News roundup: Catching up on Sengoku Basara news from the last couple of days

Sengoku Basara content from Thursday's issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine

Better late than never, I hope!

I've been rewriting parts of my Sumeragi FAQ and adding a few details as I discover them, which is taking a while. As I mentioned before, last week's Dengeki PlayStation had a massive amount of Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi coverage. Some is going straight into my ongoing guide for the game when I have the time to work on it, but there were also a few general articles about the series overall which seem more appropriate for a blog post.

In Dengeki PlayStation's official review of Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi, reviewers Tokachiya, Ru~pa, Yuuto and AO scored it with 80, 80, 90 and 90 points respectively. Tokachiya noted that it was especially good for newcomers to the series.

One of the magazine's spreads collected a number of arbitrary rankings put together by the magazine staff.

Top three classic Sengoku Basara portrayals:

1. The fist fights between Yukimura and Shingen
2. A super-gigantic robot!? Honda Tadakatsu's appearance
3. Oushuu's 'big bro' leading his delinquent soldiers

Top three blood-pumping stories:

1. Sakon's anime route from Sengoku Basara 4
2. Keiji's drama route from Sengoku Basara 4
3. Hanbee hiding his illness from Hideyoshi from Sengoku Basara 2

Top three over-the-top skills popular with the editorial department:

1. Matsunaga Hisahide's Kuromagatsu
2. Date Masamune's HELL DRAGON
3. Oda Nobunaga's Hametsu No Shoudo

Top three "Now this is what you call a boss!" characters:

1. Oda Nobunaga
2. Ashikaga Yoshiteru
3. Matsunaga Hisahide

Top three most unique warriors:

1. Mogami Yoshiaki from Sengoku Basara 4
2. The Gohonyari from Sengoku Basara 2 Eiyuu Gaiden (Heroes)
3. Tachibana Muneshige from Sengoku Basara 4

Top three stages with impressive mechanics:

1. Hinomoto Tunnels: Josui Line from Sengoku Basara 4
2. Oushuu: Aoba Castle from Sengoku Basara 4
3. Pirate Fortress: Hyakki Fugaku from Sengoku Basara 4

Top three ultimate rivalries:

1. Date Masamune vs Sanada Yukimura
2. Tokugawa Ieyasu vs Ishida Mitsunari
3. Mouri Motonari vs Chousokabe Motochika

A few miscellaneous notes from an interview with YamamotoD about the design process back when they were creating Masamune and Yukimura for the first Sengoku Basara.

• Yukimura's association with the colour red was obvious but they originally considered using black for Date Masamune instead of blue, due to the real-life Masamune's love of the black lacquer armour which famously influenced the design of Darth Vader in Star Wars. However, they really wanted to go with Masamune and Yukimura as leads and use red and blue as their main colours, so they stuck with blue.
• The interviewer remembered that it was a shock when the game first came out and Masamune was speaking English. Yamamoto responded that although we take it for granted nowadays, back at the time this was a challenge. It normally sounds like a joke when you think about peppering everyday conversations with English, right? He still remembers attending the preproduction recording with seiyuu Nakai Kazuya on 23rd December 2004 when the game was still in development and worrying that the English would sound awful, but Nakai's English was really cool! He said "I'm no good at English" yet the team reacted with "Let's go with this!".
• The magazine staff counted up the times Masamune and Yukimura had battled one another throughout the series and found that while there had been eight draws, Masamune had won three times while Yukimura had only won once. They wanted to know whether this meant that Masamune was actually the stronger of the two.
• YamamotoD explained that the two are inherently evenly matched; Yukimura isn't weaker at all so long as he's in good condition. He's weaker psychologically, however, and this is shown at times like when Masamune crushed him in Sengoku Basara 3. Yukimura was at his lowest point after Shingen fell. Masamune was at rock bottom too after being beaten by Mitsunari, yet he was still rushing around recklessly. With all being equal, it's the difference between someone who grinds to a halt and someone who rushes onwards at all costs. Another part of it was that Masamune had lashed out at Yukimura in anger.
• YamamotoD mused that they still haven't properly told the story of Masamune's battle with Yukimura in the games, even though it was shown in the original Sengoku Basara opening movie. The interviewer joked about whether the next game was going to be 'Sengoku Basara Zero' - and was swiftly shot down.

Lastly, there was also a short interview with Nishikawa Takanori of T.M.Revolution, in which he admitted that Kyougoku Maria was more interesting to him than Sen No Rikyuu as he has a thing for voluptuous women. Ok. He also took the opportunity to mention (once again) that he's hoping to play a character in the game series next time around. Good luck, Nishikawa.

The latest promotional video goes online on Capcom's YouTube channel

Another Friday means another Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi video and the most recent one is called (Approximately) 10-second Theatre: Behind you, Kasuga!


Listings appear for the latest Official Complete Works artbook

It's traditional for each new game in the series to receive a commemorative book containing artwork and game information, so it's no surprise to see Amazon Japan listing the Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi Official Complete Works with a release date of 21st August 2015 and a price of ¥2,700.

Yukimura is to make a guest appearance in the Q Transformers anime

The most recent news is that Sengoku Basara's Sanada Yukimura will be appearing in the fourth episode of the currently-airing anime series Q Transformers ~Saranaru Ninkimono He No Michi~. Naturally, seiyuu Hoshi Souichirou will be providing his voice as usual. The episode will air in the early morning of 28th July 2015.

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I hope everyone is enjoying the Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi fun whether they already have the game, they're still waiting to play it or they're simply following the news and enjoying the party atmosphere for now. This series has the best fans in the world.