I have the Dynasty Warriors itch and want some advice on which new one to pick up. The last one I purchased was Dynasty Warriors 4, so it's been the better part of a decade since the last. I've heard that 6 is a sin unto man and beast, but I think I want more of a change than just 5 offers. Alternatively, how are the Empires offshoots? Does the change in style make up for the lack of the cornball story or dance parties? I do consider those a plus.
Reviewers seemed to like Samurai Warriors, but were much less favorable to Samurai Warriors 2. Just the usual "robble robble, sequel's too similar" thing or what? Alternatively, how's Warriors Orochi in comparison to the rest? DWGundam's demo was really really awful, but if they polished things up in the sequel, then maybe I guess, although I prefer Zhou Yu and Masamune to the emo whiny Gundam bitches.
As a further final option, there's always Devil Kings, which I'm interested in mostly because of [VIDURL="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na3t6YqQoVg"]the recent adaptation[/VIDURL], but totally throwing out everything and turning it into a bunch of luchadores doesn't really excite me. Basara 2's supposedly the awesome one anyway and that never made it to the US, luchadorized or otherwise.
If any one of you suggests God Hand, I swear to Zeus that I will put out a hit on your dog.
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There are some changes though. WO (going off the first one only) has you controlling a 3 man team instead of a single character. There's the 3 Dynasties, the SW and then the Misc storyarcs (unaligned characters from both series, ties into one of the other 4 storylines).
Where as DW and SW kinda had historical background, WO is just straight up ass kicking with a story garnish.
As for DW:Gundam 2.... they didn't really improve it much. (Not at all)
On the other hand the improvements are quite nice (the Renbu system gets a lot of shit, but it's something you get used to and then enjoy) and the maps are generally really well done as well. The swimming, while negligible, makes sense and helps getting to Point B from Point A simple and easy regardless. And the Siege system is unrealistic, but silly awesome.
Warriors Orochi is similarly good, but for different reasons. The team system is a nice change, because with all the characters (I believe there's 90+ in WO2) sometimes, you really just want to pick between a group instead of just getting your favorite and going out there. Also, since it's a complete fantasy take on the whole thing, the story is, well, actually not China/Japan all over again. The characters play more or less similar to their Dynasty/Samurai counterparts in controls with slight alterations.
I don't remember much about WO1, since it's been a while, but I remember in WO2 that you essentially got to make your own uberweapon by the end thanks to synthesizing. Basically, you get weapons that have powers, and you can combine them for the best desired effect. That weapon has an Ice property, but it's a lower tier? Just grab the ice off of it and sacrifice it for a +1 to attack (Max +20). The max is Eight slots as well, so there's quite a bit of customization there.
Going with just Samurai Warriors, the first one is a bit clunky, and has the fewest amount of characters as far as any of the Warriors games go (aside from maybe the first, which was a fighting game, or the second, a PS2 launch title.) but they all definitely had their own feel. The only problem I had with the game is that, all around, it felt limited. Samurai Warriors 2 was splendid. Large roster of characters, all of them interesting (If maybe not all useful) nice stories (For the kind of game it is) and a very nice feel of goodness. Xtreme Legends for 2 only built on that for the better.
Though I don't have a lot to say or point out about SW2, it's probably my favorite Warriors game to date. I poured so much time into it. I more or less say if you like any of the Warriors franchise to get it, no questions.
And as far as Dynasty Warriors: Gundam and Devil Kings go (just going to try to finish this off since I went quite long) DW:G is mindless fun with robots, and if you don't pay attention to the characters, you don't care about them because you are in a giant robot. The story levels meet with some problems, since a lot of the same stages and layouts are reused, and actually quite a few of the robots (even though the ranks are pretty thin) fight exactly the same way, and you'll often have to fight them over and over and over again. (Haman, The Purus, all the same, and you fight them so much) Didn't play DW:G2 yet.
Devil Kings was pretty...uh...well, it was there. I didn't spend a lot of time with it, because it just didn't have the same feel to it, and when it was localized it went through a lot of work; some of the settings were changed for a darker feel, all the characters had their names changed, etc. You can probably find it for cheap since it didn't do well, but I wouldn't hold your breath for Devil Kings 2.
