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I've learned more about the history of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Warring
States period through video games and pop culture more than I did in history class.
Leave it to feudal Japan to set a romantic and violent stage through the use of names
such as Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Nobunaga Oda, and leave it to Koei and
Omega Force to develop the Samurai Warriors series, and Xtreme Legends to build upon the
original title as an expansion. Here I've selected one of Ieyasu's most esteemed generals
and daimyos, Tadakatsu Honda, famous for his position as one of the four heavenly kings,
his ornate antlered helmet that stood out in battle, and his ultra-sharp Dragonfly Cutter.
Gameplay carries on from the traditional hack-and-slash style of the game's sister series, Dynasty
Warriors. Although Xtreme Legends is marketed as an expansion that caters more towards the
hardcore Koei fan, that is not to say that it doesn't work well as its own product. Truth
be told, if you've played one game that Koei and Omega Force have worked on, it truly feels
as if you've played them all. Knock out entire armies, receive new equipment, go on to the
next level, and rinse and repeat. But if you're a stickler, know that you can only play with
the four new characters and that the new Officer Mode has also been omitted. It also means
that if you want to import characters from the original Samurai Warriors, you'll have
to work for it by popping in the original disc, importing the characters to memory card,
then pop in Xtreme Legends. Needless to say, this is why I'm thankful to live in an age
of consoles with hard drives. Koei's line of Xtreme Legends products add more to the
original recipe just like any other expansion. Still, I'd have to say that if constant hack-and-slash
action gets boring after awhile for you, you're in the wrong neighborhood. You might even
be in the wrong state. For everyone else, smash away at your controller to your heart's
content for the glory of whoever your shogun may be.