Speaking as someone who minored in history, I can confirm that everything Steph has shown us in this video is 100% historically accurate. Honestly, I'm impressed that Capcom managed to make such an entertaining game of what is, essentially, an interactive documentary
@@Pecisk It's also just, y'know, healthy. Steph *tried* the "keep up with all the problems" approach and it sucked for everyone. An occasional Jimquisition about something they love and their feelings on it, a chance to show off what they can do when they want to praise something, or even an aspect of something, is good for them *and* us in all sorts of ways.
I mean, any intelligent person should be attributing scores to a realistic scale anyway. 5/10 = Not good. Not bad. Totally average. So 7/10 = Pretty good. Not without flaws, but you should definitely play it. Score inflation is a problem. Some might say it's the SAME problem as Corpos demanding constant "growth" with no end.
The dumbest thing about dynasty warriors trying to be more “realistic” is that there’s already a more realistic version of that game/story and its the “romance of the three kingdoms” series (its also the name of the actual book the games are based on). Dynasty warriors should embrace the absurdity of one person beating a thousand enemies singlehandedly, give it some yakuza-style humor
@@whiteraven1992yeah clone characters are so wildly lazy. Even street fighter made ken distinct enough from ryu despite him initially being a cloned character
Yeah I really wish people making these musou games would just do...something with the genre. I got the Berserk one because I love Berserk and I didn't hate it but wow it didn't do Berserk any justice at all. FYI in that series the main character Guts has a monumental feat where he fights 100 soldiers by himself and actually wins, just. I was on like the second level of the musou game and noticed at one point that with one attack I killed 100 foes and it just felt...kinda stupid. My feelings on these things are so mixed. It's fun to slay thousands of enemies but it always feels like they're the bones of a much better game.
*@mrcheesemunch* Speaking of Berserk [more accurately, _spinoff_ Musou titles]... I'm still pining for a new Gundam Musou myself; it's been almost 12 years! C'mon, Bandai-Sunrise! But the main Dynasty Warriors series really should see a return to form, first.
I was watching one of Stephanie's vids without the sound (I was in public) and juste seeing the wavy visual effect on the AAA I could hear their voice in my head doing the "TrIPle A" bit. Got a good chuckle out of me, 11/10 most memorable meme from this channel
@@charlieseen The anime and the game are both amazing but definitely different levels and types of absurdity lol. Anime only viewers won't really get a vibe for the whole game experience. The anime is super gay though and the soundtrack is legendary lol. Plus the opening theme with the dancing samurais is top tier. Seriously though, so, SO gay. The English fandom really ran with the red/blue rivalshipping of Masamune/Yukimura and the Japanese fandom seems way more partial to Kojuurou/Masamune (probably the whole "undying devotion" and "basically one soul in two bodies" thing lmao). The remake of the anime made it even gayer too if possible. Yoshitsugu was always clearly into Mitsunari (it's hilarious seeing old game forum posts and youtube comments from gamer bro types saying stuff like "is Yoshitsugu gay for Mitsunari or something???") but the remake may as well have just dropped the subtext entirely. Lol I am so happy Stephanie uploaded this, it's been literal YEARS since I've seen anyone talk about Sengoku Basara and it's my actual favorite series EVER.
I remember back when the Anime aired my college friends and I found it silly and hysterical and I immediately went out and picked up Devil Kings from a cheap second-hand game website. We had some fun with it back in the day, the absolute commitment to absurdity is what really made this series shine.
I just didn't "get" Musou games for a long time until SB3 and the SB anime finally made it all click for me 13-14 years ago. It's so great seeing someone go back and experience older media and have that epiphany of appreciation. I'm really happy for you that you finally experienced it, and I hope this vid makes others do as well.
I love how much fun you are having! This is such a great time! And like a totally NOT bitter ex, you've moved onto greener pastures, better times, and thank you for taking us on this journey
I'm glad Capcom made a Realistic game, instead of the innacurate woke games with women fighting dragons and orcs, when everyone knows women didn't exist back then.
I got this game from a friend in high school and to this day I still love it. One of the first things I did last year when I got a new girlfriend was play this game with her.
It’s always a joy getting to see you gush about something you enjoy so much. I’ve never played one of these types of games, but your excitement over them is infectious
If Okami can get a sequel, Sengoku Basara could totally get a new entry. Like imagine this series getting a new game, and Dante gets to be a guest character just because he's as over the top as the other characters in this series
I think it would be even funnier to use the DMC2 look and say his appearance here would explain why he changed back from quiet Dante to the wacky wahoo pizza man.
OK, so my friend was having his birthday and I told him he could go to our local BME and pick any video game and I'd buy it for him and he randomly chose this one. We turned it on and our mouths dropped at the intro cutscene. LOVE this game.
Never played a hack and slash before honestly, but this got me seriously tempted. I love this format of doing a deep dive into a game that Steph enjoyed and I hope we might see another one of these sometime. Also I love how the youtube video is categorised under "Devil Kings 2005"
I burst into laughter at the double shield pinball thing. I need to play this now. Rather hope this joins the list of franchises Capcom will consider reviving now that they are in a new golden era.
