Synopsis
Basically this installment of Warriors Orochi is about the inclusion of Norse and Greek mythologies to provide as villains.
I do think that amnesia is a tired cliche at this point, and I have no idea why Koei Tecmo decided to include that as part of the storyline.
The battles are addicting enough, all the way up to the final-final-final boss of Warriors Orochi 4: Ultimate. Of course, I don\’t see the point in making the Ultimate upgrade into its own game instead of advanced DLC, especially when Warriors Orochi 4 itself was released without any of the upgraded trappings. At that point, it would just break the bank for so many people.
Characters
Warriors Orochi 4 delivers what all installments of this series promises, which is the interaction between characters from different points of history, whether they are similar or different.
Themes
A common theme throughout this game is the concept of family. There are characters who feel guilt and wish to amend their own family as much as they can.
It also involves coalitions formed, depending on which battle, concerning which tactic to use. Characters that are more strategically minded tend to band together, whereas warrior characters tend to fight in the frontlines.
Worlds
What makes the stages from the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors unique is how diverse they are. Whether it involves the city of Luoyang, the sunny glades of Hebei, or the jungles of Nanzhong, there is a lot to explore, which makes up for the lack of open world. However, in this game, all of the stages have too many similarities.
Intertextuality
Although there are characters from more obscure Koei games, such as the one taking place during the Hundred Years War, I remain hopeful that Warriors Orochi would become an All-Stars series for all of Koei\’s historically based characters.
As for the graphics of the Greek mythological characters, I was hoping that at this point in contemporary history we would see more fair representation of Greeks in popular media. Assassin\’s Creed Odyssey succeeded where this game failed. I would like to see Greek characters represent more of what Greek people actually look like. There might be Greek people who have blond hair, but Greeks typically have olive tone and dark hair, as noted by Mediterranean peoples such as the Italians. It is a bit uncouth to see Zeus be depicted as an bulked-out version of William Adams.
Gameplay
I found the unity magic spells incredibly useful, since they not only wipe out many enemies, but also refill the Musou gauge.
I\’m an old school Koei fan going back to 2004, so I am not used to the lock-on system, so I barely used it.
However, any disadvantage to any game-play is always the disruption of flow. In this game\’s case, the disruption comes from the long dialogues which seem to never stop. I cannot skip them the same way I can skip a cut-scene, rather I have to wait for them to finish before proceeding to the next part of the stage or waiting for a gate to open. This is especially relevant if I am trying to complete the time-limit challenges and the dialogues are wasting my time.
Farming
A farming method I found to be helpful was using Magoichi Saika, specifically to use his unidirectional, widespread attacks to avoid engaging in close combat and to narrow on enemy officers. As I started leveling him up, I discovered that I could be able to collect as much rare weapons as I needed by implementing Appraisal and Prosperity into the weapon. As such, I was able to collect more weapons the more I kept leveling. I would then convert the weapons into gems, which gave me a robust gem-farming method.
Side-Quests
However distracting they can be, they are ultimately optional. This is especially true when you have characters that you want to level up, or side-quests that involves a 5th Weapon for any particular character.
Graphics
I will say that I wish the NPC officers were given more detail, which barely changed since Dynasty Warriors 7. The ones from 4 and 5 had more detail and more personality to their looks than the ones in this game and other Koei Tecmo games.
Voice-Acting (Japanese)
Since Warriors Orochi 4 was not localized in the English translation, it only has Japanese voice-acting. I am not actively trying to learn Japanese at the moment, but it did not distract me from the subtitles in cutscenes like the one above.
I did like Fa Zheng\’s velvety voice.
Musical Score
Although I am grateful that the game continued to include the rescue track from Dynasty Warriors 4, however, as for the rest, they are a bit forgettable, probably because I was more focused on the gameplay.
Just like the Greek characters, I was hoping that the \’20s would be the opportunity to actually base every look and music of the Ancient Greeks on what was actually recorded. I did not like the bombastic score associated with the Ancient Greeks that you hear in all of the movies about the Ancient Greeks. You would think that they would use Ancient Greek instruments, like the kithara.
Does It Tie Up Well?
Although there were many plot points to go through, the only satisfaction that I felt at the true ending was more equivalent to the phrase \”Drink more Ovaltine,\” than an anticipation for a sequel. I can\’t say that I would rather play kemari with Yoshimoto Imagawa than this game, but this installment may be a sign that this series might not last.
Unless Koei Tecmo decides to innovate a Warriors Orochi Empires, I don\’t see a clear, discernible future for this all-star series. I would not see why not, since they already have a large catalogue of characters to give a province to or a lord to serve.
Ultimately…
It is not the worst game, but at the same time, I cannot say that it is great.
Recommend This To…
- Any serious Koei fan. Really no one else.
Sources
- Assassin\’s Creed: Odyssey. Ubisoft. 2018.
- Bladestorm: The Hundred Year\’s War. Koei. 2007.
- Warriors Orochi 4: Ultimate. Koei Tecmo. 2020.