We’re in the midst of a Warriors series Golden Age on the Nintendo Switch. Recently, we asked you – Nintendo Life’s readers – to rank each of these Musou games, and games like Hyrule Warriors and Age of Calamity beat out the likes of Samurai Warriors 5 and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3.
This got us thinking, what series would we most want to see receive a 'Musou Makeover'? As far as we’re concerned, for a game to make for a good Musou spinoff, it has to meet two requirements: a lot of playable characters, and even more enemies to cut down by the thousands.
To our surprise, a lot of Nintendo and Switch staples meet those requirements and then some. Below are 10 series we’d most like to hack-and-slash our way through hordes of enemies in. Oh, and we’ve left out the Metroid series. Beyond Samus, we can’t think of many other playable characters. Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the poll and comments.
Let's start with a little-known gaming series that not many people are talking about right now...
10 - Sonic the Hedgehog Warriors
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Blaze, Metal Sonic, Big the Cat, Jet the Hawk – the list goes on. For better or for worse, the Sonic the Hedgehog series has a large roster of characters, which would make for a unique Musou cast if their movesets were distinct enough from one another.
Add in the speed Sonic is known for and zipping through masses of Dr. Robotnik’s cute little robots would make for an undoubtedly exhilarating take. Don’t lie – you’d like to wreak havoc as a Chao through Green Hills and Casino Nights just as much as we would.
9 - Shin Megami Tensei Warriors
As the parent series to Persona, we already know Shin Megami Tensei Warriors would work because the hyper-stylish Persona 5 Strikers released in 2021 to critical acclaim. SMT IV and SMT V were Nintendo exclusives, too, so we wouldn’t be shocked if we actually got this game on Switch one day.
SMT games do not lack for demons to slay, yet it does not feature many prolific characters to flesh out a roster. To mitigate this, we’d love to see a Musou game where we recruit and fuse together demons that become playable just like in the main games themselves, though we imagine any studio tasked with creating such a game would drastically decrease the demonic roster from the 221 creatures we saw in SMT V last year.
Yep, that's a gauntlet on the ground there, Omega Force.
8 - Dragon Quest Warriors
Look – we know that Dragon Quest Heroes released as a launch title for Switch in Japan, but that particular Warriors title never escaped The Land of Rising JRPGs — not on Switch, at least. The Dragon Quest series is absolutely ripe for mob-decimating Musou gameplay which makes this a travesty. Maybe with the success of Age of Calamity and Fire Emblem: Three Hopes Square Enix and Koei Tecmo will reconsider and localise it one day.
Or, if we may roll a little greedy, a brand-new Dragon Quest-themed Musou game that draws on the franchise's four-decade history. With dozens of party members and of some of the most colourfully killable monsters ever imagined, the lack of a Dragon Quest Musou on the Switch in the West keeps us up at night.
7 - Kirby Warriors
With god-tier power levels, Kirby himself might need a nerf if his series ever got a Musou game. Despite a small but unique cast including Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight, we could see a Kirby Warriors game making a splash with his copy ability altering his moveset on the fly – maybe even altering the power level based on how many of each enemy the pink puffball swallows.
Okay, we’ll admit it. After Kirby and the Forgotten Land, we just want more Kirby.
6 - Xenoblade Warriors
Despite being the youngest series on this list, Xenoblade has made quite the name for itself as a flagship title for the Switch. Shulk, Pyra, and Mythra already made it into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and there’s a lot more characters where that came from.
What makes Xenoblade an appealing choice for a Musou game, however, is its expansive and gorgeous environments. Hacking through masses of fauna as a Blade or a Nopon in the Gaur Plains sounds like a grand old time.
5 - Final Fantasy Warriors
Final Fantasy is no stranger to crossovers between their individual games. Between Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, Dissidia Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts, the protagonists and party members of the mainline series routinely hop from game to game like interdimensional Hellgaroos.
Much like with Dragon Quest, a Musou Final Fantasy would work extremely well as a love letter to the series' legendary history – Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Lightning, and more all joining forces to lay waste to legions of FF baddies.
