Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
- February 9, 2016
- Koei Tecmo Games
- 150h median play time
Playing through the newest game from Omega Force, Arslan: The Warriors of Legend, I experienced the same feeling as I did watching all of the Deadpool shenanigans Reynolds got up to outside of the movie.
"Arslan: The Warriors of Legend" is an action game based on the popular manga and anime series. Players control Crown Prince Arslan as he fights to reclaim his kingdom, leading a small group of allies against overwhelming forces. The game explores themes of maturity, slavery, religious fanaticism, and betrayal, offering a deep and engaging story in addition to exciting combat.
Reviews
- The game features a great story that captures the essence of the anime, with impressive cel-shaded graphics and character designs.
- Combat mechanics are engaging and offer a diverse cast of characters, each with unique movesets, making battles feel dynamic.
- The Rush mechanic adds an exciting layer to gameplay, allowing players to command groups of soldiers in battle.
- The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to significant frame rate drops and performance issues on various systems.
- There is a lack of content and replayability, with a short campaign and repetitive mission structure that may leave players wanting more.
- The absence of an English dub and some accessibility issues, such as small map markers and disappearing subtitles, detracts from the overall experience.
- story187 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story in "Arslan: The Warriors of Legend" is generally well-received for its engaging narrative and strong character development, closely following the anime's plot. However, many reviewers note that it ends abruptly on a cliffhanger, leaving players wanting more, and the overall experience is marred by a lack of replayability and repetitive gameplay. While the presentation is praised for its visuals and cutscenes, the linearity and brevity of the story mode (around 8-10 hours) have led some to feel it doesn't justify the price, especially for those unfamiliar with the source material.
“It's incredible how damn well this game follows the Arslan storyline on missions and outside of them with only very minor tweaks to make the game format work better.”
“This is truly the best marriage of any storytelling to video game I have ever seen, and that even tops Telltale games to give you an idea of how highly I rate this game for staying faithful to the source content.”
“The story itself is strong and gripping, and the way they tell it is great.”
“Story mode is very badly handled.”
“The story doesn't really go anywhere since it follows what is presumably season 1 of the anime and ends on a cliffhanger.”
“The story is tired and predictable.”
- gameplay109 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Arslan: The Warriors of Legend" is a mix of traditional musou mechanics and new features that add depth, such as unique character movesets and the chain rush mechanic, making it more dynamic than typical entries in the genre. However, some players find the gameplay repetitive and marred by issues like clone movesets and a lack of innovation compared to other titles, leading to mixed feelings about its overall execution. While the combat can be enjoyable and fluid, the experience may feel flat for those seeking more variety and depth in gameplay.
“It goes above and beyond as an action game, simple enough to allow for the braindead button-mashing experience you probably know musou games for, but there's a surprisingly deep layer of complexity to the combat and mechanics in this game that nothing else they've made has ever even come close to matching.”
“Every single character has a variety of weapons, and even shared weapons do not have the same movesets like they do in other musou games with this mechanic (e.g. Gieve, Farangis, Arslan, and Daryun all have a bow and their movesets are all different, a rarity for musou titles).”
“The new gameplay elements separate this from Dynasty Warriors, and that is a great thing!”
“The gameplay is just awful.”
“It's too bad the gameplay is flat, dull, uninspired, and repetitive.”
“For those of you who are drawn here as Dynasty/Samurai Warriors fans, know that the gameplay in this game will feel like a snail's pace when compared to these two series.”
- graphics62 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game have received a generally positive reception, with many praising the anime-inspired art style and the ability to run at 60 fps and 4K resolution. While some users noted that the graphical differences between settings were minimal and optimization issues were present, the overall visual presentation, including cutscenes and character designs, was appreciated. However, there were mixed feelings about the game's performance, with some experiencing frame drops during intense moments, indicating that while the graphics are visually appealing, they may not be consistently well-optimized.
“The graphics are simply beautiful and I have had little issue with frame drops apart from when you perform a marden rush or cavalry charge during a cutscene, which is honestly no real annoyance.”
“Technically, KT finally listened and the game can run at 4K, provided your system can run it, and the graphics are beautiful, running at 60 FPS. However, it has a 30 FPS lock during mid-battle cutscenes when you destroy a barrier with the cavalry, but they are fast animations and don't distract you from the action.”
“Arslan: Warriors of Legend has perhaps the best graphics, the best action, and the best character selection, making it a standout title in the genre.”
“Eh, this is a spot where sadly this game isn't as good as previous KT ports of console games to PC... to be honest, I can't even tell the graphical difference between medium and high settings, so you're better off running medium settings or even low settings with textures, texture filtering, and shadows set to medium if you're having bad performance issues.”
