Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Unlike its Japan-exclusive predecessor, Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 is a brand new entry in the spin-off series, featuring a new Challenge Mode and several alternate scenarios for fans to indulge themselves in.

The first thing to do when starting up the game for the first time is to create a custom protagonist who will be used in both the Chronicles and Challenge mode. It's similar to the character customisation found in earlier Warriors games, with enough wacky accessories to make a warrior that really stands out amongst the ranks.

The Chronicles mode is the main meat of the package, with several historical battles for players to slash their way through, as well as a LOT of dialogue in-between scenarios, with a few minor decisions to be made in order to raise Fame with other characters; a friendship system implemented to increase trust between the main protagonist and other individuals. Fame can be earned by choosing the most positive responses in the dialogue sequences and also by inviting fellow samurai to tea parties (yeah, that's right. Warrior tea parties are a thing…).

Raising Fame with characters will allow them to be used when replaying any Chronicles scenario and also unlock alternate scenarios for the player to experience, which then branches out into an alternate history.

Like Samurai Warriors Chronicles, each scenario is played out with up to four characters available to switch to on the fly, with the custom character always being present. This leads to slight problems as the story progresses, since newcomers start at Level 1 when they first join the group, making it harder to take out enemy generals due to these new characters being weaker. This is an odd change considering that in the first entry new characters would scale with the custom warrior's level, balancing things out. Saying that, it's not entirely bad, as having four playable characters makes management of the battlefield a lot easier, especially due to the fact that the touch screen can be used to give commands to warriors that aren't currently in play.

Perhaps the best addition to this instalment is the Challenge Mode, which is essentially a score attack mode of sorts, as it puts gamers in a battle where they must complete as many objectives as possible and reach the exit before the time runs out. More time can be earnt by completing objectives and it really pays to use the four characters in the best way possible to complete multiple tasks simultaneously for the best results. Speaking of which, these results can be shared online, making this mode an essential inclusion for those who enjoy battling for the top spot on the leaderboards. Entrants that place high in the rankings are also rewarded with additional items and gold.