It's depressing how much attention this game isn't getting. I assume hardcore fans either upgraded and are playing, or much of the discussion is elsewhere, but y'all need to step up your game. This is the GOTY for me. I'd be very, very surprised if something else takes that title, because as it stands, I doubt it.
I'm a little biased. Beat'em ups are among my favorite titles, but man, this game is on a whole new level. My greenness to the SB games is going to display itself pretty soon here, but bear with me.
The game was installing, so I played Kaitsuke (I'm going to butcher these names for a good long while, forgive me) and Sen. If you are looking for a deep ass technical musou game, here it is.
SB plays out like a side scroller but in 3D - limited objectives in favor of pounding some ass, because doing crazy shit and getting ridiculously high combos and points is what the genre is all about. As such, every character has a very vast arsenal.
Kaitsuke looks linear, but hold down that charge button and he adds a literal new layer to his attacks. He can store up to three of these charges for a handful of seconds. Between each layer, his moves and the properties change - so a Level 3 does more damage than a Level 1. But it doesn't invalidate the Level 1 moves since those don't require a charge.
During some moves, you can store charges after the animation is complete (or during, in the case of one of his specials), or you can use the prebuilt one which is a decent attack on its own. So his gameplay is centered around juggling charges while deciding on what you should use for what situation. This is all important, since it affects the type of attack that comes out for almost every move.
Sen, on the other hand, has a push/pull mechanic that's kinda like Magneto from Marvel - you can pull enemies towards you or slam them down (or toss them away). What's super cool about Sen is how seamless that whole process is - he can quickly shift between the two methods of attack after attaching the magnetism to enemies.
So you might have a combo where you toss them into the air, slam them into the ground, juggle them with a normal attack, pull them towards you, do another normal attack that juggles, and then follow up with a midair attack with either a slam as an ender or throwing them out like yesterday's trash. Sounds complicated, but after a few levels, it's very easy to do.
And I didn't even talk about the Cancel System, which lets you do things like using evades, jumps, or dashes to cancel in and out of moves.
That's just two characters. The thing is, they all play wildly different, and there's something here for everyone. You got your grappler, your ranged characters (one of which who almost plays out like a TPS), your boxer, zoners, etc. Does this sound like a character action game? Depth wise, it's pretty close.
I'm not even going to get started on that tag system, which, with the right synergy, could give you some endless combos.
In addition to all that, you get some pretty dope levels to go through. Most of them contain the usual "beat up guys", but some have refreshing dice rolls that randomize status effects, one-on-one boss fights, and even a turret section that manages to not be annoying.
Did I mention that this game has unlockables bought via in-game currency? What about secret costumes and shit like that from the old days? How about the fact that characters have at least two paths they can take for their story modes?
TL;DR Sengoku Basara is a super deep musou/beat'em up game with a shit load of content that's never coming to the US because God isn't real so just use a translation guide and enjoy drinking tea while slamming fools into the ground while you dance with some fans. Buy it.
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