Edit! Also of note, since it seems like you don't have DW5, Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends offers a "Destiny Mode" which starts you off as a random peasant fighter (you only have a three string attack, like the grunts you kill by the millions) that you customize, under the teaching of a character you select. As you progress, you get to buy abilities (which range from getting an actual attack tree to being able to set supply bases on fire, as well as a lot of stuff in between) and change your appearance and build your own character. It's basically a Create-A-Warrior system on crack. The original Samurai Warriors attempted something similar, but didn't quite pull it off well, for me at least. It interesting, at least, and really gets you to feel for the character you created since you were there when they were Level Suck..
tl;dr: DW6 isn't bad, just very different. WO and WO2 are wonderful. SW2 is awesome and definitely recommended. DW:G and DK are pretty okay. Also DW5:XL is pretty wonderful with Destiny Mode.
Quite entertaining.
That said I enjoyed the sequel a lot more, and it's definitely the superior game. The 2nd game doesn't have nearly as many scripted events as other DW games, but the element of randomness in missions is pretty neat. Ace pilots will randomly spawn and sometimes special events involving said random pilots can happen. That sort of stuff really adds to the replayability since even when you do the same mission there will be some differences each time. Also, it has much more pilots and mobile suits than the original to choose from. Although there are a fair amount of gimped choices, overall there's a solid selection to choose from.
I also enjoy DW6 for reasons that have been posted, but I've enjoyed DW Gundam 2 a lot more. I suppose it's the pacing that does it for me, as I can beat many missions in the time it takes to beat one stage in DW6 what with giant robots typically being faster than horses.
SW2: Excellent. I never got the XL add-on though. It was only over XBL in the states, and I never have that many points handy.
WO2: Also excellent, and has a bunch of the characters that were introduced in SW2XL.
DW6E: Has the terrible renbu system, but it makes up for it. Nice variety in created characters, ability to play as a vagrant/officer, instead of only playing as the ruler. You can join up with a kingdom, back stab them in the middle of a fight, make friends with other unaligned officers, and even decide to invade a territory and move from officer to ruler. And yes, you can always step down while you're a ruler and become a vagrant/officer. Oh, and it retails new at $40, and Fry's had it for $35 (at least for yesterday). Oh, and you can unlock move outfit pieces for created characters while playing, and adjust the costume of your character during a campaign as well. You know, for all those times you wanted to match your color to the side you're serving, or change when you swap between ruler/officer/vagrant (if that's your thing).
Thankee much.
And yeah, DW6E is damn difficult. I started a new game as a ruler on normal and got my ass handed to me. My tip: Just start as an officer. You've got side missions to level up on, and you only have to worry about spending cash on yourself. Once you're handling battles ok, then you can become a ruler. I might try a pure ruler run at some point though, just for the difficulty.
I haven't gotten enough of a feel for the new one yet, but traditionally, the Empires variant is light strategy along with more numerous but shorter battles to conquer areas, and not nearly the same level of absurdity required to get higher level weapons and such. I almost enjoy them more than the base games.
I really came in here expecting a sick indy Flash game. :P
I liked Dynasty Warriors 2, but I haven't liked any since, and I don't know if I just liked it because it was one of the only decent games at the PS2 launch (with SSX).
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I'm also pissed that I have to play that inane Sugoroku game again to unlock some character, because when I was 6 squares away from victory, I rolled a four and landed on a shrine, missed a turn, and then then on the second go 'round, some fucker doubled his cash from a shrine and won. Who even thought this godawful Mario Party knockoff was a good idea anyway?
I've rented Dynasty Warriors 6. My last DW title was...2.
I fucking suck at this.
There's clearly something I'm missing. I lack a manual, and aside from it being hard as balls to tell who the hell is my nameless ally and who the hell is my mindless enemy since they don't even keep color of outfit consistent, if I get locked by one of the named fellows by one of his combos, I'm basically fucked.
So, where would I go to learn the basics of effectively killing a metric fuckton of Chinese people? Is there someone in particular I should start with? And is the latest PSP title in the series, Strikeforce, any good?
DW6 is really one of the harder titles, right up there with DW3 with it's fuck-off archers, so don't feel too bad.
