REVIEW: Touken Ranbu Warriors Breathes New Life Into a Beloved Franchise
Touken Ranbu started out as an online web browser game with static 2D illustrations of handsome boys and men who are human versions of historical Japanese swords — yes, you read that correctly. Despite launching in Japan in 2015, it didn’t get an English release until 2021, but it still garnered international fans before then. I’m one of these fans, with Katsugeki TOUKEN RANBU as my first exposure to the franchise. When I heard the news about Touken Ranbu Warriors, a 3D video game adaptation with Musou-style gameplay, I was over the moon. For this review, I offer my first impressions of the game (I played on the Nintendo Switch) from a fan perspective.