"Obsoletes the previous installments"

I'm not one for long-winded paragraphs, so my review is presented in a list highlighting the best and worst of Koei's latest installment of the Dynasty Warriors series.

Bottom line is -- if you've never played a DW title, this is the one to get. By far the most intuitive and advanced to date, you can't go wrong. But, since this is a *review* and not a preview, I'll assume you already know what kind of game this is. Suffice to say, this didn't get the #1 spot on GameFAQS' wanted list opening day after 8 previous Koei titles for nothing.

Even if you're a fan, and getting borderline tired with the series after 3 separate games using the DW4 engine, this is still a must-have. The fact that this entry is still so enjoyable even after the multitude of sequels and expansion packs prove that Koei is heading in the right direction.

PROS

Category: Improvements
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Archers act more naturally, not instantly targeting player when in sight.

Once again, no more "seven-hits-equals-immediate-enemy-mosou". Also, generals glow before they perform a mosou on you, giving chance to prepare for it. An excellent balance in favor of the player.

A small thing, but the way strong enemy generals have health bar layers (like Castlevania: Lament of Innocence) is much better than having one health bar that takes forever to drain. It makes you feel like you're dealing out more damage and gives the player a morale boost :)

Stages are not entirely event-based. You can actually win by following the battle plan for your character instead of doing the same steps every time.

More item/weapon boxes per stage (seemingly). In plain-view instead of being hidden in corners of the stage or behind objects.

Horse mounting/riding/combat much more fluid. Mounted charges actually deal decent damage now.

Return of weapon collecting system so you can store up to 4 different weapons and choose different ones depending on the next battle

Stage design clearly stepped up a notch with more variety in the background objects, terrain, elevation.

Bases can't be re-claimed once conquered. No more of the keep-away which plagued DW Empires.

Category: Additions
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New Mosou Rage ability can be used to nullify the strongest adversaries.

New light/medium/heavy weapon system -- allows you to let your character swing faster at a loss of power, or be a lumbering deathmiter

Totally new items added, even though this isn't an XL edition.

Much better jump charge attack -- now your best ticket for taking on mounted opponents.

Less repetition, more faithfulness in mosou modes. You don't have to participate in battles in which your character did not (although you can via free mode).

CONS

Category: General WTF?
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Lack of rare items compared to what we're used to with the XL versions. Seems to be a blatant plug for DW5's Xtreme release.

With the variety of the bodyguard system, having only 8 slots to save bodyguards is extremely limiting.

Although the need to replace voice actors is understandable, there is a severe lack of diversity among the characters -- they all sound alike (at least for now). Lu Bu's has been done a special disservice and he now has a nonchalant, lacksadaisy attitude must unbecoming of his stature.

Interim saves now limited to 1. Let people set their own difficulty, please.

Many of the 4th weapons and rare items are time-based. A much better test of prowess would be in feats that can be accomplished by skill instead of luck.

Bases have the same layout everywhere. 2 barricades, 4 corners of pots, 2 buildings. Gets kinda boring after awile.

Did not port over ability in Samurai Warriors to zoom the camera out.

Category: Let's take out stuff that displeases us
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Announce-self ability removed. Again, why take out something you already spent time coding? True, it wasn't as effective as other moves, but now the effort has gone to waste.

Duel system totally excised. While I personally didn't like it, I'm not at all supportive of functionality removed. It should've been kept in, with the morale penalty for turning down duels taken out. Let the gamers choose how they want to play.

Enemy officer death events removed.

Step down from Samurai Warriors' adoption of all characters using Ma-Chao style mounted attacks

Category: Punishing players for being good
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Now costumes loud and garish. Like the voice acting, they sorta blend in together and don't lend to much differentiaton between similarly-dressed characters. This is one case where too much detail doesn't work. You can barely pick out faceless officers from the peons

Music is rather drab and boring. No themes stand out like in previous installments to get your blood going, and even the main theme and lu bu's theme have been softened dramatically.

Returns to the old "beat general with X combos to double reward" system. So, in order to get +8 drops in easy stages, you have to use crappy moves. It doesn't make sense.

Failure to address the issue of subgenerals running away when their captains are defeated.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/05