Bladestorm: Nightmare is a quick hack-n-slash fix that any of the 'Dynasty' persuasion will find an enjoyable romp in its own right. However, it has some major drawbacks that keep it from being a truly good game. The story is completely negligible for one. Apart from Nightmare Mode, all you know is that you're a mercenary in a SUPER LONG war that must kill hordes of enemies for money... orBladestorm: Nightmare is a quick hack-n-slash fix that any of the 'Dynasty' persuasion will find an enjoyable romp in its own right. However, it has some major drawbacks that keep it from being a truly good game. The story is completely negligible for one. Apart from Nightmare Mode, all you know is that you're a mercenary in a SUPER LONG war that must kill hordes of enemies for money... or sheer sadistic pleasure. You decide. But a lack of good story is really the sharpest of its dull points considering the type of game it is. We all sorta knew aforehand this was a war-junkie game when we got it, but still, having a more compelling narrative would do much to add to what charm it actually has.
Second, the combat is much more tactically-based than it is based on singular heroism (looking at you Guan Yu). The problem with that is it's still not executed very well considering how non-tactical situations can truly be. For instance, mounting up with horses basically makes you unstoppable on the field. You remember that one scene in Return of the King where Rohan charges the huge Orc army and basically cleans house like a broom? That can be you in Bladestorm. And in fact it's SO easy to win, if it weren't so fun mowing guys down all the time, it would be a complete bore. The same can easily be said for Swordsmen - they're basically impenetrable and overpowered tanks. There's a major issue with units being overpowered, and depending on what you're looking for in this game, it can either be a complete turn-off or an amusement.
For as tactical as the game claims to be, or wants to be rather, the lack of general difficulty causes the game to unknowingly revert to traditional Dynasty Warrior-fare (except you act as a squad, not necessarily an individual), where you generally blitz everything in sight using your squad's key abilities to easily overpower opponents who are supposed to pose a challenge.
In its defense and to its favor, however, I will say that Bladestorm: Nightmare actually has a pretty good character-creator system, even though certain elements are ripped right off from Dynasty Warriors itself, such as the cosmetics and hair designs. Still, it's better than most other character creators by far (Mass Effect Andromeda for one), which may surprise you, and gives you quite an array of options to make the kind of character you might want to see made.
I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, functionally speaking, Bladestorm fails at its mission statement by canceling out its own tactical formula with overpowered units and mechanics. However, and despite its repetitive gameplay loop, the crappy graphics, and the very lackluster narrative, what Bladestorm accomplishes for its very niche fandom actually balances out its flaws and makes it a reasonably acceptable game which a fan of the genre can actually enjoy.
In the case of Nightmare Mode, it tries to emulate what Warriors Orochi did by introducing an apocalyptic event where a certain someone is used to unleash demon hordes upon the realm of men. It's a PLUS and a credit to the re-imagining of the 2007 original and it offers further depth to what story The Hundred Years' War lacked. Still, it's more of the same at the end of the day.
In conclusion, this is a cheap purchase for the Dynasty Warriors freakazoid, and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else. My personal score for this game is a 6, which is more than fair in my opinion. It easily could've been a 7 if certain aspects of the game were fine-tuned or paid more attention to, but alas... If another Bladestorm is made, the core focus of their endeavors should be to make it a true tactical experience by balancing unit strengths and weaknesses and also to present a compelling core story. If they do these two things (and work on the visuals lol), Bladestorm could come back to be an interesting take on tactical open-field warfare with a splash of Dynasty Warrior pixie dust.… Expand
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