It's been a while since I've played, but if you don't have the lifebars over everyone's (enemy-wise) heads (which are good indicators of who to kill), hit the Select button in battle. I seem to remember it being disabled at first, for some reason.
As far as getting better in DW6, it's just a matter of managing to clear levels (Which may be part of the problem at first) for experience, levels and weapons. Since there's no items or anything outside of horses, everybody's pretty much a clean slate to start with.
For tips, I'd say (Using the PS3 controller, swap out keys for your convenience):
-No shame in starting on Easy.
-If you can, try to grapple attack (Hold L1 and press Square or Triangle) Generals when they're near-death. Generic Generals drop the second tier of experience when you do, and Unique Generals drop the top tier of experience. It's often hard to pull of, though, and Unique Generals tend to lay on the pain, so use at your own risk.
-Make getting Third and Infinite Renbu top priority for your characters. As you get more Renbu (By attacking, and continuing to attack enemies and avoiding getting hit) your Renbu goes up in level. The bar is right next to the character portrait. Depending on what type of weapon you're holding, your attacks get better range (Standard), stronger (Power), or Faster (Speed) from one Renbu level to another.
-Similarly, if you get a Horse that learns Renbu Gait, use that horse. While riding it, your Renbu (that's getting old to type) doesn't decrease.
-Avoid Duels when you're just starting. A Duel is when you and an officer get close, and all of a sudden, the nameless troops for both your sides form a circle around you and the officer(s) present. Killing an officer in a duel gets you more experience (like the grapple thing, doesn't stack, though) but they're more durable and a lot stronger. To get out of a duel, simply run out of the ring of troops and wait for it to disband.
-R1 is Evade. It's your friend.
Outside of that, Circle is your magic attack and if you're getting raped, that's a good time to use it. L2 is your support attack which vary in usefulness from character to character, but they're highly unusable until you get a skill that hands you Support Scrolls as they're not particularly an easy drop. But pretty much, you're going to mash Square.
For characters to start with? Zhao Yun is the posterboy of this one, and as such he's pretty versatile. Spear gives a lot of range, and his attackset is pretty decent. I started with Zhou Yu and after the gameplay clicked, it was pretty breezy. Anyone outside of Dian Wei, Sima Yi, Xiahou Dun or Sun Shang Xiang (Don't remember if she's initially playable) would be good to start with, as DW is slow with a short range, Sima Yi works short range, Dun's range is...strange, considering he's fighting with a 10 foot bat, and Sun Shang Xiang (similarly Yue Ying) are played in a completely different way than anybody else. (Stand back. Fire arrows until everybody is dead. Move forward. Repeat.)
S'far as other titles go, I played the Demo for Strikeforce and didn't really care for it, as it was needlessly difficult to me, but I know a couple people who had no problem with it. Really, any of the other three titles with "Warriors" in them (Samurai, Dynasty, Orochi) are all good (Refer to my earlier post for specifics), and play differently than DW6, some more forgiving, and some less.
Hope that helps!
It wasn't a Dynasty Warriors game, but it was made by Koei. You also don't run around beating up thousands of enemies by yourself. Instead, you lead and control troops into battle and level up and equip them. It's called Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War. I quite enjoyed it.
I need to go back and play that some more. It was fun creating a mercenary and taking contracts with the French or the English, leading my troops into glorious battle. I'm currently running through Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires, though. I picked that up the other day and am in love. You can create your own officer, edit his/her looks and voice and clothes, and choose from a large array of weapons for them. There are so many weapons it's ridiculous. You can even choose from a barbed whip, kind of like Ivy's weapon from Soul Calibur. I'm currently playing as an officer, rising up the ranks and helping my mistress conquer all of China. Maybe when we have more than half conquered, I'll turn on her, become a ruler, and fight back against her.
Really? I found DW6 too easy. DW3 is by far the hardest DW game. But DW4, DW5, and DW6 all seem much easier than DW3.
No prob. Personally, I like to recommend Speed weapons for most of the characters. Like I mentioned, it makes their attacks go faster as the Renbu 'levels up', and when the Renbu does so, you get more attacks. Case in point, throw a Speed Weapon on Liu Bei with Infinite Renbu, and when his Renbu hits Infinite, he becomes a swirling torrent of murder.