Haven't watched any of the video yet, just gotta say that Devil Kings was the first hack n slash I ever played and single-handedly sparked a love for the genre I hold close to this day. I have very vivid memories of going to the GameStop in my local mall as much as possible to play DK on the demo display until I saved enough allowance to buy it. Years later my brother got me Sengoku Basara 3, which I had no idea existed, and it's one of the best presents I've received to this day. I wasn't nice to him growing up, so playing games together was one of the only ways we could bond. We played the shit out of that game until I moved away for school. Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around these games, and I'm delighted that others have fond memories of it, too. Thank you for all the great work, and especially for this. Also, I'd love it if Capcom decided to give us access to SB2, because I've always loved Tenkai and he's only playable in that entry! EDIT: Tenkai, AKA Scythe Twink, is playable in all the games, but he's Japan only. Heartbreaking.
I like it when media can be both serious and dumb in a sincere way instead of an "ironic" way. Metal Gear and Yakuza both put their all in BOTH their drama and comedy.
I wanna point out that the split between "drama" and "comedy" as strict nonintersecting genres is very western. I think a lot of people struggle with tone in anime and Japanese games because they perceive it as melodrama, thinking that it's either failing to be a serious drama or being too maudlin for a true comedy, when the reality is that Japanese storytelling is simply more comfortable with having a wider tonal range for all of its genres. Combine that with the way "shonen" isn't really a genre marker but rather a marketing category, and I find the idea that a lot of the sillier tonally contrasting stuff can't be and shouldn't be enjoyed except ironically kind of insulting. Like, what makes you laugh and what makes you cry is of course subjective. But yeah, a lot of times when people say they like something "ironically" it just sounds like they're trying to deny or downplay any "inappropriate" emotional response they had to a work. Sengoku Basara is a really good example because it is over the top on purpose for the sake of being hype and cool *and* it's also crushingly emotional if you haven't locked yourself into just thinking about it as a no-stakes-no-emotional commitment kind of experience. "Why did this silly samurai game make me cry fr" is a *joke* -- it made you cry because it's good storytelling. All good storytelling has that ability.
This was an amazing video. I remember playing Devil Kings after DW 5 empires. It was such a breath of fresh air but there was so much holding the game back I was surprised. Then I learned of Sengoku Basara and it’s all over. I fell in love with the series and even the anime and movie. I agree Stephanie we need more Basara. Over the top action is always welcomed.
As fun as watching someone rant can be, it's refreshing to see you enthusiastically gush about something you really enjoy. These kinds of games aren't my cup of tea but watching you give this one such glowing praise makes me wish they'd release a remaster/new game just for your benefit.
I'm glad that you were able to find something fun to do a video on, even if there's a bittersweet note to it. You have to dredge through an awful lot of horrible stuff going on in the games industry, so seeing you genuinely enjoying a game and showing it off was heartwarming. Thank you, Steph :)
Steph, I am SO happy you've been to circle back to this absolute gem of a game. I actually attended a release event for it in NYC way back when and couldn't have bought it any faster (or harder) after leaving that night. It is, now & forever, one of my best/favorite gaming memories.
Ever since you mentioned sengoku basara in your other videos, i have been waiting for this one just to be able to unlock my full autistic special interest mode and talk about this goddamn series again for the first time in 16 years So i was VERY involved in the western fandom back in 2007-2009. I was there before sengoku basara 3 even came out! I got introduced to the series via the anime (which i highly recommend btw its great, i watched it like 10 times) and then got huuuuge into the fandom on livejournal and 4chan /cb/. My god steph i wish you were there. There was so much brilliant fan art and fanfic, people taking historical facts and incorperating them into the series world to tell more stories. And unbeliveable amounts of horny dudes kissing thats was the best part. I never got to play the games because when i got into the series, the only english version was devil kings which...the fandom largely pretended didnt exist. But despite that, it was still a pretty huge fandom! It was represented a lot at conventions at the time, and kinda took over deviantart for a good while (at odds with uh...hetalia. i left hetalia in favor of SB for...obvious reasona. Ifykyk). It was a hell of a time and i wish you had been there!! I still remember when they first released that incredible trailer for sb3. It shook the whole fandom, and my god did people swith to ieyasu/mitsunari fast. Also..its a shame to hear about the director :/ that really really sucks. This wasnt public when i was into the series, so i had no idea, but i hope if it ever comes back they never ever give that guy power ever again
I caught the first six episodes of the Sengoku Basara anime basically as a fluke because I needed to fill a couple hours at an anime convention back in like, 2013, and it's remained one of my favorites just because it's so earnest in its ridiculousness, it does not flinch at all from how ridiculous it is, which somehow horseshoes back around to such earnestly heartfelt moments. I love it dearly and I've always been so sad that it's so very underappreciated in the west. It got me interested in researching actual Sengoku Era history for sure and that is a WILD TIME.
if you never played the latest two games in the Yakuza serie, I think you'd have an amazing time with it. you fight a giant murderous roomba at some point, in the middle of a tense political thriller about how the mafia influences the Japanese government. bless those games.
