The Endless Dynasty

Zhen Ji of Wei.

Given that I've played a bit more of this game since the last time I wrote, I think I now have a much better idea about the changes made to this most recent iteration of the Dynasty Warriors series.

At a glance, the change in the regular story mode is the addition of the Jin faction, which is lead by Sima Yi. This story takes place further down the Dynasty Warriors timeline, which does finally bring a different perspective on the tried and true stories that have been replayed time and again.

Beneath this, there is more happening in the regular story mode then before. Unlike the past, you will not be able to actually pick the character you'd like to play through in any particular faction's storyline. Instead you are moved through a variety of characters throughout the span of each faction's story.

Another change is the cut scenes have much more feeling to them, rather then the often cheesy voiced bits from the past. This does add a much more dramatic feeling to each faction's overall story and the deaths more meaning then before. Despite the fact that I have played quite a number of Dynasty Warriors games, I never really felt anything when ever a major character died in the course of the story. But here there is meaning and that is a much needed addition in my opinion.

One disappointing aspect about the story mode is the lack of two player co-op, which was obviously lost when the option of choosing characters was taken out. I understand that it had to be done to preserve the way the story needed telling, but it is still disappointing to have lost that option (though it is present in the Conquest mode). 

Moving onto the Conquest mode, it feels like a slower version of the Empires games, which I actually liked (Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires was a lot of fun to play) better then how things played out here. The maps here are rather small and the battles are over fairly quickly. While I admire the Koei's attempt to fuse some RPG aspects into the game play, I couldn't shake the feeling of wanting more. Maybe more freedom in leveling up or perhaps even more options in creating weaponry. I do miss that aspect from Warriors Orochi 2, where you could take weapons and combine them to make better weapons.

One tedious point is unlocking characters in this game, which can be somewhat done in the Story mode. Otherwise, you have to fight your way across the entire map in Conquest, then fight each character's Legendary battles to unlock them. I haven't unlocked everyone I've come across and instead I've found myself trying to find my old favorite characters, whom unfortunately are spread across the entire map.

Overall the changes made in this seventh iteration does mostly make this game better, though I wish some aspects were taken further then they were. In truth, I actually am enjoying this much more then I did Dynasty Warriors 6. I suppose it is mostly because the game play feels like the older games, which I enjoyed the heck out of back in their day.