A bit late, but the official Joshticle Review is finally here! As my first ever review, all feedback would be highly appreciated and would be a great help for improvement in the future. There was so much more I wanted to talk about but let’s face it, nobody wants to watch a 30 minute review lol.
OhhhhMyJosh I don't know if you played toukiden 2 yet but it's a very good open world rpg it's a team Omega force game and I really see a big improvement in features
radeed Rad in toukiden 2 it is a true open world graphically superior to omegas previous games toukiden 2 would be a great game to play while waiting on dw9 it will prepare you and it's online co op so you can do missions with some buds it has a pretty decent online community at the moment the game has alot of depth one of my favorite koei games at the moment until dw9 lol
So, besides awesome new characters and basically same combat as the other Samurai Warriors, they added a new day and night/different age characters system, a better version of conquest mode from Dynasty Warriors 7, and a perhaps crappier but more rewarding version of Stratagems from Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires. All Around, a good and new awesome edition to Samurai Warriors franchise that I should play. Thats what I take out of this lol
It has come to my attention that I made a little mistake. I said, "Once you beat the story however, any character can be played on any stage." This isn't accurate. All stages can be replayed with any character EXCEPT the final 3 battles. Moreover, to replay a stage with any character, you just need to clear the battle once (NOT complete the entire story). I'll do better next time sorry.
For some reason I cried. When I played mission when you protect the Sanada Maru Ward. Also last mission. Man Yukimura, really fought for his friends. Such loyalty. Witness the Might of the Sanada!
I’ve always prefer Japanese history over Chinese so I’m a little bias in terms of musou games. But this game really fell in love with the aspects of game designs. Throw it all into SM5 add a little bit more and you have yourself a winner. So proud of the samurai team for this one they really put effort into the entire experience.
It's a good game, but as usual, KOEI got lazy with some things. - They could easily have given a unique weapon to Tokugawa Hidetada and Takeda Katsuyori but nope, generic weapon and moveset is better apparently. - Lady Muramatsu should've been playable as well, there's no reason to keep her as the sole UNPC. - Aging system was poorly implemented in my opinion. Sanada Masayuki, Yukimura and Nobuyuki as well as Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hidetada were the only ones to age properly. Chacha/Lady Yodo could've been as well, but even after Yukimura became an adult, she was still using her teenage design. Oh, right, in KOEI's world, god forbid a woman can be in her thirties. - Some Osaka defenders would've been appreciated, at least Goto Matabei should've been a new playable character considering how important he was in the Osaka campaign. - Chikurin'in/Akihime was needed as well in my opinion to properly tell Yukimura's story. She was the exact reason why he sided with the Toyotomi in the first place, but instead Chacha/Lady Yodo was the main interaction for Yukimura as far as female characters goes. It's a bit stupid considering he hasn't really interacted with her in history.
What’s also strange is that they didn’t include Toyotomi Hideyori. You would think Chacha’s own son would be a strong motivation for her to keep her family safe after what happened to her father and mother.
@@SilentAssassin927 They clearly didn't want to portray Chacha as Hideyoshi's wife. She was more like an adopted daughter or someone to take care of. They can BS this and make Hideyori Nene's son. He does look like her in the anime anyway.
@@Cure_Gorgeous I just think it's weird that they cut out Hideyori all together. I mean he was a driving force for many that were fiercely loyal to the Toyotomi clan, Mitsunari especially because he wanted to protect the future of the Toyotomi. They could've developed the relationship between Hideyoshi and Chacha throughout the game. It just didn't make sense at all to Chacha as the head of the Toyotomi during the siege of Osaka without Hideyori.
Thank you for that review! Bought this this game because of u, i'm a fan of Dynasty Warriors, but because of ur review i will try to become a samurai warriors fan too. :)
This is my first musou titel since DW5 and boy, I am overwhelmed, but also excited to get into this behemoth of a game, especially after your review. Thanks!
It's an excellent game and lots of fun. Very satisfying experience. By the way, I'm Japanese-literate and did not import this title, but I did import Warriors All-Stars and it has lived up to my hopes of being a very fun game. But this Sanada game flat out impressed me.
LOL, I left auto translate captions on for when Lady Muramatsu spoke at 14:23 by accident. "Are you Kim rap don't you my stuff? Wanna know who's our style my dick you're making lasagna?"
For a first review I am really impressed. Both with points raised/structure and the presentation itself. I was about to ask if you were going to review Berserk, but you already kind of reccomended it and it is even older than SW:SoS so not bloody likely, huh. Regardless it was just so damn fun, especially playing as apostles.
