It?s no secret that enjoy the Dynasty Warriors series and its spin-offs, with a lot of love given to recent releases like Warriors Orochi 3, and the not so recent Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3. By and large I think they?re a lot of fun, often mindless fun sure, but there?s room for what I?d dub ?comfort gaming? in everyone?s diet, which for me is what the Musou titles represent. I have no qualms with the complaints against the repetitive nature of the gameplay, but I certainly do find some fault in the thought that the games never change. Dynasty Warriors 8 tries to prove that thought wrong, featuring a host of new mechanics, a significant new mode, and a couple callbacks to concepts from the past
Let?s get the same old, same old stuff out of the way first. Yes, there?s a story mode. Yes, it features the Wei, Wu, Shin, and Jin breakdowns. Yes, you still play through the Yellow Turban Rebellion right at the start. This is certainly a Dynasty Warriors game, make no mistake about it. But while story mode doesn?t bring much new to the table in way of structure, there?s still some unique mechanics here. The ?other? characters get a more fleshed out campaign to engage in this time out. The cutscenes are really well-rendered and mesh seamlessly with the in-game action this time around. I?m not a huge fan of the forced English voiceovers (Japanese voiceover DLC is coming soon for free), but I still found myself willing to sit through some of the retread story content simply because it just seems better directed this time around.
Other new elements are split between Story mode, Free mode, and the new Ambition mode. Weapon variety is expanded further than DW 7, while retaining the EX weapons found in the previous entry. There?s a new affinity system in place for weapons, with weapons being categorized as Heaven, Earth and Man. You?re able to select two weapons for a character, and when in combat against enemy generals, it?ll benefit you to use an opposing affinity in order to trigger a new ?Storm Rush? attack that unleashes a flurry of powerful blows when triggered. You can still switch between equipped weapons in combat, but a new ability also allows for a counter against strong enemy attacks when doing so.
Various skills can be upgraded and equipped, most of which are unlocked by meeting certain accomplishments in battle. Weapon specific skills are also present, mostly late game unlocks for max leveled characters proficient in certain weapon types. There?s a form of weapon fusing/crafting present here too, more similar to the one found in Warriors Orochi 3 that allows you to carry over skills from one weapon to another, along with empty slots to house those skills. This system from Warriors Orochi 3 is probably my favorite weapon crafting mechanic in the series, so I was pretty happy to see it in Dynasty Warriors 8 with little change other than name.
The new Ambition Mode focuses on building up a base, called a Tongquetai Tower, with the hopes of getting the Emperor to visit. There?s little narrative here, instead the focus is on earning supplies, new Officers, new buildings, and engaging in different battles. Fights are broken up into different types, focusing on gaining allies, gaining supplies, and obtaining fame. The more fame and allies you have the more structures you can build, which consist of places like the Blacksmith, Merchant, Barracks and so on. These structures require supplies to be upgraded, which expand their usefulness and abilities, allowing you to do things like the aforementioned weapon crafting. There?s also an emphasis on participating in successive battles without returning to camp, upping the difficulty of each fight and occasionally leading to special ?duel? battles, where you?ll gain most of the playable Officer characters. Overall, most of the concepts in Ambition Mode aren?t entirely new for the series, but it definitely ends up being the mode you?ll spend the most time with.
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