In all the best ways
Current anime games are insane to me. This generation has basically made it possible to play an animated TV series, with a stable framerate to boot. Games like One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 on the PS4 run as smooth as silk, and manage to maintain an aesthetic that looks nigh indistinguishable from anime.
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is one such game.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan isn’t the most well known series — every fellow writer at TGS hadn’t heard of it. The franchise goes as far back as 1986, when it debuted as a fantasy novel series, eventually getting a manga adaption, as well as anime films and OVAs. Similar to Saint Seiya, Arslan is getting a shot in the arm from a brand new TV series in 2015 — so it makes perfect sense that Japan would be getting its first game since 1993.
The entire feel of Arslan is more epic in nature (I don’t mean that in the “epic!” meme sense), with a concise narrative that follows the campaign of Arslan, the heroic crown prince of Pars. He has an army at his disposal, a fact that is exemplified by a particularly silly mechanic that allows players to control an entire troop of cavalry units during specific sequences, with the power to kill 100s of units at once with a massive super attack. As serious as the tone is, it still manages to be batshit crazy.
The anime presentation is also very deliberate, as Arslan has a more cinematic feel than other Warriors games. There’s lots of in-engine cutscenes during scene transitions, coupled with great performances that never feel phoned in or cheesy. The game also looks fantastic on PS4, and aside from some occasional stuttering during some non-playable scripted scenes, it runs flawlessly. I was really impressed with the fire effect that littered the battleground halfway into the mission, which gave the map an entirely different, dire feel.
There’s also a character switching mechanic, which saw a shift into a playable Daryun, the loyal right-hand man of Arlsan, after his master was left indisposed by falling into a pit. It was here that I was introduced to the d-pad weapon-switching system, which offers up the option to use wide reaching polearm or short-range but deadly sword. Even combat is cinematic, as one of Daryun’s moves impales the enemy on his pole before chucking them across the battlefield.
Arslan also boasts an intuitive blocking and dodging ability, with the typical combo system found in most Warriors games, and advanced concepts like guard breaking. Those people that say Omega Force only develops repetitive button mashers clearly don’t play their games.
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend’s demo map wouldn’t feel out of place in Dynasty Warriors 2 or 3, and there’s plenty of modern conveniences in tow to take advantage of the power of the PS4. The game is set for an October 1 release this year in Japan on PS3, PS4, and Xbox One. A localization is slated for 2016.