😁 Thanks a lot. I want to review Berserk Musou, but it has been so long since I played through it that I forgot most (if not all) of the opinions I had on it. Needless to say I enjoyed it a lot and I will eventually go back for that platinum one of these days.
After I have played Berserk and the Band of the Hawk to 100% I'm gonna play this one. The changes they made for Spirit of Sanada are what I wanted for the series for a long time.
The House of Sanada have been through a lot and they have witnessed the Sengoku Jidai unfold in more chaotic ways than one with warlords fall and rise as they struggle to unite Japan in their unique vision
It's genuinely soothing to see that you share my view that the exploration battles, that they feel needless and genuinely underwhelming compared to the multi-stage battles. I've mentioned it here and there during my still ongoing LP, but I understand the narrative purpose of the exploration battles, helping to set up the big battles or giving you some character interaction, but they're just so lame and flat compared to the big battles that I associate Warriors games with.
I love this game. I bought it day one and have been loving it ever since. My only real nit pick in the story is Chacha. I love the character, but her character's appearance shafts Hideyori, her son who's really the issue during the last chapter. KT has this thing where they are afraid to touch extra marital affairs in SW & DW. As Chacha was Hideyoshi's concubine and Hideyoshi is married to Nene, it puts KT in scenario they'd rather not touch. So they completely shaft Hideyori. As far as age goes, if I can suspend my disbelief that Aya is Kagekatsu's mother (even though they look like siblings), I could do the same for Chacha and Hideyori. But that's my only beef with the game. Other than that, I'm a happy man. I would love if KT does more clan-centered games. Imagine one for the Oda!
@Shirotera 1601 With the Oda, it just really depends on the approach. Nobukatsu does have some interesting battles under his belt. Historically, he tried to wipe out the Iga Ninjas and was sent packing. The defeat was so bad that Nobunaga personally marched on Iga. Nevermind he was the center point of Komaki Nagakute. So, Nobukatsu's whole story could be trying to live up to the monumental legacy of the Demon King. Also, Nobukatsu did participate in the final campaign at Osaka, but his role is often not talked about. He betrayed the Toyotomi to get back with the Tokugawa. Any character can be interesting if written well.
@Shirotera 1601 Never, ever factor "popularity" for a character. It's a terrible way to include or exclude characters. Xiahouji and Koshosho (though I like Koshosho) proves that KT does what they want to do. On the matter of Nobukatsu, it just really comes down to how they want to portray him. Nobukatsu is often overshadowed by other figures of the era, but he was at many important battles, from his father's campaigns to Hideyoshi's conquests to the Sieges of Osaka. That is something concrete to work with. Now if you personally don't see the merit or potential of Nobukatsu, that's fine. There are scores of other figures in Japanese history that can make for fun and interesting characters. The popularity argument just seems silly.
Masayuki Sanada (because of this game) is by far the best character in the series! I can't believe it, I didn't realize how much I loved him when I come to the point in the game that I couldn't play from his perspective anymore. He got some Zhuge Liang-Mitsunari combination vibes in his character. An arrogant genius yet precise and efficient in every way possible. He really is the man. Sorry, a bit late to the party here. But awesome review nonetheless!
One other plus to this game: it made me really like Kunoichi. I used to despise her since SW1 as this made-up little hyper munchkin with a bad personality. She wasn't a whole lot better when they brought her back in SW3, but SW4 and especially Spirit of Sanada improved her character(not to mention her moveset) to such a degree I can confidently say she's one of my favorite characters in the series now.
I could’ve sworn I saw a girl riding a giant panda 🐼 into battle! Lol kinda wish this game had more one on one player vs AI combat. I love games like Nioh and Sekiro and would love to see this company make a title similar, an open world Nioh would be epic!
One question: Is it possible to use custom music from a pen drive using PS4's media player while playing this game? I know that most of the musou games don't allow it, but I feel that this game is different, since they are using a new engine. Can you confirm it?
This is my first time seeing this, decided to watch your review on it bc you are my favorite Warriors youtuber, and because I devided to play through the entirety of this game so i could at least say igave the whole game a shot. The first te i played this game I didn't like it, most notably i dont like the time limits, the day night cycle is fine but i hate the time limits, when playing on chaos or hard it takes me time to complete objectives so being limited on overall time does NOT help me lol but im gonns try it out just one more time
LOL. I stumbled upon this by complete accident. There are certain points in the story where Kunoichi will follow you around Castle Town. Well I decided to go do some farming and next thing you know... she starts dancing. The very moment that happened, I lost my shit. 😂 Easily a highlight of the game.
