Played the first two maps in Story Mode.
This is my first WO game, and it feels pretty weird. In place of the stat system of DW games, you level up by gaining experience. Weapons seem to be obtained like older DW games, where you can have different versions of the same weapon; in this game, one weapon can have a bunch of added effects (ice, extra speed) and another weapon can just have a bunch of slots. You can fuse weapons, too. I'm not sure how I feel about this system because I loved the way DW7 simplified everything, but I guess this is a nice change of pace.
I have no idea who the Samurai Warriors characters are (I only played SW1, and only briefly), so they all feel incredibly foreign. It seems like SW character musous are like old DW, where you hold circle and it drains your musou bar. DW7 characters kept one of their musous from DW7, and all characters are given an R1 special attack that drains a bit of your musou meter. For most DW characters, it's a variant of their other musou.
The map design feels a little wonky in the first map, but other maps seem like they are altered versions of past DW and SW maps.
Having everything voiced in Japanese sucks because you have no clue what people are shouting mid-battle, after battle, and during loading screens. You also have to pay attention to the text that appears when someone speaks in a battle, or you might miss an important detail. Augh.
Also, worst main menu music ever.
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XS2 is the only good Xenosaga game - Lady Ashe
http://backloggery.com/cwistofu