This game is almost perfect but i have a small grip with it.
Disclaimer* I don't read japanese, so i don't have an opinion on the story.
Sengoku Basara takes the Sengoku Jidai and makes it more of a parody than a retell. This series takes the feudal lords from the time and makes them wilder and romanticized in contrast with other game series from the same period.
-Game Modes
You have Sengoku Creation and Free Battle. In Sengoku Creation you can select atleast 2 diff routes per characters (some characters have 3).
This Sengoku Creation is a step down from the last game. In the last game you really felt like you here conquering and unifying japan but in this game it just looks like they throw up to you random stages to choose from until you get to the last one. It isn't as fun as Basara 3 Utage conquest but still does the job very well.
-Characters
There are 40 characters on total and they are all unique from one another. Every character has his own gimmick and gameplay style, even thought thats amazing it may be have a small pitfall. Since every character is unique its possible you get used to a type, after that you may not be able to pick certain characters cause they will feel slow and clunky. Honestly this doesn't affect the game at all. Its completely fine to dislike to play certain characters and someday if you ever get the time to try and learn them, i guarantee you will have a blast and play the game in a new diff fun way. This all add's up to the diversity and play time.
-Weapon System
Every character has atleast 2 costumes and 7 diff weapons.
This entry completely evolves the weapon system from last games. In the last games the weapons were somewhat fixed but in this game you can customize the weapons whoever you want, there is alot of options and diff skills. I will not go in depth but now you can make the weapon you think looks the coolest the strongest one .
-Gameplay
This game is one of, if not the best, gameplay experience in musou games. You don't feel held back in any shape or form while playing. Every character besides the normals have 6 distinct moves plus 3 special movies that can be swapped between them in the middle of the fight. You can connect your whole movelist with every move, its limitless chances of creating combos. This game just feels right and you can go wild & create the craziest combos.
-Stages/Level Design
There are alot of stages to play and every stage has 2 secret factors. Thoose secret factors can sometimes be level changing and unlock new paths within the stage or can be just small challenges. It adds fantastically to the gameplay loop and helps with the monotony.
But there is somethings i don't like in this game stages:
- A small number of stages are basically the same, it changes the boss, narrative and sometimes the gimmick, it sounds ok at first but since musou games are repetitive in nature this doesn't help. I feel like in the prior game it wasnt so bad.
- This may be personal but some stages are annoying to replay and arent as fun as they were in Basara 3 Utage. I cant really get around on what it is but yeah.
-Roulette
This game has a feature called Roulette. This is the worst part of the game. This feature now is optional but its the only way to get Tenka Medals, a currency you need to unlock extra outfits, unique character weapons augmentation and a new skill. Its not hard to get coins but its annoying since its RNG based.
When you defeat a camp or specific small enemies the roulette will spin and when it stops it will reward you or punish you.
A few of the rewards are transformations, where you can transform and play for a small time 3 diff npc characters. This sounds cool at first but it isn't cause this transformations start to get annoying and interrupt the flow of battle. Yea you can quit the transformation whoever you want but it goes through a long animation before you can continue playing.
I always keep the Roulette off and only activate it when i really need Tenka Medals.
-Extras
There is a cool feature where you can equip Play Books. Thoose Play Books can buff enemies, allys and much other things. Its a good feature to add more variety to the stages.
-Main Theme
Be prepared to hate the main Theme . They tried to milk the song so bad that you can't deactivate it without turning off the rest of the game music. They'll shove that song down your throat until you can't take it anymore. Seriously, its annoying how much you hear this song, you start the game and its the first thing you hear and will follow you until you select a character. You enter the last stage of Sengoku Creation and there is the song again, you can't escape from it.
-CONCLUSION
This is a must play musou game. You will never go wrong with this game. With the 40 unique characters and weapon system you will have thousand of hours of fun.
Even thought the stages and Conquest mode feels a bit weak comparing with the antecessor, it evolves the rest in superior way. This is truly a great sequel and probably the best game of the franchise.
Just be ready to hate the not so good main theme and have your small share of roulette.