Alternatively, a Musou game that focused on an individual title would work too – just don’t make it Final Fantasy VII. We’ve had enough of Midgar for a while.
4 - Donkey Kong Warriors
Imagine this: the Kremlings team up with the Tikis from Donkey Kong Country Returns and the Snowmads from Tropical Freeze to steal Donkey Kong’s banana hoard once and for all. It’s up to Donkey, Diddy, Dixie, Cranky, Lanky, Funky, and the other Kongs to get them back.
Throw in a mine-cart super move to rack up the KOs, an underwater level, and animal mounts, and we’d have our wallets out faster than Donkey Kong can eat a hand of bananas.
3 - Castlevania Warriors
Castlevania Warriors makes so much sense. Like many games on this list, it has a bevy of possibilities when it comes to playable characters. The Belmonts and Alucard spring foremost to mind, but there’s also the likes of Soma Cruz and Shanoa to consider. Each hero's moveset could use some of Castlevania’s most iconic weapons: whips, magic spells, and massive axes. The enemies – from skeletons to those annoying Medusa Heads – also seem like a no-brainer.
There’s one issue: Dracula might have to hire a new interior planner to widen his narrow halls to fit in all the potential monster-slaying.
2 - Mario Warriors
The Moustachioed hero of the Mushroom Kingdom might seem like an odd choice for a Musou game, but hear us out. Mario isn’t a stranger to spinoffs – parties, tennis, golf, go-karting, paper-based adventures, and especially the turn-based strategy of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – and that makes us believe a Super Mario Warriors wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary. He certainly appears to be losing his temper a lot in Mario Strikers: Battle League. Indeed, a Mario Musou would be as sweet as one of Princess Peach’s cakes.
And there’s only one other game on this list that we believe would make for as much fun as nabbing a Super Star to charge through hundreds of Koopas and Goombas while controlling Luigi, Peach, and even deeper cuts like Captain Toad and Pauline...
1 - Pokémon Warriors
Pokémon Warriors tops this list as the Musou game that fits the criteria best and as the one we’d most like to play. Set such a game in a region uninhabited by trainers or other humans, put together a list of playable Pokémon from fan favourites – such as Charizard, Lucario, Pikachu and Garchomp – with a surprise choice or two thrown in for good measure, and let players loose to fight through hordes of other Pokémon on a mission to save the region for one reason or another.
We firmly believe Pokémon would adapt to the Musou formula as well as Zelda and Fire Emblem, if not better. The Pokémon series isn’t a stranger to surprising spinoffs. Take the tactics gameplay of Pokémon Conquest or the recent success of Pokémon Unite for example. A Musou just makes sense.
And that’s the 10 best video game series that we hope get the Warriors treatment one day. What about you? Let us know in the poll which Musou spinoff you’d most like to play, or if we missed a particularly ripe game series.
Comments 97
Give me a Battlefield with a load of Eevees and Pikachus and I'll be happy.
I've been dreaming about Xenoblade Warriors for years now.
I mostly want anime that'll never happen, Sailor Moon Warriors would be cool.
Where the hell is Starfox Warriors?
Mega Man Warriors with all the robot masters and everything.
KIRBY WARRIORS YEAH!
(Seriously Kirby star warriors would be a perfect name for a Kirby Warriors game!)
Resident Evil Warriors with Heavy Metal Chris Redfield now with bad gameplay.
I was first like hell yeah Xenoblade Warriors for the win...but Then I thought you know what Castlevania seems like a perfect fit.
Pokemon Warriors is something I'd love to play, but question how they could do it without breaking the golden rule of Pokemon: making dogfighting without actually making it dogfighting. Because the only enemies that would make sense in that kind of game would be Pokemon which gets into some potentially awkward territory.
That being said however, being able to play as Pokemon and just wreck havoc with every broken thing added in Pokemon games like perhaps Z-Moves or Megas sounds too enticing to pass up.
