Review Mazinkaiser 4/5 · Aug 28, 2017
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk: For the Fans
There is a lot of subjectivity with this one, but bear with me - for my first Dynasty Warriors game, this one definitely shows its repetitiveness but brings to life a property I absolutely love.
Given a single-player Musou game, Berserk doesn't spend too much time with co-op or sharing storylines with many other characters than Guts in combat. That …
There is a lot of subjectivity with this one, but bear with me - for my first Dynasty Warriors game, this one definitely shows its repetitiveness but brings to life a property I absolutely love.
Given a single-player Musou game, Berserk doesn't spend too much time with co-op or sharing storylines with many other characters than Guts in combat. That said, there's an impressive scale of missions that cover from the beginning of Golden Age right up to Hawk of the Millennium, pitting Guts (and some missions with an optional selection of other characters) against a range of enemies from Basuzo to Ganishka. Sometimes the story feels a bit rushed in some areas (the Kushan emperor came outta nowhere) but feels good that the story chose to focus on the action packed points.
Combat is simple hack/charge slashing with a frenzy meter that builds up, with a powered mode that leads to either a deathblow move or a special transformation sequence. It's interesting to be able to upgrade the character through costumes and see what subweapons and moves are slowly gained throughout the game, though the player (on Normal, at least) will gain levels and manage fairly easily.
There's some equipment and items to assist, but the main game won't push limits. The main challenge comes from Behelits, both a strength and weakness of Band of the Hawk. Sure, invisible Time Limits and tricky escorting can be a drag, but it's good to focus on another objective than just slashing everything in sight. The bosses are simple but paired with interesting moments and set pieces, fulfilling the dream of slicing through every big baddie in the Berserk series.
As for visuals, the game is surprisingly smooth and has a lot going on at any point in time. This does cost some detail but the main enemies and characters look like they came straight out of the manga, a lovely sight to see.
This is definitely a game for fans - people more used to more impressive or original Dynasty Warriors games might be disappointed, but it's a definitive Berserk game.