Preview: Samurai Warriors 2

Since Samurai Warriors 2 won’t be hitting stores ’till September 19th, we’ll give you a quick glimpse via IGN’s experience of playing the game. According to them, Samurai Warriors 2 is basically just like its previous title, but with more options on gameplay and button-wreckers.

Like its predecessors, the game is set on Japan‘s mythical history where you get to battle it out with various enemies with the goal of protecting or defeating battlefield commanders. All throughout the game you get a sidekick to help you out in your battles, and the more you use your guard, the more he/she will improve. If you’re not satisfied with your guard, you can easily swap him with another who has more experience or skill, depending on your preference. You might also want to stay keen on items dropped by enemies or destructible environmental objects, as within them are contained power ups, bonus experience, gold, or health.

A mini-board game called Sugoroku is one of the additions in the game, where you basically get to play Monopoly minus the little houses and cars. The goal is to conquer Japan by purchasing the squares that you land on. Once you establish ownership over the square, others will have to pay you for rent or challenge you for ownership if they land on one of your squares. There are also special squares for enacting bonus or harmful status changes.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Since Samurai Warriors 2 won’t be hitting stores ’till September 19th, we’ll give you a quick glimpse via IGN’s experience of playing the game. According to them, Samurai Warriors 2 is basically just like its previous title, but with more options on gameplay and button-wreckers.

Like its predecessors, the game is set on Japan‘s mythical history where you get to battle it out with various enemies with the goal of protecting or defeating battlefield commanders. All throughout the game you get a sidekick to help you out in your battles, and the more you use your guard, the more he/she will improve. If you’re not satisfied with your guard, you can easily swap him with another who has more experience or skill, depending on your preference. You might also want to stay keen on items dropped by enemies or destructible environmental objects, as within them are contained power ups, bonus experience, gold, or health.

A mini-board game called Sugoroku is one of the additions in the game, where you basically get to play Monopoly minus the little houses and cars. The goal is to conquer Japan by purchasing the squares that you land on. Once you establish ownership over the square, others will have to pay you for rent or challenge you for ownership if they land on one of your squares. There are also special squares for enacting bonus or harmful status changes.

Another addition is the shop, which is said to be perhaps the biggest attraction in the game. Here you can upgrade your weapon and guards, buy skills and horses, etc. You can choose whether the skills you buy will affect your character directly or indirectly: you can increase attacks or stats, or just bonuses when your character levels up. You’ll get the money for buying stuff by getting through levels, and if you get caught up in one stage, you can just replay previous ones to get more money.

Before you get too excited over the Xbox Live mode in the game, you should know that the co-op play won’t be playable online with your foreign friends. And even though the online game is in versus mode, you won’t actually get to fight against one another, but rather against an AI-controlled commander. The move list also didn’t get any additions; however, there are special attacks that you can perform by holding down the RB button before attacking. 

Also, the Japanese voice actors have gone to Absentia, as you won’t get the option to use them anymore. Instead, English voice-overs take over the game, which, according to IGN, are not that bad, but could be a cause for disappointment among the gamers.

Via IGN