If you haven’t already you should try Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes or import Sengoku Basara 4. They are brilliant musou games and probably the best non-koei tecmo musou games out there
I love Yukimura's older look, he finally feels like a general in a war, also sad to hear about the split screen coop being taken out since me and my bff have been doing Koei games just for them for since DW3 so it's a sad news if this is to become the norm.
I almost cried many times : when sasuke and hanzo fought to the end , mitsunari , masauki , yukimora and chacha I like it 87% I hate the farming part and the spin off battles
not enough multi battles and only got to play less than have of the characters. You have to play with with the same battles and not like the last game. The whole fishing and farming does nothing. I got tired of them.
Overall bad review. You stated many things that were false. Clasic example. After you beat the battle you can replay that with any officer. Try redoing any of the last three fights with a random officer of your choosing.. Best fights and can't play them with other officers. The time limit sucked balls. rush, rush rush. Sometimes fail, no time to enjoy the battlefield. And yes your reading the text sucks, you got that right, but goal objectives and the damm stratagems totally break immersion, over and over and over again. And yea feel no reward with no weapon drops or such. Compared to Dragon quest heros, Arslan, Berserk, Dynasty Warriors 8. this game is horrible. I somewhat have to question what you conciser a high quality game.
Also , I liked the brother who you didn't get to play much. Rather the story on him, vs rooting on two dogs. After my frustrations with this game ended. I picked up and played the DQh2, and wow over 100 hours in it now. Smashes this game.
Daniel Miller I mean...you can play a stage with any officer(really no point imo). But the game was fun as fuck for me, was better than berserk,DQ (Haven't played 2), arslan,and for DW8XL it just had more content. The amount of new mechanics that were added were put in for feedback cause it was trying to be something "new" with DW9 looking like it's going to be story driven this was kinda like a stepping stone. Enjoyed the progressive story cause you saw Yukimura as a kid and his father as a young adult growing older. All of the officers weren't wearing the same ass armor, some were wearing the character creation which is a step in the right direction. Fishing was shit imo...so was the gardening, they were just there to be there. Best story in a warriors game so far. Also where you said the stages felt rushed I enjoyed that cause in almost ALL warriors games there is almost 0 urgency, in Sanada Maru I felt like I had a reason to actually put in some effort.
Daniel Miller you can enter the vault or library ( don't rember which one ) and play as young yukimora and tokogawa's son in any chapter except the last ( which is random or stupid )
A bit late, but the official Joshticle Review is finally here! As my first ever review, all feedback would be highly appreciated and would be a great help for improvement in the future.
There was so much more I wanted to talk about but let’s face it, nobody wants to watch a 30 minute review lol.
I think it's a fair review and for a new reviewer really well done, Josh! Maybe you do reviews of the other Koei titles as well.
OhhhhMyJosh I don't know if you played toukiden 2 yet but it's a very good open world rpg it's a team Omega force game and I really see a big improvement in features
do you think some of the game element will be transferred to DW9. to what extent the open world is populated.
radeed Rad in toukiden 2 it is a true open world graphically superior to omegas previous games toukiden 2 would be a great game to play while waiting on dw9 it will prepare you and it's online co op so you can do missions with some buds it has a pretty decent online community at the moment the game has alot of depth one of my favorite koei games at the moment until dw9 lol
So, besides awesome new characters and basically same combat as the other Samurai Warriors, they added a new day and night/different age characters system, a better version of conquest mode from Dynasty Warriors 7, and a perhaps crappier but more rewarding version of Stratagems from Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires. All Around, a good and new awesome edition to Samurai Warriors franchise that I should play. Thats what I take out of this lol
It has come to my attention that I made a little mistake. I said, "Once you beat the story however, any character can be played on any stage." This isn't accurate. All stages can be replayed with any character EXCEPT the final 3 battles. Moreover, to replay a stage with any character, you just need to clear the battle once (NOT complete the entire story). I'll do better next time sorry.
For some reason I cried. When I played mission when you protect the Sanada Maru Ward. Also last mission. Man Yukimura, really fought for his friends. Such loyalty. Witness the Might of the Sanada!
I’ve always prefer Japanese history over Chinese so I’m a little bias in terms of musou games.
But this game really fell in love with the aspects of game designs.
Throw it all into SM5 add a little bit more and you have yourself a winner.
