This isn’t to say the Bladestorm doesn’t take more than a few leaves from Omega Force’s other works. At first glance, it does feel a lot like them. The main story takes us into the Hundred years war between France and England, and you take the role of a beginning mercenary. As opposed to being a one man army solo, your created merc takes the role of commander from the many different squad types strewn about the battlefield.

" This simplistic scheme might put the emphasis on choosing different squads, but during the majority of the time when that doesn’t matter, it’s simply boring. "

Each squad type works slightly differently and has different advantages. Of course the other side of that coin is each squad type is weak to another. At the most basic, it’s about Infantry, Cavalry and Archers, but they branch off from there drastically, an example being Knives or Swords. It’s a Fire Emblem-esque weapons triangle gone insane, but during my playtime I found it didn’t make a very big difference which squad I had. It could eventually get through the opposition regardless.

Battlefields dwarf the size of a Warriors map easily, though they aren’t meant to function the same either. Any situation in Bladestorm is resolved by leapfrogging from outpost to outpost, capturing it in a similar fashion to the Warriors titles of whittling down its numbers and destroying the captain, or preventing the enemy from taking an outpost of yours. Larger castles might have a miniboss as a captain, and take a bit more finesse to take out. Not too much though, they tend to telegraph their attacks drastically.

How exactly do you lead your troops into battle? The shoulder buttons carry the brunt of the work, from attacking to dropping in different powers. Face buttons are reserved completely for changing squads and special attacks that vary from squad to squad. Many players are simply going to tune out with the lack of interaction.

" Those massive battlefields I spoke of earlier? Barren as a desert. You’ll be doing a lot of trudging through empty fields between outposts. "

Much like the other current efforts from the developer on the new consoles, what we get out of the game is a rather dull presentation, as can be expected from what is still very much a 2007 title. Those massive battlefields I spoke of earlier? Barren as a desert. You’ll be doing a lot of trudging through empty fields between outposts. Squad sizes are underwhelming, never getting near the chaos that other Warriors titles, re-release or otherwise have obtained.

One of the few additions to the port, but probably one of the best, is being able to control up to three additional commanders during certain contracts, or assuming you could afford their services. They allow you to split your focus and head toward multiple fronts much like Samurai Warriors 4, or combine your forces and steamroll the enemy.

Properly setting up your army, when the situation allows it, does undermine the main strategy element somewhat, but it does bring back some of that visceral, destructive fun of the Warriors series.

" The minimal spoken dialog sounds like it came from the first coders they could grab out of the lunch room, including one of the most offensive depictions of a French accent this side of Loony Tunes. "

Even the story it has to tell is about as interesting as reading it from a textbook, primarily handed out through pre-contract text about the flow of the war. The minimal spoken dialog sounds like it came from the first coders they could grab out of the lunch room, including one of the most offensive depictions of a French accent this side of Loony Tunes.

That accent is courtesy of the prevalent bartender character you’ll return to at the hub, and who speaks the most by far. The greatest failing to the story is that there are really no characters, even to the low standards Warriors has set. There is nobody within the tale that can be called an emotional heart, or even really a protagonist. It just kind of stays in stasis, with the situation of the larger war evolving, but nobody being affected by it to care about.

To be fair though, the story can’t really go anywhere when you play as a created character in any mode. It is actually fairly deep with what you can create, and you could either spend a few hours tweaking every crevice of the face, or (as you can see in our screenshots) just completely take the piss. Which is honestly most of the enjoyment I took from Bladestorm.

" we’re shown an alternate history timeline where Joan of Arc commands a legion of demons and the armies of France and England join forces to fight them. That certainly escalated quickly. "

The largest selling point to the remaster itself is the new “Nightmare” mode, which stands as the only mode with any variation to gameplay. A side story to the “Hundred years war” mode, we’re shown an alternate history timeline where Joan of Arc commands a legion of demons and the armies of France and England join forces to fight them. That certainly escalated quickly.

Nightmare mode is thematically more interesting by a wide margin, and the enemy forces are much more visually threatening. The miniboss level foes can easily tower above you, and missions involve a very aggressive foe from the outset, which lends itself to a stronger pace.

The new story is a tighter package overall, liner and presented better. It’s presented as a post game story, to be played after dozens of hours levelling your merc, yet can be played right from the disk hitting the tray. Either a concession for the people who played back in 2007 (You can import old save data) or just to let people get a break from the intense monotony of the main game.

