Samurai Warriors 4: Empires

Samurai Warriors 4: Empires is a third-person hack ‘n’ slash game for PS4, PS3 and PSV and the third edition (the others being Samurai Warriors 4 and Samurai Warriors 4-II) of the fourth installment of the popular series by Omega Force. Similarly to most of its predecessors and the twin Dynasty Warriors series, the title is an exclusive production for the Sony platforms and was initially released in Japan and then in the rest of the world the following year.

Plot

The plot of Samurai Warriors 4: Empires has a formula that is quite typical for both aforementioned series. We are taken to historical reality of feudal Japan, which is the period of shoguns and samurais, and assume the role of one of available characters. Having joined the faction of our choosing, we take part in a series of scenarios that are focused on Battle of Okehazama and Battle of Sekigahara. Similarly to Samurai Warriors 4-II, the game is concentrated on the stories of individual characters rather than the historical period in general.

Mechanics

The gameplay mechanics don’t deviate from the standards of the previous installments of the series. The game is focused primarily on dynamic fights with the use of melee weapons and unique abilities of individual characters that can be developed in the course of the game. The title is enriched by strategy elements that boil down to managing the territories we hold.

Compared to the vanilla version of the game, Samurai Warriors 4: Empires for PS4, PS3 and PSV introduces a number of novelties and enhancements drawn to a large extent from previous installments of the series with the same subtitle (e.g. Samurai Warriors 2: Empires or several parts of Dynasty Warriors: Empires). The developers focused on improving simulation elements and such aspects as the influence of political situation and geographical structure on the outcome of battles. New strategic elements were introduced, as well, for example, connected to administration or entering marriages. The game offers over 200 historical characters (male and female), although the number of playable heroes didn’t change in comparison Samurai Warriors 4-II.

Game modes

The main game mode of Samurai Warriors 4: Empires is obviously the eponymous Empires mode which is divided into two sets of scenarios (depending on faction that we side with) that can be played solo or in cooperation with other players. In Creative Mode, we can also create our own scenario. Before we start playing, we set the difficulty level and edit our hero. It is also worth noting that we can import the character we created in two previous editions of the game but their progress isn’t transferred.

Technical aspects

As far as the technical side is concerned, Samurai Warriors 4: Empires for PS4, PS3 and PSV is based on Samurai Warriors 4-II which was released several months before. It served as a starting point for both the characters and their unique abilities as well as the entire audiovisual layer that looks equally good, and is slightly upgraded compared to the original Samurai Warriors 4.

Last updated on 02 October 2015