Sometimes people play video games to give themselves a challenge. Sometimes they play to just pass the time. Sometimes they play to let their frustrations out. Warriors Orochi 4 is one of those games that not only fits in that last category, but is designed to be perfect for it.
The Warriors Orochi series is a hack-and-slash game that lets you wreak utter havoc using the characters from the Dynasty Warriors series and the Samurai Warriors series. The fourth installment carries on the tradition, boasting an enormous roster of 170 playable characters and some new mechanics in which to mow through thousands upon thousands of enemy soldiers and achieve your objectives. The story of Warriors Orochi 4 is a little different than previous games in the series, veering into dimensions that have Western deities with plots for the warriors. As far-fetched as it may seem, Chinese and Japanese warriors duke it out with Greek and Norse gods on the battlefield. The story of this game isn’t where it shines, though, and it’s not easy to keep up with at times.
Warriors Orochi 4 is all about dealing massive amounts of damage and that’s where it really excels. The combat system is extremely intuitive and easy to use, allowing you to string together combos that will get you through hordes of enemy soldiers. The more experience you gain, the more damage you can inflict. The leveling system allows you to use the skill points you earn from battle to choose perks for your characters, including a variety of combo extenders. The weapon system allows you to upgrade existing weapons with new abilities that can increase the carnage you dish out. When you find the more powerful weapons later on in the game, upgrading them with all the abilities you can will make you practically unstoppable. Apply those weapons to all three characters you control will make you a force to be reckoned with.
Sacred Treasures are introduced in Warriors Orochi 4, and with them the ability to perform magic. This replaces the wonder feature in the previous edition of the game. Magic gives you even more ways to deal damage, and is integrated flawlessly into the combat system. The massive collection of playable characters are assigned different kinds of sacred treasures outside of the normal class system. The one downfall to this is that some characters have the same sacred treasures, but I can understand how it’d be difficult to create unique new move sets for all of the characters in addition to the normal attacks they have.
Warriors Orochi 4 is the perfect game you can dive into and just have fun, but the story is not something you’ll be enjoying. It doesn’t wow in the level design either, often borrowing from previous installments in the franchise and also taking from the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series it takes its characters from. But despite the lack of detail in the environments and the lack of a really cohesive narrative, Koei Tecmo put out a quality game for you to get out all your rage in. It allows you to sit down and relieve any pent up stress in a one of the best hack-and-slash games on the market.
Warriors Orochi 4 is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC. This review is based on a PC review copy of the game.
