Dynasty Warriors 8 adds in new features and options to the long-running franchise to breathe new life into the game. Fans, get ready for the best experience in the series since DW3. An instant buy for any KOEI fanatic.
Excellent game play, improved combat, better weapons system, revised storyline with hypothetical scenarios, continued amazingly composed soundtrack and overall high octane experience.
A stunning amount of content and a plethora of improved mechanics ensure that Dynasty Warriors 8 takes its rightful place as the ruling lord of Koei's flagship series, despite suffering from some minor recurring issues and poor presentation in places. This is the definitive Dynasty Warriors title, even if it continues to roam the battlefield the only way that it knows how.
Fans of the series will probably keep on appreciating the game as always, because nothing really new is waiting for them in this latest chapter of the Three Kingdoms. Let's hope something will change in the next-gen chapters of the series.
It’s still going to be a long hard struggle to turn Dynasty Warriors into a top quality action game, but this is the first sequel in a long time to feel like it’s actually trying.
Dynasty warriors 8 is the bast one so far. The all new what if factor may be the bast part because it adds a whole lot of new content. The story modes have been improved I say and take a long time to finish.
This is a great shock this late into the series!! I loved Dynasty Warriors 6 and 7, even though perhaps they had annoying flaws but this game almost seems like KOEI listened to the fans, and gave them what they really wanted this time around!! The presentation is good, granted there is a little slowdown at times, but for most of the time there are hundreds of antagonists on screen and it runs just beautifully. The backdrops have a little bit of variety to them, but its the characters that steal the show, for they are beautiful. The music, voiceovers and FX are exactly what you'd expect for Dynasty Warriors, but this isn't a complaint, for if it were different, this would not be Dynasty Warriors live with it, enjoy it, and be done. Gameplay-wize the game is just sublime!! The Story mode is hugely branching, also chucking in some severely smart (and huge!!) battles, the Free mode is a welcome addition marking a return, and Ambition mode is more than a tacked-on extra it must really kill KOEI that they have made every single 'Empires' version of Dynasty Warriors almost obsolete!! Well, it seems like that to me!! Combat is the usual, but its hefty, and thanks to some honestly genius forethought, you have more power over how your character performs in the heat of battle, when they meet certain criteria (yes, it does make a huge difference!!). That, and simple things, like calling your horse and jumping on it with a single button, may seem simple but they add much to the whole feeling of the combat in this game huge, slick, fast, and of a coordinated chaotic ballet, and in many way the repetition of the combat is somewhat tempered, though I can understand the repetition may come through on occasion. I would normally give this a 9, saying that its really a specialist kind ****, and that for the cost it is, you'd really have to commit to this (or play a demo). But be damned, in this time ironically, this is a fresh vital thing, not just to the series, but of software in general to play at the moment. I personally give this a 10, as I think its that good its now up to you, if you haven't played this series in a long time, to decide whether its worth the outlay, but I still urge you to try it.
The combat feels fresh and the addition of the 3 weapon types keeps things fresh and changing. I love the new story mode and the points of view for each level. Best in the series by far
Let me start by saying I love, I LOVE this game. There are several fatal flaws that frustrate me to no end, however, which is what leads to this score, because I've also grown to HATE this game.
First the positive.
Dynasty Warriors 8 is everything we were promised with Dynasty Warriors 7 and then some. Every character has a unique weapon and moveset, and with the wide range of characters everyone plays differently and feels like their own unique characters. On top of everyone having their own unique skillsets, every character can play with a second weapon, so if your style of play is more crowd clearing you can equip a second weapon for the more down and dirty one on ones against generals. Weapons also have individual abilities, such as charging attacks for the short halberd or the dual swords immediate switch. This lends a level of strategy the previous game was lacking and it adds another layer of fun. The story is fairly historically accurate, and most of the additional characters were quality adds that should have been in from the beginning such as Yue Jin, Li Dian, and Han Dang. The story is lengthy and enjoyable for the most part with varied objectives, occasionally frenzied time limits, and a reasonable difficulty arch.
The Bad
The game was not released completed, and there are crashing issues all over the place, most notably within Story Mode, which is required to unlock characters. Nothing is more frustrating than killing over a thousand enemy soldiers in a long battle, locking in the final general in a rage attack and **** game crashes. Worse still, the crashes also affect Ambition Mode, and you could be several battles in when the game crashes, losing not only one but multiple battles with the crash. No game should ever be released if you are unable to complete the game, that is a terrible way to do business. Regardless of how many improvements your game has, how fun it is, you completely ruin that experience by leaving the game with such gaping flaws such as that.
Visually, the game looks fine. Fans have complained about a lack of real improvement in the games visuals for several releases, and this one does nothing to allay those concerns. Darker areas are terrible to navigate and it becomes habit to find your way to your next group of enemies not by the terrain but by the red bars above their heads. The maps are updated, which is a very welcome change, but the minimap is so tiny that it is almost impossible to navigate.
The sound is for once one of the lowest points of the game. The voice acting is once again atrocious for the English release, and while fans had hoped for a superior Japanese voice option they are once again left waiting for DLC. The sound effects are barely updated and can become annoying in prolonged throughways. This is made worse by a score that sounds recycled and somehow manages to turn heavy guitar riffs into an analogy for boredom.
The character models have all been updated and this is a mixed bag. While I'm glad to see them updated yet again, some of them seem lazy (Dian Wei is the clearest example). Most of the female characters are nothing but fan service with only a few notable exceptions. That's fine on occasion, but again seems lazy as if little time was spent on the character modeling.
While I appreciate the addition of Ambition Mode to the franchise, even without the crashing the mode is unpolished and I had varied experiences. Some of the battles were fun, with different quests popping up requiring completion. Some times, however, the quests that popped up were vague and near impossible to complete. For instance, on one occasion, while escorting a general he became injured and I had a "Find the Medicine" quest pop up. there was no indication where I would find it, so I started checking the bases in the level (where you normally find materials). None there, I started killing off every troop I could find. With only 5 minutes left in the battle, I finally found the medicine, carried by a lone Mobile Unit Commander in the bottom corner of the map, far away from any route I would take in the escort mission. Situations like those are not isolated, and take away from the overall experience.
While I like Dynasty Warriors 8 and consider it the best in a long line of the series that has been faltering for several years now, the overall functionality of the game is severely lacking and take away so much from an otherwise very enjoyable game. While I'm sure the game will improve with patches, I shouldn't have to pay my money to wait several weeks while the developers work out the bugs, just to be able to complete the main storyline of the game.
SummaryDynasty Warriors 8 is a tactical action game that follows the stories of the kingdoms of Wei, Wu, Shu and Jin through the actions of historical military and political figures of the time as they fight to gain control over the Three Kingdoms of China.