Musou video games—the large-scale hack-and-slash video games typified by sequence like Dynasty Warriors—usually get a nasty wrap, with detractors arguing that they’re simply monotonous energy fantasies missing in depth. Whereas there’s some reality to that, such a reductive studying misses the purpose behind video games on this style, which nonetheless has tens of millions of ardent followers regardless of evolving little since its PlayStation origins. Clearly it’s doing one thing proper, and though not everybody appreciates these video games, I’m grateful that their distinctive musou magic helped me bond with my cousin as we wreaked havoc throughout historic battlefields.
Learn Extra: Hearth Emblem Warriors Was Sensible Truly: A Protection Of Musou
Generally referred to as “Warriors” video games right here within the U.S., these third-person action-RPG hack-and-slash titles all largely operate the identical. In case you’ve performed 1997’s Dynasty Warriors or 2004’s Samurai Warriors, then precisely how 2020’s Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity or 2022’s Hearth Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes performs—particularly since they’re all made by Japanese studios Koei Tecmo and Omega Power. You choose a personality and reduce by an assortment of battlefields, wrecking everybody in sight on a warpath to whole domination whereas leveling up, unlocking strikes, and grabbing gear. It’s a well-recognized gameplay loop that grows rote throughout Tecmo Power’s catalog, but it surely’s additionally a comfy expertise that my cousin and I totally loved rising up.
My cousin, about two years youthful than myself, is on the autism spectrum. Particularly, his dyslexia makes gaming a problem, as parsing the intricacies and nuances of recreation mechanics could be a irritating expertise for him. It’s actually not unimaginable; he’s crushed FromSoftware’s Darkish Souls trilogy a lot sooner than I ever did, partly as a result of he’s much more cussed than I’m, however selecting up any recreation requires a relentless recalibration in his mind, one which takes for much longer than most of us expertise after merely being away from a recreation for a short while. There have been numerous instances the place I’ve watched him restart a recreation as a result of exasperation he felt over forgetting the place to go or how issues labored, one thing that’s at all times left me hurting for him. Warriors video games, for us, don’t have this challenge, primarily as a result of they’re all principally an identical to at least one one other.
Take our favourite of those video games, 2006’s Samurai Warriors 2. Largely specializing in the Battle of Sekigahara throughout Japan’s Sengoku interval, we’d choose our fave generals—the demon king Nobunaga Oda for my cousin, his trustworthy retainer Mitsuhide Akechi for myself—and completely fuck shit up. Locking ourselves in my bed room in my grandma’s dwelling, a type of clear PS2 controllers in every of our palms because the chunky CRTV illuminated our faces, we’d demolish each single battlefield for hours on finish. It didn’t matter that our characters had been maxed out. It didn’t matter that the anonymous warriors and wimpy generals stood no probability towards us. Hell, it didn’t matter that we had crushed the sport a number of instances over. As a result of on the finish of the day, we had been merely enamored with the sport’s energy fantasy. In our shared expertise, the simplicity and approachability of mowing down a whole bunch of random and essential dudes, the very factor so many individuals assault the style for, grew to become its best characteristic.
That energy fantasy, for us, has at all times been the promoting level of Musou video games. Nevermind that split-screen native co-op is often an possibility in these sorts of titles. It was at all times the 1vs1000 mythos that we purchased into, particularly contemplating how flashy the Warriors franchise has grow to be with the likes of 2021’s Samurai Warriors 5. These video games are the proper embodiment of “gaming as escapism,” transporting us to the historic settings of feudal Japan to see a not-so-historical model of how well-known figures vied for final management of the Land of the Rising Solar. It often ends in tragedy, however having the ability to expertise historical past by an interactive medium gave us a a lot deeper fascination with and understanding of Japanese tradition, one thing we each respect to this present day.
Learn Extra: I Miss Smashing Gears Of Battle In One Weekend With My Bestie
I nonetheless play Musou video games on a regular basis. The truth is, One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 is at all times put in on my PlayStation, prepared for me to chop down 1000’s of hapless goons on my quest to be the strongest warrior. I simply want my cousin, who I left behind in California, was by my aspect to expertise it with me. He’s such a giant One Piece fan that I do know he would love taking part in as Luffy or Zoro.
