Warriors Orochi 2 NA Version is Finally Released!

I still remember it, my very first game in PS2 as well as my very first one that I finished after I own that precious little black box. Warriors Orochi! Wew! Actually, I didn’t know that such title exist if not for the Revolt clerk’s recommendation. He saw me picking up Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, and gave me Warriors Orochi, saying that the game was the amalgamation of the previous two. Being newbie (in PS2, not in a gaming world), I took it. Reaching home, I started playing that game. Guess what? I was completely astonished with that, even I started learning the background of Sam Kok and Sengoku era from that game. Hehehehe, totally reversed!

Last March (or April?), I heard that KOEI finally released the sequel of the game, Musou Orochi 2: Maou Sairin. Heck! It was still in Japanese and no confirmation yet whether KOEI will localize it in America or not. I was completely euphoric then, and without thinking further, I rushed to game shop and purchased it. When I started playing it at home, everything was written in Hiragana-Katakana-Kanji-worm-like-letters. I could actually play it without understanding its storyline, just like every other kiddo. But then, I was hesitated, since I decided to wait for the translation. Heck, I thought, if the NA version isn’t released, then I’ll play this version instead.

A long, long, long await……… When finally I saw it in GameFAQ. The announcement! The schedule! Warriors Orochi 2 will be launched on September 23! September 23! Exactly on my birthday! Wow, wow, wow! So this is a birthday present from KOEI for me… Hehehehehe!

I didn’t act foolishly by rushing to the game shop on that date. Still considering that the official launching was September 23, and localized (a.k.a. pirated) version in Indonesia will be there in around 2-3 days. So, last Friday (26/9) I went to the game shop. Feeling desperate since I couldn’t find it in the rack, I heard someone sending new games to the shop. And one of them was Orochi 2!!! Yipeeeeee!!! Took it, paid it, went home, changed my clothes, turned on the TV, opened the lid of that precious black box, inserted it, closed it, and turned on the console…. Booting, PlayStation 2 logo, KOEI logo, Omega Forces logo, and finally, WARRIORS OROCHI 2 (press start button.. Hehehehehe!) Yay!

I knew it, many improvements were there. Now KOEI included the ability to do True Musou without red-life bar by equipping some skills (finally! This should be there since the very first instalment!). The second instalment also has the ability to do triple musou attack (a.k.a. support attack) where all three characters will appear at the same time and start butchering the enemy. Huray! Huray! Huray!

Unlike the previous instalment, which have only 4 stories, this one has 5 stories! Shu, Wei, Wu, Samurai, and…….. OROCHI!!! Wow! So now we can play as Orochi and Da Ji since the first stage. Ouch! KOEI really spoiled me… I don’t need to fulfil several criteria to unlock some officers like in the previous instalment. Now, by progressing through all five stories, you can have all officers (excluding Orochi X and some Survival-VS only characters. But, who need those weird officers?). Talking about officer, they included new faces here. Guess who? They are Minamoto Yoshitsune (ouch, they should include Shizuka too!), Taira Kiyomori, Taigong Wang, Himiko, and SUN WUKONG!!!! :-o Fu Xi and Nu Wa also came back here. Wew, so now Diao Chan has a rival!

Another good point, KOEI included the third costume for everyone. Basically, this costume is a costume from Dynasty Warriors 4 and Samurai Warriors 1. But for those first appeared in Dynasty Warriors 5 and Samurai Warriors 2 (or even the original characters like Da Ji and Taigong Wang), they made special costume. And guess what, I could even fell for Da Ji in her third costume… Blonde hair, cat ears, white outfit. Oww, so seducing… We could even see Ginchiyo Tachibana in a non-armor outfit. Geee……….

Okay, now from the storyline aspect. Well, Orochi is not the only bad guy here. In fact, he’s mentioned only in the last chapter. The real bad guy here is Taira Kiyomori who tried to revive Orochi. Minamoto Yoshitsune, his rival, tried to stop him though. On the other side, Da Ji was chased by the mystics, Taigong Wang, Fu Xi, and Nu Wa for releasing Orochi from the prison.

Reminisce to the first game, where KOEI compared Cao Cao and Nobunaga, as well as Keiji Maeda and Lu Bu, now they did it again. This time, Zhang Fei met Tadakatsu Honda, Zhang Xing Cai befriend Ina-hime (considering their father’s background), Ieyasu Tokugawa found a soulmate in Liu Bei, and one (impossible) pair from same franchise, Gan Ning with Zhang Liao! Gee… They really are mad………

With the release of Dynasty Warriors 6 prior to this game, some changes also took place. I was shocked when playing as Sun Shang Xiang. I know that in DW 6, she didn’t have her chakram anymore, but bow. And in this game, her R1 + directional button attack was firing arrows at the enemies. And it really is deadly. Aaargh!!!!!!!

PS : Gee, I know this might be a foolish wish, but could KOEI also release Orochi 3 in the old-but-beautiful-black-console-PlayStation 2???