Arslan: The Warriors of Legend

Arslan: The Warriors of Legend takes the Dynasty Warriors formula and heads in a new direction but at its core still feels very familiar.
Koei Tecmo's latest offering is jam packed full of epic battles between warring nations, features some very memorable characters and a story that is true to its book and Anime roots.

From the moment you boot up Arslan you now you are in for a ride. You are thrown straight into an epic battle on a wide open battlefield with thousands of enemies waiting to be slaughtered.


Arslan: The Warriors of Legend gives you a good understanding of the controls as you play along. The tutorial is wrapped up in a training exercise you re-live from your childhood and it gives you a good grasp before sending you back out onto the field of battle.

The combat can get a little repetitive. You hack and slash with square and triangle buttons, there is the occasional special attack to throw in, all the while ignoring the block button.

AI is a little slow but with that many on the screen it is understandable, it sometimes feels like they are waiting around to die. Something I was more than happy to oblige with. I dispatched of a couple of hundred in a matter of minutes.

Combat from horseback changes it up a little bit and galloping headlong into a horde of enemies swinging your sword is a hell of a lot of fun. There are also new "heat areas" where pressing "R2" will summon your battalion and start a "Marsden Rush"
Most common I have used so far is the cavalry charge. It looks awesome and you can chain together some insane combos.
One thing to point out is you don't actually kill anyone. It is a knock out, not a kill which makes everything feel a lot less violent and ok to play in the same room as younger audiences.


Visually Arslan is stylish and sharp. Graphics are true current gen and the cell shaded art style lends itself well to the game play and its anime roots.
Cut scenes are gorgeous. Beautifully animated and do a fantastic job of relaying the story, even though all dialogue is in Japanese.

Yes the Dialogue is Japanese, but it is subtitled. Watching a cut scene does feel like you are watching the anime and while the option to skip is available, I found myself watching all of them, even ones that were in excess of ten minutes.






Without giving too much of the story away, Arslan: Warriors of Legend is based off the manga series "The Heroic Legend of Arslan"
The young prince of Pars must escape the invasion of the royal capital and later re-capture it.

Unfortunately for me the language barrier became too much of a hindrance the further I got into the story and I lost track of what was going on. This is by no means a sign of the game being bad as it is probably one of the better "Warriors" games that I have played. But if you are the same way inclined, then the longevity won't be there for you.



While Arslan: Warriors of Legend will never stand out in a crowd for most, it is more than worthy of its place in the Warriors stable. It's upgraded graphics, colourful art style, smooth controls and battles of an epic scale will hook fans and even some newbies.

Arslan Warriors of Legend is out now on PS4, XBone, PS3 & PC

Pat (Snoogan512)


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