I haven't tried the last one yet, but yeah, calling the Lobsters as a Summon Attack was definitely a highlight (and the quest that gave us it was a reward in itself.) They really took full advantage of the fact it's an RPG now to have you summon pigeons. Or fight Bulldozers. Or summon Bulldozers.
And here I thought Stephanie was going to talk about Facebook getting rid of fact-checking in favor of community notes like Twitter, removing the trans and non-binary themes from their Messenger app, and basically making it OK to say hateful and/or derogatory things about people based on their gender identity... But you know what? I could use something relatively positive for a change, especially come January 20th.
A lot of people thought we'd never get Trails from Zero and Azure localized. Good luck Steph, it looks really fun and I would buy a remaster with everything, or multiple remasters even.
Realism and seriousness has its place, but equally so does nonsense and frivolity. Variety is the spice of life. Realism doesn't feel like it belongs in a game where one person fights a whole army giant weapons
Aw yes. Even as... tempered with as it might have been, Devil Kings is basically the reason I hold a love for its particular blend of hack and slash to this days and Samurai Heroes is THE reason I still feel the occasional itch to pack out my old Wii. Having a video giving the game the credit it deserves it basically pure dopamine to my brain. Thank god for you.
Always love the videos where you had fun with a game. Hope there's more of that this year, whether you're revisiting old ones or finding something new Steph!
I'd heard of Sengoku Basara, but basically only to the extent that I knew it was another Dynasty Warriors-like game. Now that I've seen the absurdity of its humor, the creativity of its gameplay, and the honest-to-god care and effort put into voice acting the insane script, I definitely feel like I'll have to check out the only real one we got in the west. Thanks for the in-depth review that's put this on my radar!
One of the big things I love about Capcom games is just how wacky and cool the combat can be like God hand and devil may cry, but it's crazy that I've never heard of this game.
Steph I have always appreciated your enthusiasm for the Musou genre. I feel like you're one of the only gaming content creators with a sizable audience that has any love for the genre and I find it very cathartic to see you put Basara 3 on a pedestal like this as I also share the sentiment that it (and Basara 4 as well) are some of the best examples of the genre. I'm actually (very slowly) working on an entire series of Musou video essays on my channel and I have already covered Basara 1 and 2. Basara is how I found my love for the Musou genre, but I feel this weird curiosity about the Musou "fanbase" like I'm still looking at it from the outside. It's clearly a very niche fanbase of people who expect very particular things out of the games and they seem very hard to please. Like I was very surprised to get comments from people who didn't like that I praised Basara and they said things like "it's a bad rip-off of Koei's Samurai Warriors" even though that's impossible when you consider dev time and when they released. Some people disagreed that I called Basara the better game compared to Samurai Warriors but I'm sorry, if you compare SW1 to Basara 1 (especially the JP version and not Devil Kings) Basara 1 is just head and shoulders the better designed, more fun, more interesting game.
It's a shame the west only got 2 of these games and they aren't even the best ones in the franchise. I still play Samurai Heroes to this day, I just wish Utage had been released or at least translated to English, kinda really wanna play as Sorin and Tenkai
There's all kinds of translated material posted on old fanblogs and such if you want to understand what's going on. Won't compare to knowing in the moment as you play, understandably, but the games are dirt cheap secondhand nowadays and I think they're still worth checking out simply for the fun factor. Utage was one of my favs of the entire series, Sumeragi probably right behind it.
@@Kaikirith Yeah that's the thing, I like to know in the moment. It kinda takes me out of the experience if I have to pause the game, go to another window and read supplemental material just to know what I'm looking at. That being said I DID play it on the ps3 emulator just to try out the new characters since, by now, I know SB3's story by heart
Hilarious video. The game looks awesome. Balanced, realistic and being serious some of the worst stuff to happened to gaming. Looking forward to the next video. Keep up the good work.
Historical Accuracy (TM) far better than anything Ubisoft is doing with Assassins Creed Shadows. Dumbasses didn’t even add one single giant enemy crab!
They should do like Guilty Gear and make Yasuke a vampire who isolated himself while two apocalypse happened, only to be harassed by a clone of the woman who did the last apocalypse who want to force him into a marriage (among other nonsences)
Ooh! I just learned of Troy Baker this week because I wanted to find out who voiced Indy in the new Indiana Jones game! I didn't realize he was a long-time voice actor, I just assumed they got him because he sounded uncannily like Harrison Ford. E: also, how do British people pronounce Minoan? Is it "my-knowin"?
Yes! Sengoku Basara is such a hidden gem from the Capcom vault. Unfortunately, it's the only Capcom IP that has even less of a chance of coming back than Okami (which is getting another game)
My friend and I have been playing Sengoku Basara since Devil Kings released. We were in secondary school when Devil Kings came out and were already obsessed with both Dynasty and Samurai Warriors. It blew our minds. We then played Sengoku Basara 3 when it came out in the UK. Sengoku Basara 4 came out when we were in university. It just so happened that we had gone to the same university in a completely different city to where we grew up. Needless to say, we used the fact that the PS4 wasn't region limited and spent hours on fan translation forums so that we could play the game and translate the ppst-battke rewards. 100% worth it. What an incredible game!