So proud of the samurai team for this one they really put effort into the entire experience.
Japanese use Chinese letters
It's a good game, but as usual, KOEI got lazy with some things.
- They could easily have given a unique weapon to Tokugawa Hidetada and Takeda Katsuyori but nope, generic weapon and moveset is better apparently.
- Lady Muramatsu should've been playable as well, there's no reason to keep her as the sole UNPC.
- Aging system was poorly implemented in my opinion. Sanada Masayuki, Yukimura and Nobuyuki as well as Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hidetada were the only ones to age properly. Chacha/Lady Yodo could've been as well, but even after Yukimura became an adult, she was still using her teenage design. Oh, right, in KOEI's world, god forbid a woman can be in her thirties.
- Some Osaka defenders would've been appreciated, at least Goto Matabei should've been a new playable character considering how important he was in the Osaka campaign.
- Chikurin'in/Akihime was needed as well in my opinion to properly tell Yukimura's story. She was the exact reason why he sided with the Toyotomi in the first place, but instead Chacha/Lady Yodo was the main interaction for Yukimura as far as female characters goes. It's a bit stupid considering he hasn't really interacted with her in history.
I prefer them to have a 5th level weapon too... especially what Musashi weapon would look newly
What’s also strange is that they didn’t include Toyotomi Hideyori. You would think Chacha’s own son would be a strong motivation for her to keep her family safe after what happened to her father and mother.
@@SilentAssassin927 They clearly didn't want to portray Chacha as Hideyoshi's wife. She was more like an adopted daughter or someone to take care of. They can BS this and make Hideyori Nene's son. He does look like her in the anime anyway.
@@Cure_Gorgeous I just think it's weird that they cut out Hideyori all together. I mean he was a driving force for many that were fiercely loyal to the Toyotomi clan, Mitsunari especially because he wanted to protect the future of the Toyotomi. They could've developed the relationship between Hideyoshi and Chacha throughout the game. It just didn't make sense at all to Chacha as the head of the Toyotomi during the siege of Osaka without Hideyori.
It is easily one of the worst games, idk what are you talking about. It is literally press square to win.
Thank you for that review! Bought this this game because of u, i'm a fan of Dynasty Warriors, but because of ur review i will try to become a samurai warriors fan too. :)
Very good review Josh! You should definitely review more games, you have a certain professional presentation.
That was very well done for your first review, great job!
The story in Spirit of Sanada is so massive, it makes SW4 and SW4-II look like beta games.
This is my first musou titel since DW5 and boy, I am overwhelmed, but also excited to get into this behemoth of a game, especially after your review. Thanks!
It's an excellent game and lots of fun. Very satisfying experience. By the way, I'm Japanese-literate and did not import this title, but I did import Warriors All-Stars and it has lived up to my hopes of being a very fun game. But this Sanada game flat out impressed me.
That's a real extensive review! Probably won't get it yet because currently I'm burnt out on DW games, but I probably will in fututure.
LOL, I left auto translate captions on for when Lady Muramatsu spoke at 14:23 by accident.
"Are you Kim rap don't you my stuff? Wanna know who's our style my dick you're making lasagna?"
For a first review I am really impressed. Both with points raised/structure and the presentation itself. I was about to ask if you were going to review Berserk, but you already kind of reccomended it and it is even older than SW:SoS so not bloody likely, huh. Regardless it was just so damn fun, especially playing as apostles.
😁 Thanks a lot. I want to review Berserk Musou, but it has been so long since I played through it that I forgot most (if not all) of the opinions I had on it. Needless to say I enjoyed it a lot and I will eventually go back for that platinum one of these days.
I loved the final few battles as Nobushige.
Felt very manly. Nobushige shouting and claiming he's unstoppable as he destroys everyone. Brilliant.
After I have played Berserk and the Band of the Hawk to 100% I'm gonna play this one. The changes they made for Spirit of Sanada are what I wanted for the series for a long time.
The House of Sanada have been through a lot and they have witnessed the Sengoku Jidai unfold in more chaotic ways than one with warlords fall and rise as they struggle to unite Japan in their unique vision
It's genuinely soothing to see that you share my view that the exploration battles, that they feel needless and genuinely underwhelming compared to the multi-stage battles.
I've mentioned it here and there during my still ongoing LP, but I understand the narrative purpose of the exploration battles, helping to set up the big battles or giving you some character interaction, but they're just so lame and flat compared to the big battles that I associate Warriors games with.
