Samurai Warriors 4 Empires Review

Samurai Warriors 4 Empires brings a new tactical feel to the action series. Is the game worth conquering? Or should you avoid this one all together? Check out our Samurai Warriors 4 Empires honest game review to help you make your choice!

Samurai Warriors 4 Empires Review

Samurai Warriors 4 Empires plays during the same time period in Japan as Samurai Warrior 4 does. You can play through the Takeda and Uesugi time period, or jump to others like Mitsuhide’s rebellion. All this does is set the pieces you will be playing with on the board. As you play through the story you will see the rise and fall of various empires and kingdoms. One time period may see a flag with one or two areas and the next time period they have five or more. It is interesting to see some of the bigger names rise and fall but a lot of the littler clans end up just being cannon fodder.

After you pick your time period and which clan you will play, it will be time to pick magistrates. These are the people under your command that help improve your army, politics and resources. It becomes a mini game in and of itself to set the right people up with each other for maximum benefits. Some people have good stats but hate each other, others have one good stat and one bad stat and some just plain bring down the rating of something all together. Your magistrates will give you proposals each turn on what they think you should be focusing on improving. They don’t have to be accepted but normally what they want is helpful. It might sound hectic, but it’s actually very easy. The game is presented in a great way and it is easy to find out what you are doing each turn.

When all the planning is done it will be time to attack. Fighting in this game is the same as it’s been for the last two games. You go into a giant group of enemies and just try to lay waste to them. Nothing fancy there, but now you can control you armies with much more precision. The game has easy presets like attack, defend or free controller but you can also assign officers to attack or defend where you please. It’s something pretty basic that actually helps out with the game quite a bit. You can make sure something is defended or have the AI push one side while you push another, it works really well. Your AI units are pretty dumb up close but when they aren’t on the screen they can do some great pushing. Oh you can also use your tactics during battles as well.

Outside of the story mode, which normally has story-related objectives, you can play Genesis Mode. Genesis Mode is basically the same as story mode, except you have the option to make every empire random. You can choose up to eight people to start of your empire or you can let the whole thing be randomized and pick one from there. It is pretty funny to see some of the match ups that can happen. Enemies will be allies and people who weren’t even alive during the same time periods will be teamed up as well. It’s good for when the story scenarios don’t suit you.

The game is subbed in English not dubbed in English like the last two. The dialog can get a little over the top but that is pretty normal in a Warriors game. The game isn’t breaking any barriers graphically, but there are a lot of people on screen at once. You can get upwards of 30-40 people and not drop a frame which is pretty impressive. The main characters have great detail put into them but the other, lesser characters, didn’t get quite as much.

If you are a fan of the Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors games, I think you should give this one a go. The new strategy sessions in between missions is enjoyable and the easy-to-learn combat is the same as it has always been.