The only downfall is that Speed weapons always have a lower power rating than their Standard and Strength counterparts. But for most of the time, it's not that dire. Out of the three benefits, Speed is generally the most obvious one. Improved Range doesn't always improve that much for Standard weapons, and Strength weapons are, by design, slower anyways. But you can always tell if your character is swinging faster.
When you start getting weapons with attributes, the ones with Renbu Spirit, Flash, and Leech will be your better ones. A lot of the attributes aren't bad, but those are arguably the best. (Spirit - Your Renbu chains stay active longer, Flash - May instantly defeat weaker enemies/deal heavy damage to stronger foes, Leech - heavy damage on foes gives you life) Everything else is kind of an added bonus, aside from Berserk (raises attack but lowers defense), which is really the only hindrance one. So that's to say if you get a weapon with Renbu Spirit, Flash, and Arrow Sight, that's a good weapon, even though Arrow Sight is pretty useless. And the elements, Ice, Fire, and Lightning matter as well. I think it's only for when your musou bar is full that they're used, but I'm not positive. Fire is probably the most 'meh' as all it does is slightly add damage. Lightning stuns enemies, and Ice freezes enemies. But again, if you get a weapon with Renbu Spirit, Flash and Fire, it's not a bad weapon.
A lot of that, as well, is a your mileage may vary thing, but Stun and Freezing are obviously pretty useful from a "I don't want to get hit by dudes" stance.
Like I mentioned, Renbu is the thing that determines how many times your string of attacks lasts, which is why I recommend unlocking to third and infinite before all else. So that's about all I can say for combo strings. The More Renbu, the more times pressing square will smack people without a 'stopping' animation. (Some of the infinites are more seemless than others, Zhang Liao's is pretty much the best in that regard, I think)
The Triangle attacks (I barely ever use the triangle chains) are middlingly useful. If you hold triangle, you can pull off area clear moves which are usually nice. But they have a delay which makes them something I generally don't bother with.
And I thought I'd mention something about Grappling attacks. I said they're nice for finishing off generals, but I also remembered that using them fills up your renbu gauge faster. So that's something to try to capitalize on as well.
Sorry for being kinda long-winded with these. I just play these kinds of games a lot.
You beaten Lu Bu's mosou mode on chaos?
Didn't think so.
For me, it's been the one I've died in the most since 3. So that's why I'd say it's one of the harder ones. Some small things aside (Lu Bu in 4), it just feels like it was harder to die in 4 and 5. But it's probably a kind of a person-by-person basis thing.
But I will definitely agree on 3 being the hardest so far.
Edit: Oh man. I'm going to have to go play Lu Bu's last stage again now. Oh man.
I've actually heard a lot of criticism regarding Zhao Yun's attack sets... As in, you'll be raped no matter what if you're playing with Yun above medium difficulty.
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend DW6... Just get DW6E instead. Having both of these games, I've played DW6E a lot more than DW6. Unless you're interested in the story, but having played quite a few of these, the story has been pretty much engraved to my soul.
If you're really interested in the Sengoku period... Go with the SW series. You won't get the new fighting system or the new graphics though.
PSN: Kylogue
In DW4, I once got Lu Bu in a corner and got a 100 hit combo on him and it only took out half his health bar. He was WAY overpowered in DW4. I guess DW6 was harder then 4 or 5, but 3 is still the hardest. And 3 is also the most fun and enjoyable DW game too.
So true, fucking archers made the game awesome! Although to be honest I also harassed enemy officers with the bow.
PSN: Kylogue
I had great fun with DW5:E, and SW2 and SW2:E, but when I started DW6:E, I had the same problem as a previous poster, it seemed to be a Dynasty Warriors game which was difficult on Easy.
And then I realized why it was : in DW5:E and SW2:E I could easily start a game (on Easy) and conquer a territory basically every turn. But in DW6:E, you need to have upgraded your weapon and character A LOT before you become that ultimate killing machine.