Was hoping you'd have a review, awesome
I love this game. I bought it day one and have been loving it ever since. My only real nit pick in the story is Chacha. I love the character, but her character's appearance shafts Hideyori, her son who's really the issue during the last chapter. KT has this thing where they are afraid to touch extra marital affairs in SW & DW. As Chacha was Hideyoshi's concubine and Hideyoshi is married to Nene, it puts KT in scenario they'd rather not touch. So they completely shaft Hideyori. As far as age goes, if I can suspend my disbelief that Aya is Kagekatsu's mother (even though they look like siblings), I could do the same for Chacha and Hideyori. But that's my only beef with the game. Other than that, I'm a happy man. I would love if KT does more clan-centered games. Imagine one for the Oda!
@Shirotera 1601 With the Oda, it just really depends on the approach. Nobukatsu does have some interesting battles under his belt. Historically, he tried to wipe out the Iga Ninjas and was sent packing. The defeat was so bad that Nobunaga personally marched on Iga. Nevermind he was the center point of Komaki Nagakute. So, Nobukatsu's whole story could be trying to live up to the monumental legacy of the Demon King. Also, Nobukatsu did participate in the final campaign at Osaka, but his role is often not talked about. He betrayed the Toyotomi to get back with the Tokugawa. Any character can be interesting if written well.
@Shirotera 1601 You want KT to make Nobukatsu like Liu Shan?
@Shirotera 1601 Never, ever factor "popularity" for a character. It's a terrible way to include or exclude characters. Xiahouji and Koshosho (though I like Koshosho) proves that KT does what they want to do. On the matter of Nobukatsu, it just really comes down to how they want to portray him. Nobukatsu is often overshadowed by other figures of the era, but he was at many important battles, from his father's campaigns to Hideyoshi's conquests to the Sieges of Osaka. That is something concrete to work with. Now if you personally don't see the merit or potential of Nobukatsu, that's fine. There are scores of other figures in Japanese history that can make for fun and interesting characters. The popularity argument just seems silly.
Masayuki Sanada (because of this game) is by far the best character in the series! I can't believe it, I didn't realize how much I loved him when I come to the point in the game that I couldn't play from his perspective anymore. He got some Zhuge Liang-Mitsunari combination vibes in his character. An arrogant genius yet precise and efficient in every way possible. He really is the man.
Sorry, a bit late to the party here. But awesome review nonetheless!
One other plus to this game: it made me really like Kunoichi. I used to despise her since SW1 as this made-up little hyper munchkin with a bad personality. She wasn't a whole lot better when they brought her back in SW3, but SW4 and especially Spirit of Sanada improved her character(not to mention her moveset) to such a degree I can confidently say she's one of my favorite characters in the series now.
I could’ve sworn I saw a girl riding a giant panda 🐼 into battle! Lol kinda wish this game had more one on one player vs AI combat. I love games like Nioh and Sekiro and would love to see this company make a title similar, an open world Nioh would be epic!
One question: Is it possible to use custom music from a pen drive using PS4's media player while playing this game?
I know that most of the musou games don't allow it, but I feel that this game is different, since they are using a new engine.
Can you confirm it?
Forgot to mention Naiki was the real MVP in this game man
Agreed. Naiki is my ride or die broski!
This is my first time seeing this, decided to watch your review on it bc you are my favorite Warriors youtuber, and because I devided to play through the entirety of this game so i could at least say igave the whole game a shot. The first te i played this game I didn't like it, most notably i dont like the time limits, the day night cycle is fine but i hate the time limits, when playing on chaos or hard it takes me time to complete objectives so being limited on overall time does NOT help me lol but im gonns try it out just one more time
Nice review! Do you think Koei will use Spirit of Sanada as a stepping stone to creating a true open world with Dynasty Warriors 9?
Much appreciated bud. In a way I think all the spin-offs & recent musou games (Spirit of Sanada especially) have all been experiments for DW9.
How did you get Kunoichi to dance with the farmer lol, I haven't seen that despite constantly visiting the farm after every battle
LOL. I stumbled upon this by complete accident. There are certain points in the story where Kunoichi will follow you around Castle Town. Well I decided to go do some farming and next thing you know... she starts dancing. The very moment that happened, I lost my shit. 😂 Easily a highlight of the game.
Damn, now I feel bad for completing the game lol. This >>>>>>> fanservice xD
Can we play co-op on split-screen?
'rivaled by another company' have you played sengoku basara?
I love how they give Namasa Li Kamen Rider & Super Sentai moves
I absolutely loved Samuraiwarriors4ii(easy 10/10), am i gonna like this too, which price point is best?
