After being released in North America as Devil Kings for past several years, Capcom finally decided to give the latest installment of the Sengoku Basara series a proper localization. As Devil Kings, all of the traditional Japanese names and semi-historical figures were changed, which kind of diluted its personality significantly. Reenergized as Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes, Capcom looks to establish the series in the west.
Taking all the basic cues from the highly popular Dynasty Warriors series, Sengoku Basara takes a popular chunk of feudal Japanese history and turns it into super-ultra-crazy-magic-fighting-fun hack and slash session. No, seriously, that’s exactly what Sengoku Basara 3 is all about.
As always, the characters are super ultra colorful, the action is super ultra crazy, and the dialogue is super ultra manly (super ultra word bonus!). I found the basic combos to flow together smoothly and the transitions into stronger combos responsive. The right shoulder button can be used to modify attacks, and short, evasive hops can be performed while blocking. The standard kill-em-all super attacks are of course available when the proper meter fills. No attempt at pushing the envelope of hack-and-slash gaming is apparent; not that there’s anything terribly wrong with that. Sengoku Basara 3 doesn’t look as ‘next-generation’ as it should, but it definitely serves its purpose – a glossy-looking PS2 game that caters directly to its niche. (note: if you’d like to remove the glossiness, try the Wii version)
Hack-and-slashers have become quite the norm in the past five or six years. Sengoku Basara 3 maintains the status quo well enough to keep fans coming back for more. The demo showcases enemy unit commanders that would, for some reason, explode after you took them down. Often time, this would unlock a zip line used for quick transportation.
As a sucker for these types of games, the combat felt natural to me. Events unfolded as the tides of battle turned until finally a giant, well-equipped, armored man caught up to me. Though my allies told me not to engage, I did. Of course, I died, but I’ll try it again and again. For some reason, Sengoku Basara 3 had me hooked. Don’t reinvent the wheel, this one’s working just fine.
