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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Samurai Warriors Chronicles
9 years ago
A game I’ve wanted to play for a while and I finally am getting a chance to play it.
Samurai Warriors Chronicles
Yes, another Warriors style game from the Jet Gamer. I think you can already tell that these are likely going to appear in these reviews every now and then as they have always been a favorite of mine. However, that doesn’t mean ever warriors game is created equal. As you have seen before, I’ve enjoyed some a lot, and others not as much. How will this entry into the Samurai Warriors series play out, and being a launch title for the 3DS as well. Let us take a closer look and see shall we?
Gameplay
Samurai Warriors Chronicles doesn’t disappoint in bringing what you expect out of one of this series. I was wondering if this game would have the limitations the Dynasty Warriors game I played last year at this time on the PSP would be the same here on the 3DS. Boy was I wrong. The gameplay is exactly like what you would get out of one of the warriors games on the consoles. You have a wide open map where you can go wherever you want attacking any officer, checkpoint or soldier that you want. That is exactly what you want out of a warriors’ game. However, there is a new feature that I hadn’t seen before in a warriors’ game before. That is missions. This game throws missions at you while you are playing the levels, but this is both an interesting concept and honestly quite an annoying concept at the same time. I like being given objectives to complete in levels like this, as it keeps the flow moving and helps you know what is happening as you playing on the battlefield. Actions keep the story moving, and from you just rushing the main commander and ending the battles. However, the reason why these missions can be annoying is the fact that each time you get one, the game stops to give you an explanation of what to do. You can occasionally get several of these one after the other or very close together and these can actually be a bit annoying to be constantly stopping to see what your next mission is instead of it just being told to you at the bottom of the screen. These missions also can range quite wildly in difficulty. Most of them aren’t that hard, but some of them will pop up and require you to fight clear across the map or do things in such short amounts of time before they expire and you get punished. That also brings me to some of the other big things about this game that can be annoying at times. First, the difficulty in this game can be quite intense if you don’t play this game strictly on easy mode. Playing on Normal can easily result in you getting your butt kicked, which is how many older warriors’ games were like. But now, there is also a thing called moral zone. Moral has always been in a thing in many older games in this series, but it normally would only affect how good or bad your allies would be fighting as you are playing the map. Now though, there are moral zones, which can range from normal, light red, and dark red. The more red an area is on the map, the harder the enemies are in the zone. If you don’t complete the missions, the enemies moral will remain high and your own will start to go down instead. Mess up too many missions and some levels are near unbeatable, as the officers in those zones can be just downright unfair with how much attack and defense they have. Some missions even require you to go into harder zones and do stuff or suffer even harder punishments later as the game allows moral to only go down so much at times if you mess up missions. Just be ready for a hard time if you aren’t good at the missions. Now, some of the good things that I like that were added in this Warriors game. One big thing that was added in was the ability to switch your warrior as you play on the fly just like in the Orochi series, only with its own twist. Unlike the Orochi series where you control three officers at the same time and switch them and control each one of them at different times all in one selection, this time, you can control up to four officers who are all on the battlefield at the same time. Yes, you can actually switch between some of the other unique officers that are roaming around the same battlefield you are. That means if you need to be somewhere quick and the character you are controlling is nowhere near there, you can switch to that other character and get there much faster as that other character may be closer. You can also direct these officers around as well on the map on the bottom screen so you can actually plan out where you want some of your allies to go instead of just hoping they go there on their own. This is a feature I wish would stay around more, as being able to control some of your allies is a big plus on strategy and getting officers to work together to complete multiple goals at the same time, or getting them to team up to take on harder officers. Still, overall, the gameplay is actually pleasantly surprising to me for a 3DS game. This plays just like a console warriors game, so if you liked those version, then you will likely enjoy that it keeps the same format for on the go play.