" It tries to do a lot of things, but none of them are done well. It’s not even a funny kind of bad like Sacred 3, it's just…there. "

Bladestorm Nightmare is…well, that’s just it. I’m not sure who it exists for in this age of consoles. It plays at being many things, including a Warriors game, a real time strategy, an RPG, and historical simulator. It tries to do a lot of things, but none of them are done well. It’s not even a funny kind of bad like Sacred 3, it’s just…there.

They probably could have benefited more from a sequel than a remaster, and taken the concept to the larger than life level that they play so well in Warriors games. Bladestorm Nightmare isn’t so much confused as it is held back by antiquated technology and flawed design, and is difficult to enjoy.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Bladestorm: Nightmare will feature upgraded visuals, of course, and expand character creation for players. Online co-op will also be involved but just how does it differ from Omega Force’s other titles? For that matter, what differences can we look forward to from the original? GamingBolt spoke to producer Akihiro Suzuki, who is one of the main driving members of Omega Force, on the game and its development across current generation consoles.

"So the gameplay itself has been enhanced, re-looked in to, and rebalanced as well. So hopefully that will be one area that the players will be able to notice."

Kurtis Simpson: Let us get the big question out of the way. What kind of graphical upgrades will the game receive?

Akihiro Suzuki: It will be receiving a graphical upgrade thanks to the current generation consoles’ hardware capabilities. All the key technologies such as the HDR and rendering to name a few have been taken into account which has diminished the “pop up” issues seen in the previous instalments. Players are now able to see the enemy units on the other side of the battle field as a result of adding more realism to the field.

Kurtis SimpsonNightmare is an original mode added to Bladestorm. What can you tell us about the same?

Akihiro Suzuki: The storyline now comes in 2 parts with the new Nightmare story coming on top of the previous 100 Years’ War part. Game play wise, players are now able to control 4 units compared to the 1 in the previous installment adding to the strategic side of the battles which now takes place in a more realistic.

So when talking about Bladestorm: Nightmare there’s several points we would like to cover. One will be the action side to start with the actual gameplay. Obviously the original Bladestorm you only had one unit you could control, whereas Bladestorm: Nightmare you can actually control four units now.

So the gameplay itself has been enhanced, re-looked in to, and rebalanced as well. So hopefully that will be one area that the players will be able to notice. At the same time we made sure we’ve got something new to start with, such as big dragons, big giants, and goblins appearing. So that actually adds some new flavor to the battle system as well.

And obviously with the storyline that’s going to be an area that’s going to be quite unique, compared to the original One Hundred Years storyline. With Joan of Arc she’s going to be playing an important role in terms of the storyline that unfolds.

Kurtis Simpson: Is the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version of Bladestorm: Nightmare running at 1080p and 60fps?

Akihiro Suzuki: So talking about the PlayStation 4 to start with, it’s going to be 1080p at thirty frames per second. On the PlayStation 3, again it’s going to be at thirty frames per second and it’s going to be at 720p. With the Xbox One it’s going to use auto-scaling, so there’s no specific resolution

"The save data from the original X360 to XOne is not possible on this occasion since the hardware does not support such a feature for now.

Kurtis Simpson: How are you using the PS4 touch pad to further enhance the gameplay?

Akihiro Suzuki: That would be a no, there’s no specific action or feature that’s associated with the pad.

Kurtis Simpson: How about for the Xbox One, will there be any key features the Kinect?

Akihiro Suzuki: (Laughs) Sorry not for this occasion unfortunately.

Kurtis Simpson: We know that save date can be transferred from Bladestorm to PlayStation ports and commendations might be a possibility for Xbox One users. Do we have a confirmation for the same?

Akihiro Suzuki: The save data from the original X360 to XOne is not possible on this occasion since the hardware does not support such a feature for now. However, player will be able to transfer their XOne demo save data to the full product. The demo will be available early March.

Kurtis Simpson: What can you tell us about the online multiplayer component?

Akihiro Suzuki: So talking on the online side of the game we have online Co-op and we have the online versus mode as well. Those are the two main features for playing with your friends. In co-op, there are four units. So you could individually control player units and try to work towards a common goal.

As for the versus mode it’s pretty much head-on with your friends when you play online. So if it was just about base-capturing then it would be quite easy, well not easy but quite repetitive at the end of the day. So the team had to make sure there would be different missions and different rule sets.

"Looking back on developing for Bladestorm: Nightmare, there weren't any major issues that the team faced for the PS4 or for the Xbox One."

Kurtis Simpson: From a top level, are you making changes to the gameplay mechanics?

Akihiro Suzuki: Game play mechanic wise, players are now able to control 4 separate units compared to the single unit from the previous installment. Players will be actively controlling a single unit but are now able to switch between the different units (called “Zapping” in game) to give the battle a more realistic approach with different units acting on different instructions from the players.

