I got here into Destiny/Samurai Remnant not as a fan of the Destiny sequence, however as a fan of Omega Power’s Musou video games. Warriors Orochi on the Wii U, Samurai Warriors: Chronicles on the 3DS, the varied Fireplace Emblem and Legend of Zelda tie-ins on the Change—I’ve performed and loved lots of these video games. Destiny/Samurai Remnant shares among the identical mechanics, however it differs in ways in which might make it a horny choice for these postpone by the everyday “1 in opposition to 1,000” Musou gameplay.
True to the sequence’ supply materials, Destiny/Samurai Remnant thrusts gamers into the Holy Grail Battle. That is Highlander-esque “match” wherein seven pairs of Masters and Servants should battle till one pair stays. “There will be just one,” it’s been stated. Miyamoto Iori, the adopted son of the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, finds himself on this wrestle alongside the servant Saber. To outlive, Iori must grasp the sword (and magic), forge alliances, and be taught extra of the Holy Grail Battle and its Waxing Moon Ritual.
The setup is nice, providing loads of room for character growth, narrative revelations, and people massive anime battles the place all appears misplaced till reinforcements arrive within the nick of time. Who will be trusted? Who’s price allying with even when they’ll’t be trusted? It’s all a bit difficult to comply with, actually, however it makes for a enjoyable narrative arc.
The whole thing of the sport takes place in quite a few cities throughout Edo in mid-Seventeenth century Japan, and Destiny/Samurai Remnant has carried out the most effective job of city-building since perhaps Ruli Metropolis from The Final Story on the Wii. Exploring the quite a few and richly detailed cities is lots of enjoyable while you first enter, and also you’re rewarded for locating gadgets and finishing duties as you do. You possibly can even pet the cats and canine, which is a factor lately for some motive. Nevertheless, the Change does have some issue rendering all of those places and actions; there’s lots of stuttering as you’re employed your approach by means of alleyways and city squares.
After all, cities aren’t only for buying and retrieving misplaced gadgets. They’re additionally for fight, and that’s the place the Musou motion kicks in. Sort of. There are far fewer battles than followers might anticipate, they usually’re in opposition to fewer enemies. The vast majority of them really feel just like the officer battles within the Warriors video games; there are one or two troublesome enemies to take out, surrounded by a dozen or so grunts. Fight is usually dealt with by way of a series of Y and X assaults. The A button launches a extra highly effective assault while you’ve crammed up its gauge. You realize the routine.
Till you don’t. Some enemies right here will construct up highly effective assaults that it’s a must to disrupt with a well-timed X assault. In the event you’re caught in a series, you gained’t have time to launch it. You even have particular assaults (or buffs) that you may launch by holding the R button and deciding on from the 4 expertise you’ve acquired and chosen. These are also gauge primarily based, with the extra highly effective choices depleting extra of the gauge. You possibly can replenish them with regular assaults or by consuming the best gadgets when you’ve got them. And truly, as a result of you’ll be able to pause the battles to replenish well being with gadgets, it’s pretty straightforward to win even if you happen to’re not terribly environment friendly at fight.
Lastly, your servant can launch particular assaults with the L button, and you may even let her (or him) take over the combat for a bit to unleash some actually wonderful injury. Managing all of that is key to battle effectivity, with quite a few components coming into play. For instance, most bosses have a defensive layer that stops injury from regular assaults. Do you waste your servant’s assaults to crack that protection, or do you chip away at it together with your particular expertise, unleashing your servant to complete the bosses off solely after their defenses are gone.
Iori additionally has completely different stances to be taught and contemplate. Water is nice for assaults in opposition to hordes of enemies. Earth is healthier for protection in opposition to a single highly effective enemy. Wind incorporates magic into the assaults and is beneficial in opposition to monsters. Fireplace and Void are nice for high and low well being, respectively, when you purchase them. Every of those assaults (together with customary stats akin to protection, well being, assault, magic, and so on.) will be leveled up by means of ability timber for Iori and the varied servants.
It’s so much to handle, however we’re not practically carried out.
Iorio’s dwelling base will be leveled up, too, offering entry to completely different skills and power-ups. The weapons you purchase will be enhanced or damaged down for supplies to be put to make use of elsewhere. You possibly can play mini-games that briefly enhance your stats or present uncommon supplies. The story returns you dwelling with frequency, so it’s all the time smart to reap the benefits of these boosts when you’ll be able to. After all, weapon and ability tree enhancements will be constituted of just about wherever.
The sport loop mainly strikes you from city to city for exposition, exploration, fetch quests, and fight. Fight areas are marked by pink circles, so you’ll be able to reap the benefits of them to enhance your expertise and stats. Each once in a while you’ll get a significant boss battle with necessary plot motion. In between, sadly, issues turn into as repetitive as in an ordinary Musou sport…till you hit a leyline.
When a brand new space is to be unveiled, you must take away the unfavorable power from it by connecting Leylines on the Non secular Lands Map in a turn-based board sport style. Your “piece” strikes node by node, however the enemies are doing the identical to interrupt the chain between you and your base. You might have a sure variety of strikes to achieve the objective, and the principles or circumstances will typically change as you progress. New enemies arrive, new paths are found, and so on. You do get some skills to assist, akin to sending your servant again to stop the enemy from reaching your base, delaying the transfer counter so that you don’t run out of turns, or counting on the particular skills of any rogue servants you’ve acquired.
I initially preferred this shift in gameplay and tone. Because the Leylines received extra complicated, nonetheless, they began to get in the way in which, breaking any momentum the sport was constructing. In the event you simply drop me in a city after a protracted gameplay session, I’m all the time compelled to discover that city. Current me with a Leyline puzzle, nonetheless, and that meant closing-time.
So, the way you’ll really feel about Destiny/Samurai Remnant will largely rely upon your total view of Omega Power’s Musou video games. In the event you love the texture of the visceral, fixed fight, you seemingly gained’t get pleasure from this sport’s deliberate pacing and lengthy gaps with little motion. If, nonetheless, you get pleasure from your preventing to be evenly combined with quest fixing and puzzle components, then Destiny/Samurai Remnant shall be one of many higher video games you’ve performed this yr—and properly into the following with the out there Enlargement Go.