In just one week, Dynasty Warriors 8 comes out in Japan. It has an unprecedented 77 playable characters! This includes every Chinese history sourced character from every previous Dynasty Warriors game (a new record!) as well as many new sourced characters. It also includes every character that was recently released in the Dynasty Warriors 7 Xtreme Legends expansion pack, so for people who didn't want to buy a whole new game just to play a few more characters, this is your chance to play them all for the first time.
Not only will we get a richer experience than ever before, because the story will now be telling the stories of 77 characters within the world of Romance of The Three Kingdoms, whereas even Dynasty Warriors 7 only had 62, but it stretches deeper into the reign of Jin (as represented by the character Jia Chong, who actually served under the first the new Emperor of the united China at the end of the three kingdom period), and includes a Musou (story) mode for the 'Others' category for the first time.
Seventy-seven characters isn't worth much if they only look different graphically but all perform the same moves. However, Dynasty Warriors 8 has fixed this issue that was present in Dynasty Warriors 7, and every single character in the series is wielding a weapon unique to him or her. That's 77 characters with 77 different styles of fighting in the series, with weapons that do all sorts of crazy things, each different from the previous, each requiring some work to draw out their full potential and master on the battlefield.
Story mode can now be played 2 player again, and Free Mode is back, allowing you to fight on story mode stages as much as you like with any character you like. Everyone gets three musous to choose between instead of the two from DW7, and a variety of other new attacks like variable counter and storm rush.
Like usual, the graphics are a step up from every previous game. But in the end, this game isn't about graphics or gameplay, it's about immersing yourself in the lore of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the atmosphere of ancient China. China is one of the most interesting places in world history, and at the time of the three kingdoms was easily on par with its contemporary the Roman Empire half a world away. Learning about the culture and way of thinking, who was considered a hero and who a villain in this society, is endlessly fascinating. Contrasting their way of thinking to the modern day is a learning experience. An encyclopedia is always available on all the characters who appear in the game, letting people read more into depth over anyone or anything that interests them. The true beauty of 77 characters is getting to see 77 lifetime's worth of events that happened in ancient China at the time. Just imagine it's 77 biographies of people like Churchill, Patton, Eisenhower, etc all wrapped up into one story, and there you've got Dynasty Warriors 8.
Dynasty Warriors is one of the greatest franchises in gaming, and Dynasty Warriors 8 is now its greatest exemplar. This will definitely be the best game of the year. There are other good franchises, like Call of Duty, Halo, Final Fantasy, Tales of ---, Super Mario Brothers, Pokemon, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Street Fighter, and Mega Man; But none of them are historical, none of them are epic, and none of them broaden your horizons like Dynasty Warriors does.
In a few hours Playstation will be announcing the release of its new console, the PS4. With a PS4's power, I wouldn't be surprised if DW8 will be imported to the machine and run smoother than ever. But if that isn't the case, then I just look forward to Dynasty Warriors 9, which will try out the new console's power in all its glory, and no doubt add even more historically important figures to the story, like Yu Jin. Dynasty Warriors 8 will eventually get a release for the United States as well, just like all the previous games have. 2013 has barely started, so we'll be seeing it within the year too. The Hobbit and Memory of Light may have been letdowns, but Japan never lets anyone down. There's now a new reason to look forward to tomorrow.
2 comments:
Do you have a favorite in the series? I only played up to DW3.
My favorite is Dynasty Warriors 7, because it includes the Jin period of the three kingdoms, with a huge new story mode and cast of characters. This is when Sima Yi's sons overthrow the later Wei emperors and proceed to conquer Shu and Wu, finally uniting the land under their own rule. Sadly, all the original contestants lost and this usurper claimed it all. But that's how real history goes.
Dynasty Warriors 3, in terms of gameplay though, was really good. Those archers were so deadly strong, it made every stage a heart attack. The game has toned down since then in terms of difficulty. If you're thinking of playing again it would make sense to wait until 8 comes out though. . .
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