Koei Samurai Warriors - PlayStation 2

Work's good

Alright, anyone familiar with Dynasty Warriors already knows the deal. You're a warrior from history, pitted against hordes of enemies. For me, this was actually the first "Warriors" game I ever played when I had rented it a while back, and I was very quickly hooked.Now, the premise is very simple, and the game itself is simple enough as well. However, after playing some of the other games, I realized how much harder Samurai Warriors is in comparison. The first few stages of any character's story mode are downright deadly if you're not careful. And the castle stages, where you must traverse five or six floors, avoiding traps and enemies along the way, are both frustrating and entertaining at the same time.Once you get the hang of the game, it isn't quite as difficult, admittedly. But the missions and multiple endings for each character help to give you new goals as you go along. Not to mention, each character has a fifth weapon, that must be obtained through a specific stage on hard difficulty or higher. So there's plenty to do, and you can have a friend join in on the chaos.This is one the things that I really enjoy about these games. The co-op mode if just plain fun, and often makes accomplishing missions in each stage easier as well. Another mode I rather enjoy is vs mode, where there are three different ways to go against a friend. First one to kill the enemy commander, first to one thousand kills, and... I'm afraid I can't remember the third at the moment, my apologies. Point is, it's a nice way to break up what can sometimes be a monotonous experience.Overall, I adore the game, really. Normally I'm not fond of hack and slash games, but this one provides enough story and challenge to make it worth my while. Not bad for something I randomly picked up off the rental shelf, I must say. So much so, that I finally decided to purchase it as well. Not to mention, one or two of its sequels.

Case was a little banged up, but it works great and plays with no lag!

Samurai Warriors - Video GameGave this to recipient family member. May not have been the best idea sincehis, and all of the young folks these days, are way ahead of the curve withany games. How really would a Gramma know? He said he liked it...

I have never played any of Koei's other games, so I have no idea how this one compares with Dynasty Warriors.Personally, I like this game quite a bit. The controls aren't complicated, the hack-and-slash aspect is awesome for those of us who are of a "killing first, mission second" gaming mindset (like me), and gameplay is not impossible, but also not painfully easy. There's a wide variety of characters (once you unlock them), and the graphics are very lovely.I think some of the character designs could use a little work (like Kuniochi in her sports bra and cargo shorts, or Oichi in her cutesy jailbait anime girl get-up), but all in all, I think the pros outweigh the cons.