Damn, that looks really fun. Why do I only learn about such games when they are not on systems I own, never got a release in Europe or are pretty much dead?
As a Basara fan, I'm overjoyed that new people are still discovering this series. I've imported all of them and played Basara 2 Heroes until a TV caught fire. Yes, really. It's a shame they never gave it more of a chance, but in 4 they made the grind stupid and sold DLC materials as "skip the grind" DLC along with a hundred costumes, as was the style of the time, so maybe that was for the best. They even did the Xtreme Legends thing starting with 3 (Samurai Heroes), which didn't come out in English, where NPCs became fully playable characters, and thankfully put out a complete set of 4 Sumeragi with all the DLC, but still a cursed grind. And as a fighting game fan, X hit the right spot.
"Echo effect counts as editing -- I have done my job" I love you, Zilla lmao
Aw, shucks, thanks! 💜🐼💜🐼💜🐼
@@ZMannZilla You're fucken hilarious, great work!
Seconded! This series has gotten even better since Zilla came along. Truly a perfect partnership!
I liked this comment before I heard the edit.
Now that I've experienced it, I want to like yhos comment again. 👍
Running enemies down with a flaming wheelchair? That's equity.
Speaking as someone who minored in history, I can confirm that everything Steph has shown us in this video is 100% historically accurate. Honestly, I'm impressed that Capcom managed to make such an entertaining game of what is, essentially, an interactive documentary
Speaking as an historian, I concur.
With Capcom releasing so many collections as of late, we need a Basara collection. Including the games we didn’t get in the states.
Funny thing being that there already was a Basara collection back then. Yes, we do need another one!!
With Capcom having announced new games for long dormant franchises like onimusha AND Okami, there may be hope someday.
If they do this collection/Remaster before Breath of Fire I'm gonna cry haha
I own that collection. It's all in Japanese and I don't understand a word 🙃 also O is confirm as opposed to X, very confusing
@@Liquid_Smoke yeah, X is always cancel in japan and O is the equivalent of the check mark, so it makes sense, but it sure is confusing
I, for one, welcome more video essays like this and the Mouthwashing video! 👍
Seconded, I know world is so full of problems out there, but this is pure gold.
@@Pecisk It's also just, y'know, healthy.
Steph *tried* the "keep up with all the problems" approach and it sucked for everyone.
An occasional Jimquisition about something they love and their feelings on it, a chance to show off what they can do when they want to praise something, or even an aspect of something, is good for them *and* us in all sorts of ways.
"This 2 seagulls asses taped together looking guy"
LMFAO I am dying. This statement belongs on R
areinsults as the banner XD
A 7/10 score is high praise from Steph Sterling. Only games the quality of Sengoku Basara would receive such a lofty honor.
I mean, any intelligent person should be attributing scores to a realistic scale anyway.
5/10 = Not good. Not bad. Totally average.
So 7/10 = Pretty good. Not without flaws, but you should definitely play it.
Score inflation is a problem. Some might say it's the SAME problem as Corpos demanding constant "growth" with no end.
Or that Zelda game
@@geoffok 😉😁
The dumbest thing about dynasty warriors trying to be more “realistic” is that there’s already a more realistic version of that game/story and its the “romance of the three kingdoms” series (its also the name of the actual book the games are based on). Dynasty warriors should embrace the absurdity of one person beating a thousand enemies singlehandedly, give it some yakuza-style humor
YES! Especially in terms of weapon/moveset variety. I still believe there shouldn't be _any_ "clones" in the main Dynasty Warriors series.
@@whiteraven1992yeah clone characters are so wildly lazy. Even street fighter made ken distinct enough from ryu despite him initially being a cloned character
They took a note from Ubisoft, trying to release the same game over 6 different series...
Yeah I really wish people making these musou games would just do...something with the genre. I got the Berserk one because I love Berserk and I didn't hate it but wow it didn't do Berserk any justice at all.
FYI in that series the main character Guts has a monumental feat where he fights 100 soldiers by himself and actually wins, just. I was on like the second level of the musou game and noticed at one point that with one attack I killed 100 foes and it just felt...kinda stupid. My feelings on these things are so mixed. It's fun to slay thousands of enemies but it always feels like they're the bones of a much better game.
*@mrcheesemunch* Speaking of Berserk [more accurately, _spinoff_ Musou titles]... I'm still pining for a new Gundam Musou myself; it's been almost 12 years! C'mon, Bandai-Sunrise!
But the main Dynasty Warriors series really should see a return to form, first.
"Giant accessibility chariot from Hell"... all of my yes
I appreciate someone just discussing the fine details of a game they love. Thanks for the entertainment, as always Steph.
I feel like it's the Saints Row to Dynasty Warrior's GTA.
Saints Row 3 and 4 especially, not so much 1 and 2
So it's the cooler, gayer cousin?
@@charlieseen The homo-erotic implications in this game are off the charts so...yes!
@@charlieseen Very much so.
my favorite audio effect is the filter whenever Stephanie says "TRIPLE A"
I was watching one of Stephanie's vids without the sound (I was in public) and juste seeing the wavy visual effect on the AAA I could hear their voice in my head doing the "TrIPle A" bit.
