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The Best Anime Musou Games


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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:28 am Reply with quote
My only and current musou title to date is Warriors All-Stars, and it's not anime-based.

So Heidi, is this the new gaming article feature of the week?
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GoldCrusader



Joined: 25 Apr 2017
Posts: 1021
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:36 am Reply with quote
The best anime musou is still Dynasty warrior gundam reborn. It's the best I ever played of a musou game.
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5455
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:37 am Reply with quote
Pretty Cure Warriors! C'mon, Toei! Make that one a reality. It will be a perfect video game for young girls (plus other people)! Surprised
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:44 am Reply with quote
belvadeer wrote:
My only and current musou title to date is Warriors All-Stars, and it's not anime-based.

So Heidi, is this the new gaming article feature of the week?


Nope! We're still working on filling Dustin's shoes. We're hoping to bring This Week in Games back inside the next 2 weeks. Thanks for your patience!
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:05 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
Nope! We're still working on filling Dustin's shoes. We're hoping to bring This Week in Games back inside the next 2 weeks. Thanks for your patience!


Ah gotcha. Thanks for the update, Zac.
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Xavon



Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 366
Location: Minnesota
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:11 pm Reply with quote
Although it doesn't have the same capture points, and the number of enemies isn't quite as massive, I still think Bleach: Soul Resurrección is close enough to go on the list.
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Souther



Joined: 22 Feb 2015
Posts: 601
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:15 pm Reply with quote
Of course, I'm gonna have to stick up for Ken's Rage here lol. The jump system in the first game allowed an amount of freedom you really couldn't find in a lot of Musous. Loads of cools combos you could do, only problem was the game felt quite sluggish. The sequel sped the game up, but removed all the jump cancelling. The visuals of the games never really bothered me particularly.

As for Berserk, I know the lack of mission objectives/meaningful base captures is a common complaint, but I didn't really care about that. I agree that the battle-system needed to be kicked up a notch, and personally, I feel that the real meat of Berserk only comes post-game, Endless Eclipse Mode is quite fun, provides more objectives/unlocks, and is extremely challenging past 200+ floors. On the other hand, Schierke's probably one of the most fun Musou characters I've played and Berserker Armour Guts is similarly a blast.

As for what properties I feel would make good Musous.....a Shonen Jump crossover Musou would be pretty good IMO. Sailor Moon/Precure too? Dunno, there's quite a few properties I'd like to see get Musous.
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2518
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:05 pm Reply with quote
I actually had a lot of fun with Ken's Rage 1, but I will agree that the sequel felt slightly lacking, though I'm sure part of that was because I was playing through the same exact story that I did in the original, and I didn't feel like playing through it again just to reach the new content (i.e. all of the post-Raoh story).

I only ever played Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, but that's still one of my all-time favorite Musou games. The sheer speed of that game was insane, and when you use a speedy unit like the F91 it was only even more blazing fast. Personally, I say just skip the DW Gundam 3, because it's not like the game really follow a linked storyline, anyway.

I did also play a little bit of Pirate Warriors & Arslan, but neither really grabbed me liked the others, though I do know that PW is generally considered the best of them all. Overall, though, I do love the Musou Series, but it's definitely not one to play every single new entry of. Personally, I've stuck to just the odd-numbered entries of Dynasty Warriors (plus 8), if only to make sure they feel somewhat different fresh from the last one I played.
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Superfield



Joined: 13 Jun 2016
Posts: 76
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:21 pm Reply with quote
darkchibi07 wrote:
Pretty Cure Warriors! C'mon, Toei! Make that one a reality. It will be a perfect video game for young girls (plus other people)! Surprised


I thought I was the only one. *manly tears*

Seriously, though, as much as I would like a fighting game akin to Dragon Ball FighterZ for Pretty Cure, I would personally enjoy a Musou game more... and that's considering that my only experience with the series is through Hyrule Warriors.
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Shar Aznabull



Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Posts: 236
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:37 pm Reply with quote
Out of the Gundam musou, 2 is probably my favorite because it has the best interactions between characters from different series and that's the kind of thing I love as a Gundam fan. 3 definitely looks and feels the best out of the bunch, and Reborn has a ton of suits though most of the new additions are just from SEED. One of the really disappointing things about the series though is how little representation G Gundam gets, despite it making the most sense for a musou game. Besides that it's easily my favorite spin-off musou series, barring 1 which doesn't really hold up.

