The Guns We Put on Are Ebony and Ivory: First Impressions of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Thanks to senkami and dedpoo I was introduced to the glory that is Sengoku Basara. It's a hack and slash multimedia series (games, anime, manga, drama CD) that takes place in the Warring States (or Sengoku) era of Japan and follows some of the bigger names of the era (Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oda Nobunaga, etc.) around in their attempts to unify Japan under one banner, most preferably their own.
And this is the anime's first intro:
Yeah. It's like that. So the GAR and epic amounts of HoYay made me rather happy, so I decided that getting any game that was not Devil Kings would be a decent investment. Yes, I read the IGN review. And the subsequent debate on Kotaku. Regardless, I went ahead.
Gameplay
Okay, so this is definitely a case of "Like Dynasty Warriors, but..." for me, since I played DW first. The method is pretty similar: mow down your opponents, take over forts/check points when necessary, complete the necessary conditions for victory (which are mainly not dying).
The important thing in Basara seems to be racking up combos. To help you in this regard, most of the enemies just... sort of run towards you and stand there. Commanders, animals, and enemy officers are the only ones that seem to have an aggressive AI, and even those aren't too much of a threat. I'm playing the game at Medium difficulty and have only done three battles, so we'll see if there's a difficulty curve.
Now, back to why combos are important: you get more money and rarer item components by getting larger combos. These components are used in combination with money to make accessories that help you out. Again, these accessories are similar to DW: improved health, improved attack, improved defense, improved healing, elemental defences, allowing your musou Basara meter to grow faster. Once the meter is full, get your attack on, and rack up even more hits for your combo meter. There is also a mechanic for changing various special attacks as your character levels up (he or she also learns new attacks as they level up), but I haven't explored that yet.
Design and Voice Work
The "complaints" about the game looking like a more polished PS2 game are justified. I personally don't give a crap. I am peeved that there are only sixteen playable characters. Apparently, this was due to time constraints.
The voice work, for the most part, is pretty good. (I am... really not going to like playing through Kenshin's campaign. I really don't like his voice. He sounds like old!dub Freeza. Was that intentional?) I haven't gotten to hear everyone yet, but I'm already loling that a portion of the cast has done work for Final Fantasy games and anime. Troy Baker (Steelguard Snow Villiers) is Ishida Mitsunari. Micheal Sorich (Ra Devil/Death Gyunos) is Otani Yoshitsugu. Liam O'Brien (Red XIII) is Tokugawa Ieyasu. Laura Bailey (Serah Farron, Cloud of Darkness) is Oichi. And of course Ruben Langdon as Dante Date Masamune and Johnny Young Bosch as Sanada Yukimura for some sort of lulzy DMC action. Oh, Capcom-chan...
The music is pretty memorable, and I've managed to get "Bonds" (the stage select screen tune) stuck in my head. The other tune that's been in there is the theme for the Battle of Kannegawa, that... I can't seem to find online and was used as part of Capcom's English Oichi gameplay video. (Yes, I like Oichi. I like the whole ~*~Doomed Perfectly Arranged Marriage~*~ thing she had with Nagamasa Azai in this series.)
Fujoshi Goggles
Yeah, the other reason I got this game. The Ho Yay and the Foe Yay. (I must be one of the few people that both likes Oichi and the slash. I'm special~) I decided on playing through Date's campaign first, so the Ho Yay is imminent. It's nice that even if Katakura Kujuro (as played by Roydor the Burninator Travis Wallingham) isn't a playable character in this game (sniff), you see him near Date when you go around killing things. I await with glee the inevitable meeting with Sanada Yukimura.
And this is the anime's first intro:
Click to viewYeah. It's like that. So the GAR and epic amounts of HoYay made me rather happy, so I decided that getting any game that was not Devil Kings would be a decent investment. Yes, I read the IGN review. And the subsequent debate on Kotaku. Regardless, I went ahead.
Gameplay
Okay, so this is definitely a case of "Like Dynasty Warriors, but..." for me, since I played DW first. The method is pretty similar: mow down your opponents, take over forts/check points when necessary, complete the necessary conditions for victory (which are mainly not dying).
The important thing in Basara seems to be racking up combos. To help you in this regard, most of the enemies just... sort of run towards you and stand there. Commanders, animals, and enemy officers are the only ones that seem to have an aggressive AI, and even those aren't too much of a threat. I'm playing the game at Medium difficulty and have only done three battles, so we'll see if there's a difficulty curve.
Now, back to why combos are important: you get more money and rarer item components by getting larger combos. These components are used in combination with money to make accessories that help you out. Again, these accessories are similar to DW: improved health, improved attack, improved defense, improved healing, elemental defences, allowing your musou Basara meter to grow faster. Once the meter is full, get your attack on, and rack up even more hits for your combo meter. There is also a mechanic for changing various special attacks as your character levels up (he or she also learns new attacks as they level up), but I haven't explored that yet.
Design and Voice Work
The "complaints" about the game looking like a more polished PS2 game are justified. I personally don't give a crap. I am peeved that there are only sixteen playable characters. Apparently, this was due to time constraints.
The voice work, for the most part, is pretty good. (I am... really not going to like playing through Kenshin's campaign. I really don't like his voice. He sounds like old!dub Freeza. Was that intentional?) I haven't gotten to hear everyone yet, but I'm already loling that a portion of the cast has done work for Final Fantasy games and anime. Troy Baker (Steelguard Snow Villiers) is Ishida Mitsunari. Micheal Sorich (Ra Devil/Death Gyunos) is Otani Yoshitsugu. Liam O'Brien (Red XIII) is Tokugawa Ieyasu. Laura Bailey (Serah Farron, Cloud of Darkness) is Oichi. And of course Ruben Langdon as Dante Date Masamune and Johnny Young Bosch as Sanada Yukimura for some sort of lulzy DMC action. Oh, Capcom-chan...
The music is pretty memorable, and I've managed to get "Bonds" (the stage select screen tune) stuck in my head. The other tune that's been in there is the theme for the Battle of Kannegawa, that... I can't seem to find online and was used as part of Capcom's English Oichi gameplay video. (Yes, I like Oichi. I like the whole ~*~Doomed Perfectly Arranged Marriage~*~ thing she had with Nagamasa Azai in this series.)
Fujoshi Goggles
Yeah, the other reason I got this game. The Ho Yay and the Foe Yay. (I must be one of the few people that both likes Oichi and the slash. I'm special~) I decided on playing through Date's campaign first, so the Ho Yay is imminent. It's nice that even if Katakura Kujuro (as played by Roydor the Burninator Travis Wallingham) isn't a playable character in this game (sniff), you see him near Date when you go around killing things. I await with glee the inevitable meeting with Sanada Yukimura.