes. But frankly, I could care less! As long as Lu Bu gets to fight Honda I don't care if one of them had to hop in a Delorean with Doc to get there. On the other hand without the restraint of a historically based story line things can get very interesting. I get to see the warriors I've come to know and love struggle with new threats and situations that they do not fully understand, and out of necessity ally themselves with people who may have normally been their enemy. Its also interesting to see the Samurai Warriors react to the well known Asian historical figures of the Three Kingdoms era. For example fighting an army led by Zhuge Liang, one of history's most revered strategists would prove a bit intimidating. With all that though, if you haven't played any Samurai/Dynasty Warriors games, I would recommend at least playing Samurai Warriors 2 and Dynasty Warriors 3, 4, or 5 (5 is the best imo) first. You kind of have to know the characters to get into the story. They are both excellent games as well and you can probably get them at a bargain price by now. If you HAVE played them and liked them, buy this game. Period. If you own an Xbox 360, unlike me (I don't buy anything from Microsoft unless I have to (Windows), Bill Gates has enough pocket lining already, and I really don't want to see Microsoft monopolize consoles like they do with operating systems...just say no!!) But if you DO, this game's graphics look better on that evil, evil piece of hardware yuck!

The story behind Orochi Musou is relatively simple: a powerful demon melds the world of Shin Sangoku Musou (Dynasty Warriors) and Sengoku Musou (Samurai Warriors). Four musou (story) modes unfold the story of humanity's struggle against the mighty demon Orochi and his armies. The shakiest part of the story is the beginning when Orochi rips apart China and Japan to create a new world of warriors, but everything following that is an interesting tale that mixes up the characters (for veterans) and even for players new to the Musou series, giving an enjoyable bit of mystery that the history-based Samurai Warriors and novel-based Dynasty Warriors don't quite have.
Story: 7.6/10

Koei and Omega Force have been refining their PS2 game engine for a long time, and Warriors Orochi shows it off. Maps range from towering castles (in which you actually enter and navigate the interior) to river-bounded plains, some offering more open space and therefore people on the screen at once but only in the rarest moments will the game slow down (and usually with a 'bullet time' sort of feel effect). Not gorgeous like Final Fantasy XII or .hack: G.U., Vol.3: Redemption but enjoyable nonetheless.
Graphics: 7.9/10

Although I was expecting slightly more from the sounds of a squad of archers raining arrows, everything came across as at least passable. The swords clashing and the sound of magic sputtering does a fair job, though it's the gameplay that will really suck you in and hold you. Voices, music, and effects can be adjusted independently, in case you don't like the music or English voices (there's no option for the Japanese dub, and the voice acting can be over-the-top). There's also an option for subtitles in the FMVs, with speech during battles already having their own text.
Sound: 7/10

The intro song was a great mix of Chinese and Japanese instrumental sound, giving hope that the Musou series will one day eschew the techno/pop-rock that suffocates it so far. Unfortunately, you'll have to keep waiting as only the opening and closing is new and the rest is recycled from earlier Musou games. Unlike Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires, you can't choose which tracks play in your mission, but the music is usually fitting and if you don't like it, you can mute it in the main menu and listen to your own music on your computer or separate stereo.
Music: 3/10

The play is where the Musou series really shines, and Orochi shows that Koei has been refining its engine for years with smooth, action-packed, extremely fun gameplay. Four difficulty levels give plenty of choice between an easy bout of stress-relief or a grueling challenge on Chaos Mode. I've played few other hack-and-slash type games like Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, but this game eclipses everything else I've seen. The weapon fusion also makes it easy and fun to build up powerful weapons, rather than hunting-and-hoping like in earlier Dynasty Warriors games. Having control of the camera via the right analog stick also makes it superior to Dynasty Warriors.
Gameplay: 8.9/10

Even after you've beaten all four of the musou modes, you'll have plenty to go back and get by unlocking additional characters (many have special requirements, like Honda Tadakatsu), unique items for each character, and unlocking everything in the art galleries. You can go back and re-play any unlocked missions with anybody you've unlocked in that storyline, or anybody you've unlocked period once you clear the campaign. With over seventy characters to choose from, that's a lot of options. You may want a friend to help you unlock certain characters or unique items, though, ones like Lu Bu's "Hero Armor" are virtually impossible to obtain solo.
Replayability: 7.8/10

