Samurai Warriors 4-II Review

You can even tackle the extra modes with your own custom character, which I thought was really cool. The customization was a very welcome addition and one I loved messing around with, and having my own creation level up and get stronger was a very satisfying feeling indeed – and one I hope I see from every Musou game going forwards.

Presentation:

It’s in its presentation where Samurai Warriors 4-II begins to falter. SW is a very intense game both visually and aurally, with information being thrown at the player at all times. Whilst the UI does its job at keeping players informed of their next objective and the state of the map, it’s a particularly ugly thing that hasn’t changed much from the series humble beginnings. It’s intrusive and often gets in the way of all the colourful action happening on screen. Luckily you can turn portions of it off in the settings, but you’ll be hindering your own comprehension of any battle by getting rid of these elements.

Both story exposition and your next objective are also delivered by your compatriots on the battlefield, who jabber on incessantly. As there is still no English dub, you’re forced to take your eyes off the action and read the subtitles. Often these conversations will be inane, but other times vital information is delivered and can be easily missed – especially as you spend very little time outside of the games haptic combat. In a game so action-orientated as SW, non-Japanese speaking audiences really would have benefited from a voice localization – especially as this is the games second iteration and plenty of time could have been afforded to recording in the interim.

Elsewhere Samurai Warriors looks and sounds fine. The game won’t blow you away visually but plenty of cool effects and heaps of style benefit this game to no end. The soundtrack is standard Musou fare of traditional Japanese music with a couple of squealing guitars thrown in for good measure – nothing but a great thing, I assure you.

Conclusion:

What Samurai Warriors 4-II offers is a fantastic entry in a storied series, with an array of content that will keep you coming back for a long time to come. If you’ve played Samurai Warriors 4 before, however, then 4-II will be a hard sell. This deceptively titled entry is essentially a ‘remastered’ version of the game, and whilst that’s by no means a bad thing newcomers are inarguably going to get the better deal here. If you’re a superfan you’ll already be picking this up, but for casual veterans your mileage may significantly vary. Check your expectations at the door.