Sengoku Basara 2 HD - Toshiie Maeda | Story Mode

Now we play Toshiie, returning from SB1. His spear moveset is just as reliable to use as before. His Basara's gotten a bit of an improvement, where he can now twist his body slightly from side to side, making it easier to not whiff enemies that are off center. He still can't correct himself to hit enemies behind or directly to his sides, so you still have to aim it properly.

Toshiie has a surprisingly good keep-away game. He starts with spitting fireballs as his first special, which do a good job of damaging and keeping the enemy away. His second summons a hawk that attacks from behind, which can send enemies his way. Toshiie can begin his next action before the hawk has finished, so there's some fun combinations you could do with that if you want. I still tended to use his other specials that were more basic, such as his launching attack and one where he knocks the enemy into the air and stabs repeatedly. He has another special that's a charge move, where he hops forward slightly as he winds up a horizontal swing. Since he moves forward with it, you have a bit more freedom to position yourself and use it effectively.

1st stage is fighting Ieyasu, which we've done before. I managed to cheese Tadakatsu this time by taking him down before he activated. We also totally didn't need to fight these battles because Toshiie's story is just about tracking down Keiji, so he really just came here to ask if Keiji's been by. But, like Warriors, everything must be resolved with military conflict so we get a stage out of what should really just be a brief conversation.

2nd stage is Xavi's, which we've done before.

3rd is the normal Ueda battle again.

4th is a fight against Yoshihiro and boy is it a long one. The stage is massive and there are a TON of enemy ambush parties that surround your allies, including the Power Rangers. It takes a while to clear out the whole map but you get a bonus if you do so. There's also some lava for an environmental hazard and a lot of the enemies have guns, so it can be a real pain to get near some of them. At the end we fight Yoshihiro himself, who hits pretty damn hard. He even has access to a powerful charging move that, as the player, takes off half an enemy's HP with one swing. In later games, this is changed to a flat out OHKO. If you see the enemy Yoshihiro charging for a long time...don't get anywhere near him.

5th stage is, naturally, Keiji's fight in the capital. Nothing special about it. I do appreciate that Toshiie and Matsu's cutscenes are all completely silent, just like they were in SB1. It's like watching an old cartoon or something.