The fourth installment of the Koei Tecmo branded series, Warriors Orochi 4, arrives on Nintendo Switch, in addition to the usual home consoles, with a huge roster, an incredibly long-lived campaign and some new gameplay: here is our review
The “little brother” of the most played Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors tries to bring something fresh to the genre, one year after the last chapter of the genre. Will he have succeeded? Let's find out together.
Warriors Orochi 4: between history and tradition | Review
Orochi Warriors 4 can undoubtedly be classified in the category of games "Musou". The term, which in Spanish can be translated as unmatched or unmatched, perfectly sums up the typology of the games that are part of it; in fact, in the musou, they take on the role of very powerful heroes, equipped with lethal weapons and boundless powers, who must complete missions by defeating waves of enemies, up to the bosses.
Direct descendant of the two musou par excellence (Dinasty Warriors e Samurai Warriors), Warriors Orochi speaks of Zeus which, equipped with 9 powerful bracelets called Ouroborus, he plans to create a new timeline, and thus a new world. Frightened by his father's folly, Perseus decides to steal these bracelets and escape to earth chased by Ares and Athena. Unfortunately, after a series of events, the bracelets fall into the wrong hands, and the mightiest heroes of feudal Japan and imperial China are brought together to face the threat.
Warriors Orochi 4: news, roster and gameplay | Review
From the beginning it is evident how the game has been improved, compared to its predecessors, in the aesthetic component: the graphics are definitely improved (thanks also to the new version of the game engine), the characters are better characterized than in the past, thanks to the various clothes and the graphic and sound effects of each.
While we have, once unlocked, a huge roster of characters (170 in total, actually entering the Guinness World Record) coming from Dinasty and Samurai Warriors plus some other unpublished characters, on the other hand the enemies all look the same; the game's not-so-curated AI also makes them move collectively in large groups, and it becomes easy enough to take them all out at once. Also, in sequences with several enemies, there are small frame drops, therefore going down below the 30fps threshold.
As for the gameplay, some pretty interesting changes have been introduced. In fact, in addition to the traditional skillset of the various characters, equipped with light and heavy attacks, special skills and ultimate move, have been introduced the magic. Each character has 4 spells at their disposal, which can be cast via the console's back buttons, in combination with the attack buttons, plus a devastating ultimate magic performed in unison by team members.
In the game maps, then, it is possible to find called entities "Origins of Chaos" which, if defeated, allow you to unlock the Rage Mode of our character, and then use a very powerful "ultimate technique". In addition to magic, the Deificazione, or the possibility for some characters to use the Ouroborus bracelets, which grant their characters incredible powers and infinite magic. In the end, the ability to equip new weapons and modify your camp, give a semblance of "growth" of the gameplay, however, denied by the repetitiveness of the campaign. In fact, despite the original story, the very long-lived campaign and the vast roster, the risk is to find yourself wiping out hordes of identical enemies for hours, and then get bored soon, if you are not a fan of the genre.
In addition to the Single Player campaign, there is the online mode Battle Arena (basically a capture the flag in 3 vs 3), which however suffers from the same flaws as the campaign. Finally, everything takes place in very similar maps, the story is told through static images of the characters who converse (with the exception of a few cutscenes) and the dialogues themselves are in Japanese with English subtitles. Not the best, in short.
Warriors Orochi 4: in conclusion | Review
In conclusion, Warriors Orochi 4 has ups and downs, dictated by questionable decisions and inherent characteristics of the genre. While the development team has made good progress in improving the aesthetics, graphics and effects of the flood of playable characters, the "narrative" side of the campaign has not been cared for enough. If on the one hand magic, deification and unlockable Rage Mode have been introduced, on the other hand the repetitiveness of the gameplay soon bores the player, who will find himself playing a very long campaign always performing the same actions over and over again, only with characters. and different skills.
Finally, if on the one hand, the single player campaign is also playable in co-op with friends, and the Battle Arena has been introduced, there is still a lack of a certain "piacchiaduristica" component, which allows you to indulge yourself freely with all the heroes of the roster. Warriors Orochi 4, therefore, is a title that shows clear improvements compared to the previous chapters in several respects, but which still needs to mature and present itself to the public as an AAA title capable of justifying the list price.
7 A classic musou
Points in favor
- Vast Roster
- Well characterized heroes
- Introduction of significant gameplay innovations
Points against
- Too repetitive campaign and gameplay
- Enemies all equal to each other and poor AI
- Frame drops and room problems
- Few game modes
