i think i like this game (bladestorm) and i think i don't. i am very confused. on one hand, it contains a very deep version of the high-level realtime tactical decisions that make the better musou games so compelling to me; on the other hand, it embodies the worst of the musou titles' more unpredictable elements, like idiot cohorts and bizarre offscreen combat resolution mechanisms. i am honestly enjoying its bizarre take on the hundred years' war, and there's some really great design thinkin' in the squad-level decisions you make, even if they really don't reflect anything resembling reality.
basically, the game puts you into the role of a self-made mercenary captain beginning his or her career in some wacky jappy take on the hundred years' war what with magicians and all. you take contracts offered by both sides, although i heavily favor the french. once you take a contract, you kit up with specialties and are dispatched to a vast ongoing battlefield where you fight until either the terms of your contract are completed or night falls. your character doesn't fight directly ala musou; instead, you attach yourself to certain squads and command them at a squad level, telling them to engage or disengage or do a plethora of squad-specific special attacks. choosing to specialize in certain squad types (spears, greatswords, cav et al) gives you a huge advantage when you have those squad types nearby, versus spreading your development across all types, where you will never have a serious advantage or disadvantage -- this is at the core of the character development. ultimately, it's a giant game of rock-paper scissors, with certain offensive and defensive special attacks for the squad type allowing you to damage or resist the attacks of other squad types. it's actually very simple, and controls very well. you also have one-use pennons which give you temporary advantages, or inflict status effects on an enemy squad.
it's both clearly an up-port from what was once going to be a ps2 game, but it is also very pretty at times. the clashes of armies look neat, especially when the cavalry charge down a hill against the setting sun, light glinting off their raised lances. it's also quite ugly at times, with less geometry than, say, dw gundam and some rather bland environments.
ultimately, the bit that causes me the most disconnect is the same unpredictablity of the musou games -- the algorithms that dictate the larger performances of those troops not under your direct control. too many times i left a fort guarded by what i thought were top-tier troops to advance the front toward my objective, only to see NOT FIVE MINUTES LATER that it had been overrun by a single squad of sword-waving english nubs. BULLSHIT. THAT IS BULLSHIT. i run back, put 'em to the spear (or sword, or axe, or halberd, or lance, or LOL MAGIX), and then NIGHT FALLS and game over 'cuz i took too long. BULLSHIT.
i think i'm gonna keep it, because in the end i love these "clash of army" games, and because it really is very accessible and easy to control. like the musou games, this is one i'm going to hafta love in spite of itself -- and probably even moreso than the previous king of schizophrenic gaming experiences, orochi warriors.
drinky score for bladestorm is: a confused waffle between b+ and c-.
