Review: Warriors Orochi 3

Posted by Brad T on April 21st, 2012 | 0 Comments | Tags: Battle Pandas , dynasty warriors , Lu Bu , Warriors Orochi

I’ve only played the first Orochi game, and that was quite a few years ago. I was looking forward to seeing how the series progressed, so I was super stoked when we got Warriors Orochi 3.

First things first, forget what you know about the DW and SW story lines. This game forgets all that, takes all 100+ Dynasty and Samurai Warriors and puts them into one strange world. Taking place years after the events of Orochi 2, a demonic Hydra emerges from the ground and begins destroying much of the strange world that the warriors had been living in. It’s up to Ma Chao, Sima Zhou, and Hanbei Takenaka to get the band back together and amass an army big enough to slay the evil Hydra. Oh, and then the mystic Kaguya shows up and offers to take our heroes back in time to save all the warriors that already died.

As with previous Orochi titles, you control not just 1 hero, but a team of three. All Warriors have a classification, be it Power, Speed, Technique, or Wonder. Each type of character classification has its pros and cons and they each serve their purposes. I loved using Kunochi as my sprinter to get from point A to point B. I also enjoyed Lady Kai’s Bump-It wearing kick ass power attacks. So in the middle of Kai’s attack, I could switch over to Kunochi and not only continue my attack mid combo, but also use Kunochi’s stored up musou attack. Your team also has a triple attack where you put everyone in slow motion and tag them. After being tagged, the enemies teleport into a Katamari like ball where you and your team usually knock out everyone. It’s an over-the-top super attack that even tops some of the craziest Musous.

The Time Travel mechanic makes for a really interesting story element. Not to spoil anything in the crazy story, but often you’ll be playing through a level when you’ll be prompted to go and save X Warrior. Halfway on your sprint over to save them, don’t they go and die on you. You’ll finish the level as usual and then often be upset that you weren’t able to save X Warrior. Later on, you may unlock Y Warrior who has a memory of where X Warrior was before they die. With this information Kaguya can take you back in time to change the circumstances of X Warrior’s death. After beating that level, you’re given access to the level where X Warrior died only it’s titled “REDUX”. I love everything about this mechanic and only wished it was used in even more ridiculous ways. It made the story mode even more addictive and sometimes unpredictable. It also gives you the chance to see characters who should never have been friends interact with each other, and team up to overcome the odds. Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Nobunaga all kicking ass together? I love it.

Top tracks from SW and DW games make up the soundtrack. These with some demonic other tracks make a great tone to the title. It should be noted that only the JP voices are included in this game. I for one loved the over the top voices, but it did make things a little complicated when certain strategies needed to be executed quickly. Some maps are new and some are remixed versions of older SW and DW games’ maps. They often have rivers of lava and bizarre rock formations. The graphical effect works for the title, making for a vastly different looking game. Some levels are inspired by completely different games too. About 1/3 into the game you show up in the future and Ryu Hyabasa just decides to show up and kick some ass for you. For as wild as the storyline was, I approved of the crossover characters. It wasn’t shoved down your throat and you didn’t have to use them after unlocking them in their respective levels. I loved Magoichi’s love of Joan of Arc.

It’s taken me a bit of time to write this review as I wanted to unlock as many characters and weapons as possible. All 126 Warriors have multiple weapons and unique ones as well. Equipable items return for this title making for some customizability for each character. Having warriors fight together often can charge bond’s between particular characters that will result in true musous, lottery tickets, and even weapons as gifts. Weapon management gets out of hand quickly. Each Warrior can only hold 8 weapons at once. You’ll sometimes get 5 weapons per battle so you have to constantly stop at the blacksmith to merge weapons with similar buffs together. Some buffs add reach or attack, while others add effects like fire or typhoons with every attack.

Warriors Orochi 3 is a spectacle. Pursue the Demons, pursue the Hydra, hell, go back in time and pursue Lu Bu. If you like DW or SW, you’re punishing yourself for not owning this one.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.