Disclaimer* I don't read japanese, so i don't have an opinion on the story.
Sengoku Basara takes the Sengoku Jidai and makes it more of a parody than a retell. This series takes the feudal lords from the time and makes them wilder and romanticized in contrast with other game series from the same period.
-Game Modes
You have Sengoku Creation and Free Battle. In Sengoku Creation you can select atleast 2 diff routes per characters (some characters have 3).
This Sengoku Creation is a step down from the last game. In the last game you really felt like you here conquering and unifying japan but in this game it just looks like they throw up to you random stages to choose from until you get to the last one. It isn't as fun as Basara 3 Utage conquest but still does the job very well.
-Characters
There are 40 characters on total and they are all unique from one another. Every character has his own gimmick and gameplay style, even thought thats amazing it may be have a small pitfall. Since every character is unique its possible you get used to a type, after that you may not be able to pick certain characters cause they will feel slow and clunky. Honestly this doesn't affect the game at all. Its completely fine to dislike to play certain characters and someday if you ever get the time to try and learn them, i guarantee you will have a blast and play the game in a new diff fun way. This all add's up to the diversity and play time.
-Weapon System
Every character has atleast 2 costumes and 7 diff weapons.
This entry completely evolves the weapon system from last games. In the last games the weapons were somewhat fixed but in this game you can customize the weapons whoever you want, there is alot of options and diff skills. I will not go in depth but now you can make the weapon you think looks the coolest the strongest one .
-Gameplay
This game is one of, if not the best, gameplay experience in musou games. You don't feel held back in any shape or form while playing. Every character besides the normals have 6 distinct moves plus 3 special movies that can be swapped between them in the middle of the fight. You can connect your whole movelist with every move, its limitless chances of creating combos. This game just feels right and you can go wild & create the craziest combos.
-Stages/Level Design
There are alot of stages to play and every stage has 2 secret factors. Thoose secret factors can sometimes be level changing and unlock new paths within the stage or can be just small challenges. It adds fantastically to the gameplay loop and helps with the monotony.
But there is somethings i don't like in this game stages:
- A small number of stages are basically the same, it changes the boss, narrative and sometimes the gimmick, it sounds ok at first but since musou games are repetitive in nature this doesn't help. I feel like in the prior game it wasnt so bad.
- This may be personal but some stages are annoying to replay and arent as fun as they were in Basara 3 Utage. I cant really get around on what it is but yeah.
-Roulette
This game has a feature called Roulette. This is the worst part of the game. This feature now is optional but its the only way to get Tenka Medals, a currency you need to unlock extra outfits, unique character weapons augmentation and a new skill. Its not hard to get coins but its annoying since its RNG based.
When you defeat a camp or specific small enemies the roulette will spin and when it stops it will reward you or punish you.
A few of the rewards are transformations, where you can transform and play for a small time 3 diff npc characters. This sounds cool at first but it isn't cause this transformations start to get annoying and interrupt the flow of battle. Yea you can quit the transformation whoever you want but it goes through a long animation before you can continue playing.
I always keep the Roulette off and only activate it when i really need Tenka Medals.
-Extras
There is a cool feature where you can equip Play Books. Thoose Play Books can buff enemies, allys and much other things. Its a good feature to add more variety to the stages.
-Main Theme
Be prepared to hate the main Theme . They tried to milk the song so bad that you can't deactivate it without turning off the rest of the game music. They'll shove that song down your throat until you can't take it anymore. Seriously, its annoying how much you hear this song, you start the game and its the first thing you hear and will follow you until you select a character. You enter the last stage of Sengoku Creation and there is the song again, you can't escape from it.
-CONCLUSION
This is a must play musou game. You will never go wrong with this game. With the 40 unique characters and weapon system you will have thousand of hours of fun.
Even thought the stages and Conquest mode feels a bit weak comparing with the antecessor, it evolves the rest in superior way. This is truly a great sequel and probably the best game of the franchise.
Just be ready to hate the not so good main theme and have your small share of roulette.