any of J-bore played FOTNS? Is there anything in it that would convert a musou hater? lots of bloody violence?
Yes, I've put in between 30-40 hours of play time into Hokuto Musou (FOTNS: Ken's Rage). If you are either a Musou or Fist fan this is definitely worth getting. If you have both systems, get the PS3 version, BTW. It has better graphics, less slowdown, and shorter load times.
There is violence...blood flows and you can make guys explode/dice them up. The U.S. version is supposed to be even gorier than the J-version, too. Whether or not it would convert Musou haters is hard to say. There are some differences, like how the game has a much smaller number of characters, but they are given HUGE skill trees, a grappling system, more moves (you can have up to four different Musou attacks at once), and generally feel or even play completely different from each other (Mamiya plays NOTHING like Ken, for example. Not just in attacks but in movement and abilities), but at its core, the game is still Musou. A lot of the enemies are still dumb, BUT it is definitely a harder game, especially when you get further into the game and have to face more and more mid-boss type characters instead of regular grunts. Also Kenshiro himself feels kind of stiff when you use him; this was a design choice (The Fist creator wanted his moves to have "impact") and the other characters do not play this way.
There are two main types of play modes: Illusion Mode is the typical Musou-style mode where you go around a map taking out the enemy army. All the playable characters can be used here. Story mode is presented more like an action game and has linear stage progression, boss battles, traps, vehicle sections, and sub-missions you can choose to do (which require certain abilities/backtracking/looking for hidden areas/saving x number of people/defeating x number of enemies/etc), which if you do all of them, will change the stage boss battle, making it more difficult. Story mode focuses on Kenshiro (he is the only one playable until a few hours in), Rei, Mamiya, Toki, and Raoh. There's also challenge levels and boss rush stages. The challenge levels are all various scenarios done Illusion-mode style and are all DLC-only in the Japanese version. There are some crazy stages here, where you'll be tasked to take on huge amounts of enemies, including four or more boss-type characters at a time! Two more characters are also DLC (Mr. Heart and an Outlaw Thug; they cost way too much, $16 for both of them), and Koei is also selling manga outfits for $3 a pop. I hope the U.S. version has all this stuff already on the disc. There's no way people here are going to shell out for that stuff.
I wrote a bunch of impressions a few months back, if you want to read them I've thrown them into this spoiler tag so as to not make this post HUGE. There's more detail on the game play in them.
Impressions:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Played two hours and beat the first few levels, defeating Shin (and unlocking the side story mode which lets you play as other characters; got Shin and Mamiya playable so far). I'm enjoying the game quite a bit, which is to be expected as both a HnK and Musou fan. The combos come out pretty stiffly, but you get used to it. Rei is AWESOME and quite a bit faster than Ken; Mamiya uses a crossbow and other weapons, and while she lacks the power and speed of Kenshiro and Rei, she makes up for it with range. Her throw is hilarious, too-- walk up to someone, bitch slap a bunch of times, then jump up on their face and slam them down. 
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I'll post more in-depth later, but just want to say that while this is indeed a Musou game, the feel is pretty different. The stages are linear, but you can backtrack and need to if you want to get all of the mission points. There's seven of these in every level (and an eighth if you get all seven, apparently) that you have to meet certain conditions to get. Apparently backtracking on the first level will lead to previously inaccessable areas; I didn't try this. Getting all the mission points also makes the boss fights harder. You don't have to get any of these mission points to keep going though, so the game lets you play it at your pace.
I think a good way to describe the game is as a Musou with a more traditional beat-em-up style of progression. No open battlefields; you move forward and clear out a wave or two of enemies, and then go forward again. I thought the game was actually going to be an open-world style environment from some previews I saw, but this is not the case.
(Note- I wrote this after playing the other main mode:)
Also played through the first level of Mamiya's story mode. These side story modes are very different than the main story mode, and are much more like the traditional Musou games, where you're on a battlefield and there's your army versus (complete with general type characters) the enemy. The difference is that it's all about conquering and keeping territory; beat the shit out of enough grunts and a sub-boss, and then your side comes to help you. Player-controlled territories have large flaming pots with blue flame; enemy ones are red. The mission point system is still in effect here, too. This mode had a LOT more enemies on screen at once compared to the story mode, and the engine does chug a bit when there's a huge amount of characters on screen in certain areas. It's not bad enough to affect the game play, but I shudder to think how this must be in split-screen co-op mode.
A few more points about Hokuto Musou's game play/features compared to the traditional Musou games. Since I have only played as Kenshiro and Mamiya (and a tiny bit of Rei), I can only really comment on them:
-There are fewer characters to play as, but they feel a lot differently from each other, and don't all play the same.
-The upgrade trees are pretty big. Tons and tons of stuff to buy with skill points earned.
-Each character has multiple Musou attacks. You can have up to four equipped (selectable with the d-pad) at one time.
-You cannot charge the Musou gauge on your own; it fills up from beating enemies.
-When enemies die, they release spirit aura similar to Ninja Gaiden/Devil May Cry/Onimusha, that flies to you.