I actually have a soft spot for Ken's Rage, it's far from perfect but I appreciate it for trying something a bit different and it has the best English HnK cast as far as I'm concerned. I haven't played Arslan as I haven't seen the new anime (I'm kind of disappointed that it doesn't use Amano's art style, no offense to Arakawa) but Berserk was a giant disappointment for me. Maybe I placed my expectations too high, but I was really hoping for something better than a below average musou. I haven't played Fire Emblem Warriors yet either, I'm waiting to see if we'll get some characters from Path of Radiance (my personal favorite) as DLC. The current roster is pretty disappointing overall though since I'm not really a fan of Awakening and Fates.

It's not really an anime musou, but I have to commend Hyrule Warriors for going above and beyond in paying tribute to its source material while also evolving the musou formula in smart ways that I wouldn't mind seeing in the main series. And as for the main series, if anyone has never played one 8 Xtreme Legends Complete Edition is easily the best in my book. It's absolutely loaded with content and the three main campaigns are all great ways to get into the story. Highly recommended.
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Dumas1



Joined: 20 Dec 2012
Posts: 73
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:55 pm Reply with quote
The Gundam Breaker series has some of the more interesting Musou-styled games out there. You're "only" blowing up dozens of mobile suits instead of thousands, but there's a fair variety of maps over three games, from the odd (hobby shops and craps tables) to the infuriating (enemies sniping you from across a canyon, or hopping around floating debris). And the best part is that you get to build your own mobile suit, from head to toe with a wide selection of weapons and special moves. A lot of somewhat obscure units turn up, too.

Ok, it's really about fighting with gunpla models like Build Fighters, but it's a great take on the formula. You start as a 1/144 scale model and can take on 1/100 or even 1/60 scale enemies that tower over you. It's a real shame that none of the games ever made it Stateside.
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LinkTSwordmaster



Joined: 23 Dec 2005
Posts: 370
Location: PA / USA
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:17 pm Reply with quote
Which Musou games to buy and why (always play on Hard):

Dynasty Gundam 2 (XB360/PS3):
-Great story mode that shows off the Universal Century timeline with multiple endings depending on your performance & knowledge of the story.

-Great simulation mode that lets you pick a pilot as your personal character and then turn them into a Cyber-Newtype if you so choose to roleplay them that way.

-But, the single defining feature for which I recommend this game that other Musou titles lack: Versus Mode. I personally play Musou titles as a pseudo-3D fighter with combos & juggles, not unlike DoA or Tekken. For some crazy reason, this is the ONLY Musou game I know of with an online versus mode.

Dynasty Gundam 3 (XB360/PS3): The story is absolutely worthless on this one, but they added a lot of ways to customise your Mobile Suits and a fairly deep combat system. Guard break > launch attack > boost/juggle > Musou finisher......if you want to modify & customise stuff this was the better Dynasty Gundam, especially compared to Gundam Reborn, but the story is bad, the online multiplayer is bad, and the maps can get a little repetative.

Samurai Warriors 2: Empires (XB360): Is a great combat/strategy game. It can be quite thrilling to be going one-on-one with the enemy commander while additionally trying to keep your soldiers' supply lanes open. The pure combat of guarding, countering, combo'ing on this one makes it one of my favorites of all-time.

Dynasty Warriors 6: Strikeforce (XB360/PS3): This is Koei's answer to the Monster Hunter franchise. Unlike Dynasty Warriors 6 which was a bit shallow and bland, Strikeforce has a fun story, deep combat, lots of questing/crafting/bosses. All of it can be played online with up to 4 people, and there is a versus arena (but it usually devolves into a free-for-all and isn't necessarily balanced due to some of the higher-level equips you might be wearing).

Dynasty Warriors 7 + Xtreme (PS3): Story. This one is purely for the story which functions both as a fun game and what I would consider to be THE primary Romance of the Three Kindoms storytelling to date on any of the Dynasty Warriors games. Otherwise go play RotTK11/13 or watch Red Cliff on BluRay.

Warriors Orochi 3: Ultimate (PS3): Lots of character customisation, all of your favorite Koei characters, okay-ish story and lots of things to do if you like min/maxing and pulling off the best combos and kill counts. If I were only allowed one Musou game, it would probably be this one.

Samurai Warriors Chronicles (3DS): Great story & character customisation - you actually have an avatar character you can customise to suit your playstyle & then talk to the different commanders after combat to get to know them better. The game gets more challenging the farther in you go and though it's a little easy if you just try to blow through it, the strategies required to get perfect clears on each map are pretty cool and push your limits, especially with the touch-screen.

