Touken Ranbu Warriors for the Switch is developed by DMM and published by Koei Tecmo America. Starting the game up, I immediately noticed the menu screen with colorful visual graphics of Sakura blossoms and Japanese architecture. I start up the single player campaign, where I am put into a battlefield as enemies sprout up from thin air. The game selects specific characters for me as I am met with a tutorial on how to defeat enemies using a sword. The combat is action-packed as I continuously hack and slash zombie-like enemies from the Historical Retrograde Army (HRA), which are minions of villains that try to change history to suit their evil ambitions. Although the villains do not show up, it is assumed that they are powerful another to spawn tens of thousands of these zombie-like creatures to destroy anyone that fight against their will.
After I move around a bit, the assumed mascot of Touken Ranbu, a cute dog named Konnosuke, shows up guiding some swordsmen around trying to defend their palace which at times throughout the game will be invaded by the HRA. It is really energizing and action filled as you are constantly at a 2 vs 1000 numbers disadvantage, but each of the male characters has unique and special combat abilities which make the fights more about you razing fields of enemies.
After defeating the first wave of enemies, the game directs us to a set of different characters where it is said that there are five teams of heroes each trying to defend a different section of our base. Each team introduces us to a different type of combat as we hack and slash all the zombie-like enemies. There are a lot of customizable options as we can mix and match different team members, each with their own sword style and move set.
The main campaign involves both defending the palace from the HRA zombie-like creatures but also time travelling to various Japanese battles and events to defeat the HRA that are trying to change the course of history. It is both a history lesson and a puzzle at times which events they are trying to change and how defeating them will change the course of history for the better. Each chapter event requires the player to take several specific characters to defeat the HRA. Different characters are required for each chapter event so levelling up everyone is recommended.
The combat is fun, but I feel like the real sticking point is the characters themselves. There are many interactions between the swordsmen where you can see their personalities, past history and even rivalries. It is a bit hard to follow at first if you are new to the franchise, as it assumes prior knowledge of the characters from previous games and media that are mostly only available in Japan. I would recommend Touken Ranbu Warriors to gamers who like action-packed battles as well as prior fans of the Touken Ranbu franchise. I would also recommend it to gamers who want to see elegant sword moves in 3D.
I give Touken Ranbu Warriors an 8/10.
For more information, visit: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/touken-ranbu-warriors-switch/
I started gaming on the PS2 playing 2K and various fighting games, then played a lot of Nintendo Wii games. Currently, I like playing JRPGs as well as platformers and MOBAs. In a video game, I enjoy exploring the intricacies of fighting systems as well as viewing various character developments throughout the story of the game.
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