So if you go for DW6:E, do not try to invade, just start leveling up your character and earning gems to upgrade your weapon so that you have a larger range (so that you hit more people with one hit). In the beginning it will be quite hard, and when you try to attack a main camp, you might get easily slaughtered, because each opposing character has 3 Lieutenants who hit hard. And then at one moment, after quite a few battles, you will suddenly realize that your weak character slices through enemies like butter. It's really weird.
Another thing that annoys me a little bit in DW6:E, is that the camera is zoomed too close to the character. It's nice to do earth shattering attacks, but when you hit an enemy out of your visible range, and you have to start looking around, well, I don't like that do much.
So for pure slaughterness, I'd rather recommend DW5:E and SW2:E (I have never played an Orochi game).
HOWEVER, for sheer addictiveness, choose Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2. I don't know anything about Gundam, but man, the fact that every officer you beat up drops a piece of its robot, and that you try to collect and piece together as many different robots is fiendishly addictive. Even though I hate the "groups of enemies which always appear together" with intense passion (Black Tri-Stars, the Rick Dias squad, and all those others... Couldn't we have a true random opponent generator?).
Ninety-Nine Nights is an odd beast; while the battles are totally epic (yes, you can kill 100+ people in one sweep) it has two things that are absolutely horrible :
a) Extremely bad "acting" (Everyone will remeber the Innfy-Assfarr scene... Yes, you can play a character call Assfarr :? )
b) Unskippable cut-scenes that interrupt the action. Oh yes, and they drain you Mosou bar if you're not careful. So imagine running down through a valley, and a thousand soldiers pour down. You launch your super-duper power-flashy attack, ready to Smite them all, and when you hit your first enemy.... CUTSCENE! After the cutscene has ended : your Mosou energy is gone because you started your attack, but hey, the attack doesn't continue after the cutscene, it is simply cancelled..... Cue : AAAAARGH!
But it is quite nice if you can pick it up for cheap just to play with the fast goblin and the hidden character.
On the other hand, I'd really like to be doing something more than mashing X with the occasional Y press.
It doesn't have cutting edge graphics, but is actually far more fun than the DW games 8-)
It's shooting only but YOU'LL NEED IT!
EDF! EDF! EDF! :winky:
Gundam, if you don't mind it being robots. On the epic scale that Koei does this, I don't know any games on a modern setting with shooting and slashing... Well, maybe Too Human?
Regarding DW6:E difficulty... I haven't played below medium, and at that difficulty the game isn't that hard...
SW2:E was extremely boring in the KO count side... To take a base all you had to do was kill 5 base captains... That's it! I managed to win battles with only 100 and something KOs. In DW6:E (Except for missions) I usually end up with at least 600 KOs.
That said, SW2:E is a much better empires game than DW6:E... Which, ironically, is a much better Warriors game than DW6.
If killing thousands is the goal of the game... Go with DW6, in which you will find yourself frequently going over the 1000 KO count.
PSN: Kylogue
I really liked the synth system in WO1 and could definitely see myself buying another
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I agree with the comments about DW6:E being... strange. Or more accurately, forced. I honestly expected something more along Romance of the Three Kingdoms-lite from the strategy part. Investing in shops to get better items, switching troops to better match the enemy, the whole shebang. DW Strikeforce does the former, and it's on a PSP, so don't tell me it'd tax the PS3 too much, if the PSP can do it nearly effortlessly, so can the PS3.
That said, DW: Gundam 2 is totally awesome for me. As both a DW fan and a Gundam fan, it's a nerd dream come true. My only gripe is that 'lesser' icon characters like Ramba Ral and Katejina Loos don't have a Mission Mode worthy of that name. Oh, and no Anavel Gato or Neue Ziel. That was cause of great butthurt for yours truly.
Also, if anyone is looking for DW-style slash-massacre-kill-murder games that aren't DW, do remember there are Konami's Demon Chaos and Capcom's Devil Kings/Sengoku Basara available on PS2. Demon Chaos is especially insane - you can very easily kill around 1000 enemies - yes, that's one thousand - in one swipe, and there's a max of 65,000 enemies on screen at once. SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND. Needless to say, things can get messy if you get surrounded, even if your character is a fricking monster compared to the hapless mook monsters it slices up.
--Random grunt about to be destroyed in DW5