Story
They actually did a great job on the story of this Samurai Warriors games. I was wondering if they would try and include everything or just skimp for the most important parts of the story of this period of Japanese history. You will be glad though, they go all the way from start to finish and don’t just skimp on the story that make the game a lot shorter. You actually get everything, and that is such a pleasant surprise. The game is split into four chapters, plus a bonus chapter of extra stories that cover all the way from the beginning of the wars, all the way up to full unification and the end of the war. They go into so much detail, and by splitting the story into sections, it allows the story to focus on certain periods of the war and on certain key characters that were important in those time periods. For example, the second chapter is all about Nobunaga’s section in the war, from when he began to get powerful, up until his early death. Unlike the other games though where you are playing as one of the officers and are just living out the stories as they are happening, this time you are actually your own character interacting with all the other officers as the stories are happening. You aren’t just a faceless soldier either. You are an up and coming officer and you are actually interacting with these officers as you are going through the story. There are also little interactions after each mission you play where you can raise your friendship levels with all these officers as well. This is how you will unlock certain missions and also how you will learn more about each and every character from the game. If you want to know more about any or all the officers, take the time to unlock these, as it will take a long time to learn all about the numerous characters in this game. Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised they took the time with all these characters and getting them just right, and making the story nice and long just like one of the console versions of this game.
Graphics
The graphics, for being a handheld warriors’ game, are actually quite good. They really do look like a console warriors’ game like you are used to playing, so don’t expect anything different visually if you have played other warrior’s games in the past. The game very rarely has slowdown, and honestly, I couldn’t tell you how many times it even happened, as it was so rare for it to ever happen. Of course, the 3DS isn’t as powerful as the consoles, so there are some limitations. The number of characters on the screen at one time is a bit limiting, so there are times when characters will just appear on the screen, even when you are right next to them, and when it will be hard to see some enemies at a distance. There is also a limited number of soldiers that can be on the screen at any one time, so the high point of KO’s is a lot lower of course as well. It is still a lot better than I was expecting though, as getting 400 and 500 KO’s in a battle isn’t too hard, but it won’t be the 2000KO’s that the modern warrior’s games can easily pump out. This is more like the older style warriors’ games where those lower number KO’s were the norm. That honestly isn’t so bad though, as it does show that they knew what they were doing when they set the goals in this game, as they usually aren’t too high, but can be tricky to hit still as well. Still, honestly, other than still the normal problem of enemies just appearing on the screen, the graphics in this game look great. It even has full motion video cut scenes in a portable game. Yes, full movie style scenes are in this game. They aren’t abundant, but still, it is quite impressive they got them in there and looking so good. Expect great things if they do more of these in the future that are physical copies.
Sound
The music in this game is pretty good as well. I heard many familiar tunes from the console games, and they don’t lose any of their luster that they had in the console games after being transferred to the portable version of a warriors’ game. If you enjoyed the hard rock tunes, and other Japanese style music that are normally in warriors and samurai warriors’ games, then you are going to enjoy the soundtrack just the same as you always did. All the actors are voiced as well throughout this game, so you do get to hear them as they are talking, and not just have text boxes all the time. However, this is where one of the big downsides to the game is for some people. All the voice acting is still in Japanese. The game has simply been subbed and not dubbed into English. For someone like me, this isn’t a problem, as I’ve long ago gotten used to watching video or playing a game at the same time as text is going by and being able to read the text and play at the same time. Other people though, I know won’t enjoy this, as you do able to be able to play and read at the same time. Unless you understand Japanese, you can’t just ignore the text either as you do want to know what is going on, or else you will miss a lot of important dialogue and miss a lot of the story as well. If you are not a fan of sub’s only, then you won’t like this game. If you don’t mind subbing, then this won’t bug you at all.
Control
The game actually controls quite well for being a handheld game. Since there is a c-stick you can still use on the 3DS, you won’t have a problem controlling the warriors like you do in the console games. The controls are pretty much the same as always, and that really doesn’t bother me at all. It has worked, and still does work. There is no need to change what works. The only thing that I will say is that sometimes it is a bit tricky to switch between characters as you do have to poke the character you want to be at any certain time on the bottom screen. This means you do have to look at the bottom screen to see where a certain character is on the map and then poke that characters image. This can be tricky at times, as it is easy to switch to the wrong character if you are trying to switch too quickly. Other than that though, the controls are the same as usual, and work just the same as they always did.