Kurtis Simpson: Due to the push in processing power, how many NPCs are currently on the screen at any given moment?

Akihiro Suzuki: Yeah, so we don’t actually know to be honest, just to be sure with you. But looking at the enemy units that are in battle it’s about four to five hundred, maybe, that can be placed on-screen at once.

Kurtis Simpson: Did you guys face any issues while developing on the Xbox One? Several developers are facing issues in hitting full 1080p due to the system’s eSRAM. What are your thoughts on this? Also share your thoughts on the PS4 development as well.

Akihiro Suzuki: Looking back on developing for Bladestorm: Nightmare, there weren’t any major issues that the team faced for the PS4 or for the Xbox One. But having said that, if you look back at the history of the hardware, Sony has always been saying the PlayStation 4 is going to be much more developer friendly in a sense.

So maybe that’s why a lot of developers are saying that or indicating that the Xbox one is a bit harder [to develop for]. But again, for Bladestorm: Nightmare’s team there weren’t any major issues. But having said that, maybe the PlayStation 4 is slightly easier.

"At Koei Tecmo it may depend on the project we undertake, but starting from the PlayStation era, say the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 era, obviously frame rate was important to us.

Kurtis Simpson: Being a Japanese developer, I wanted to know your thoughts on the resolution debate between the PS4 and Xbox One, that is mostly happening in the West. According to you, which is more important, higher frame rate or higher resolution?

Akihiro Suzuki: At Koei Tecmo it may depend on the project we undertake, but starting from the PlayStation era, say the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 era, obviously frame rate was important to us. So we had to make sure sixty frames was always expected as a standard to start with. But having said that we couldn’t jeopardize the visual expression of the game, as that’s also important to our franchise and all the games we make. So in terms of balancing, we don’t seem frame rate being that important as it used to be.

Obviously looking at our Dynasty Warriors games, most of them actually have varying frame rates. So depending on the circumstance of the battle some scenes actually move at sixty frames, but with these areas we wanted to make sure that we at least reach the minimum visual quality.

So in such instance that the frame rate drops to let’s say thirty frames and in this way we make sure we get the right visuals to appear on the screen. So you know, for us, if we had to pick one or the other we would slightly prefer resolution as we would like to make sure that we have the right visuals to appear on screen in any given area of the game.

Kurtis Simpson: What are your thoughts on the Xbox One’s success in Japan?

Akihiro Suzuki: So when we talk about Japan as a games market, obviously looking back at the Xbox 360 era, Japan has always been struggling with Microsoft consoles and that trend is following with the Xbox One as well. If things continue to move this way and stay as it is then things will continue to be dominated by PlayStation platforms in Japan.

Kurtis Simpson: Is there anything else you want to tell us about Bladestorm: Nightmare?

Akihiro Suzuki: Be ready to be surprised with the new storyline but at the same time, please enjoy the original part of the storyline as well with the new gaming mechanics and graphic enhancements which makes the battlefield much more realistic in terms of its feel and gameplay.

Producer at Koei Tecmo Akihiro Suzuki has revealed that during the making of Bladestorm: Nightmare on the PS4 and Xbox One they did not faced any major issues, but the development team did find the PS4 slightly easier to handle.

“Looking back on developing for Bladestorm: Nightmare, there weren’t any major issues that the team faced for the PS4 or for the Xbox One. But having said that, if you look back at the history of the hardware, Sony has always been saying the PlayStation 4 is going to be much more developer friendly in a sense,” Akihiro said to GamingBolt.

“So maybe that’s why a lot of developers are saying that or indicating that the Xbox one is a bit more harder [to develop for]. But again, for Bladestorm: Nightmare’s team there weren’t any major issues. But having said that, maybe the PlayStation 4 is slightly easier. ”

With the debate on resolution and frame rate being such a hot debate amongst western players, we asked how does a Japan based company like Koei Tecmo handles this kind of a situation. Akihiro stated that although a higher frame used to be a priority before, they are now pushing for better visuals, resolution and a variable frame rate instead.

“At Koei Tecmo it may depend on the project we undertake, but starting from the PlayStation era say the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 era obviously frame rate was important to us. So we had to make sure sixty frames was always expected as a standard to start with. But having said that we couldn’t jeopardize the visual expression of the game, as that’s also important to our franchise and all the games we make. So in terms of balancing, we don’t seem frame rate being that important as it used to be. ”

“Obviously looking at our Dynasty Warriors games, most of them actually have varying frame rates. So depending on the circumstance of the battle some scenes actually move at sixty frames, but with these areas we wanted to make sure that we at least reach the minimum visual quality. ”

“So in such instance that the frame rate drops to let’s say thirty frames and in this way we make sure we get the right visuals to appear on the screen. So you know, for us, if we had to pick one or the other we would slightly prefer resolution as we would like to make sure that we have the right visuals to appear on screen in any given area of the game.”