Please no more, we have way too many musou/warriors games as it is and once you play one you played them all.
I'd like to see different approaches for spinoffs of the franchises mentioned above and others.
Golden Sun would be great, if Nintendo actually still gave a damn about the franchise.
If they were going to do a single Final Fantasy, I'd nominate 6 for the sheer number of characters.
I would love to see an action-based Xenoblade spinoff, but I hope it's not a musou...
Dragon Quest Warriors is an actual thing that already has two installments, just saying.
My number 1 choice would be Senran Kagura, as in an actual SK Musou game.
Kid Icarus and Xenoblade would also be cool.
Kirby fits better than all of these, it’s already a power trip game based around real time melee/brawler combat with OP characters.
@iLikeUrAttitude Same, I honestly don’t get the hype lol. Watched friends play both of the Zelda ones, and the gameplay just doesn’t really seem that interesting to me at all.
I would legitimately play a DK Warriors game, regardless of how much I dislike the genre.
I have absolutely no interest in a Xenoblade multiverse kind of story, so I'm already nog holding my breath for part 3 (haven't watched the direct and anything but the first trailer)
But Pokemon Warriors would be their biggest game yet, and it could be phenomenal.
I'm sure a Pokemon Warriors would be release some time in the future. Hell, maybe we'll see one in the next gen of Pokemon games. : P
Eastenders Warriors. Best played in co-op as the Mitchell brothers.
@relinqued the article did mention the Japan exclusive switch collection of those two games.
Smash warriors should be a contender. imagine subspace emissary as a warriors game.
Tetris Warriors and Gran Turismo
Star Wars, with an entirely new story instead of a 'best of' cast
Assassin's Creed: We all know the story is going to be bad, but it could be fun to play.
Alex Kidd: Come on, give this guy anything. His fists are cool.
How about Rabbids warriors where there were just fields of rabbids to fight.
WaveRace warriors on water
I’m disappointed with you all. Not a single person mentioned F-Zero Warriors. This is the crossover that will reinvigorate the series.
And you all call yourselves fans.
I would love a Xenoblade Warriors SO much more than a Fire Emblem Warriors honestly. I still vote Mario though.
Not a video game series, but I think Power Rangers has a lot of potential for a Warriors game - you already have the endless grunts & generals built into the franchise.
@Franklin My thoughts exactly. Having a mix of on-foot and arwing style battles would be insanely cool. The only issue is that it would take a lot more time for them to develop since the aircraft battles would be vastly different, I imagine.
Among the aforelisted, I'd probably pick Final Fantasy Warriors as a damn promising and arguably the most OVERDUE option. But when it comes to discussing potential musous in general, I rarely neglect to namedrop Symphogear - the franchise I find among the MOST fitting for the gameplay by nature.
I do not want more Warrior games.
I'm convinced I'll never actually enjoy a musou game, but I'm most likely to fall for a Pokemon or Kirby one. Though, what would the Pokemon one be? Your team of super powerful Pokemon against waves of wild Pokemon? It's clunky, but at least the attacks would be varied.
@Fizza You probably pointed out the reason this hasn't happened yet. Pokemon has gotten a lot of criticism for being too violent in the past, so they'll probably avoid going into "killing by the dozens" territory.
Xenoblade makes the most sense to me, with the sheer number of blades in XC2 alone.
Katamari Warriors
@sanderev silly question, but why are you on this article then if you’ve got nothing to add apart from ‘I don’t like these games’?!
Gotta call it Kirby Star Warriors! (anime reference)
Aren’t they all just the same games?
I feel This poll is like asking me which character I’d rather play with, Mario or Luigi in NES Super Mario Bros.
@YoshiF2 gameplay wise? Very similar. However, the lore added to fan favourite franchises, and the level of polish given, make these worthwhile IMO.
Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity was a great side addition to BotW.
@somnambulance Oh HELL yeah. Now we're talking.
I would also love a Trails of Warriors! Kiseki rules!!! I chose Final Fantasy Warriors on the vote Column though.