Replay Value
Always one of the high value’s on a warriors’ game is the replay value that they can offer, and this one is no difference. You have many missions you can play throughout this game, as well as many extra ones that can be unlocked either after you beat the main part of the game, or by building relationships with certain characters. That leads to some of the other areas that this game has a lot that will keep you playing for a very long time or keeping people coming back for more. There are all the relationship scenes you can view after the missions. If you want to learn a lot about the characters, you will want to spend the time unlocking all of these. There are of course all the weapons you can unlock by playing the game for a long time and doing certain things to unlock them. Then of course, there are all the little hidden extras you get by playing certain characters over and over and leveling them up, such as being able to play the game on the higher difficulties and not just get instantly massacred. I did say this game is hard, and if you really want to take this game on at its toughest, you are going to have to invest some serious time in this game making these characters stronger. Really, if you just want something to play for a while on the go, and enjoy the warriors’ series, then you got one here you can now take on the go that is very similar to the ones you enjoy playing at home. You can now play either at home or on the go and get that same exact feeling to want to come back and switch between at will.
Overall, I would say that Samurai Warriors Chronicles is a faithful representation of the warriors’ series, and a great addition to the series, especially being a portable version of the game instead of a console version. I would say if you enjoy any of the other warriors’ series games, then you should pick up this game if you want a warriors’ game that is pretty good and want to play it on the go, or just want another warriors’ game in general. Also of course, if you enjoy the hack n slash series or a game that has a deep rich story, I would go pick this game up when you can, as it is pretty cheap. If you didn’t like warriors’ games though, I would steer clear as this is just another entry into the series. There isn’t too much done differently here that isn’t done in the console versions, so if you have played one in the past and didn’t like that one, you wouldn’t enjoy this one. Otherwise, I would say go give this game a try.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Samurai Warrior’s Chronicles an eight point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 10
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Control: 9
Replay Value: 10
Overall: 8.5
Samurai Warriors Chronicles
Yes, another Warriors style game from the Jet Gamer. I think you can already tell that these are likely going to appear in these reviews every now and then as they have always been a favorite of mine. However, that doesn’t mean ever warriors game is created equal. As you have seen before, I’ve enjoyed some a lot, and others not as much. How will this entry into the Samurai Warriors series play out, and being a launch title for the 3DS as well. Let us take a closer look and see shall we?
Gameplay
Samurai Warriors Chronicles doesn’t disappoint in bringing what you expect out of one of this series. I was wondering if this game would have the limitations the Dynasty Warriors game I played last year at this time on the PSP would be the same here on the 3DS. Boy was I wrong. The gameplay is exactly like what you would get out of one of the warriors games on the consoles. You have a wide open map where you can go wherever you want attacking any officer, checkpoint or soldier that you want. That is exactly what you want out of a warriors’ game. However, there is a new feature that I hadn’t seen before in a warriors’ game before. That is missions. This game throws missions at you while you are playing the levels, but this is both an interesting concept and honestly quite an annoying concept at the same time. I like being given objectives to complete in levels like this, as it keeps the flow moving and helps you know what is happening as you playing on the battlefield. Actions keep the story moving, and from you just rushing the main commander and ending the battles. However, the reason why these missions can be annoying is the fact that each time you get one, the game stops to give you an explanation of what to do. You can occasionally get several of these one after the other or very close together and these can actually be a bit annoying to be constantly stopping to see what your next mission is instead of it just being told to you at the bottom of the screen. These missions also can range quite wildly in difficulty. Most of them aren’t that hard, but some of them will pop up and require you to fight clear across the map or do things in such short amounts of time before they expire and you get punished. That also brings me to some of the other big things about this game that can be annoying at times. First, the difficulty in this game can be quite intense if you don’t play this game strictly on easy mode. Playing on Normal can easily result in you getting your butt kicked, which is how many older warriors’ games were like. But now, there is also a thing called moral zone. Moral has always been in a thing in many older games in this series, but it normally would only affect how good or bad your allies would be fighting as you are playing the map. Now though, there are moral zones, which can range from normal, light red, and dark red. The more red an area is on the map, the harder the enemies are in the zone. If you don’t complete the missions, the enemies moral will remain high and