Done With #10: WARRIORS: Abyss

It's undeniable that Japanese devs have been on fire the past 4 years. You could say that it's a return to form and this is the new golden age of Japanese game development. As we know, Capcom essentially leading this movement with successful remakes from old franchises and sequels to their anticipated games (despite Dragon's Dogma 2 being a black hole in this... golden age), and SEGA with the three musketeers (Sonic Team, Atlus, RGG) pumping out games that not only sell well, but are acclaimed critically.

However, I always see Koei Tecmo to be rather underappreciated in all this. They are not as flashy as the former two studios, but they have been killing it with their own IPs. With Atlier games being quite a hit, and Team Ninja finding massive success with their Nioh formula, they're essentially quietly helping push the industry in Japan forward.

Which is quite a bummer that Dynasty Warrriors and Warriors Orochi have not found their footing for so long, with DW9 being both a commercial and critical flop. Thankfully, Koei keeps Omega Force around and have them serve as contractors that work with big studios to make some memorable musuo style games (Persona 5 Strikers and the two Fire Emblem musuo games come to mind).

And it's no big surprise that their recent effort, Dynasty Warriors: Origins, did not disappoint. With more experience working with other teams and assistance from Fire Emblem writing team and Team Ninja (who are on a roll with their Nioh-likes). It's quite awesome to see a legacy studio gained so much confidence and successfully experimented.

However, let's be real, as much as everyone loves Origins, a lot of fans also miss how you can 1v1000 with hundreds of characters like old days. Which is where WARRIORS: Abyss comes in. With the roguelike craze going on, what's better than having 105 playable characters in that gameplay format and all their moveset intact from the latest games!?

I mean you could say that's essentially a Hades clone with the format that it has. But for a franchise that always focus on quantity over quality, this game is it. As mentioned previously, up to 105 characters that surprisingly play differently, with you being able to recruit multiple characters during the run and have 6 joining you in the battle (via Support Skill system).

Omega Force claims that there are, *lemme read this again*

16,000,000,000 BATTLE STYLES!?!?!?!?!?!?

Well, yeah it's a big claim to make, and it's not exactly true. It's the number of total possible combinations, which in a sense is a fact, but some of the support skills are very similar to others (just recolours). However, I can guarantee that for the most parts, the 105 characters (well I only played 40) feel different to play since DW8 and Orochi 4.

The biggest different between this and regular Warriors game is its camera angle. Abyss utilises what has become de factor roguelike top-down camera like Hades. It makes the 1v1000 aspect of the game feels that much more impactful, as you can see everyone getting slashed down around you clearly. While it's not as innovative and as deep as Origins with its combat, it's still very cool and it's such a nostalgic feeling to be able to revisit character from my childhood games and enjoy them this way.

The controls are rather simple and is exactly the same as the usual Warriors format, with you pressing Square (or X) repeatedly into Triangle (Y) for big moves. However, with an extra prss of Y, you will be casting the supporting skill from recruited hero corresponding to the number of Squares you press.

The gameplay loop is rather simple too:

1. Pick a character
2. Clear the stage and recruit heroes
3. Die and get permanent currency
4. Unlocks new character

It allows for quite a bit of replayability with how simple and short each runs are (up to 40 minutes max if you're unlucky).

With how it's a roguelike game with 16,000,000,000 playstyles, it's incredibly replayable. There's also strategic depth to this game that I was surprised to find with its emblem system that changes how run plays. So instead of 16,000,000,000 playstyles, it realisticallyhas like 200 or something depending on the emblen combinations and levels.

Each emblem obviously gives you different power, and getting it to 12-18 give some crazy benefits. From obvious ones like fire emblem that permanently burn enemies, wisdom emblem that allows you to spam musuo moves (or your ultimate moves), or even the strength emblem that turns you near invincible.

On top of allying heroes based on their emblems, you also want to check their "categories" as that also unlocks crazy effects that power you the hell up. For example, if you are running Lu Bu, you really want to activate to Dong Zhou army effect to double your attack stats. Or if you are running any of the Five Tiger Generals, you really want to stack them as they synnergise and exponentially increase your power.

However, the 4 zones presented in this game are rather bland making all 36 stages you have to get through feel very samey. This is an area that Omega Force really fall short with the game. Yeah, you will mostly keep your eyes on the flashy VFX and moves, but it's hard not to compare this game to Hades and the likes. It's a bit unfair as this is clearly a low budget title made as experiment, but it's something to point out

But notice how I haven't said a thing about the story? Well, what story LMAO!

This game's story sucks ass. You are isekai as a general who has to assist a twink called Enma to reclaim hell. That's it. It's incredibly bland with no sauce aside from a femboy bait. 😭

But overall, it's such a blast to play. Turn your brain off and kill everything you see experience. The dopamine hit I get from VFX and big damage number flying around is so awesome. Yeah it has its short coming with bland zones and a poopy story, but with its low price it's not a bad purchase at all.

I'm also very excited to see what's next for Koei Tecmo. I think that Omega Force really laid a solid foundation for this year with this title and DW Origins. With Rise of Ronin coming out soon on PC, and the Gaidens and Atliers having sequels coming. They're looking like they'll be having a great year.

But what's more exciting than Omega Force's future themselves. I'm glad they're out of their comfort zone, dipping their toes into new genre and implementing new systems to Origins that introduce new mechanics to the gameplay loop.