Berserk and the Band of the Hawk

[DANGERMAN]

Stupid name, his name is Guts (which you could argue is also a stupid name)  not Berserk, so it should be Berserk: The Band of the Hawk 

 

Anyway, it's a musu game, like every franchise is at some point, but more so than Zelda, Dragon Quest, and Fist of the North Star. I think because it lends itself to it so much. 

 

If you've never played a Dynasty Warriors game, you smash through hundreds of enemies. Where the game comes in, and why they aren't always as bad as their reputation, is that you have manage the battlefield. You aren't just pushing through killing everyone, like First of the North Star, you have to rush to zones and follow instructions. You aren't defending like Dragon Quest, and while there are 'boss' fights, they aren't tied to game mechanics like Zelda's. 

 

I'm still in the Golden Age arc, although towards the end of it. I don't know if anyone else on here is a Berserk fan, but if not, there's a split in Berserk. It starts with,  then returns to after the Golden Age arc, hellish demons and twisted fantasy tropes. Think Witcher but even grimmer. The bit that keeps being made in to animes is a more traditional war story. Griffith wants his own kingdom and has a mercenary group, Gutts ends up joining the Band of the Hawk, and they work their way up to revered knights of the kingdom of Midland. Eventually some stuff happens and the world turns to shit 

 

Anyway, to my point. When it's a war story a lot of the manga has Griffith plotting elaborate battle strategies. That's kind of what Dynasty Warriors is, particularly when you pair it with Gutts ripping through hundreds of enemies. I'm not at the point where things take a turn yet, so we'll see how the game changes when that happens 

 

The story is done ok, ish. I wonder how well it would come across to someone who doesn't already know it. During battles you've got no chance. It's all Japanese voices with subtitles, you can't take it in with everything going on. There's some anime, and some cg cutscenes. One thing they do is push some of the more horrible stories to little side vignettes. I'm not sure if it's deliberate, but it's probably better to not have conversations about child rape while you're slaughtering 800 men 

 

It's alright, bit dull to play a lot of, but it's not the worst musu game so far 

[DANGERMAN]

@mr lakituthat would be one of the better reviews for it tbf