Bladestorm: Nightmare releases this month on the PS4 and Xbox One.

Speaking to Bladestorm: Nightmare’s producer Akihiro Suzuki, GamingBolt can confirm that the game will run at 1080p and 30 frames per second on the PlayStation 4. However the Xbox One version does not have a definite resolution which possibly points towards a dynamic resolution.

“So talking about the PlayStation 4 to start with, it’s going to be 1080p at thirty frames per second. On the PlayStation 3, again it’s going to be at thirty frames per second and it’s going to be at 720p. With the Xbox One it’s going to use auto-scaling, so there’s no specific resolution,” Suzuki said to GamingBolt in a recent interview.

Dynamic resolution isn’t exactly unheard of. Previous games from Koei Tecmo such as Dead or Alive 5 were rendered with dynamic resolution on the PS3 and Xbox 360 and more recently Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and Dying Light also utilized the same approach on the Xbox One.

Bladestorm: Nightmare releases next month on the PS4 and Xbox One.

It’s no secret that Microsoft and Japan don’t exactly share a productive relationship. Microsoft’s every gaming console till date has struggled in the region whereas companies like Sony and Nintendo are still doing pretty well due to obvious reasons. Just recently the PS4 sold over 1.1 million units in Japan which is not a lot but still substantial enough to indicate that console gaming is not dead in Japan yet.

GamingBolt recently had a chat with Koei Tecmo’s Producer Akihiro Suzuki regarding the upcoming release of Bladestorm: Nightmare on PS4 and Xbox One. During the interview we asked Akihiro about his thoughts on how Xbox One is performing in Japan.

“So when we talk about Japan as a games market, obviously looking back at the Xbox 360 era, Japan has always been struggling with Microsoft consoles and that trend is following with the Xbox One as well. If things continue to move this way and stay as it is then things will continue to be dominated by PlayStation platforms in Japan.”

Microsoft has been traditionally strong in North America and to an extent in UK territories so it seems that once again that the Redmond based company won’t see success in Japan. Of course, Microsoft can turn the tides in their favor but given the situation it does not look likely.

Bladestorm: Nightmare launches next month and we will have more coverage on the game in the coming days.

Tecmo Koei’s Bladestorm: Nightmare, their latest historical action game (think: Dynasty Warriors set in European history, and you get the idea) is rapidly approaching a release, and to get us all pumped for the game when it gets here, Tecmo have announced that they will be letting us go hands on with the game earlier than expected with a pre-release demo.

The demo will be available in March on Xbox Live and PSN (no PC demo has been announced, in spite of the recent announcement that the game will be coming to PC as well), and on PlayStation, it will let you carry over your saved data from Bladestorm: The Hundred Year War over to the PS3 or PS4 versions of Bladestorm: Nightmare.

The demo isn’t all, however- all pre-orders of the game will also get some special bonuses that will be unavailable elsewhere. Specifically, those who pre-order through GAME will receive a dragon mask & staff item set while those who choose to pre-order through PSN will receive a Cyclops mask & club item set. Finally, a special costume set for the Black Prince and Joan of Arc will be available from independent retailers via CentreSoft.

Bladestorm: Nightmare releases on PS3, PS4, Xbox One, and PC soon. Stay tuned for more coverage.

Bladestorm: Nightmare, the action game developed by Omega Force and Koei Tecmo that is meant to be a European history take on the Dynasty Warriors formula, will now be launching in Europe on March 20 this year, Tecmo confirmed.

The game, which is set during the Hundred Years War, will also be getting a brand new character edit mode, as well as a revamped Troop Command battle system, that should add a dash of strategy to the proceedings. Up to four units on the battlefield can be controlled at once, which should lead to some interesting and tense action and strategy fueled moments as your forces are swarmed by enemy armies.

Bladestorm: Nightmare, which already released in Japan last year, will be releasing here soon, on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and, new to the west, the Xbox One. Of these, the PlayStation 3 version will be digital only.

Stay tuned for more coverage.

The game is currently in development under the respected Koei division, Omega Force, the same team that has found major success in a niche market with their work on the Dynasty Warrior Franchise and Warriors Orochi. The title is set to be published by Omega Force’s parent company, Koei, a division of Tecmo Koei Games.

