Warriors Orochi 2

"Most certainly an improvement, but..."

Introduction:

Warriors Orochi 2 is a crossover game by KOEI, the creators of the infamous Dynasty Warriors franchise. It combines the characters from the aforementioned series, as well as it's sister series, Samurai Warriors, as well as new original characters, a convoluted storyline, and the same cheesy voice acting (mostly) everyone loves. With that said, the review begins.

Gameplay: 8/10.

There's not much to say on this. As always, it's the typical "Warriors" series fare. You jump in to a battlefield, beat the crap out of various peons and officers, and take out the big dude at the end, while being filled with glee at how you're so awesome. Square is for normal attacks, and is the button you'll more than likely be using the most. Triangle is for charge attacks, which basically are strong, flashy attacks that end your current chain but do more damage than normal attacks. O is for the special musou attacks.These attacks have your character doing some form of motion that repeatedly hits your opponent for quite a bit of damage, but can only be used sparingly, as your bar decreases when you use them. There's been no change since the first game is this aspect.

As with the first Orochi game, characters are separated into three types: Power, Speed, and Technique. Power characters cannot be staggered while attacking. Speed types can air dash and cancel out of their attacks into specials/jumps, and technique characters have various special abilities which have a wide range, as well as being able to augment their charge attacks to be stronger and faster. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages, though this varies depending on the character.

There have been some changes since the last game that don't make this your typical KOEI sequel transition. Two things have been added that amp up the teamwork aspect that this mini-series of games tries to apply. The first one is the ability to have another character attack while you yourself are being attacked. While being hit with an attack that staggers you, you can hold L1 and then press either the square or triangle button (for whichever character you wish to come out) and a "phantom" of a teammate in your party will come out and attack in front of you, possibly disturbing the enemy's attack and giving you time to breathe. This technique will take out half of the character's musou bar, so you can only use it twice (assuming both of your support characters have full musou bars). This can be augmented, but that will be saved for later.

The second addition is a very good, if perhaps a little broken one. The gist of it is that if your character is in grave danger (in red colored health bar) you can press L2 and R2 simultaneously, which will launch a special triple ultimate musou combo of doom. Your character and the other two (in, again, phantom versions) will come out and all unleash one special, then attack simultaneously and rapidly in a very flashy and damaging show of lights and explosions. However, your characters will only attack in the area immediately in front of your character, so if you're being attacked from behind, it'll more than likely be a waste. This can only be used if the character in danger has a full musou bar, and uses it all up. This, again, can be changed, but more on that later. This is perhaps my favorite addition, mostly for looking cool, but it also increases the teamwork aspect. Depending on the characters you have in your party, the actual attack can vary greatly!

This game sports a massive 92 characters for you to choose from. Every character from the original Warriors Orochi returns, and 13 new characters join the fray. The characters Fu Xi, and Nu Wa, who have not made a proper appearance since DW3, return as full-fledged characters that are part of the actual storyline. The new characters from the expansion game Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends, also make an appearance. There are also a few other characters which are original to this game, all bringing nice and elaborate movesets. You'll never find yourself hard-pressed for picking a character with a roster this big.

Finally, we have a couple of new things relating to the weapon fusion system. These are the treasure and upgrade systems. In some stages, you will be able to attain various treasures by fulfilling certain conditions within the stage. These can be used along with certain weapons to create skills, which can be added to a character's weapon and have various special effects. To create them, you need the correct treasure, as well as a pre-requisite weapon with various elemental aspects. There are about 15 skills, and they all vary greatly. Some can allow you to make flips more easily, while others recharge your musou. This is, in my opinion, where the game falls. Though the better ones are harder to get, they immediately break the game upon obtaining them. The most infamous one is Almighty (Tenbu in the Japanese version), which has earned a sort of notoriety upon the fandom and is dubbed as simply "the win button". It allows you to use the elemental effects placed on your weapon during normal attacks. As with the first game, the answer COULD be that you would simply elect not to use it. But again, ignoring the problem doesn't solve it.

Overall, the game has some things specific to it, but the heart of it is still the same hack and slash KOEI has been putting out for years. The new additions give it some depth, but can also ruin the experience,

Story: 6/10.

I truly don't really know what to say about this. It's the first time that I can remember where the story is actually a continuation rather than a repeat game with gameplay changes.

