Samurai Warriors 2
Feb. 4th, 2012 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroIn the aftermath of Nobunaga’s rise to power, many factions try to unite and bring peace to Japan. Some of them have purer motives than others. Some just want everyone to be happy. Some are men of peerless might!
Jethrien and I actually played this together in waves over the course of the last year. It’s pretty standard Warriors-series beat-em-up goodness.
If anything, the game is a little bit more generic than the first was. The specific bonuses for completing mini-quests within each stage are gone (though you still get orders to do things and can fail the stage if you don’t; and it’s still much easier to accomplish these tasks with two players). The castle stages are gone; there are small castle areas on a few maps, but they’re only noteworthy for being closed-in and usually having several floors. There are very few traps and hazards beyond gates/obstacles. SW1’s castle stages were often marathons of traps and infinite enemies, and I can’t say I’m terribly sorry to see them go.
The minigames (endurance mode and a Mario Party-esque board game) are underwhelming, which became irritating when we realized they were necessary to unlock two of Jethrien’s favorite characters. (Something we ended up not doing—they’re much more easily available in SW1 and the Warriors Orochi games.)
I liked the “store” system for skill, weapon, horse and bodyguard upgrades. It’s easier to switch around characters when you can use your progress with one to give a boost to another, such as by buying them skill or weapon upgrades.
This game only gives you a single bodyguard, which can be easier to deal with than the mob in some other games. (Though they’re still irritatingly good at stealing your kills.) Specifically, there’s the Fire Ninja bodyguard, which takes one of the most annoying enemies and makes him your ally. Turns out, being randomly blown up sucks for CPU generals, too!
Overall: A solid entry in the series. Given our usual preferences (lots of variety, low difficulty/frustration, good two-player co-op) I’d put it in the top tier, but below the Warriors Orochi games.
Jethrien and I actually played this together in waves over the course of the last year. It’s pretty standard Warriors-series beat-em-up goodness.
If anything, the game is a little bit more generic than the first was. The specific bonuses for completing mini-quests within each stage are gone (though you still get orders to do things and can fail the stage if you don’t; and it’s still much easier to accomplish these tasks with two players). The castle stages are gone; there are small castle areas on a few maps, but they’re only noteworthy for being closed-in and usually having several floors. There are very few traps and hazards beyond gates/obstacles. SW1’s castle stages were often marathons of traps and infinite enemies, and I can’t say I’m terribly sorry to see them go.
The minigames (endurance mode and a Mario Party-esque board game) are underwhelming, which became irritating when we realized they were necessary to unlock two of Jethrien’s favorite characters. (Something we ended up not doing—they’re much more easily available in SW1 and the Warriors Orochi games.)
I liked the “store” system for skill, weapon, horse and bodyguard upgrades. It’s easier to switch around characters when you can use your progress with one to give a boost to another, such as by buying them skill or weapon upgrades.
This game only gives you a single bodyguard, which can be easier to deal with than the mob in some other games. (Though they’re still irritatingly good at stealing your kills.) Specifically, there’s the Fire Ninja bodyguard, which takes one of the most annoying enemies and makes him your ally. Turns out, being randomly blown up sucks for CPU generals, too!
Overall: A solid entry in the series. Given our usual preferences (lots of variety, low difficulty/frustration, good two-player co-op) I’d put it in the top tier, but below the Warriors Orochi games.