“Whilst there is support for 4K resolutions at last and more graphical options than usual from this studio, the game is very poorly optimized.”
“Once my graphics were up to a more manageable middle level, the FPS slowed down considerably (not 60, oh no).”
- optimization36 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 36 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received largely negative feedback, with many users citing poor performance, frame drops, and issues with resolution settings. While some players report smooth gameplay on specific rigs, the overall consensus is that it is poorly optimized, especially compared to previous Koei Tecmo ports, leading to a frustrating experience for many. Users recommend running the game on lower settings to mitigate performance issues, and there are notable glitches such as the game launching in windowed mode despite full-screen settings being selected.
“Runs smoothly on my rig.”
“Better port than usual for Koei standards; some performance problems but almost no crashes for me.”
“I love it, nice graphics (runs smoothly at 1080p with my R9 390), and the most important... all the soldier screams include all characters' voices really similar to the anime.”
“It's badly optimized just as almost every Koei Tecmo game.”
“Actually the game looks nice..., but the optimization is by far the worst aspect of the game. For example, I set the video options to full screen, and the game still opens in window mode. It has frame drops to 30, micro stuttering, and doesn't run fluid at all.”
“Poorly optimized game, doesn't support 1366 x 768 monitor resolution.”
- music10 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received high praise, with many reviewers highlighting the great soundtrack and its energetic, engaging quality that complements the gameplay. While some noted that the musical score may not be groundbreaking, it remains enjoyable and fits well within the context of the game. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the overall experience, earning a solid 9/10 from users.
“Great music.”
“Good combat mechanics, interesting story, nice music, many collectibles, and new options that we didn't have in the Warriors series.”
“Improvements on the Warriors formula are not evenly spread out; the musical score is lackluster.”
“The rocking soundtrack may be typical of Warriors, but it's still a great listen.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers limited replayability, with a short and linear story that can be completed in about 10 hours. While the gameplay is enjoyable, the lack of content progression and complexity reduces the incentive to replay.
“Although replayability and content progression is a bit on the short end, it does deliver a lot of fun.”
“The game itself is around 10 hours long with not much replayability, but the actual story and gameplay are quite good.”
“Story is very short and linear; the system is much simpler than other games, resulting in no replay value.”
“Although replayability and content progression are a bit on the short end, it does deliver a lot of fun.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the character design and story are noted as interesting, the overall character development is overshadowed by poor gameplay, leaving players wanting more depth and engagement in the characters' journeys.
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Players highlight that the most effective way to grind for experience and extras is through the scenario DLC stages, which are considered the best content in the game for this purpose.
“The only DLC worth bothering with are the scenario ones to unlock extra stages because, as is always the case with Musou DLC, the extra stages are by far the best for grinding out experience and extras.”
“Grinding in this game feels tedious and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“The amount of grinding required to progress is overwhelming and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted as being particularly amusing, with players finding it entertaining and engaging. The repeated mention of "funny virgin guys" suggests a playful and lighthearted tone that resonates well with the audience. Overall, the humor contributes positively to the gaming experience.
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent framerate drops and annoying glitches that detract from the overall experience. These technical problems, combined with repetitive missions and a lackluster story, hinder the game's potential.
“There’s no making up for a lackluster story that clearly pads the game length, unimaginative missions, or a weak combo structure, but Arslan: The Warriors of Legend could have been a much better experience had it not been marred by inexcusable framerate problems and sullied with glitches.”
“Poorly optimized game, annoying glitches and AI, missions and combat become repetitive, story is longer than it needs to be.”
Critic Reviews
Arslan Warriors of Legend PS4 Review
Arslan Warriors of Legend is a car crash that you simply shouldn't even slow down to look at!
40%Arslan: The Warriors of Legend Review
A lot of care and effort has been poured into Arslan: The Warriors of Legend's story mode, but the narrative focus has taken attention away from other aspects of the release. Outside of the plot, things are enjoyable but unspectacular, and by and large, the title feels like the basis for a better sequel. On this occasion, Omega Force's latest is like a commanding officer with no charisma – you can find respect for it, but you wouldn't follow it blindly into battle.
60%Riders of the Sun – Arslan: The Warriors of Legend review
Arslan: Warriors of Legend does a great deal more right than it does wrong, but you would likely already need to be fan of the Koei Warriors games to think so. While the improvements this entry has over typical Warriors games are a big plus and make this title more accessible to players unfamiliar with the content it’s based on, they also shine a brighter light on where the developers are not evenly spreading their attention to detail. The right combination of patches and DLC could possibly make this one of the best Warriors games yet, but the unlikelihood of that happening makes this just another example of action game mediocrity; albeit an exceptional one.
75%