Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War

Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War (ブレイドストーム -百年戦争-) is a video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. It was published by Koei and developed by Omega Force. The game is based on The Hundred Years' War which saw the forces of England face off against the forces of France.

The character designs were made by Shinobu Tanno. The director was Akihiro Suzuki. It is one of the few Koei produced titles to keep the same language track internationally. Shin-ichiro Nakamura was the game's sound director while Jamie Christopherson of the Soundelux Design Music Group composed the entire soundtrack. Much of the orchestral performance was done by Thanh Tran, Adam Klemens, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Evelina Christopherson provided the text and vocals for the Latin choir used in most of the music tracks. Additional music samples were also supplied by the East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra and Symphonic Choirs.

Kenichi Ogasawara, one of Omega Force's founders, said his next future project would be to someday create Bladestorm for the PS Vita. He wants to include online capabilities for Bladestorm fans, feeling that it would fill in a missing gap from the original game. Suzuki commented during in 2010 that the developers were interested in making a sequel for this title.

Game Info
Players assume the role of a rogue commander with a group of mercenary units who can choose to align themselves with the French or English before each battle. Each battle has its own set mission, which can vary from capturing a base, to defending a base, or capturing a base while defending another. Certain battles also have specific tasks that reward more money, items, and/or experience. These missions include acting as a bodyguard, defeating an officer's arch enemy, or trying to collect certain items found on the battlefield. Fulfilling a contract increases fame which unlocks more difficult stages and new events leading to special battles.

During the battle, players can assume command of various units, the basics of which are infantry, cavalry and archers. Throughout the game, more units can be unlocked by collecting special tomes. Infantry units disperse into an array of units including: knives, spears, maces, greatswords, axes, clubs and polearms, along with units that simply fight with their bare hands. Cavalry disperses into groups including knight units (essentially polearm-wielding infantry on horses), spear cavalry, and lady cavalry units. Archers also fall into subcategories, including short bow units, longbow units and crossbow units. The game also includes some special units, like cannoniers, trumpeteers, elephant units, and castle siege units. Because the key to victory lies in leading squads effectively, fighting alone is highly discouraged unless unit dispersal becomes a necessary tactic.

Each side leads various campaigns in different areas which results in various story paths. Since Bladestorm focuses on capturing bases within each battle, conflict persists until every base within an area is captured by one side. Leaders and soldiers accompany the player, and greatly affect the play on the battlefield. Leaders on each side play key roles in capturing bases, and should be used to the player's advantage. Defeating enemy officers earns not only fame but also items or denier.

Throughout the storyline, sub-stories also develop, which often tie in other well-known mercenaries that may accompany the player in battle. These can vary from attempting to out-do another mercenary on the battlefield, or to befriend them. Sometimes, they may even appear as enemies depending on what faction the player currently sides with.

At the beginning of each battle, every unit is grouped at a different base and has a specific course set for them during the battle. It is the player's personal job to decide who to aid in order to achieve victory. As explained earlier, allied and opposed officers do have an effect on the battlefield and have the capability to defend or take over a base on their own. Keeping a careful eye on various units' movement and observing which bases are being attacked will result in a greater advantage for the player.

The gameplay appears fairly similar to Kessen III. It's possible that this title is actually the oft rumored Kessen IV, which was reported to be set during medieval times in Europe.

Kingdom of England

 * Edward the Black Prince - voiced by Hideo Ishikawa
 * King of England - voiced by Seiji Sasaki
 * Philippa - voiced by Kimiko Saitō
 * John Chandos - voiced by Shinpachi Tsuji
 * John Talbot - voiced by Yōji Ueda
 * John Fastolf - voiced by Jun Hattōri and Liam O'Brien
 * Henry Percy - voiced by Eiji Takemoto
 * Hal - voiced by Takeshi Kusao
 * Richard Beauchamp - voiced by Atsushi Kisaichi
 * Iamarl (original character) - voiced by Miwa Yasuda
 * Branwyn (original character) - voiced by Akemi Kanda and Jan Anderson

Kingdom of France

 * Joan of Arc - voiced by Yumi Tōma and Karen Strassman
 * La Hire - voiced by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo
 * Gilles de Rais - voiced by Takayuki Suzuki
 * Philippe le Bon - voiced by Mahito Ōba
 * Arthur de Richemont - voiced by Akimitsu Takase
 * Bertrand du Guesclin - voiced by Yūji Kishi
 * King of France - voiced by Yūki Masuda
 * Christine de Pizan - voiced by Yuka Shioyama
 * Jean de Metz - voiced by Kazunari Tanaka
 * Marie (original character) - voiced by Hisayo Yanai
 * You Ji (original character) - voiced by Toshio Kobayashi

Mercenaries

 * John Hawkwood - voiced by Mitsuaki Hoshino; the legendary mercenary.
 * Magnus - voiced by Tsubasa Iwata and Liam O'Brien; friendly and well-respected mercenary.
 * Georges - voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi and Yuri Lowenthal; the younger brother of Marc, nicknamed "Sudden Death".
 * Marc - voiced by Haruo Satō; the older brother of Georges, nicknamed "Iron Wall".
 * Karen - voiced by Yukari Hikida; motherly mercenary whose personality changes when in pursuit of money.
 * Diane - voiced by Akemi Satō; foul-mouthed mercenary seen talking with Karen much of the time.
 * Naran - voiced by Yukiko Hirō; smooth-talking Mongolian mercenary seen talking with Georges often.
 * Yoshimasa - voiced by Naoki Imamura and Masashi Nagadoi; a loyal and honest mercenary from the far east.
 * Shakti - voiced by Yuka Komatsu; a foreign mercenary feared by some as a witch.
 * William - voiced by Yasuhiro Takato and Grant George; a cowardly mercenary.

Image Song

 * Rin toshite...
 * Performed by Rin
 * * used for commercials

Allusions

 * Some of the rarer weapons in the game are exact replicas of fourth weapons found in the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series. In the former's case, the game features the Dynasty Warriors 5 version of their weapons. Characters who're mentioned are:
 * Guan Yu and Lu Bu for the halberd class.
 * Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, Yukimura, Tadakatsu, and Xing Cai are referenced in the spear category; Xing Cai's shield also appears as a separate rare item.
 * Cao Cao, Nobunaga, and Kenshin for long swords.
 * Lu Xun appears for daggers.
 * Zhou Yu in the shamshir category.
 * Ina in long bows.
 * Magoichi for the guns.
 * Yoshihiro in hammers.
 * Nagamasa for the knightly lances.