Fans of the Warriors series rejoice as once again Omega Force releases another entry in their mash up Warriors games in the form of Warriors All-Stars. Players will get to choose from 30 characters from different games such as Dead or Alive, Nioh and even from games like the Atelier franchise. Pick your heroes and go against hundreds of enemies on large battlefields. Hack and slash your way through small and large enemies alike in the way only a Warriors game can accomplish. With so many different characters from different games, this might be one of Koei Tecmo’s most interesting takes on a Warriors game ever.

If you’ve played any Warriors game—like the Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors series—then you know what to expect in Warriors All-Stars. Players will choose one of the many playable characters and engage various foes that can be seen from different gaming series like the Atelier franchise and Nights of Azure series to name a few. Each character has a different weapon or set of skills to choose but the basics of the game is to slam the square and triangle button to kill hundreds of enemies. Warriors All-Stars doesn’t change the formula much but true fans and veterans will be happy that it hasn’t.

Far off, an ancient land faces a terrible event. While this world has always been filled with beauty and life thanks to a power known simply as the “Spring” it is now dying due to the death of the King who had controlled it. With no other choice, Princess Tamaki uses a special power to summon warriors from other dimensions and worlds to gather into hers as foretold by the prophecy should the “Spring” die. However, the summoning goes astray leaving the heroes and warriors scattered across the world. To make matters worse, the various families of the world have decided to fight for the now vacant throne and have sought after the summoned heroes to lend aid. This has led what should have been a union of warriors fighting to save the land into a full scale war. Can the heroes of different worlds somehow still unite for a common goal or will their pride and different ways of being cause the war to only get worse?

Warriors All-Stars shouldn’t be too hard to explain to those who have ventured into the world of games like Dynasty Warriors or Warriors Orochi. However, you would be slightly wrong in thinking this is yet just another mash-up hack and slash title from developer Omega Force. Warriors All-Stars does change the game up slightly with some new gameplay elements and ideas but do all of those necessarily work for the better? Let us dive into this review and show what makes Warriors All-Stars worth your purchase or not.

At its core, Warriors All-Stars does indeed play like any other Warriors game out there. You take a character—in this case one of 30 from different games—and go out onto large scale battlefields killing hundreds—sometimes thousands—of enemies. Players will only need to utilize a few buttons to deal off wicked combos and special attacks which at this point is a staple to the Warriors series of games. However, there are a few changes that developer Omega Force incorporated into Warriors All-Stars that makes this not just a clone of games like Warriors Orochi or Hyrule Warriors. Don’t worry, we’ll break it down for you right now.

In-game, players can take several warriors alongside with them into combat. Each character has a range of special perks that can be given to the main controlled character such as strength up or defense up to the name basics. What’s even cooler is that these characters can be used via special attacks and calling them to your side for damaging combos or to use Hero Skills which each of the 30 warriors possess their own power or move. It would have been nice to switch between them in the same style as Warriors Orochi but Warriors All-Stars works with its execution of these controllable skills. Like Musou Rush which allows your character to deal out damage and kill hundreds of enemies—which seem to just magically appear in front of you— while your allies cheer you on is tons of fun to witness and execute.

You’re going to also need to be weary of who you bring into battle alongside you. Sure pairing Ryo off with some random from another world may seem smart but if they don’t have affinity for one another—which you can check prior to battle and in the hub screen—then you won’t get the boosts you may need on harder difficulties. This makes pairing characters both tactical and interesting for various missions. The same can be said of the Hero Cards which each character can equip for even more advantages in combat such as elemental perks and stat bonuses. Warriors All-Stars is clever in this sense and we really like it as it breaks the typical molding of most prior Warriors games. Still we do recommend playing on Hard Mode if you want to utilize the most out of these new concepts. Easy or Normal will still be cake walk for long time fans or veterans of the Warriors games.

Graphically, Warriors All-Stars looks great at times and okay at others. The best on the visual front has to be the art when characters are just talking. When you’re on the battlefield, Warriors All-Stars looks okay but suffers from the series’ usual issues of bland backdrops and overly simple enemy design. Luckily while you’re in battle you have some amazing music to listen to which has to be the strongest we’ve heard in a Warriors game in some time. Different tracks accompany the various characters from their different game series and it sounds wonderful to hear in Warriors All-Stars.

Now, Warriors All-Stars does suffer from some minor issues but overall not many. The story is probably the biggest issue as it feels like a generic tale thrown together to make it convincing to the audience that all these heroes needed to be gathered here. Is it a terrible story? No, we’ve seen worse here at Honey’s Anime but it won’t particularly excite any fan of the series or newcomer, especially in comparison to the Warriors Orochi stories which sounded convincing and actually made some sense. The other major issue in Warriors All-Stars is the lack of any modes outside Story Mode. We were amazed to see that free battle and anything similar wasn’t included. It’s not impossible to say that they could be added via DLC but as a standard game all you’re getting upon starting Warriors All-Stars up is Story Mode, Encyclopedia and Options. Lack of Co-op does also kind of seem like a missed opportunity but we’re used to it in at this point.

Warriors All-Stars doesn’t change the formula we’ve seen in past alliterations but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing by any means. As always, hacking your way to victory still proves to simple fun but on harder difficulties, you may need to be a bit smarter about how you use your team and characters if you want the coveted S rank for each stage. With over 30 characters and most being very different in playstyle—we’re looking at you Nobunaga Oda—Warriors All-Stars offers a nice amount of variety despite its simple gameplay design. While graphically, Warriors All-Stars looks at times great and then others okay, we can’t deny that seeing the different art styles of the various cast is a real treat. Will Warriors All-Stars make you change your mind about the hack and slash of the franchise? To be honest, no. However, if you love the Warriors series and were looking for a new mash-up title, then look no further as Warriors All-Stars is waiting for your purchase.

Warriors All-Stars won’t be the game that changes you into being a fan of the series but if you are already one then you’ll come to love this new entry. We were disappointed that concepts from Warriors Orochi weren’t implemented but Warriors All-Stars has a few of its own tricks and we appreciate that at the very least. Once again Koei Tecmo knows its audience and doesn’t want to ruin the gameplay we love from its various Warriors franchise which means new players may not want to run to pick up Warriors All-Stars but fans will be all too pleased. What are your thoughts about Warriors All-Stars? Comment down below to let us know and be sure to keep returning to Honey’s Anime for more game reviews and articles that we crafted for your entertainment.