Dynasty Warriors 5

"Dynasty Warriors 5, the most polished one yet!"

Ever since I started playing Dynasty Warriors 3 several years ago, I've been sucked into this game series. Now finally the 5th one is out. Many people are skeptical of this installment since its basic game engine is the pretty much the same as its 3 predecessors. True, much of the game play is unchanged, but many little tweaks have been made to improve it. With 6 new characters this time around, this game is already beefier than 4. Although the Create-A-Warrior, and VS. Mode has been removed, it really doesn't matter since the CAW was really lacking in the first place, and VS. Mode is just a tiny side game to the main game. But the improvements made to the main game make this the most polished Dynasty Warriors yet.

Since the story of The Three Kingdoms is from an actual novel, not much can be done to change it. However, this time around, Koei has made each character's Musou Mode much more true to the story. Instead of having every single character start out at the Yellow Turban Rebellion, each character starts out in their respective time period. That means you won't see Jiang Wei, which joined the forces of Shu much after the YTR go through that stage. And in addition to that, each character ends their Musou Modes at different stages. However, there are some exceptions though with Pang Tong, Dian Wei, and a several others were altered because their actual parts in the story was so short. But in the end, the majority of the Musou Modes is quite true to the novel, and makes each Musou Mode quite very unique.

After the lackluster music of Dynasty Warriors 4, Dynasty Warriors 5 offers much more lively music while still keeping that Chinese feel to most of the tracks. The music for major battles in the novel gets a big thumbs up. The epic, and dramatic feel of those tracks are absolutely perfect for the major battles. What's disappointing is that often when a major in-game event succeeds, the music changes to something else that is more upbeat and cheerful to match your likelihood of winning. This I feel in a way destroys the epic feel of the battle as the dramatic music is replaced with something that isn't so dramatic. The voices this time around are slightly better than last time's, but several of the good VA from 4 has been replaced for the worse (with Sima Yi being the prime example). VA now speak with more enthusiasm than the last game, but still lacks the emotions that the Japanese VA's offer. In the end, the music is great and matches the feel of the battles, and the voices, although could've been better, is tolerable.

The game play of Dynasty Warriors 2 to 4 has always been the same idea: run, kill, repeat. And Dynasty Warriors 5 is no different. However, many minor tweaks have been made to improve that cycle of fun. Most noticeably is the increase in the draw distance. Your field of vision has been extended to at least 2 times the field of view in 4, and the fog is gone. Then comes the definite increase in the amount of troops that are on screen at one time. Your character now is almost always swarmed by enemy troops assuming you're not out in an empty field. Amazingly with the increased number of on screen troop, no one will disappear on you like in previous games. But what's really amazing is the minimal amount of slowdown. It is almost non-existent in the single player game. However, this doe not hold true in two-player mode, as the fog returns, slow-down occurs once in a while, and troops are more likely to disappear on you. But this is expected from the number of troops on both players' screen at the same time.
Fighting now is much more enjoyable as the auto-lock from previous games is now gone. This allows for your character to freely pivot in the middle of your combo chain. New attacks are introduced, and a number of old attacks are changed. Most of the character's charge attacks are more diverse than before, and most characters in one way or another is improved. Disappointingly, the 4th weapons are now much, much more easily obtained than previous games. With game play being Dynasty Warriors' major selling point, it still the same old thing, but it has been improved quite enough that it can still suck you back in.

Graphics has never been Dynasty Warriors' most important feature. While the graphics are improved from 4, it is barely noticeable. But the stages this time are much more beautiful and lively than the ones from previous games. The characters are beautifully rendered, and the elephants and tigers look quite realistic for a game with such limited polygons. One big plus over the other games is that after each Musou Mode, a FMV ending is shown. That's one for each character, and several others for story purposes. These FMV's, while short, are beautifully done. The graphics in 5 have been improved slightly, but who cares if it doesn't impede in your playing experience.

For a game that is been redone for 5 times now (DW2, 3, 4, and SW, not counting the XL's), it still manages to capture my interest once again. People that have been bored by its repetitive game play should rent this game before buying it. But for the DW fans, this game is a must get!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/05