It seems we’ve had a recent onslaught of Warriors ‘spin-offs’ recently. This year alone has seen Dragon Quest Heroes and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 while next year will see the release of Hyrule Warriors Legends, Attack on Titan as well as Arslan: The Warriors of Legend.
For those unfamiliar with the series, Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is based on Hiromu Arakawa’s (of Fullmetal Alchemist fame) adaption of The Heroic Legend of Arslan series of novels, specifically covering the first series of the anime. While Zelda and Dragon Quest can seem like a bit of an odd choice to have a game with Warriors gameplay, Arslan actually makes for a rather natural fit for the series. The story follows the titular Arslan, a young prince, on his journey to take back his home nation of Pan after it was overthrown by the nation of Lusitania. The mission I played followed Arslan in his maiden battle leading an army.
If you’ve played any other Warriors games then you’ll feel right at home here. The basics such as controller layouts and mission objectives seem similar to other warriors games. Omega Force have been able to really capture the look and feel for their other Warriors spinoffs and Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is no different. It has a simple but stylised cel shaded look that really makes it look an episode of the anime in motion.
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend lets you control multiple characters in a single battle as each character has their own abilities and their usable weapons. In the mission I played, I was able to play as Arslan and his bodyguard Daryun. When playing as Daryun, I was about to switch between a sword which could attack quickly and a spear which was slower but had a much greater reach. using the D-Pad to switch between weapons. Weapon switching is done on the fly by using the D-Pad to quickly switch between weapons. One of the new unique features of Arslan is the ability to perform a Mardan Rush. At certain points on the map, you’ll be able to call together a large group of your army, have them band together and become an unstoppable force that can charge through large groups of enemies and barricades placed on the map.
Whether you’re a fan of Arslan or just a fan of Warriors games in general, Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is shaping up to be another promising entry in Omega Force’s growing library of spin-off titles.
