SAMURAI WARRIORS: Spirit of Sanada Reviews
The extra weight added by the RPG side of things and the dungeon-style challenges means that Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada has more to recommend the franchise than before. Whether it'll be enough to draw new players in, however, remains to be seen.
All in all Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada surprised me, I expected a game between expansion and spin-off and got a truly great Warriors game. It has its flaws and problems, like every Omega Force or Warriors game and isn´t for anyone. Yet, if you´re a fan of the series, you certainly won´t regret the excessive trip to Sanada castle. It´s great, trust me.
Battles are massive multi-stage affairs with thousands of enemies onscreen, and even when you're bored with fighting, there is a breadth of additional content to enjoy. Whether you're engaging in the game's encyclopedia or exploring the countryside and mini-games, there is a lot to consume for the history buffs and Musou fans out there. That's if you can get past the graphics and engine that--much like the story--are remnants of an era bygone.
Ultimately, Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is a pretty strong standalone title that welcomes new players while offering a somewhat fresh experience for fans.
Although Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is a spin-off of the mainline series of games, it shouldn't be seen as anything less than the best companion to Samurai Warriors 4. I enjoyed returning to the battlefield once more and learning all that I could about the Sanada clan while following their lives over the course of the game. The character driven plot was much appreciated as well as the graphical improvements made to the battlefields from previous games. I would definitely like to see more spin-offs of the series that focus on some of the other clans.
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada attempts to shake things up with a bigger emphasis on RPG elements and a more personal story, but it doesn't always hit the mark. Seeing events unfold from the perspective of just a few characters does make for an interesting and engaging narrative, but the pacing is bogged down by boring filler missions. Likewise, chopping huge historical battles into bite-sized chunks adds depth to each scenario, but the epic scale and the thrill of thriving battlefields are lost in the process. Spirit of Sanada certainly isn't a bad game, but it is one of the weaker Warriors titles on PS4.
Ditching the series' ensemble cast in favour of a more personal family drama is one of the best decisions Koei Tecmo has made, and the key feature that elevates Spirit of Sanada to more than just a new entry in the Warriors franchise. The roster is still massive and everyone is playable during free mode, but the story locks down characters by the mission, personalizing the Sanada family over the course of roughly fifty years of Sengoku period history. Multi-stage battles emphasize just how war-torn the Sengoku era was, while offering a breath a fresh air to the traditional series stage format. The combat is as refined as ever and the focus on Masayuki and Yukimura makes for an incredibly intimate story. Spirit of Sanada is, plain and simple, one of best precedents Koei Tecmo has set.
After more than a decade and a half of these things, it would be understandable to grow sick of the formula over the countless iterations.
Spirit of Sanada is more than just a Samurai Warriors side story, bringing the series to new heights with its largest roster and longest battles to date. The new multi-stage battles will have players take a more tactical approach if they want to reap the rewards.
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada has taken some fantastic elements of other games in the series and made a great little musou out of a really interesting part of Japanese history.
By the end of Spirit of Sanada you'll have learned something, enjoyed the prettiest Warriors game to date, and seen just how far Koei Tecmo's been able to take this series, so that it's no longer purely an action game. With Spirit of Sanada, we see a future for the Warriors franchise where every battle and event is given context and purpose, and it's a far deeper and more rounded experience for that.
Mechanically speaking, Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is very much yet another musou game from Omega Force. There's much more to the title than just that, though, as the new focus on just one family allows it to tell one of the most interesting stories from feudal Japan. It's an entertaining history lesson (although as expected it does take certain creative liberties) that also provides a thoughtful look at why war can't always boil down to good versus evil. Despite some dated graphics and gameplay that is sometimes too simple for its own good, Spirit of Sanada ends up rejuvenating a franchise that had been treading water.
Because of its characters, Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is more recommended than the franchise before. Musou genre doesn't allow so many novelties, but we like de RPG elements..
Review in Spanish | Read full review
That said, the combat system remains completely untouched since Samurai Warriors 4 and for all is minor tweaks and nuances, time's running out for this ageing brand of battlefield action. Even long-time fans will agree that, after being pulled in just about every direction, the series desperately needs to move on. No pressure, then, Dynasty Warriors 9.
Samurai Warriors 4 was a great entry into the core vein of the series. Samurai Warriors 4-II took things a step further with some slight modifications to the experience both in terms of gameplay and narrative approach as it focused more on the people than the Dynasties that they fought for. Building further on the ideas presented in 4-II, Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada finds a balance of both while also improving upon the gameplay for possibly the best Samurai Warriors entry yet.
This Samurai Warriors spin-off feels outdated in many aspects, but it is fun to play and offers deep strategic options for a "musou" game.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada brings plenty of welcome elements to the formula and makes me excited for what Omega Force holds for us in the future once it fine tunes everything introduced in this game. While it brings plenty of shiny new features, it feels smaller in scale compared to the last mainline entry. But those new little things do add up to a lot. Spirit of Sanada offers a fresh take on the Warriors experience that can be very welcoming to newcomers and veterans alike.
I grew bored pretty quick, though that may just be my jaded outlook. If you don't feel beaten down by slashing your way through another sweeping battle, this may be the game for you. If you've related to my weariness for the genre, this one will only exasperate the feeling.
Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is a competent addition to the Koei Tecmo hack and slash catalog of action games. But it doesn't reinvent the wheel.
The best story that Samurai Warriors has had to offer, as well as the addition of new mechanics to improve the experience, Spirit of Sanada is a great way to close the chapter on the Samurai Warriors 4 era.