I got here into Destiny/Samurai Remnant not as a fan of the Destiny sequence, however as a fan of Omega Drive’s Musou video games. Warriors Orochi on the Wii U, Samurai Warriors: Chronicles on the 3DS, the assorted Hearth Emblem and Legend of Zelda tie-ins on the Change—I’ve performed and loved plenty of these video games. Destiny/Samurai Remnant shares a number of the identical mechanics, but it surely differs in ways in which could make it a pretty possibility for these delay 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 Struggle. That is Highlander-esque “event” during which seven pairs of Masters and Servants should battle till one pair stays. “There could 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 study extra of the Holy Grail Struggle and its Waxing Moon Ritual.
The setup is nice, providing loads of room for character improvement, narrative revelations, and people massive anime battles the place all appears misplaced till reinforcements arrive within the nick of time. Who could be trusted? Who’s price allying with even when they will’t be trusted? It’s all a bit difficult to comply with, truthfully, but it surely makes for a enjoyable narrative arc.
The whole lot of the sport takes place in quite a few cities throughout Edo in mid-Seventeenth century Japan, and Destiny/Samurai Remnant has completed one of the best 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 plenty of enjoyable whenever you first enter, and also you’re rewarded for locating objects and finishing duties as you do. You’ll be able to even pet the cats and canines, which is a factor as of late for some motive. Nonetheless, the Change does have some problem rendering all of those places and actions; there’s plenty of stuttering as you’re employed your approach by means of alleyways and city squares.
After all, cities aren’t only for purchasing and retrieving misplaced objects. They’re additionally for fight, and that’s the place the Musou motion kicks in. Type of. There are far fewer battles than followers could anticipate, and so they’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 tough enemies to take out, surrounded by a dozen or so grunts. Fight is generally dealt with through a sequence of Y and X assaults. The A button launches a extra highly effective assault whenever you’ve stuffed up its gauge. You recognize the routine.
Till you don’t. Some enemies right here will construct up highly effective assaults that you must disrupt with a well-timed X assault. In the event you’re caught in a sequence, you received’t have time to launch it. You even have particular assaults (or buffs) which you can launch by holding the R button and choosing from the 4 expertise you’ve acquired and chosen. These are also gauge based mostly, with the extra highly effective choices depleting extra of the gauge. You’ll be able to replenish them with regular assaults or by consuming the suitable objects when you have them. And really, as a result of you possibly can pause the battles to replenish well being with objects, it’s pretty straightforward to win even in case you’re not terribly environment friendly at fight.
Lastly, your servant can launch particular assaults with the L button, and you’ll even let her (or him) take over the combat for a bit to unleash some actually superb harm. 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 forestalls harm 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 totally different stances to study and contemplate. Water is nice for assaults in opposition to hordes of enemies. Earth is best for protection in opposition to a single highly effective enemy. Wind incorporates magic into the assaults and is beneficial in opposition to monsters. Hearth and Void are nice for high and low well being, respectively, when you purchase them. Every of those assaults (together with normal stats akin to protection, well being, assault, magic, and many others.) could be leveled up by means of ability bushes for Iori and the assorted servants.
It’s quite a bit to handle, however we’re not practically completed.
Iorio’s house base could be leveled up, too, offering entry to totally different talents and power-ups. The weapons you purchase could be enhanced or damaged down for supplies to be put to make use of elsewhere. You’ll be able to play mini-games that briefly enhance your stats or present uncommon supplies. The story returns you house with frequency, so it’s at all times clever to make the most of these boosts when you possibly can. After all, weapon and ability tree enhancements could be constituted of just about wherever.
The sport loop principally strikes you from city to city for exposition, exploration, fetch quests, and fight. Fight areas are marked by pink circles, so you possibly can make the most of them to enhance your expertise and stats. Each from time to time you’ll get a significant boss battle with necessary plot motion. In between, sadly, issues change into as repetitive as in a normal Musou recreation…till you hit a leyline.
When a brand new space is to be unveiled, you want to take away the detrimental power from it by connecting Leylines on the Religious Lands Map in a turn-based board recreation trend. Your “piece” strikes node by node, however the enemies are doing the identical to interrupt the chain between you and your base. You’ve gotten a sure variety of strikes to achieve the purpose, and the foundations or circumstances will typically change as you progress. New enemies arrive, new paths are found, and many others. You do get some talents 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 talents of any rogue servants you’ve acquired.
I initially preferred this shift in gameplay and tone. Because the Leylines acquired extra complicated, nevertheless, they began to get in the best way, breaking any momentum the sport was constructing. In the event you simply drop me in a city after an extended gameplay session, I’m at all times compelled to discover that city. Current me with a Leyline puzzle, nevertheless, and that meant closing-time.
So, the way you’ll really feel about Destiny/Samurai Remnant will largely rely on your total view of Omega Drive’s Musou video games. In the event you love the texture of the visceral, fixed fight, you seemingly received’t take pleasure in this recreation’s deliberate pacing and lengthy gaps with little motion. If, nevertheless, you take pleasure in your preventing to be evenly combined with quest fixing and puzzle parts, then Destiny/Samurai Remnant might be one of many higher video games you’ve performed this yr—and nicely into the subsequent with the out there Growth Cross.