-I've not played Samurai Warriors 4 or 4:E yet, so this is a great way to experience the full Samurai Warriors story without playing Nobunaga's Ambition.

Honorable mention is Hyrule Warriors - it has some good combat and both the story and free modes are fun, especially in co-op, but the lack of online multiplayer and the fact Nintendo never gave us the last bit of DLC maps the 3DS got really sucked. If a Switch version comes with all of the DLC included and online co-op, this would be a lovely game.
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NJ_



Joined: 31 Oct 2009
Posts: 2992
Location: Wallington, NJ
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:34 pm Reply with quote
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 1 - Decent game but would have been better if not for the Meridian Chart system it had for upgrading the characters. Didn't like the controls of some characters either like slow Kenshiro. Got tired of Dream Mode, especially for the characters who weren't playable in Story Mode like Jagi (who was terrible to play as).

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 - An improvement over the first game in some ways (no meridian charts, Ken running faster)...unfortunately for Story Mode, it reminded me how much I hated the anime's second series and the story arc covered after Kaioh (which I heard was the last arc in the manga) was also terrible. I also didn't like how Koei released it here since it was digital-only on all consoles except the 360 version.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk - It has it's issues but it was much more fun than both Ken's Rage games and also a better adaptation of the manga than the recent CG anime series (though that's not saying much). A bit of a shame that Koei prevented the one Casca DLC costume from getting released here but it's not too big of a deal to me considering she was the worst character gameplay-wise (especially when dealing with her stages in Endless Eclipse Mode) and I was never going to use it anyway.
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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2757
Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:59 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact for what it was.

I've read that Kingdom: Ikkitousen No Tsurugi! is a very competent entry in this genre.

GoldCrusader wrote:
The best anime musou is still Dynasty warrior gundam reborn. It's the best I ever played of a musou game.


Isn't that the one Bandai Namco cheaped out on the localization? I remember it being a point of contention that they didn't dub it and left the in-game banter unsubbed.
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Aquasakura



Joined: 01 Jan 2014
Posts: 700
Location: Chesterfield, Virginia, U.S.A
PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:39 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
And hey, if you're daunted by the hundreds of episodes of One Piece you'll need to watch to actually catch up to where the anime's at, Pirate Warriors 3 provides a surprisingly solid abridged adaptation of the story that can help you catch up -- making it both a great Musou game and a good place for One Piece newbies to hop in.

While I did have exposure to One Piece I have not been keeping up with the anime and I am drastically behind, so hearing that this game actually does a good job in catching one up to things is a surprise to me. Plus I did want to give this game a try at some point. I may give it a try although I still want to read the original manga at some point.

Quote:
The Heroic Legend of Arslan anime didn't seem to make waves in the West as much as it did in Japan, but that didn't stop KOEI-Tecmo from releasing an English adaptation of their Arslan Musou game.

Quote:
A common complaint I hear about Musou games, often from people who haven't really played a lot of Musou games, is that they're all just re-skins of each other. Of course, this isn't actually true, but out of all the licensed Musou titles, Arslan feels the closest to being just “Dynasty Warriors but anime.”

Sorry to hear the story didn't catch on. I wanted to give this series a try, but I haven't gotten around to it. Also, being that that my only exposure to a Warriors game so far is Hyrule Warriors with a little bit of Fire Emblem Warriors the fact this one plays more closely to the original series most likely would not bother me. I might give this one a try as well (though once I get around to reading the manga or watching the anime).

Quote:
So what are your favorite anime Musou games?

So far it would be Hyrule Warriors. It was my first experience playing a Warriors game and I love beating up a bunch of enemies while using crazy, special moves on them. I also did enjoy the story.

Quote:
What properties do you think would work well with Musou-style gameplay?

I have been playing around with an idea of a Warriors style game for Little Witch Academia. Given how the series is, I think KOEI TECHMO's team would have a blast as they get creative in making this game like they did with Hyrule Warriors. Much like in Hyrule Warriors I can see each LWA character having their own unique move sets that would be fantastic and over the top while being fun and creative. Furthermore as an acquaintance of mine applied when I was sharing this idea with him, a possibility of a LWA Warriors game could be a refreshing entry in the Warriors franchise as it would be magical base. I would be so stoked if this became reality.
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