I wouldn't mind a third Dragon Quest Heroes game, but honestly surprised Final Fantasy hasn't gotten the musou treatment yet.
Oh gosh please no.
Pokémon Warriors = Shiny Hunting: The Game
LOTR Warriors! Gimli vs Legolas vs player kill count challenges?
I could go for a new DQ Musou (especially a Dai no Daibouken version). The rest don’t really seem to fit the mechanics.
@Joeynator3000 I would honestly lose my mind if that happened but I can’t see it being much more than the arcade beatemups (which I love) with Musou mechanics. It could work but they have somewhat done that already in the 90s. Personally I just want a new Sailor Moon RPG. Chaos is never ending anyway.
@DeathByLasagna
I guess.
I don't think the flying sections would need to be any more frequent than the beast levels in Age of Calamity.
A nice change of pace to the usual action.
Star Fox Warriors, please!
Just have 100s of Japanese video game characters and call it Musou Soup. Sorted.
Kinda surprised there isn't a Power Rangers warriors game.
1. Pokemon Sangokushi
2. Animal Crossing Kingdom Chronicles
3. Super Mario Heavenly Warrior
4. Pikmin 4 Kingdom
5. 1-2-3 Switch: Sangokushi edition
Mushroom Kingdom Warriors and Dream Land Warriors for me, please. I'm getting tired of all these Warriors games with anime aesthetics. I'm just not into stuff like Fire Emblem or Persona. I did really enjoy Dragon Quest 11 though and would love to see Heroes localized with an acceptable framerate.
It's a toss up between Xenoblade Warriors and SMT Warriors to be honest. Pokemon is close. Proper DQ Warriors is as well I suppose.
(To be honest I'd play pretty much all of them because I'm a sucker)
Can we just stop with these genre crossovers. I'm tired of getting these musou games shoved down my throat in game series that I love.
It makes me feel like I have to either play through a game I don't like or miss out on the expanded story/character development/world building.
Just let musou franchises be musou games and rpg franchises be rpg games etc.
Xenoblade Warriors makes great sense, given the weapon variety and the potential. Final Fantasy Warriors is long overdue IMO. Enjoyed the Dissidia games myself.
I'm embarrassed to be the first commenter to say that Sonic Warriors actually does sound pretty fun. Gotta kill fast!
Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Shin Megami Tensei, Pokemon, Xenoblade - notice a pattern here? You want a JRPG Warriors. #ftfy
Poor choices, the obvious choice for the next Nintendo warriors game should be:
Wario Ware Warriors Warring Warfare
@Yomerodes Dynasty Warios.
Now all I want in life is a pokemon warriors game, why nintendolife, why 😭. Just let me be a snorlax beating up hundreds of pikachus
Pokemon warriors and xenoblade warriors almost make too much sense, honestly. Issue with both is that the enemies are more a one-on-one affair so it would be more something like persona 5 strikers than the traditional musou games, I assume. Smaller battles with explorable areas rather than the usual base conquering and stuff. I think anime is more naturally fitting to musous, with how over the top they can get.
Pokemon rumble is almost a musou game. It just needs to have those flashy animations on attacks
Can you imagine the visual of a Pokemon Musou, though? Psyduck and Oddish bodies flying through the air by the dozen, only to fall to the ground and flash out of existance?
It makes me sad that mediocre collab musou games like zelda and FE sell more than actual good ones.
Kid Icarus warriors... anyone? Just me?
Even though they appear in other Warriors games id love a Ninja Gaiden Warriors.
Almost impossible to pick between Kirby, Castlevania, Xenoblade or SMT so I'll just swing for the fences and say Dark Souls.
Pokemon, Mario and Final Fantasy Warriors have been among my dreams for a while.
Also a Batman Warriors, what the heck.
Pokemon and mario would be great from that list but for me an even better one would be Star Wars
Excitebike Warriors
Introducing Pokemon Warriors Red and Pokemon Warriors blue! Want the full experience? Better buy both games.