Got a good chuckle out of me, 11/10 most memorable meme from this channel
I shouted in delight when I got this notification!! My special interest getting the flowers it deserves!!! Thank god for Commander Sterling!!!! 🎉
(Also pssst, if you want an overview of the plot before picking up 3 from this video, the anime rocks. It's so gay, and the soundtrack is S tier)
@@charlieseen The anime and the game are both amazing but definitely different levels and types of absurdity lol. Anime only viewers won't really get a vibe for the whole game experience.
The anime is super gay though and the soundtrack is legendary lol. Plus the opening theme with the dancing samurais is top tier.
Seriously though, so, SO gay. The English fandom really ran with the red/blue rivalshipping of Masamune/Yukimura and the Japanese fandom seems way more partial to Kojuurou/Masamune (probably the whole "undying devotion" and "basically one soul in two bodies" thing lmao). The remake of the anime made it even gayer too if possible. Yoshitsugu was always clearly into Mitsunari (it's hilarious seeing old game forum posts and youtube comments from gamer bro types saying stuff like "is Yoshitsugu gay for Mitsunari or something???") but the remake may as well have just dropped the subtext entirely.
Lol I am so happy Stephanie uploaded this, it's been literal YEARS since I've seen anyone talk about Sengoku Basara and it's my actual favorite series EVER.
Im just glad to see steph making less depressing videos to break up the constant man made horrors (unfortunately) within my comprehension.
Jimquisition is supposed to feel like an inquisition.
@@romakrelian
Riiiiight...
I remember back when the Anime aired my college friends and I found it silly and hysterical and I immediately went out and picked up Devil Kings from a cheap second-hand game website. We had some fun with it back in the day, the absolute commitment to absurdity is what really made this series shine.
I just didn't "get" Musou games for a long time until SB3 and the SB anime finally made it all click for me 13-14 years ago. It's so great seeing someone go back and experience older media and have that epiphany of appreciation. I'm really happy for you that you finally experienced it, and I hope this vid makes others do as well.
Shaking your hand, because that's how it happened for me too, except I was a little older.
Never played the game, but I've seen the anime, which gave us the classic "My horse is a motorbike, your argument is invalid" meme.
😂 I love the anime. Rule of cool the anime
I love how much fun you are having! This is such a great time! And like a totally NOT bitter ex, you've moved onto greener pastures, better times, and thank you for taking us on this journey
Steph over the last few weeks: "Oh darn I've gotta play more Samurai Heroes for...research. Yeah...research. That's the ticket."
I'm glad Capcom made a Realistic game, instead of the innacurate woke games with women fighting dragons and orcs, when everyone knows women didn't exist back then.
👨🍳😘
Sengoku Basara made Magoichi Saika female. (Which may or may not have actually existed)
😂
Everyone knows Vince McMahon invented women back in the day, that's how we got Luna Vachon and Cyndi Lauper
Literally, or in the figurative sense that they might as well not exist to people who play these kinds of games?
Fun fact: 6/8 of the main people in Critical Roll are VAs in this game (Ashely and Marisha are not).
I got this game from a friend in high school and to this day I still love it. One of the first things I did last year when I got a new girlfriend was play this game with her.
It’s always a joy getting to see you gush about something you enjoy so much. I’ve never played one of these types of games, but your excitement over them is infectious
these are not games for me i played dragon quest heroes but i love watching it because basura looks like fun campy trash
@16:46 "We just turn everyone into pinball bitches". Well i'm sold!
If Okami can get a sequel, Sengoku Basara could totally get a new entry. Like imagine this series getting a new game, and Dante gets to be a guest character just because he's as over the top as the other characters in this series
They already put DMC costumes in the game so why not the whole character?
Please Capcom, this would be so godamn funny! Also have Masamune and Dante make a joke about their voices being identical somewhere in there!
I think it would be even funnier to use the DMC2 look and say his appearance here would explain why he changed back from quiet Dante to the wacky wahoo pizza man.
Most sequels sucks nowadays.
Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series!
Sonic the Edgehog, lowbrow as it may be, caught me so off guard (and fits aptly) that i actually cackled.
It was so much fun watching you talk about a game you clearly love and have fun playing.
OK, so my friend was having his birthday and I told him he could go to our local BME and pick any video game and I'd buy it for him and he randomly chose this one. We turned it on and our mouths dropped at the intro cutscene. LOVE this game.
All those dreams, all of my hope, all have come undoooooooooone
Never played a hack and slash before honestly, but this got me seriously tempted. I love this format of doing a deep dive into a game that Steph enjoyed and I hope we might see another one of these sometime. Also I love how the youtube video is categorised under "Devil Kings 2005"
The way you repeat "Red Minotaur," pounding it into my head... pounding it... pounding it...
Just pounding it! 😵
" Echo Effect counts as editing." Chef's kiss.
Zilla earns his stripes with every episode
Can confirm the Historical Accuracy. I have a BS in History.
Oh word, I think Dave Rubin got one of those in communication
I got two BA's in Black Sheep.
