Warriors Orochi 4 – Ultimate Review (Xbox One X)
Following several months after the release of the vanilla edition comes the Ultimate Edition of Warriors Orochi 4. What makes it the Ultimate Edition? Well the addition of 7 extra characters, that is what. You now have 177 playable characters at you disposal. So basically nothing new here. For those unfamiliar with the Warriors Orochi series it is a 3rd Person Hack ‘n Slash game based on the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors games.
Three vs. Three Thousand.
You assemble a team of three to take on massive numbers of enemies. Each available hero for your team is made up of different skills and weapon styles. This brings a modicum of variation to the otherwise tedious wave after wave combat affair. Add to this to dialogue and story telling that happens during battle that is completely lost in the chaos especially since all audio is in Japanese with English subtitles. I have to admit to being absolutely none the wiser to the story line.
Magic and Clones.
Along with the various weapon styles at your command, you also have a variety of magic attacks and combos. Some of these attacks have pretty cool visual effects, which is nice to see compared to the overall visuals. There is a very Last Gen look to Warriors Orochi 4. Hoards of cookie cutter enemies envelop you in bland environments just waiting to be dispatched once the player finishes battling the camera controls. It is like a 3D bullet hell game with blades. Many a time just mashing the buttons enough with have the desired outcome.
There Can Only Be One.
With the ability to upgrade and enhance your characters through earned experience came another problem. Each individual earned points and the more you upgraded and used one character the more they advance away from the others. So you end up only playing one of your three characters for the vast majority of the time. Shared progression would have made much more sense. And it is a shame because the upgrade and progression system is really good. It pretty much defeats the purpose having 177 characters when you put so much effort into just one or two of them.
Final Comments.
Warriors Orochi 4, it isn’t a bad game. It is just a bland, grindy sort of nothing. I understand the core, if somewhat niche, market isn’t me. The Western market may never understand but and least we still get a local release. Like Richard said back in 2018 with his Warriors Orochi review it isn’t a game you will play for a long time but it is a satisfying diversion. Well in 2020 the same still applies for Warriors Orochi 4.