your own will start to go down instead. Mess up too many missions and some levels are near unbeatable, as the officers in those zones can be just downright unfair with how much attack and defense they have. Some missions even require you to go into harder zones and do stuff or suffer even harder punishments later as the game allows moral to only go down so much at times if you mess up missions. Just be ready for a hard time if you aren’t good at the missions. Now, some of the good things that I like that were added in this Warriors game. One big thing that was added in was the ability to switch your warrior as you play on the fly just like in the Orochi series, only with its own twist. Unlike the Orochi series where you control three officers at the same time and switch them and control each one of them at different times all in one selection, this time, you can control up to four officers who are all on the battlefield at the same time. Yes, you can actually switch between some of the other unique officers that are roaming around the same battlefield you are. That means if you need to be somewhere quick and the character you are controlling is nowhere near there, you can switch to that other character and get there much faster as that other character may be closer. You can also direct these officers around as well on the map on the bottom screen so you can actually plan out where you want some of your allies to go instead of just hoping they go there on their own. This is a feature I wish would stay around more, as being able to control some of your allies is a big plus on strategy and getting officers to work together to complete multiple goals at the same time, or getting them to team up to take on harder officers. Still, overall, the gameplay is actually pleasantly surprising to me for a 3DS game. This plays just like a console warriors game, so if you liked those version, then you will likely enjoy that it keeps the same format for on the go play.
Story
They actually did a great job on the story of this Samurai Warriors games. I was wondering if they would try and include everything or just skimp for the most important parts of the story of this period of Japanese history. You will be glad though, they go all the way from start to finish and don’t just skimp on the story that make the game a lot shorter. You actually get everything, and that is such a pleasant surprise. The game is split into four chapters, plus a bonus chapter of extra stories that cover all the way from the beginning of the wars, all the way up to full unification and the end of the war. They go into so much detail, and by splitting the story into sections, it allows the story to focus on certain periods of the war and on certain key characters that were important in those time periods. For example, the second chapter is all about Nobunaga’s section in the war, from when he began to get powerful, up until his early death. Unlike the other games though where you are playing as one of the officers and are just living out the stories as they are happening, this time you are actually your own character interacting with all the other officers as the stories are happening. You aren’t just a faceless soldier either. You are an up and coming officer and you are actually interacting with these officers as you are going through the story. There are also little interactions after each mission you play where you can raise your friendship levels with all these officers as well. This is how you will unlock certain missions and also how you will learn more about each and every character from the game. If you want to know more about any or all the officers, take the time to unlock these, as it will take a long time to learn all about the numerous characters in this game. Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised they took the time with all these characters and getting them just right, and making the story nice and long just like one of the console versions of this game.
Graphics
The graphics, for being a handheld warriors’ game, are actually quite good. They really do look like a console warriors’ game like you are used to playing, so don’t expect anything different visually if you have played other warrior’s games in the past. The game very rarely has slowdown, and honestly, I couldn’t tell you how many times it even happened, as it was so rare for it to ever happen. Of course, the 3DS isn’t as powerful as the consoles, so there are some limitations. The number of characters on the screen at one time is a bit limiting, so there are times when characters will just appear on the screen, even when you are right next to them, and when it will be hard to see some enemies at a distance. There is also a limited number of soldiers that can be on the screen at any one time, so the high point of KO’s is a lot lower of course as well. It is still a lot better than I was expecting though, as getting 400 and 500 KO’s in a battle isn’t too hard, but it won’t be the 2000KO’s that the modern warrior’s games can easily pump out. This is more like the older style warriors’ games where those lower number KO’s were the norm. That honestly isn’t so bad though, as it does show that they knew what they were doing when they set the goals in this game, as they usually aren’t too high, but can be tricky to hit still as well. Still, honestly, other than still the normal problem of enemies just appearing on the screen, the graphics in this game look great. It even has full motion video cut scenes in a portable game. Yes, full movie style scenes are in this game. They aren’t abundant, but still, it is quite impressive they got them in there and looking so good. Expect great things if they do more of these in the future that are physical copies.