If you haven’t already you should try Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes or import Sengoku Basara 4. They are brilliant musou games and probably the best non-koei tecmo musou games out there
This is offline or online pls tell me
Should i get this or Samurai Warriors 4 empires?
Well where do you rank Dragon Quest heroes 2?
So basically the level up must to pay such warrior orochi but in this it a must compare to warrior orochi is a optional
I only have SW 1 and SW 2 and SW. Spirit of Sanada
yo have the best dude
if dw9 use this graphic, i think it will be a good open world game..
How do you get the trophy the sanada's millions
Seems like a step in a good direction for warriors games.
14:45 yooo thats how i was feeling whenever im in a battle and the NPCs are talking 😂
why it looks like chacha and yukimura was loving each other but the fate and circumstances didn't allow them to be together
This is way better than the last dynasty warriors game that came out
9:00 Did Naomasa just did a Rider Kick?
And then out came Dynasty Warriors 9
I’ve not even played this game, but I think all warriors games should be like this or take much from this game
This game looks cool. Besides its a samurai series. Im Getting this.
The graphics hasnt improved a bit 😅 but i like the New mecanics
I love Yukimura's older look, he finally feels like a general in a war, also sad to hear about the split screen coop being taken out since me and my bff have been doing Koei games just for them for since DW3 so it's a sad news if this is to become the norm.
if only there are hypothetical route in the Samurai Warriors franchise...
I almost cried many times : when sasuke and hanzo fought to the end , mitsunari , masauki , yukimora and chacha
I like it 87% I hate the farming part and the spin off battles
what's your psn?
I still playing this game
so basically with this one its just like dw8 when it comes to the rage guage
I just got this game two days ago.
SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS WITH DW9
how about a berserk review
wish this was on xbo one
DW9 should've been like this...
Long as theres no time limit i buy iz
ehh ill buy it used when the price drops below 40
i was like oh a 3 minutes review i'll watch it but it turns out its 22....but still watched it XD
not enough multi battles and only got to play less than have of the characters. You have to play with with the same battles and not like the last game. The whole fishing and farming does nothing. I got tired of them.
YUKIMURA!!!!
i hate Kotaro Fuma please tell me hes not present
yukimura is now a man!
damn Sanada got old
kunoichi is forever 18
Khandar William lmao true I questioned that every chapter ok now she will grow
She's legal. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
macaroni.
review musou stars too
Will do. 😁
dw9 was so bad he never returned
Overall bad review. You stated many things that were false. Clasic example. After you beat the battle you can replay that with any officer. Try redoing any of the last three fights with a random officer of your choosing.. Best fights and can't play them with other officers.
The time limit sucked balls. rush, rush rush. Sometimes fail, no time to enjoy the battlefield.
And yes your reading the text sucks, you got that right, but goal objectives and the damm stratagems totally break immersion, over and over and over again.
And yea feel no reward with no weapon drops or such. Compared to Dragon quest heros, Arslan, Berserk, Dynasty Warriors 8. this game is horrible. I somewhat have to question what you conciser a high quality game.
Also , I liked the brother who you didn't get to play much. Rather the story on him, vs rooting on two dogs. After my frustrations with this game ended. I picked up and played the DQh2, and wow over 100 hours in it now. Smashes this game.
Daniel Miller I mean...you can play a stage with any officer(really no point imo). But the game was fun as fuck for me, was better than berserk,DQ (Haven't played 2), arslan,and for DW8XL it just had more content. The amount of new mechanics that were added were put in for feedback cause it was trying to be something "new" with DW9 looking like it's going to be story driven this was kinda like a stepping stone.
Enjoyed the progressive story cause you saw Yukimura as a kid and his father as a young adult growing older. All of the officers weren't wearing the same ass armor, some were wearing the character creation which is a step in the right direction. Fishing was shit imo...so was the gardening, they were just there to be there.
Best story in a warriors game so far.
Also where you said the stages felt rushed I enjoyed that cause in almost ALL warriors games there is almost 0 urgency, in Sanada Maru I felt like I had a reason to actually put in some effort.
Go for it, try to do the last multi battle on any officer. You can't. Even after the game is beaten. So him saying you can do it is false and wrong.
Your opinion of this game is different than his, therefore he is wrong... Lol the irony.
Daniel Miller you can enter the vault or library ( don't rember which one ) and play as young yukimora and tokogawa's son in any chapter except the last ( which is random or stupid )