Review: Dynasty Warriors 8

I’d like to preface this review by stating that it was written from the perspective of someone completely new to the series. Before this review, I’d never played a Dynasty Warriors game, so I won’t be making any comparisons to the previous seven iterations.

Dynasty Warriors 8 is the latest action strategy game in a series adored by its fans but overlooked by many others. On the surface it looks like a generic button masher, however the simplistic façade hides a complex and detailed strategy game that is both unique and exceptionally enjoyable to play.

The game is split into two core modes: Ambition and Story. Whilst the encompassing structure and objectives differ the core level design and gameplay remains the same between the two. Each level consists of a battlefield with objectives and goals that must be met in order to win. Both sides are given armies comprised of AI officers, ranked troops and common troops which must be protected. You play the game like a third person beat ’em up, however you must choose your targets carefully as your success relies heavily on the condition, size and morale of your army.

Officers are the main characters of the game and have their own levels, proficiencies, weapons, skills and special attacks. Not only are they uber-powerful, they have significant impact on the morale of your army. Let one of your officers take too much damage and they withdraw potentially, causing other troops to retreat. Ranked troops come in a variety of types but essentially command important positions and have better combat skills. For example; Captains generally lead a contingent of troops. If you leave them alive, you’ll never gain ground against the constant stream of reinforcements. Gatekeepers must be defeated in order to open new paths, Base Captains control key areas and so on. Common troops are just how they sound. They use a variety of basic weapons but are weak and really there to distract you from your key targets and keep your army busy.

Unfortunately, while these mechanics work well they aren’t really explained. Dynasty Warriors 8 does have a tutorial mode but it only covers how to use your officer. The manual was pretty much the same so I could only surmise that a “return customer” mindset had been applied and it was assumed we’d know how to play. This wasn’t a huge issue, as it didn’t take long to figure out what was going on, but something I felt was lacking.

Story mode is divided into four sub-sections; each based on a family from the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Level objectives and officer choice is restricted based on story progression forcing you to try out different officer fighting styles and skills. This works well as the real meat of Dynasty Warriors 8 lies in its combat. Each officer has his or her own set of RPG-style statistics, weapon preferences, compatibilities and special moves. As your character levels up they gain a swathe of additional statistical perks and skills which make the combat more interesting and equip you well for the harder battles later on. Luckily everything gained carries over between sessions so, if you feel under powered, you can replay levels or pop over to Ambition mode and upgrade some equipment.

Ambition mode is structured differently from story mode. You start with a base and must complete battles to gain new allies (officers), materials and weapons. Materials are used to build and upgrade facilities in your base which allow for battle perks, new weapons, weapon upgrades and so on. Your ultimate goal is to become strong enough to win the favour of the Emperor however the true point of this mode is to challenge yourself and level up your officers. Whilst ambition mode may seem like a “tack on” extra for replay it’s every bit as involved and interesting as story mode.

Dynasty Warriors 8 also offers fantastic co-operative play. Only available in story mode players can take on the role of any playable officers in a given chapter. The mechanics of the level don’t change much but you gain access to a special co-op Musou attack that does a mountain of damage and looks fantastic! It might seem like a useless tack on at first but it’s a mountain of fun to play and, sadly, not too many titles offer a decent co-op campaign.

No matter which mode you play you’ll be spending a lot of time in combat. As with the rest of the game Dynasty Warriors 8 uses a fairly simple interface to mask a complex and detailed system. You have light and heavy attacks which can be combined to make combos. Successful attacks build up your Musou meter which, when full, allows you to perform a special, high damage move called a Musou attack. You also have a Rage meter which allows you to perform powered up attacks dealing massive damage yielding bonus rewards.

Sounds simple enough right? Well let’s add some weapons. Dynasty Warriors 8 has nearly 100 different types of weapons, each of which has its own combos, special effects and affinity. They can be found in battle or purchased/upgraded at a blacksmith. The combos vary in speed, strength and area of effect but all seemed evenly balanced. Weapon affinity refers to a  clever system where each weapon is classed as Heaven, Earth or Man. Working similarly to the “rock, paper, scissors” principle each affinity is strong against one and weak against another. These have no effect on captains or common troops but, when fighting another officer, become a crucial component as each officer carries two weapons and can change them at will.

Adding to weapon selection you’re also able to select from around 70 playable officers. Each officer has a preferred weapon, compatibility levels and Musou skills. If using their preferred weapon an officer can perform an EX combo which is a custom combo with special effect. If an officer has potential weapon compatibility then using a weapon of that particular type can raise the level and give access to special moves or benefits. Whilst all officers can carry any weapon there are definite advantages to using certain types with certain people. This versatility makes each character feel unique and more than just a “skin”.

There’s a lot more to the battle system with counter moves, frenzy attacks, true rage attacks, and so on however I fear, if I continue, this will become less a review and more a user manual! Suffice it to say the combat system is a load of fun to use with enough detail to keep the most statistic hungry gamer appeased whilst remain simple enough to be accessible to new players.

The only time I felt combat suffered was when trying to block. Whenever you block the camera centres behind the player, breaking the flow of combat and, more often than not, resulting in damage taken. You’re unable to turn or target whilst blocking so, if you haven’t positioned yourself well, you’ll end up unable to block what you intended or being hit from behind. This pre-emptive planning feels very out of place during fast paced / response driven combat and is pretty useless in a game where you spend much of your time surrounded.

The camera issues aren’t just restricted to blocking. The inability to focus, chase or “snap in” on a particular target means that you must manually control the camera at all times. This was particularly noticeable when performing combo attacks. If an enemy moves (or is knocked) out of view you’re left with the choice of either continuing the combo hoping your attacks are hitting or adjusting the camera whilst timing your moves. It wasn’t a huge problem but was certainly noticeable and made the game feel a little clunky and dated.

This b-grade feel is further emphasised by the overall presentation. Cut scenes often appeared to be in a lower definition than the levels themselves. During levels many of the surfaces and textures were noticeably low-res and often took a while to pop. Enemies often just “appeared” and often can be seen standing around waiting to be hit. Destroying structures resulted in a “Lego” type break-up where each polygon bounces up into the air and there’s a noticeable discrepancy between hit detection and on screen item. Add to this appalling voice acting with repeated use of one liners and you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a game from the early Playstation/Xbox era. This was further emphasised by the poor dialogue although that may just come down to poor translation. I got the feeling that this was meant to be part of the game’s charm, but from the perspective of someone new to the series, I found it a disappointing feature.

One of the surprising negatives about Dynasty Warriors 8 was that it suffered from many glitches. They ranged from things like sequences not triggering to getting caught in scenery; getting trapped in areas you’re not supposed to access or graphical freezes where gameplay continued but the image stayed frozen. Almost all of these resulted in having to restart levels so I got in the habit of saving often! Another big issue I found was noticeable slow down when a lot was happening on screen; a frequent occurrence in a game like Dynasty Warriors 8. By themselves these aren’t huge problems but not something I’d expect to see in the 8th series of a franchise.

Despite all the negatives Dynasty Warriors 8 remains a sensational game. I’ve not played many titles that offer the same mix of action, strategy and cooperative play. The variance in officers, weapons and fighting styles mean that the game rarely feels old and you’ll be playing long after the core stories are finished. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would and I will be a day one purchaser of Dynasty Warriors 9 when it comes out.

TL;DR? Watch our video review!