Hokuto Musou is the latest Musou/Warriors game made by KOEI, featuring characters and the setting of Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's manga Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star). This is the second franchise Warriors game from KOEI after Gundam Musou.

It is also KOEI's first game to get a higher age rating of CERO D (17+) due to the addition of blood in order to fully reenact the atmosphere of the HnK world. However, instead of the usual hack-n-slash gameplay given to Warriors games, the beat-em-up style seems to fit more to the game’s source material.

Content: 5/10
The game has two main modes: Legend Mode and Illusion Mode, with an extra Challenge mode and a Tutorial mode for newcomers to the game.

Legend Mode is similar to Official Mode in Gundam Musou, in which it retells the story of the original series. In this mode, the player would defeat all enemies in an area to move to the next area. You explore the map to find secret areas and beat enemies to get extra points. The boss battles are one-on-one, which gives the game that old school beat-em-up feel.

Illusion Mode is the ‘what-if’ story mode, just like Original Mode in Gundam Musou 1. It involves ‘what-if’ scenarios for various characters from different starting points in the story, all culminating in a huge Hokuto versus Nanto war. This mode is delivered in the usual Musou-style as it features bases and overhead names of characters.

Challenge Mode is an extra mode that isn't available from the start; you'll have to clear Legend Mode first to unlock it. This mode puts player into a challenging boss rush stage and the clear time can be sent to an online ranking board.

One of the biggest drawbacks to this game is the lack of story content, which may be recognizable to players who are familiar with Hokuto no Ken. For instance, in Legend Mode some stories have been omitted. Some arcs and even important characters are unfortunately left out, the biggest offender being the lack of some Nanto Goshasei (Five Chariots) generals.

The other big flaw is the amount of playable characters, with only 8 characters being playable. Of course, having such few characters means that their moves are all very unique from each other, but this is still so few that it doesn't even fulfill the 'bare minimum' standard of a 10 playable character roster.

Gameplay: 7/10
The controls are pretty much the same as other Musou games. Press the Square button for normal attack and throw in a Triangle button to launch a charge attack.

The circle button is, as always, used to unleash the special attack, but this time around a character can have different finishers. You can equip up to 4 finishers and toggle them using the D-pad. Each finisher has different ranges, attack powers, and the amount of bars needed to use them.

There is also another gauge circling on the left side of the health bar. When the R2 button is pressed this gauge will be filled. This will enable the character to enter a burst mode where their attacks will be more powerful and unblockable. The finishers can instantly kill any grunts, generic generals, and deal critical hits to unique bosses.

Each character has their own unique signature move, which is executed by pressing the R1 button. The effects vary among each character. For instance, Kenshiro and Rei would sidestep to evade enemy attacks, Raoh strengthens his body to ignore stage traps, and Shin snaps his finger to make the aura cloud he puts into his enemies explode.

The characters comprise of three different fighting types. There are the Hokuto type, which generally deal stronger blows and press critical points on the enemies. Nanto type can slash the enemies before they attack you and Special type uses weapons that are designed for more advanced players.

Character growth can be done by collecting skill points, which can be received from clearing missions, defeating a boss, and accumulating the so-called Karma points from defeated enemies. These skill points are then invested to get upgrades such as stats, new finishers, additional finisher bars and cancels.

Those who are familiar with Musou games should know already that characters initially have limited movesets and their true potential appears after leveling up. This is more so in this game, especially with the main character Kenshiro who every player has to use the most. He starts off slow, has limited range, and can easily be interrupted. Only after he gets the moveset upgrades and dash cancels he becomes easier to use. Players might find Rei to be more fun to use once he and other characters are unlocked.

The game’s AI seems to be inconsistent. For instance, the grunt enemies can hold both projectile and melee weapons. When they are far away, they will put up their crossbows, which can be really annoying, especially when shot in groups. When you approach them, they will switch to their respective melee weapons. The generic generals aren't all that generic this time around. There are huge-bodied guys who can take some hits before they get some real damage. The ally AIs are unfortunately not very helpful. A positive aspect though is that they cannot steal your general kills and stars. Allies are so weak that in Illusion mode ally bases will fall very easily unless the player has completely cleared the area of enemies. 

Graphics: 9.5/10
Being a next-gen game, the graphics are not bad nor are they superb. The character costume designs are redone by KOEI under the supervision of Tetsuo Hara. The results are somewhat mixed with some hits and misses. However, for the die-hard fans they also offer priced DLC for the original manga character costumes.

What is unique to this game is the blood feature, which some fans have wanted to see in a Musou game for years. The enemies' death sequences are also derived from the original series. Enemies killed by Hokuto Shinken users will have their body swell up massively before exploding. While, those who are hit by Nanto Seiken moves will be sliced into pieces. One of the most impressing aspects of the game is that there is better environmental interaction. Some objects will be wrecked or destroyed if you punch them or throw an enemy towards them.

Final Remarks
To sum up all the points of the game,
*Legend story mode is more geared towards an Double Dragon action adventure-style
*Illusion story mode has the usual Musou-style feel
*There is a Challenge mode where your clear time records can be put on online for ranking
*Tutorial mode for newcomers to learn the different fighting types
*Character costumes are redone by KOEI under supervision of the manga artist Hara-sensei
*The soundtrack is full of hard rock and heavy guitar riffs
*An all-new seiyuu cast list that generally fits most of the characters

+Each playable character is unique
+There are multiple musou finishers
+Generic generals are more varied and require different strategies to beat
+Addition of blood compliments the game’s atmosphere
+Nice environmental interaction
+Norio Wakamoto as a narrator is epic
+Added post-clear challenges in Legend mode
+Existence of “Free mode” in Illusion mode

-Not all parts of the story are covered
-Only 8 playable characters
-Additional playable characters and stage DLC are priced
-Starting movesets aren't fun until the characters are leveled up enough
-Ally AI is too weak
-Overall game pace is slower than usual Musou games

Hokuto Musou is generally a good game, but the lack of playable characters and slow game pace leave something to be desired.

If you like Hokuto no Ken / Fist of the North Star, you may be able to enjoy this game as long as you don't mind about the content cut and the less-than-standard amount of playable characters. For those of you who are already too familiar with other Warriors’ games, more effort and patience are needed in order to fully appreciate this game.

But if you have a fondness of old-school beat-em-up games like Double Dragon or more recently God Hand, then you will definitely be interested in getting this game.

Overall Score: 7.5/10 (PlayStation 3 version reviewed)