Well, the Shu warriors have finally reached the end of their journey: Koshi Castle, home of the dreaded Orochi.
This is what it all comes down to! Everything the team has been fighting for culminates in this final battle. And perhaps… just perhaps, if they’re lucky, they’ll finally be reunited with Liu Bei after a very long journey!
Although if you’re accustomed to how Liu Bei looks in more recent Warriors installments, be ready for a bit of a surprise!
We’re closing in on the end of the Shu campaign of Warriors Orochi now, with only two more side missions and one more story mission to go.
Today, Zhurong and friends decide to turn their attention to the peasants who are suffering under the yoke of Orochi’s oppression. She helps them escape in her own inimitable fashion — and is very keen to make sure we’re aware of her accomplishments at the conclusion of the battle.
I’m going to be sorry to leave this particular gang of misfits behind — they’ve been a lot of fun to play as!
Orochi’s armies are growing in strength in an attempt to counter the growing confidence of the Shu forces.
Zhao Yun can practically smell his master Liu Bei now — not literally, ’cause that’d be weird — and his friends are relieved to know that victory is within sight.
There are still a few challenges left to overcome, though… and as we’ve seen numerous times up until now, complacency can be a Warrior’s worst enemy!
The Shu gang still hasn’t quite tracked down Liu Bei, so Zhurong and Meng Huo decide to sneak off for a bit of independent investigation.
Along the way, they encounter Jude from Tales of Xillia Musashi Miyamoto and decide to lend a hand, as he and his swordsmen friends appear to be struggling a bit.
Hell hath no fury like a bored barbarian lady, it seems…
With an outfit like that, it was only a matter of time before Zhurong gave the people what they wanted. And in slow-motion, too!
Ahem. Anyway, besides that little diversion, today’s Warriors Orochi outing sees the Shu gang teaming up with Wu’s Sun Ce in yet another sure-to-fail attempt to track down the perpetually absent Liu Bei. Will Zhao Yun ever be reunited with the man he lov– err… I mean, his master?
Only time will tell! For now, enjoy the barbaric butt-kicking, courtesy of Zhurong.
Last time around, we looked at how Castlevania’s overall mechanics and sense of game design can be traced forward to technical action games such as From Software’s popular titles.
Today, I wanted to focus on some other important and distinctive aspects of this original NES installment: specifically the platforming component, and the boss fights.
All of the elements we’ll have talked about by the end of today combine together to create the distinctive experience that is Castlevania — not just for this first game, but for much of the early series.
One of the nice things about revisiting old games from a modern perspective is the fact that you can see how certain genres have evolved over time… and sometimes seemingly morphed into different things altogether.
The original Castlevania is a great example of this. Far from being your common-or-garden everyday mascot platformer that we saw a fair bit throughout the 8- and 16-bit home console eras, Castlevania provided an experience that was altogether its own thing, immediately recognisable and immensely influential.
Atmospheric, idiosyncratic and consistently challenging, it’s a game that still holds its own today — just don’t expect an easy ride!
There’s no rest for the Shu forces as they come face to face with Masamune Date!
Thankfully, Date’s friend Magoichi Saika, who has been rolling with the Shu crowd largely because of its disproportionate number of attractive and formidable female warriors, has a cunning plan ready to go… assuming he can keep his mind on the battle, that is.
Zhu Rong, Ginchiyo Tachibana and Yue Ying surely have their work cut out for them this time around…
In this week’s Warriors Orochi mission, the various narratives cross paths as the Shu forces take on the Wu warriors who have been brought to heel by Orochi.
This conflict, which unfolded off-screen during the Wu campaign, sees the Shu people continuing their quest to track down the missing Liu Bei… only to find a bit of a surprise waiting for them at the conclusion of their mission.
It seems Zhao Yun is not to be reunited with his precious lord just yet… but there’s certainly never a dull moment in the lives of these brave fighters.
The Shu campaign in Warriors Orochi continues today with another side mission, this time featuring everyone’s favourite thief, Goemon.
Goemon has been doing what he does best: nicking stuff. So it’s up to the crack all-girl team of Zhurong, Yueying and Ginchiyo Tachibana to save the day… or at least all the stolen stuff, anyway.
And perhaps we can even recruit Goemon to our cause if we try hard enough… but you know what they say about setting a thief to catch a thief — I feel like our band of lovely ladies might be just a little too honest for their own good under these circumstances!