-When you have enough power gathered, you can power up your character to do more damage. A small meter counts down until it runs out.
-During this time, you can unleash a death move, which is a different or powered-up Musou.
-There is a grab button. It depends on the character for what their actions are. Kenshiro can grab someone and use them to bash into other enemies for a few seconds before slamming them on the ground, for example.
-Environments are somewhat interactive; you can break or dent parts of buildings or various objects, and do more damage to enemies by slamming them into them. Note that Mamiya cannot do this.
-Occasionally there are objects that can be used as weapons, like steel girders. You can also come across missiles or flammable barrels that can be lobbed at enemies.
-The game's cut scenes appear to be using real-time models, but they are more detailed than the in-game models and the frame rate is MUCH higher, so perhaps not(?).
-The in-game models and background detail are higher than in any other Musou game.
-However, the frame rate is not as smooth. It's stable 98% of the time (I haven't tried 2P yet) and looks like it's 30 FPS.
-Characters show clothing damage. If Kenshiro loses enough health, he loses his upper body clothing. Mamiya shows a LOT more skin, etc.
-Mr. Heart's stomach fat is nice n' jiggly. So are Mamiya's chest and backside area.
-Although the characters have new designs, the game comes with a code to download a costume more like Kenshiro's original one. Assuming everyone else will get them too.
The game's biggest negative points are the slowdown, which seems to be manageable, and the much bigger issue of attacks feeling stiff and slow to start up. There is brief split second between the time it takes to input a button to start an attack sequence and when it registers, and once you have started a combo, you cannot stop it, so if you need to dodge an attack, you're out of luck. This is what will end up making or breaking the game for some people, I think, but I still think that Musou and HnK fans will eat this up.
Going back to the story mode, I see that Rei and Mamiya are now selectable alongside Kenshiro. They have their own missions separate from Ken's that take place at various times alongside the main story. Not sure if they share stages or not. There are definitely hidden areas in every level that are not available to me right now. I need to buy a certain move that punches holes in specific walls to get to them. Having upgraded Ken a bit, he felt a little less "stiff" and more powerful, as expected. I cleared stage three and it was immensely satisfying; in addition to enemies, traps appeared. There's also parts where you have to climb up walls and avoid falling debris.
This game is really fucking fun to play; levels are nice and long, full of enemies, and mid-boss and boss fights are pretty well done. You have to figure out ways to take out bosses. It's not just running around and mashing the buttons like you can do in other Musou games. These guys have weaknesses that must be figured out or you won't beat them. It took me a good while to beat Jagi (I still don't know if I missed something; I basically rushed at him with enough Musou gathered and took him out ASAP to win it) and I couldn't figure out how to beat the imposter Toki (Amiba) last night. Good stuff; glad I bought it, and It's also worth noting that Illusion mode can have SHITLOADS of enemies to fight, but story mode can be barren at times, keeping with the atmosphere and story.
The difference is that you can be set up in story mode, with enemies ambushing you from higher areas that you have to do a little bit of platforming to get to, or can't get to at all. The grunts with crossbows can really screw things up for you if you don't dodge their shots, too. And now there are sub-boss types that use similar movesets to previous bosses. I fought against a "Heart" and two "Shins."
Finally beat Toki-imposter Amiba and and cleared the Cassandra level.
I think I'm on the last level for Kenshiro in the story mode. Got Toki opened up for play alongside Rei and Mamiya. Looks like there's room for Raoh too. The rest of the characters will unlock for play in the Illusion mode. I still haven't tried anyone else yet beyond the initial three. Waiting until I clear the story mode with Kenshiro first. I think this game has shot up to the top as my favorite Koei Musou game. The story mode is more like an action game and the mission points (essentially sub-missions within levels) make for some fun, sometimes challenging *and purely OPTIONAL* battles. I have yet to get all of them before clearing a level, but I think that's to be expected; for some of them you have to have a certain move available that you won't be able to purchase right off the bat. There are things about this game that remind me a bit of Capcom's Sengoku Basara games, in that there are multiple selectable Musous (you can have up to four at one time) that you get as you progress, you can power up (which then completely changes your Musou), and in story mode at least, the levels are more straight-forward and there's no backtracking unless you want to explore and/or go do certain sub-missions.
The boss fights are the highlight and everyone comes at you differently. You'll also get more cowardly bosses who will retreat and send out enemies to take you out, then come back, sometimes not alone. In other words, unlike virtually every other Koei Musou game, the levels and "generals" feel DIFFERENTLY. The standard thugs you face are all pretty much the same, but at least they aren't as stupid. They can be a real hassle when you are surrounded and a group on the outside fires crossbows at you.
And this is all just the story mode. Illusion mode throws a shit-ton more enemies at you and does the more traditional Musou-like map style. It feels like two games in one.
I thought I was at the end of Kenshiro's story mode, but nope! Still going...they kind of skip a lot of storyline bits with certain characters (Raoh was like a blip on the radar), although that could be because other characters in the story mode are more involved with them. Poor Rei. 
