Warriors Orochi PSP Review

You won’t need your brain but you will certainly need some plasters to cover up those sore finger blisters after hammering the button as if it were your worst enemy. Yes, as you might have already guessed, the Warriors are back yet again, and for those who aren’t familiar with previous releases of this great fan service, Warriors Orochi combines the forces of both Dynasty and Samurai Warriors in a very silly story that explains how this coming together has become possible.

Warriors Orochi is actually the most complete Warriors game to appear on the PSP. The previous releases had small handheld friendly levels, but Orochi is actually more in line with console versions of the love it or hate it series (the Japanese certainly love it, whilst it has more of a cult following here in the west). The battlefields are now impressively larger as a result, but as you can save during levels and return later, brief handheld sessions are still very much possible.

You have your samurais and ancient Chinese warriors together for the very first time, but this isn’t Orochi’s only trick. You now have a trio of characters (divided into technique, speed and power classes) in battle at once, allowing you to switch between them at a button press. This tag team system means that warriors with badly depleted health bars can be sidelined with another of your warriors taking their place. Health restores pretty quickly whilst warriors are sitting it out, and their Musou gauge also begins to fill.

With all the above said Orochi is an easier game than its predecessors, as falling health bars doesn’t mean you need to bolt like a horse in a stable fire when given the chance. A quick switch to a fresh warrior does the job in these critical situations, and rarely will you have to be seeking a health pickup to save yourself from doom on the battlefield. It may even be too easy for some.

As for options, the story mode is split into four and there‘s an ad-hoc coop mode, but whatever your objective or whichever mode you are playing you’ll be furiously bashing the buttons as if on violent remote control. A lot of people know what to expect from a Warriors game by now, and Orochi will do little to surprise these people.

Between and before levels you can still level up your characters (there’s close to 80 ancient warriors this time around) and weapon fusion is now possible. This fusing of weapons allows you to create a new more powerful weapon and will please those who like such customisation options. See, it’s not all about finger abuse.

If you like this sort of brainless action Warriors Orochi is one of the finest available on the PSP, although warrior switching may make things a little too easy for those used to a harsher difficulty level. If you don’t like this sort of thing then the latest Warriors game has little to sway your opinion towards the positive side. Whatever your mindset, it’s difficult to disagree that Warriors Orochi is an amazing port.