The game is currently slated for a multi region release, coming to Japan on January 29th of 2015 then following a slight delay the game will be brought to the States on March 3rd of 2015 and Europe on March 6th of 2015. The game will be launching on both 7th and 8th generation hardware, being made available on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 whereas Microsoft will only receive an Xbox One build of the game.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Bladestorm Nightmare is part sequel and part revamped build of a previously released game called Bladestorm: The Hundred Year’s War. To this end, the game is split into two separate pieces, though released as one package. These two separate parts are aptly called Bladestorm: The Hundred Year’s War and Bladestorm Nightmare.

Bladestorm: The Hundred Year’s War is the exact same as the base build of the game that was released in 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Bladestorm Nightmare however, is an original story in a high fantasy setting that is said to include a number of fantastical beings including wizards and dragons.

The game was one of the first titles put on display at the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan press conference that took place in 2014. It was later made available as a playable demo at the Tokyo Game Show 2014 at Koei Tecmo’s booth.

Story

The story elements of Bladestorm Nightmare are split into two parts, “The Hundred Years War” and “Nightmare.”

The Hundred Years War is loosely based on a real world event that was sparked by a conflict over the succession of the throne. From this, a war between France and England is brewed. With the Knights and Common folks of the war effort being either dead or fatigued beyond retrieve, Mercenaries are brought to the fore.

Nightmare is a spin off from the main storyline that is based loosely of The Hundred Years War. As the war wages between the French and the English, a new threat emerges as if from nowhere and begins to attack both sides with unrelenting fury. The French and English call for a truce and unite under a common cause to combat the new threat.

Gameplay

The gameplay tweaks and the new campaign are the main focus of this title with graphical fidelity improvements not being the main goal.

In the Nightmare mode, players can take command of huge armies that are based in the fantasy world that also come with a variety of customisation options. Certain creatures that players encounter can be used as mounts once they are bested in combat.

Enemies from Nightmare game come in many forms, one of these is in the shape of counterparts of The Hundred Years War soldiery. This gameplay mode also includes a new musical score.

Players can assume control of four battalions when they’re in battle with each individual squad numbering up to 200 soldiers. One of the tweaks in the game is that many units will have altered movement speeds to help better simulate a fast moving battlefield.

An online Cooperative mode is available for the story mode as well as an online two player competitive mode that have set rules. The rules are:

Base Takedown – A race to control territory.
Guardian Hunt – Players must defend their own territory whilst destroying the opponents Guardians.
Kill the Captain – A race to defeat the specified captain first.
Monster Extermination – Slay a specific creature, or a specific amount of lesser creatures.

Players that have Bladestorm Data from previous builds of the game can be transfered to Bladestorm: Nightmare.

Characters

Edward, the Black Prince of England – Edward gained his nickname based of his black armour which he always wears onto the battlefield. He is of noble blood and the only hope for England’s future.

Joan of Arc, Maiden of France – Joan of Arc is a young woman with a powerful belief in her ideals and justice. She fights only to free others from the horrors of war.

Joan of Arc, Nightmare Maiden – Barely recognisable when compared to her much fairer former self, the Nightmare Maiden just exudes evil.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Bladestorm: Nightmare is basically like the western version of Dynasty Warriors. By that I mean not that it has been developed by a western team- it’s still the combo tag team of Omega Force and Koei Tecmo working on the game. But what I mean is, instead of covering Asian history, the game covers western history. Specifically, Bladestorm: Nightmares covers the Hundred Years War, and to stay true to the setting, adds some strategy elements to the mix as well.

Check out the trailer for yourself above and see if you think it’s any good. Personally, I quite like what I see here, but then again, I’ve had a recent renaissance in my appreciation for Musou games in general.

The game is out in North America on March 3, 2015, and in Europe on March 6 2015. It will be launching on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in all western territories. Stay tuned for more c0verage.

Hey, you remember what Bladestorm: Nightmare is, right? I talked about it a while ago, but here’s a refresher. You know how Koei makes so many action games based on Japanese history? Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, Orochi, Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Well, Bladestorm: Nightmare is basically exactly that, but it’s set in European history, specifically during the Hundred Year War, meaning that western gamers actually have more of a chance of identifying with this game (and in the process of getting hooked to Musou’s unique brand of mindless, repetitive, but fun action).

So of course, it makes sense to release this game in the west, right? Well, good news. It is being released in the west. It will be launching here in 2015, on both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. In Japan, it will be launching sometime later this year, although it is unclear right now whether it will the Xbox One version will be getting a launch there at all.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.