It's a Warriors Orochi game--tons of characters, story that you would be thankful for how irrelevant it is, and lots and lots of grinding.
A lot of time will be spent on menuing because there are some stuff that's designed to be annoying. For example, why can gems be collected over 999,999, but not growth points, so you constantly have to come back and spend them? Why is the cap on each weapon elements only 999, when you can fill that up mid-game without grinding for a lot of elements? Why do newly acquired characters all start at level 1, even if the map they are acquired in are in the late game? Why is there no "Search warrior by typing name" option when browsing? Why is there no "turn on/off all filter" when brwosing warriors? Why doesn't the filter stay the same from when you are picking a main member to choosing a support member? Why does the filter stay the same for picking a member and weapon/upgrade lists? Why is "Equip Weapon" screen separate from "Dismantle/sell Weapon" or "Fuse Weapon" screens so whenever I have to clean up my inventory I have to cosntantly head back out and go to another screen for equipping or selling? Why isn't there a way to sort weapon element list in specific ways? Why can I not lock certain members in my team so whenever I press "Special Combination," it doesn't replace my main three guys and fill the support members instead? Why, for fuck's sake, can I not favourite specific warriors out of fuckin 170+, making me browse the list every single fucking time?
On a more positive side, the game is based on the two best mainline entries, DW8 and SW4, where every single character had a unqiue moveset and the most in-depth mechanics. However, it only highlights how Samurai Warriors 4 is just a more breezy game to play than its coutnerpart due to Hyper Action. At the end of the day, you spend most of the time in battle using SW characters (Magoichi and Ina especially, since their Hyper Action is OP) and only change to DW characters for 1 on 1 action, if needed. The Orochi and DW characters really should've had at least a rudimentary version of hyper action added, since EX charges and hidden mechanics aren't just all that useful compared to Hyper Action. Also, the change in Rage metre and not being able to change weapons means that your actual strategy seem limited compared to the original DW8.
The imbalance is also present in the Sacred Treasures, triggered by R1 and face buttons. Each treasure are shared among a number of warriors, but there are only handful treasures that are really viable. You cannot swap out the Sacred Treasures unless you have DLC, which only gives a slight variation.
Speaking of DLCs, there are also no unlocakble costumes, and only way to get them is through DLC. And they are mostly just the rehash of the existing costumes from the older games.
And let's talk about Collaboration characters. Oh wait, we can't, because they didn't have any until the overpriced Ultimate pack came along. And they only added 3 with that! And instead, all the collaboration characters, who were basically the only characters I used in WO3, went to that terrible Warriors All-Stars game! I can't believe I was so excited playing Toukiden all those years ago thinking "oh man these characters would be great in Warriors Orochi 4," because Koei done fucked up and squashed my dreams.
But at the end of the day, it is the most pure Warriors experience out there, for better or worse. And for someone who needed some Warriors jam injected into my veins for multiple reasons (AoC hangover, SW5 hype/concerns, the fact P5S is not really a Warriors game I bought it expecting it to be one), it was a good time.
Just.... if you are new to Warriors franchise, buy Age of Calamity, Dynasty Warriors 8 XL (not the newest one, which is 9!), Pirate Warriors 4 or one of the Samurai Warriors 4 games instead of this. This is meant for the Warriors fans who want Warriors game inside their Warriors game so they can Musou while they Musou.
A lot of time will be spent on menuing because there are some stuff that's designed to be annoying. For example, why can gems be collected over 999,999, but not growth points, so you constantly have to come back and spend them? Why is the cap on each weapon elements only 999, when you can fill that up mid-game without grinding for a lot of elements? Why do newly acquired characters all start at level 1, even if the map they are acquired in are in the late game? Why is there no "Search warrior by typing name" option when browsing? Why is there no "turn on/off all filter" when brwosing warriors? Why doesn't the filter stay the same from when you are picking a main member to choosing a support member? Why does the filter stay the same for picking a member and weapon/upgrade lists? Why is "Equip Weapon" screen separate from "Dismantle/sell Weapon" or "Fuse Weapon" screens so whenever I have to clean up my inventory I have to cosntantly head back out and go to another screen for equipping or selling? Why isn't there a way to sort weapon element list in specific ways? Why can I not lock certain members in my team so whenever I press "Special Combination," it doesn't replace my main three guys and fill the support members instead? Why, for fuck's sake, can I not favourite specific warriors out of fuckin 170+, making me browse the list every single fucking time?
On a more positive side, the game is based on the two best mainline entries, DW8 and SW4, where every single character had a unqiue moveset and the most in-depth mechanics. However, it only highlights how Samurai Warriors 4 is just a more breezy game to play than its coutnerpart due to Hyper Action. At the end of the day, you spend most of the time in battle using SW characters (Magoichi and Ina especially, since their Hyper Action is OP) and only change to DW characters for 1 on 1 action, if needed. The Orochi and DW characters really should've had at least a rudimentary version of hyper action added, since EX charges and hidden mechanics aren't just all that useful compared to Hyper Action. Also, the change in Rage metre and not being able to change weapons means that your actual strategy seem limited compared to the original DW8.
The imbalance is also present in the Sacred Treasures, triggered by R1 and face buttons. Each treasure are shared among a number of warriors, but there are only handful treasures that are really viable. You cannot swap out the Sacred Treasures unless you have DLC, which only gives a slight variation.
Speaking of DLCs, there are also no unlocakble costumes, and only way to get them is through DLC. And they are mostly just the rehash of the existing costumes from the older games.
And let's talk about Collaboration characters. Oh wait, we can't, because they didn't have any until the overpriced Ultimate pack came along. And they only added 3 with that! And instead, all the collaboration characters, who were basically the only characters I used in WO3, went to that terrible Warriors All-Stars game! I can't believe I was so excited playing Toukiden all those years ago thinking "oh man these characters would be great in Warriors Orochi 4," because Koei done fucked up and squashed my dreams.
But at the end of the day, it is the most pure Warriors experience out there, for better or worse. And for someone who needed some Warriors jam injected into my veins for multiple reasons (AoC hangover, SW5 hype/concerns, the fact P5S is not really a Warriors game I bought it expecting it to be one), it was a good time.
Just.... if you are new to Warriors franchise, buy Age of Calamity, Dynasty Warriors 8 XL (not the newest one, which is 9!), Pirate Warriors 4 or one of the Samurai Warriors 4 games instead of this. This is meant for the Warriors fans who want Warriors game inside their Warriors game so they can Musou while they Musou.