For Honor Review

Why did the Samurai, Knight, and Viking cross the Ashfeld? According to Ubisoft… I’m guessing for supplies. For Honor seems to miss this answer, through all the bloody fighting. Let’s check out this For Honor Review.

The Tale of For Honor

Apollion, the war goddess of an order that opposes three battle factions, has decided to stir trouble within the shared space. Her army has kept a war between Samurai, Viking, and Knight clans rampant for nearly a millennia without a real pause for peace. As all forces take to break a iron-for-iron stalemate, the forth man instigator still remains the troublemaker. This puts the remaining factions to duke it out to uncover the truth, regardless of how bleak it seems. Three factions with three chapters to represent their struggle. Bosses greet you at the end of chapters, as deadly as they come.

Get Ready to Ye Scrap

For Honor has some modes to spread itself out. Five modes, to be exact. The tutorial mode familiarizes one with the game’s movement system and is the first thing given to players starting out. One can strike(regular or hard) or block high, left, or right, with guard breaks and throws. There is a stamina bar to stop power spams, too. Lose all your mettle, and your character is open like a convenience store for a couple seconds. Each class has a unique set of moves which compliment these moves.

Special buffs, or feats, are also rewarded after a filling of their respected gauges. Some can even thin out the horde of pawns that surround the heroes selected. There are 4 classes per faction. Each hero representing various archetypes: counters, tank, assassins. Each comes with its’ own finisher, too. All in the “the Art of Battle” system, coined by Ubisoft. I recalled Bushido Blade when I harnessed my controller. There’s a uniqueness to this. We’re looking a Samurai Showdown more times than Chivalry in For Honor.

Jousts to knock the other guy out

Brawl and Duel provide the grunt-less combat between players or AI. Dominion gives some 4 on 4 action with the raging battle between both warring sides regardless of factions chosen. Points are rewarded to the faction who controls certain points along the map. It’s fun watching one’s character hack and slash his way through countless drones inorder to keep the point in check. When two players meet, the duel mode can be turned on, which locks both fighters in and the swing directions count. For Honor also has another game mode. It felt similar to Soul Calibur 2’s Conquest mode. Joining one of the factions hurls one into a battle using one’s performance to tip the scales of area control through points. While a nice touch to the overall multiplayer itself, For Honor encourages the meta game as much as the non-jousting.

A Different Kind of Fighter

Aesthetically, For Honor doesn’t slouch even on standard 8th generation consoles. First of all, gone are the charms of the “E3 Ubisoft Demo Magic” with this title. What we have seen in the wilds of E3 is the same as what we have in the final. The visual details are definitely there, as we dismember foes to keep our armies safe. Because of this, For Honor renders well to the eyes. The UI isn’t in the way, yet staples from other Ubisoft titles can be seen and notable in it. The AI has a challenge to it on various difficulties.

Things that should be left with the Blacksmith

For Honor’s bark is not as worse than its’ blade. The story is predictable.

For Honor leaves a bit more to be desired. I still have no clue as to why these factions are in the same space or why there are no real civilians. I found ways to exploit the mechanics to beat out bosses in this mode, which seemed to feel as if these were overlooked bugs before production. The story mode also is a singular experience. It has no effect overall yet. Getting loot is also a task because of the expensive system. Microtransactions seem to be pushed very quietly with an ungenerous way to dress up your classes and earn power-ups through “steel”. Surmounting in half the game’s original payment to amass loot is definitely a blow to the user. I noticed a couple of instances, in multiplayer modes, where I was paired with bots after an outage, but noticed this quite a bit going forward even post week launch.

Final Thoughts

For Honor is a great experiment for its’ time. It takes the inspiration of Infinity Blade, and cues from Mosou Warrior titles, and adds the weight of Dark Souls. Yet For Honor loses its’ form in a linear saga, which was boasted about. The gender inclusive combat is satisfying enough to render one a Medieval​ Times stunt double in the making. In what For Honor embarks to cause real, the effort to create it into a serious contender to that of other weapon-based slugfests is present. In conclusion, For Honor is unique in execution, but to class it under the genre Ubisoft tries to break into seems like a bit of a stretch from it was intended to become.