BS in History. Sir, that's right up there with a theoretical degree in physics. (I liked the two BAs in Black Sheep too though, that was nice.)
@GC13 Well, I do have a Bachelor of Science, but saying BS is just funnier. Now I need to work on my PHD in underwater basket weaving.
I confirm that this history is BS. "Bonkers" and "Silly."
I burst into laughter at the double shield pinball thing. I need to play this now. Rather hope this joins the list of franchises Capcom will consider reviving now that they are in a new golden era.
Haven't watched any of the video yet, just gotta say that Devil Kings was the first hack n slash I ever played and single-handedly sparked a love for the genre I hold close to this day. I have very vivid memories of going to the GameStop in my local mall as much as possible to play DK on the demo display until I saved enough allowance to buy it. Years later my brother got me Sengoku Basara 3, which I had no idea existed, and it's one of the best presents I've received to this day. I wasn't nice to him growing up, so playing games together was one of the only ways we could bond. We played the shit out of that game until I moved away for school. Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around these games, and I'm delighted that others have fond memories of it, too. Thank you for all the great work, and especially for this.
Also, I'd love it if Capcom decided to give us access to SB2, because I've always loved Tenkai and he's only playable in that entry!
EDIT: Tenkai, AKA Scythe Twink, is playable in all the games, but he's Japan only. Heartbreaking.
I like it when media can be both serious and dumb in a sincere way instead of an "ironic" way. Metal Gear and Yakuza both put their all in BOTH their drama and comedy.
I wanna point out that the split between "drama" and "comedy" as strict nonintersecting genres is very western. I think a lot of people struggle with tone in anime and Japanese games because they perceive it as melodrama, thinking that it's either failing to be a serious drama or being too maudlin for a true comedy, when the reality is that Japanese storytelling is simply more comfortable with having a wider tonal range for all of its genres. Combine that with the way "shonen" isn't really a genre marker but rather a marketing category, and I find the idea that a lot of the sillier tonally contrasting stuff can't be and shouldn't be enjoyed except ironically kind of insulting.
Like, what makes you laugh and what makes you cry is of course subjective. But yeah, a lot of times when people say they like something "ironically" it just sounds like they're trying to deny or downplay any "inappropriate" emotional response they had to a work. Sengoku Basara is a really good example because it is over the top on purpose for the sake of being hype and cool *and* it's also crushingly emotional if you haven't locked yourself into just thinking about it as a no-stakes-no-emotional commitment kind of experience. "Why did this silly samurai game make me cry fr" is a *joke* -- it made you cry because it's good storytelling. All good storytelling has that ability.
This was an amazing video. I remember playing Devil Kings after DW 5 empires. It was such a breath of fresh air but there was so much holding the game back I was surprised. Then I learned of Sengoku Basara and it’s all over. I fell in love with the series and even the anime and movie. I agree Stephanie we need more Basara. Over the top action is always welcomed.
THank you Steph. Your enthusiasm shows in this one.
Never would have expected a 30 minute video about Sengoku Basara 3 of all possible games from you but overjoyed to see it, it deserves way more love
As fun as watching someone rant can be, it's refreshing to see you enthusiastically gush about something you really enjoy. These kinds of games aren't my cup of tea but watching you give this one such glowing praise makes me wish they'd release a remaster/new game just for your benefit.
well damn, now i kinda wanna play this game, as if the voice actors aren't enough incentive your excitement is contagious
I'm glad that you were able to find something fun to do a video on, even if there's a bittersweet note to it. You have to dredge through an awful lot of horrible stuff going on in the games industry, so seeing you genuinely enjoying a game and showing it off was heartwarming. Thank you, Steph :)
Steph, I am SO happy you've been to circle back to this absolute gem of a game. I actually attended a release event for it in NYC way back when and couldn't have bought it any faster (or harder) after leaving that night.
It is, now & forever, one of my best/favorite gaming memories.
Oh, and FYI, Kojuro is my favorite character... which is why UTAGE never coming Stateside hurt so deep.
4:12 "initially"
logic: B.L. is the initials of Bruce Lee
me: why does this Bruce Lee have the "boy love" fanfic tag?
Honestly, it seems fitting here.
Levels within levels.
I liked "Hardly surprising" with Stan Lee (in the Thing from Fantastic Four's body) saying boo to Bruce.
Gold, pure gold.
My bestie back in highschool loved this game. I hope she is doing well now, we have kind of drifted apart.
So the guy that can create barriers that bounce enemies back and forth has a pointy hat. Does that make him a Pinball Wizard?
He needs to have a supple wrist, though.
"Adding an echo effect counts as editing" Really got me 😂
Also, goddamn is it nice to hear Steph talking about a game that brings them joy. It's become a rare treat in this industry
"Robot Spiders of Mercy Hospital"
Dammit, Zilla, I'm sick, it hurts to laugh this hard! (But don't you _dare_ stop!)