Sound
The music in this game is pretty good as well. I heard many familiar tunes from the console games, and they don’t lose any of their luster that they had in the console games after being transferred to the portable version of a warriors’ game. If you enjoyed the hard rock tunes, and other Japanese style music that are normally in warriors and samurai warriors’ games, then you are going to enjoy the soundtrack just the same as you always did. All the actors are voiced as well throughout this game, so you do get to hear them as they are talking, and not just have text boxes all the time. However, this is where one of the big downsides to the game is for some people. All the voice acting is still in Japanese. The game has simply been subbed and not dubbed into English. For someone like me, this isn’t a problem, as I’ve long ago gotten used to watching video or playing a game at the same time as text is going by and being able to read the text and play at the same time. Other people though, I know won’t enjoy this, as you do able to be able to play and read at the same time. Unless you understand Japanese, you can’t just ignore the text either as you do want to know what is going on, or else you will miss a lot of important dialogue and miss a lot of the story as well. If you are not a fan of sub’s only, then you won’t like this game. If you don’t mind subbing, then this won’t bug you at all.
Control
The game actually controls quite well for being a handheld game. Since there is a c-stick you can still use on the 3DS, you won’t have a problem controlling the warriors like you do in the console games. The controls are pretty much the same as always, and that really doesn’t bother me at all. It has worked, and still does work. There is no need to change what works. The only thing that I will say is that sometimes it is a bit tricky to switch between characters as you do have to poke the character you want to be at any certain time on the bottom screen. This means you do have to look at the bottom screen to see where a certain character is on the map and then poke that characters image. This can be tricky at times, as it is easy to switch to the wrong character if you are trying to switch too quickly. Other than that though, the controls are the same as usual, and work just the same as they always did.
Replay Value
Always one of the high value’s on a warriors’ game is the replay value that they can offer, and this one is no difference. You have many missions you can play throughout this game, as well as many extra ones that can be unlocked either after you beat the main part of the game, or by building relationships with certain characters. That leads to some of the other areas that this game has a lot that will keep you playing for a very long time or keeping people coming back for more. There are all the relationship scenes you can view after the missions. If you want to learn a lot about the characters, you will want to spend the time unlocking all of these. There are of course all the weapons you can unlock by playing the game for a long time and doing certain things to unlock them. Then of course, there are all the little hidden extras you get by playing certain characters over and over and leveling them up, such as being able to play the game on the higher difficulties and not just get instantly massacred. I did say this game is hard, and if you really want to take this game on at its toughest, you are going to have to invest some serious time in this game making these characters stronger. Really, if you just want something to play for a while on the go, and enjoy the warriors’ series, then you got one here you can now take on the go that is very similar to the ones you enjoy playing at home. You can now play either at home or on the go and get that same exact feeling to want to come back and switch between at will.
Overall, I would say that Samurai Warriors Chronicles is a faithful representation of the warriors’ series, and a great addition to the series, especially being a portable version of the game instead of a console version. I would say if you enjoy any of the other warriors’ series games, then you should pick up this game if you want a warriors’ game that is pretty good and want to play it on the go, or just want another warriors’ game in general. Also of course, if you enjoy the hack n slash series or a game that has a deep rich story, I would go pick this game up when you can, as it is pretty cheap. If you didn’t like warriors’ games though, I would steer clear as this is just another entry into the series. There isn’t too much done differently here that isn’t done in the console versions, so if you have played one in the past and didn’t like that one, you wouldn’t enjoy this one. Otherwise, I would say go give this game a try.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Samurai Warrior’s Chronicles an eight point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 10
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Control: 9
Replay Value: 10
Overall: 8.5
