As I have said many times before, I love the Warriors series. While there have been many Dynasty Warriors series, the Samurais have been a bit more overlooked. The last release was for the Wii only over 4 years ago, so it’s beyond time for a new one. Finally, we have the new Samurai Warriors 4 for PS4, PS3, and PSVita. Personally, I think it was well worth the wait!

Given how long ago the last release was, there is simply no comparison on the graphics. If you played the new Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, then you’ll have an idea of how the graphics look. They are simply amazing. The opening cutscenes alone are perfectly done. You can see every little detail, every vein on the flower petals, every pore on the character’s faces, even the twinkle in their eyes. During the gameplay, the graphics are still detailed as well. Granted, the generic soldiers all look the same, but the enemy officers are detailed and beautifully done. The developers have gone above and beyond the expected with some of the new musou attacks and other things that the characters do and say.

When the characters do speak, it is all in Japanese. At times, I wish there was an English dub so that I don’t miss things that are being said while I’m fighting, because sometimes it’s hard to read and fight at the same time, but if you do miss what is said, you can always go check the battle log. When I can take a break from the fighting, I love listening to the characters speak. Given that Samurai Warriors 4 is set in Japan, it makes perfect sense for the characters to speak Japanese. The voicework is fluid and melodious.

Really, the basic game hasn’t changed much over the years, but there are a few differences that make Samurai Warriors 4 feel more whole. As is normal, you probably want to start with Story Mode. In Story Mode, you will play through quite a few different clan stories that take place (mostly) in the 1500’s – early 1600’s, Japan’s Sengoku period. There are a few battles on the outer edges of that time frame. While the stories are loosely based on facts, there are a lot of historical inaccuracies, so I wouldn’t recommend using the game to study for a history test or anything. Only a few of the episodes are unlocked when you start playing, but when you beat one any of those, it unlocks more episodes. The majority of the episodes are only 3-4 chapters long, with the exception of the Legend of the Oda, which has 8 levels. Once you start a level, basically you run around and kill everyone with a red bar above their heads with whatever weapons you can use. Inside each level, you will be given objectives. These are optional, but I would recommend completing as many as possible, if only for the items and experience. Plus, they will make it easier to beat the level. If you fail on the main objective, you will lose the level. There are 13 total episodes, so you’ve got a lot to play before you beat them all.

There is a new mode that I like a lot more than I thought I would, Chronicle Mode. In Chronicle Mode, you will have to use your own custom-created character to conquer the land. OK, you’re not actually conquering the land. Basically, you travel throughout whichever land you choose, fight other characters, and write a book of their lives and stories. You will gain allies to fight with you and you will also unlock them for playing in Free Play Mode. There are more details inside Chronicle Mode too, which makes it a very viable option for more play time. The stages are much shorter than in Story Mode, but it is a good place to go when you don’t have much time, but you want to get in a quick battle. Plus, I really like having my own custom character.

In both Story Mode and Chronicle Mode, you will unlock characters that you can use to play in Free Play Mode. Free Play simply lets you pick any level you’ve unlocked so far and play it with any character you’ve unlocked so far. The other place that you can choose to go is the Dojo. This is where you work on your custom characters. Custom characters can really be customized by changing hair styles (of which there are a whole lot to choose from), face shape, eyebrows, eyes, makeup, noses, mouths, and accessories. You can change the colors of lots of the options as well. You can have up to 20 custom characters at any given time. You can also edit the way they look at any time. The only thing you can’t change once a character is created is male to female.

In Story Mode of Samurai Warriors 4, each level that you play will show you how difficult that it is based on the number of stars it has. The original unlocked episodes have easier levels than the ones that you will unlock. You can still choose which difficulty level you would like to play as well, between Easy, Normal, Hard, and Nightmare. Personally, I found Easy to be a breeze, even with level one characters on 3-5 star levels. I played the first time through the levels on Normal without dying. I took two level one characters (not particularly powerful ones either) and played through a three star board on Hard without dying. I did have to be a bit more careful, but it wasn’t too difficult to pull off. I tried a four star with level one characters on Nightmare. While I did manage to take out the first enemy officer, one hit from Keiji Maeda and I was dead (I was a bit hurt already simply from arrows). Personally, I would recommend saving Nightmare for more leveled up characters, but that is up to you.

There are items that you can take into battle that can really make your life easier. You only have 3 slots to put them in at first, but the more you level, the more slots you will get. I can’t tell you how many boards I’ve lost in previous games because someone I was supposed to protect wouldn’t stop fighting and dying. There are items that will not only give you health, but your allies around you as well, so if you use them carefully, you can boost those NPC's health and keep them from dying as quickly.

The game has a built-in morale gauge, which means that the enemies will be harder while they’re winning. You can increase your morale by taking out their Standard Bearers. I tend to go for those right away, even if I am under a time crunch to complete an objective, because it makes killing enemy officers so much easier. If you fail a battle, you still get to keep the weapons found, experience earned, and the objectives you completed are still counted. This makes failing not quite as bad.

If you’ve played any of the Warriors games before, you already know the controls for Samurai Warriors 4 for the most part. (Square) for basic attack, (Triangle) for strong attack, (X) to jump and (O) for your musou attack, with (R1) for your "special skill" attack. You can block (and re-center your camera behind your character) with (L1), while (R3) will let you do a rage attack, which is quite powerful. To make it even stronger, try using your musou attack in rage mode. I did find that with some characters, I don’t use their musou in rage mode as it changes the attack. With some of them, it focuses the range of the attack sharply so it is amazing for taking out one enemy officer, but I find I like to get them all around me at once. It just depends on the characters and their specific attacks.

Your multiple character is a bit different from before. (Options) switches characters. Note, if you are playing in two player local mode, you will only have one character. Unlike before, when you switch characters, you will be at whatever spot your other character is located. If you have them follow your primary character, then that will be right beside you, but if you give them other objectives, you can find yourself on the other side of the battlefield, which can be really handy if used right! Now you can actually accomplish two different objectives on opposite sides of the board without calling a friend to come help you. I recommend getting to know your characters well as they all have special talents. For example, ninjas can double jump, of course. With those characters, use (X) twice to double jump and reach areas that only they can get to.

I am not sure why there are so many more Dynasty Warriors games than there are Samurai Warriors. Maybe it is because there are a whole lot more betrayals in Samurai Warriors, which really makes the plot more complex to keep up with. Of course, you really don’t have to even read the plot if you don’t want to, but I enjoy it. Whatever the reason, I hope that this won’t be the last Samurai Warriors for another 4 years, but at least if it is, it is a great one that should keep you occupied for a while. If you like hack n’ slashes, go pick up Samurai Warriors 4 today!