Can't stop, won't stop! 💜🐼Z
Ever since you mentioned sengoku basara in your other videos, i have been waiting for this one just to be able to unlock my full autistic special interest mode and talk about this goddamn series again for the first time in 16 years
So i was VERY involved in the western fandom back in 2007-2009. I was there before sengoku basara 3 even came out! I got introduced to the series via the anime (which i highly recommend btw its great, i watched it like 10 times) and then got huuuuge into the fandom on livejournal and 4chan /cb/. My god steph i wish you were there. There was so much brilliant fan art and fanfic, people taking historical facts and incorperating them into the series world to tell more stories. And unbeliveable amounts of horny dudes kissing thats was the best part.
I never got to play the games because when i got into the series, the only english version was devil kings which...the fandom largely pretended didnt exist. But despite that, it was still a pretty huge fandom! It was represented a lot at conventions at the time, and kinda took over deviantart for a good while (at odds with uh...hetalia. i left hetalia in favor of SB for...obvious reasona. Ifykyk). It was a hell of a time and i wish you had been there!! I still remember when they first released that incredible trailer for sb3. It shook the whole fandom, and my god did people swith to ieyasu/mitsunari fast.
Also..its a shame to hear about the director :/ that really really sucks. This wasnt public when i was into the series, so i had no idea, but i hope if it ever comes back they never ever give that guy power ever again
I LOVE hearing you talking like this about games.
Same.
I caught the first six episodes of the Sengoku Basara anime basically as a fluke because I needed to fill a couple hours at an anime convention back in like, 2013, and it's remained one of my favorites just because it's so earnest in its ridiculousness, it does not flinch at all from how ridiculous it is, which somehow horseshoes back around to such earnestly heartfelt moments. I love it dearly and I've always been so sad that it's so very underappreciated in the west. It got me interested in researching actual Sengoku Era history for sure and that is a WILD TIME.
Took me a minute to remember this one. Then I remembered that the blue one-eye’d samurai rode his horse with motorcycle copper bars. Iconic!
if you never played the latest two games in the Yakuza serie, I think you'd have an amazing time with it.
you fight a giant murderous roomba at some point, in the middle of a tense political thriller about how the mafia influences the Japanese government.
bless those games.
I haven't tried the last one yet, but yeah, calling the Lobsters as a Summon Attack was definitely a highlight (and the quest that gave us it was a reward in itself.)
They really took full advantage of the fact it's an RPG now to have you summon pigeons. Or fight Bulldozers. Or summon Bulldozers.
And here I thought Stephanie was going to talk about Facebook getting rid of fact-checking in favor of community notes like Twitter, removing the trans and non-binary themes from their Messenger app, and basically making it OK to say hateful and/or derogatory things about people based on their gender identity...
But you know what? I could use something relatively positive for a change, especially come January 20th.
A lot of people thought we'd never get Trails from Zero and Azure localized. Good luck Steph, it looks really fun and I would buy a remaster with everything, or multiple remasters even.
Always lovely to hear of games that passed me by, thank you. Expertly edited, as always.
Realism and seriousness has its place, but equally so does nonsense and frivolity. Variety is the spice of life. Realism doesn't feel like it belongs in a game where one person fights a whole army giant weapons
"It's Troy Baker"
Of course it is.
OMFG STEPH, YOU ACTUAL LEGEND AND HERO, TYSM FOR THIS!
Aw yes. Even as... tempered with as it might have been, Devil Kings is basically the reason I hold a love for its particular blend of hack and slash to this days and Samurai Heroes is THE reason I still feel the occasional itch to pack out my old Wii. Having a video giving the game the credit it deserves it basically pure dopamine to my brain. Thank god for you.
Always love the videos where you had fun with a game. Hope there's more of that this year, whether you're revisiting old ones or finding something new Steph!
Seeing this pop up in my notifications was such a joy... You've got me ITCHING to play 3 again. It's been too long
I'd heard of Sengoku Basara, but basically only to the extent that I knew it was another Dynasty Warriors-like game. Now that I've seen the absurdity of its humor, the creativity of its gameplay, and the honest-to-god care and effort put into voice acting the insane script, I definitely feel like I'll have to check out the only real one we got in the west. Thanks for the in-depth review that's put this on my radar!
I feel like the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series is really the only one that has the balls to be as absurd as this anymore and it's such a shame
Disgaea? Being over the top is the selling point, after all.
I like this in depth of a game you love. Would be down for more of these in the future.
One of the big things I love about Capcom games is just how wacky and cool the combat can be like God hand and devil may cry, but it's crazy that I've never heard of this game.
I have never known about this series before. This is amazing, I am 100% going to look into it if I have the chance.
Surprise that the Ashigaru Dance (in the first SB Anime Opening) in SB become a trend in Japan on X today
Comprehensive absurdity is my new favorite pair of words. XD
Steph I have always appreciated your enthusiasm for the Musou genre. I feel like you're one of the only gaming content creators with a sizable audience that has any love for the genre and I find it very cathartic to see you put Basara 3 on a pedestal like this as I also share the sentiment that it (and Basara 4 as well) are some of the best examples of the genre. I'm actually (very slowly) working on an entire series of Musou video essays on my channel and I have already covered Basara 1 and 2.