The story continues a (to my knowledge, a not stated) period of time after the the events of the first game. The various factions have settled down in their own territories, some seeking peace, and others building armies, For some reason beyond my comprehension, EVERY SINGLE PERSON from the last game, except the big bad Orochi, managed to survive. Strange, considering this is a war, and usually people die in those. Some of the humans however, decide to stir up trouble even with Orochi gone. The tyrannical Dong Zhuo, the mighty Lu Bu, and the impulsive Masamune Date all still cause trouble. Orochi's mischievous strategist from the first game, Da Ji, is also wandering around, with her own crazy plans. There is also a new ki in town, Koyomori Taira, who's ambition is to revive the dreaded serpent king. In response to this, three "mystics", Fu Xi, Nu Wa, and Taigong Wang (which are not delved upon at all), come down from...heaven? To stop Kiyomori and Da Ji from bringing him back. There is also a mysterious girl called Himiko, who seems to be the key to reviving him.

Though the kingdoms simply want peace, these troublemakers do nothing but cause chaos and plague this new world once again.

The game has settled itself with this, but it's still a bit confusing. How did no one manage to get killed? I can understand it in the gameplay aspect since they needed a full roster, but...seriously. The game also changes some of the character's personalities, such as Masamune, who in the Samurai Warriors franchise, simply wanted to rule himself while being fit to serve until his lord kicked the bucket, but now seems like nothing more than an Orochi fanboy. Lu Bu is also a strange case. Sometimes he goes on about wanting to be the best there ever was (though in story it seems he's already regarded as such), and sometimes he fights for the sake of wanting to rule the land. Seems serving the serpent king messes up your head.

The biggest problem with the storyline is that it just doesn't expand on itself. There are various aspects that simply are set, but not expanded upon. Who exactly are the mystics? What's their deal? How much time passed since the first game? Who is Himiko and why is she the key to reviving Orochi?

How do Chinese and Japanese people manage to communicate perfectly? Where were all these new characters in the first game!? All perplexing mysteries of life that it seems we will eventually never uncover. A shame. Bad first attempt KOEI, bad. Of course, the game is expected to have it's plot holes, but unfortunately, like the first game, the story is merely a setting for which everyone can beat the living hell out of each other.

This game, like the last, follows in the footsteps on DW4 with Kingdom based story modes rather than individual character story modes. We have the four normal modes from the last game, the three kingdoms + sengoku, and a fresh new "Orochi" story mode which is a prequel to the events of the first game, and shows just how Orochi came to be the big bad he is. I personally had wanted an explanation for that, and while it doesn't fully deliver, I can't fault it.

Graphics/Sound: 4/10.

The graphics haven't changed. In fact, I'd actually say they were worse! There is lag in various stages and enemies inexplicably disappear from your screen when there are too many on screen. Isn't a sequel supposed to improve on these things? It seems KOEI, like always, just copy and pasted everything onto this game and didn't bother. They did fix some glitches, but only the really game-breaking ones, like infinites. The graphical ones remain unchanged, which is quite strange... (One character actually has an arm missing in her victory pose. Scars of war?)

I have to fault it quite badly. There's just no excuse why a sequel has worse technical aspects than it's predecessor. Big WTF there. The soundtrack is actually quite good though. It's varied, and has tracks from older games as well as the newer ones, along with the game's own original music. You won't get tired of it, and it's forever expanding and changing. The soundtrack bumps the score up and is solely responsible for me not giving this a 1/10.

Replayability: 8/10.

An odd thing to put here, but in a game like this, I believe it matters. This is more of a "eh.." kind of thing. On one hand, they did add several modes, such as VS. to play with your friends (which have some mini-games), Dream Mode, which lets you play in set scenarios with pre-chosen characters, and survival mode, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It certainly beats out the whopping two modes of the first game, but it's still not too great. And because of the expanded cast, maxing them will take quite a bit of time as well.

On the other hand, X-stages and personal items have been removed. So not much collecting to be going on. It's all about the hack and slash. It will certainly keep you quite occupied, more than the first game, but it's still not fantastic. It's middle of the road.


Conclusion:

Rent or buy? Well as has been said by many reviewers better and possibly worse than me, it all depends. If you're a fan of the series, this review will more than likely be pointless and you'll already have bought it. If you're not, give it a try and see if you like it. It certainly has it's own merits as a stand-alone game, but one can only fully appreciate it if they're objective and a fan of the series already. This series of games isn't exactly popular with reviewers. As always, this review is simply my own view and not a means with which to control your opinions. Look at it, and decide for yourself.

All in all, Warriors Orochi 2 is a decent game. It has various faults, but it also carries it's charm. As a full-fledged sequel, storyline and all though, it's not very good. There could have been a lot more improvement, but this is KOEI after all. Masters of rehash.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/08

Game Release: Warriors Orochi 2 (US, 09/23/08)