SENGOKU BASARA 2 HEROES!! "MUSOU" GOTY YESSIR YESSIR KOEI BOW DOWN

[bork]

So did anyone else pick this up last week?  I originally bought the game on Wii, but ended up returning it and getting the PS2 version instead.  The two versions are identical, but since the game is 480i ONLY, it looked awful on my Bravia, and I can play the PS2 version upscaled on my PS3, making it a lot easier on the eyes.

Unfortunately I haven't had too much time to play it yet (as soon as I get home in a few hours I'm getting right to it!), but the game is more of the same awesomeness as Basara 2.  Kojiro is BAD FUCKIN ASS, and Oichi is SCARY SCARY SCARY.  The characters' personalites just make these games and shit all over Koei's efforts.  Koei may have finally gone next-gen with the likes of Gundam Musou and Shin Sangoku Musou 5, but this game is still the reigning champ.

There's also two-player now, although it's limited to certain modes.  I can understand it not being available for story mode (it's okay since Unification mode, where you take over Japan, has two-player), but it's not available for free mode.  There's also a new arena mode where you take on waves of enemies to get cash, using two characters...and you can tag them in and out for long-ass combos!  Two player mode also has players SHARING the combo meter, so you and a buddy can make 600+ hit combo insanity together.

Here is Basara 2 (the original) on PS2 and Wii.  It's not much to look at, particulary in still pictures, but the animation is nice.

PS2, via PS3 through HDMI and upscaled to 1080i

The image quality is sharper and colors are more vibrant. 

Wii, via Component D-Terminal cables

The image is blurry and colors are slightly washed out/faded.  Some of the ground textures looked so bad my TV that it was like playing an N64 game.

I need to try playing Basara 2 Heroes on PS2 on my TV...I bet it will still look better than the Wii version did.   

[Smooth Groove]

Does PS2 upscaling really make that much of a difference for your TV?  PS2 games /w native 480p look much better than HD upscaling on my TV (1080P XBR3).  However, 360 games seem to look better when they're upscaled from 720p to 1080P.  It seems kinda weird that upscaling from 720p to 1080p would make a bigger difference than 480i to 1080P, but that could be due to textural quality or differences in scaling btwn the 2 consoles. 

[Mr. Gundam]

Heroes is an add-on pack, right? I'd still need to buy the original Basara 2 if I want to play through it's storyline, right?

[bork]

Does PS2 upscaling really make that much of a difference for your TV?  PS2 games /w native 480p look much better than HD upscaling on my TV (1080P XBR3).  However, 360 games seem to look better when they're upscaled from 720p to 1080P.  It seems kinda weird that upscaling from 720p to 1080p would make a bigger difference than 480i to 1080P, but that could be due to textural quality or differences in scaling btwn the 2 consoles. 

Native 480p games look fine, sure.  I'm mainly talking about 480i only games like this one.  The Wii 480i games seem to look worse than PS2 480i games do natively though; I guess it is a hardware difference.  I've only encountered three 480i Wii games: Mobile Suit Gundam, Swing Golf Pangya!, and Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes.  Pangya 2, fortunately, is 480p (and much, MUCH smoother than the original), and when it came out last week, I got rid of it and Gundam.  Wii in 480i is fucking putrid on an HDTV.  And mine is only 20 inches...I can just imagine how much worse it must look on a bigger set.

I'd really like to go get a SDTV just for older systems and the Wii, but I really don't have the space for another set...

Heroes is an add-on pack, right? I'd still need to buy the original Basara 2 if I want to play through it's storyline, right?

Right.  You don't need Basara 2 to play Heroes, and the only things that transfer over are your character levels and weapon levels (plus moves earned), but none of the vast amounts of items you find or money you earn, so spend all that money in Basara 2 first!  Basara 2 has story modes for the original characters, really THAT'S IT. If you don't care about story, Heroes might be enough.  I say this because a) most of you won't understand what the fuck is going on and b) story mode is separate from the more Samurai Warrior-like Unification mode which is in both games.  But if you want more mileage, go with Basara 2 first.

Basara 2 is a budget game now anyway; I dunno how much importers are charging but it's like 2400 yen in Japan.  Basara 2 Heroes is around 4600 yen.

The Wii version includes both games, BTW, but with the price of the budget Basara 2, you could get both on PS2 cheaper anyway.     The Wii version does have a nice slip case and holds both games in one case though.  Space saver! 

I like these games so damn much I'll probably end up with the game on Wii once it's cheap just for the hell of it.