Whether you call it 'hack and slash' or 'crowd control', this game will deliver many hours of entertainment. Closed-minded people can go ahead and complain that all Musou games are the same, but the series is getting better all the time. Speaking without the tint of nostalgia (this game was my first of the Musou series and having sampled others later), this was the best fun I've had. PS3 owners stuck with the 'lower backwards compatibility' will be pleased to know that this game still runs like a dream, without strange distortions like in Beyond Good & Evil.
Overall: 8/10

By now you probably know whether or not you like the warriors games from Koei, if you do, then this is something you want. It pretty much takes all the characters from both the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series and throws them into a new crazy storyline with an evil bad guy. Hope you're ready for more thumb blisters.

if u like hack n slash game like dynasty warriors or samurai warriors, then u might consider this '2-in-1' game since it contains warriors from both sides.

Enough said. Its a combination of two amazing game series in one. Excellent plot and battles. Does get slightly repetitve though...

Great Game, took a bit getting used to the different style of using 3 characters, but once you do that its lots of fun

Warriors Orochi is an amazing game with a blend of elements from both huge titles by Koei! Dynasty Warriors 5 and Samurai Warriors 2! It is a perfect game for old time fans looking for the best of both worlds from the Warriors line, and for new gamers to enter the fast paced hack n slash series that has sprouted no more then 16 sequels!
People who haven't played Samurai Warriors 2 will notice there is a new lvl up system implemented for the first time in a Dynasty series and its for the best! While the lvl cap in SW2 is only 50, in Orochi it is 100! With exp gain from killing peons and grunts, base captains, officers and generals! With the ability to reset characters at anytime with an officer rest button means no waiting for a Xtreme Legends pack to reset your fav charas coz you have already maxed them out :P
There's been a few tweaks to the move list with the introduction of a special attack that for some Characters drains the musou bar to unleash devastating attacks to break thru the countless enemies on screen! Characters tho like Xiahou Dun and Zhou Tai don't use the musou bar with their special attack which makes them pretty much over powered ( 2 of my fave charas too!) Dun's Charge 1 slice then followed by a double special attack (R1 for ps2!) , the second being a wirl wind attack that sends peons and officers alike flying, obliterates anything in it path clearing room to escape if need be! Because one thing about Orochi is its a lot tougher then past Koei games! More enemies on screen and officers seem to chain attacks against you while you are knocked about in the air!
There is 4 different story lines to play (Shu, Wei, Wu and Samurai) with a total of 77 characters to unlock (based on historical characters from Ancient China and Feudal Japan) ranging from DW5 and SW2, with 2 new characters to play as! The Serpent King Orochi who is pretty damn bad ass with his massive sickle glaive and quick as all hell move list! And Da Ji Orochi's lapdog!
New weapon fusion system makes it fun to customize your weapons gained in battles! Another nice touch to the series you can have up to a dozen weapons for each character meaning lots of different variations to have with weapons! Just go to weapon fusion, pick two weapons to fuse together and upgrade weapons as you see fit, growth points are used to upgrade weapons which are gained from points scored at the end of each lvl! Growth points can also be used to buff up any character in lvl if you want to make them lvl faster instead of grinding or to make a new character you have recently gained catch up to others you have (all depending on the amount of Growth Points you have banked)!
Possible the best change to the Warriors series to date has been the 3 man team! No longer do you play as just one officer. Each lvl you take control of 3 officers! 2 in waiting regenerating life and musou as you rock with the current general! No body guards needed in WO coz if you start to lose a lil life on your current officer at the press of button your team mate joins the fray with full mosou and life if rested long enough ( doesn't take long for the bars to regen!) meaning you can chain up to 3 musou attacks against your foes! This new system gives a lil life and a great change to a series that just keeps going! Getting stronger and stronger! The Warriors line is virtually an EA hack n slash sports game that gets updated every one to two years!
The only lil fault in Warriors Orochi, is the reuse of character and lvl designs from DW5 and SW2! This game could have been damn right amazing if Koei had spent a lil extra time with this giving it new character design and lvl design! Would have made it the ultimate Warriors game! Characters have a wardrobe which only rearranges colour on the uniform and/or skin and hair to give them a slight change but no new armour sets! It isn't anything to deter the game but it could have made the experience so much grander with big changes to character and lvl desgn!
All an all a amazing game for the old fans of this long last line of hack n slash! And a great chance for new players to enter the world of both the Three Kingdoms China and Warring States Japan! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great game!

Great game. I never had so much fun in my life. Everybody in my family loves it.