And don't forget to buy the third version of Pokemon Warriors when it comes out since that will have even more exclusive content.
Clearly Xenoblade Warriors, specially after 3. The rest of them I think are not that interesting (perhaps Pokemon, but there would be WAY too many characters XD)
1. Star Fox Warriors
2. Street Fighter Warriors
3. Xenoblade Warriors
4. Fatal Fury Warriors
5. Castlevania Warriors
And also Sailor Moon Warriors.
None. Just none. This horse is dead. Stop beating it.
Mario 35 basically was mario warriors; limitless legions of advancing koopa troopas and Spinies falling from the sky and lots of special moves to kill hoards of enemies at once.
Ys Warriors, maybe Animal Crossing Warriors.
Yokai Watch did what Pokemon didn't.
Yokai Sangokushi on 3DS
I think I will get that game during this year.
Personally, I would love to see a Metroid Warriors or Star Fox Warriors/Lylat Warriors. Not only does it add a sci-fi twist to a traditionally-fantasy series, imagine mowing down waves of Space Pirates or a giant Aparoid horde (think Starship Troopers, but where you actually win the Battle of Klendathu).
None would be best option as these games are rather mind numbingly boring and repetitive, but I'd go with FF. Although I only cared about people from 7 through 11 enough to even consider playing such a game.
All down for Mario Warriors!
Here's an Idea Soul Calibur with Zelda or Fire Emblem Characters either would work in my eyes.
@Joeynator3000 Tenchi muyo! warriors
Any Warriors game is a bad warriors game. Then we'll have some people who retorts that Fire Emblem Warriors and Hyrule Warriors are fun. No, they are not, you only think it's fun because it features a coat of paint that you like, you dont actually like the game, you just like the core franchise its based around.
Samus, Kanden, Spire, Trace, Noxus, Sylux, Weavel, Anthony Higgs, U-Mos, General Alex Miles, Fleet Admiral Castor Dane, Commander Mauk, Damara, Joey Apronika, Kreatz and Diesel...Plenty of Metroid characters for a Metroid Warriors game, Samus hasn't been the only character for nearly 20 years now, but I would rather have a Xenoblade Warriors. Each Xenoblade game could have its own Warriors game.
A Paper Mario Warriors would be really fun game to play, I'd be totally down for that. If you think about it, Paper Mario can totally pull it off too. Or a Mario & Luigi Warriors game would also be really cool too and totally doable!
I always thought Golden Axe would be a perfect fit for a Warriors game.
Those are mostly horrible suggestions.
What the world really needs is Horus Heresy Warriors. That's the only way to make a game about Space Marine Primarchs.
Just played this year persona 5, a well invested 100+ hours, and then tried persona strikers, couldn’t resist to stay in the game for more than an hour, even if they have almost the same characters. You can basically take every game ever created and transform it into a musou. All you have to do is to multiply every enemy by 100 or 1000. This is something that kills franchise’s, not reinvent them.
I absolutly agree with Shin Megami Tensei, FF and Castlevania as well as a new DQ Warriors title.
@nessisonett It's extremely easy to tell that you're British.
@StarPoint
Is there an illegitimate way of playing a DK Warriors game?
Kirby is almost a warriors game already,
you can button mash and defeat loads of enemies.
Super Smash Warriors: Subspace Emissary.
I have absolutely no interest in these kinds of games (to be fair, I still read the reviews that appear on Nintendo Life and for the well-reviewed ones I feel like maybe I'm missing out on the fun... but then I remember my backlog), but I would buy Xenoblade Warriors without a second thought out of obligation to the series.
@Rainbowfire all of my yes!
Imagine a endurance or challenge mission where MMZ era Zero is in the desert, fighting a endless army of Pantheons like how he did in the end of Zero 1.
Not really Nintendo-related, but the franchise I'd most love to see in this sort of game is actually Magic: The Gathering (yes, the card game). It just has lots of cool iconic characters that I'd love to play as.
Tap here to load 97 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...