Basara is how I found my love for the Musou genre, but I feel this weird curiosity about the Musou "fanbase" like I'm still looking at it from the outside. It's clearly a very niche fanbase of people who expect very particular things out of the games and they seem very hard to please. Like I was very surprised to get comments from people who didn't like that I praised Basara and they said things like "it's a bad rip-off of Koei's Samurai Warriors" even though that's impossible when you consider dev time and when they released. Some people disagreed that I called Basara the better game compared to Samurai Warriors but I'm sorry, if you compare SW1 to Basara 1 (especially the JP version and not Devil Kings) Basara 1 is just head and shoulders the better designed, more fun, more interesting game.
I actually still own devil Kings I have to check my PS2 collection just to make sure I hadn't even looked at it in years
It's a shame the west only got 2 of these games and they aren't even the best ones in the franchise. I still play Samurai Heroes to this day, I just wish Utage had been released or at least translated to English, kinda really wanna play as Sorin and Tenkai
There's all kinds of translated material posted on old fanblogs and such if you want to understand what's going on. Won't compare to knowing in the moment as you play, understandably, but the games are dirt cheap secondhand nowadays and I think they're still worth checking out simply for the fun factor. Utage was one of my favs of the entire series, Sumeragi probably right behind it.
@@Kaikirith Yeah that's the thing, I like to know in the moment. It kinda takes me out of the experience if I have to pause the game, go to another window and read supplemental material just to know what I'm looking at. That being said I DID play it on the ps3 emulator just to try out the new characters since, by now, I know SB3's story by heart
25:26 Did...did that guy just walk headfirst into the camera?
That Kassius Ohno transition tho
played a shitload of this co-op with my roommate on ps3 back in the day, great times
Lovely Video, Thanks. Your joy has brightened up my week.
Hilarious video. The game looks awesome. Balanced, realistic and being serious some of the worst stuff to happened to gaming. Looking forward to the next video. Keep up the good work.
That was a great video 👍
Hope the series gets a bit of attention now
I was starting to worry you were going to miss a Monday :o
Ok, what are the odd that this makes Steph's 2025 GOTY list?
Oh,God, I needed this. I love this ridiculous series and it's bonkers take of the Sengoku Period.
Historical Accuracy (TM) far better than anything Ubisoft is doing with Assassins Creed Shadows. Dumbasses didn’t even add one single giant enemy crab!
They should do like Guilty Gear and make Yasuke a vampire who isolated himself while two apocalypse happened, only to be harassed by a clone of the woman who did the last apocalypse who want to force him into a marriage (among other nonsences)
Attack it's weak point for massive damage pls?
Happy Sterling, Best Sterling
Ooh! I just learned of Troy Baker this week because I wanted to find out who voiced Indy in the new Indiana Jones game! I didn't realize he was a long-time voice actor, I just assumed they got him because he sounded uncannily like Harrison Ford.
E: also, how do British people pronounce Minoan? Is it "my-knowin"?
Look what they DID to Sengoku Basara!
Id always assumed sengoku basara was an anime from the amvs id seen
The anime was based on the games, but it ended up being bigger than the games in the West 😅
Yes! Sengoku Basara is such a hidden gem from the Capcom vault. Unfortunately, it's the only Capcom IP that has even less of a chance of coming back than Okami (which is getting another game)
My friend and I have been playing Sengoku Basara since Devil Kings released.
We were in secondary school when Devil Kings came out and were already obsessed with both Dynasty and Samurai Warriors. It blew our minds. We then played Sengoku Basara 3 when it came out in the UK.
Sengoku Basara 4 came out when we were in university. It just so happened that we had gone to the same university in a completely different city to where we grew up. Needless to say, we used the fact that the PS4 wasn't region limited and spent hours on fan translation forums so that we could play the game and translate the ppst-battke rewards. 100% worth it. What an incredible game!
The concept of "Frankenstein's Gundam" is astounding, to the degree that I'm genuine surprised they haven't done an anime on it.
Back in the day, I literally got this game after seeing a Japanese artists yaoi fanart of the main characters 😅
30 minutes?? We're being spoiled today
I wasn’t prepared to be so disappointed in the inability to play a game series today. It’s not even 9am. 😂
Damn, that looks really fun. Why do I only learn about such games when they are not on systems I own, never got a release in Europe or are pretty much dead?
Dynasty Warriors is to Grand Theft Auto as Sengoku Basara is to Saints Row.
As a Basara fan, I'm overjoyed that new people are still discovering this series. I've imported all of them and played Basara 2 Heroes until a TV caught fire. Yes, really. It's a shame they never gave it more of a chance, but in 4 they made the grind stupid and sold DLC materials as "skip the grind" DLC along with a hundred costumes, as was the style of the time, so maybe that was for the best. They even did the Xtreme Legends thing starting with 3 (Samurai Heroes), which didn't come out in English, where NPCs became fully playable characters, and thankfully put out a complete set of 4 Sumeragi with all the DLC, but still a cursed grind. And as a fighting game fan, X hit the right spot.
Thank God for you
Yepp, 100% historically accurate.
The fact Japan kept this from us tho…
was honestly scared for a second there that you'd miss a monday! :D
I've been curious about Sengoku Basara for a while now, and this video unironically made me go to eBay and buy a used PS3 copy.