: The game spent a lot of time focusing on his last battle with Judah. You fight him once as Ken, then spend the remainder of the stage taking out a structure allowing water to flow freely. Rei's fight with Judah is obviously in his own story mode. Just finished Shu's stage, most of which is one long escort mission with a group of NPCs. I kept getting mission points for helping them though, so if you want to just let them all die and keep going, I assume it's possible. 
It was pretty easy keeping the majority of them alive anyway. So I'm guessing NOW I'm at the last stage, since I think Souther is the only one left to fight. There is still so much left to do with Kenshiro, though, like getting all those mission points and unlocking the rest of his skill set (still have a TON left to get), but there's other characters to play after and then the illusion mode! Never thought I'd enjoy the game as much as I have been.
I got to the end of Kenshiro's story last night. Every time I thought I was on the last stage for the last couple of levels, another one popped up. : He's got 14 stages total. It follows the original story, of course, but Ryuuga (Yuria's brother) level was sandwiched inbetween the multi-level Souther and Ken-Oh/Raoh levels, and just felt like "filler." You get to ride a motorcycle on that level though. It's weird that Raoh's horse is faster.
Didn't beat Raoh on the final stage. I could get him down to his last lifebar and almost no life left, but he'd kill me with a massive life-draining attack move. I wasted all of my musou power on two sub-generals right before him, so next time through I'm going to have to beat them without doing that.
The last Musou Kenshiro gets is the move where he takes on the powers of Toki and Rei. Raoh has this too. It's basically just a temporary invincible state and doesn't seem particularly useful since it requires three musou bars to use and doesn't do much on bosses.
This game is going to take fucking forever to beat all the way through if I want to max out the characters and unlock all the extras. Apparently no one has beaten the boss rush mode either.
Beat Kenshiro's story mode in Hokuto Musou. The final fight with Raoh was easier since I went into with all my musou full this time around. That unlocked Kenshiro in illusion mode. Then I played through Toki's story mode (it's just three stages long, and each level is on the shorter side), and wouldn't you know it? Fucking Raoh is his final boss too. Toki's way too damn weak against Raoh right now so I'm going to have to grind a bit to build him up. I didn't have to grind with Kenshiro, but then he also has 14 stages to play through.
If anyone knows about the whole Fist Of The Northstar story, can you tell me why the hell Raoh was accompanying Toki for a bit after they fought once...only to fight again? I don't get it.
Started playing Mamiya's story in Hokuto Musou. I did clear one Illusion stage with her previously, but I don't think that really matters; I still haven't tried Jagi (who I assume fights the same way) and don't have everyone unlocked yet, but Mamiya so far seems to be the most powerful character in the game. Her long-range fighting style and especially her unique action (R1), which is a large crossbow blast that can be charged, can be as powerful as any other character's musou attack and can clear out whole crowds of enemies. I just beat the first stage with her effortlessly; the end boss, the big Boss Fang guy (who uses a very annoying pro wrestling style that later sub-generals also use) took me a retry with Kenshiro and a little while to go down, but with Mamiya he hit me once. I LOL'd. There are some spots in stages with small holes that Kenshiro and co. can't enter; Mamiya can (giving you the obligatory fan-service ass shot) and this leads to other areas or shortcuts to the ending stages. So far though, it seems that in story mode everybody has maybe one unique level of their own and then shares stages from Kenshiro's story mode.
Fucking love. This. Game. 
Nick Rox (of Gamefan fame) discusses Hokuto Musou in this podcast. He liked it and ended up getting both versions; says the PS3 version is the best since it looks better and the cut scenes go at 60fps. They are 30fps on 360 and some of them also appear to be grainy video of what is done in real time on PS3. I don't know what it is with Koei games, but they always seem to be better on PS3.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/warning-a-huge-podcast/id360033315
Meanwhile, James Mielke (former 1upper, now at Q games) hated it. http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9025316 To be honest, it sounds like he didn't play the game enough to even have discovered some of the basics, which he gets called out on in the comments section. But I can't say I blame him if he found it too repetitive/boring.
I fucking love the game. I think I may have to re-evaluate telling people that Musou game-haters need not apply; a friend that's not too fond of those games seemed pretty happy with it. Learned something from that 1up comments section, too: Remember last night how taunting made the enemies jump back and then start slowly moving forward? It sets them up nicely to be taken out as a group by a Musou attack! I never even thought of that, mainly because I found Kenshiro's bread n' butter to be []/\/\ and [][]/\/\, which can move through crowds anyway. And then Mamiya just needs to use her crossbow, lol.
Game Play Videos:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Shin fight! You can hear "YOU WA SHOKKU!" at about halfway.
Toki
Rei
New DLC is out. Three new scenarios, Mr. Heart, and an outlaw/hoodlum character are playable.
The hoodlum's throw is hilarious, and looks so WRONG when done to Mamiya:
The crazy thing is that I still have yet to play as everyone in the game. I've spent all my time mainly with Kenshiro and Mamiya, and then some with Rei and Toki. I still have Raoh, Souther, Shin, Jagi, Mr. Heart, and Outlaw Thug to use.
