Well the biggest game of the month is here, the latest installment of the Dynasty Warriors franchise.
Let me give you some background on the title before we jump into impressions.
Koei create Dynasty Warriors 5, a story based hack and slash game set in ancient China. A few months later they use the EXACT SAME engine and art assets to put out Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires which is basically the same game but instead of having a story, you have a Risk style map to take over.
Not long after they release Samurai Warriors 2. This uses the same engine again and some of the same art but has all new characters and story set in Japan. A few months later they release the EXACT SAME game but with the Empires mode. Sound familiar?
So now we have Warriors Orochi. In this, the serpent king Orochi is using his magical powers to teleport the Samurai Warriors characters into the Dynasty Warriors world. In this you follow the stories of different warriors from both franchises as they partner up to take down the evil Orochi with the exact same character models in the exact same stages used in the previous four games.
So that means that using the same engine and art assets, Koei have been able to put out FIVE games that are all essentially the same. And if we take into account that there are several PSP games that use a modified engine and adapted art the asset reuse really starts spiralling out of control.
Anyway, these games are kind of my guilty pleasure. I cannot help but love them despite them not being great games. They are distinctly average titles with bad art (on the 360), terrible writing and voice overs and a weak combat system but there is just something about them that I cannot get enough of. I think its the cheesy characters combined with kill counts of 500+ a mission.
After the gameplay in the other titles essentially stayed the same, Omega Force have made a few changes which help people like me not feel so ripped off but are barely noticable to people that hardly play them.
The basics remain intact; you level up your character through a series of battles that tell that character's story. In each battle you complete objectives by taking over enemy bases and battling enemy officers.
The combat uses one standard attack combo that grows in length as you level up but can be mixed up with the charge attack which changes the combo depending on when you mix it in. You also have the Musuo attack which is kind of like a super attack. When the Musuo bar is filled you hit B and unleash a special attack which takes down most normal enemies around you.
The game is hard even on normal. This comes from the poor AI of the enemy officers that do not have any kind of awareness of what they are each doing when you are fighting several of them. In most combat games, multiple enemies will not all attack at the same time. Instead one will attack and then after a pause another one will. This allows the player to get their attack in and start taking the enemies down. Not so in the Warriors games.
When you are crowded by several officers you can get stuck in combos and juggles that can go on for ages and really drain your health. Not only does this make the game hard, it also makes you want to snap your controller and embed both pieces in your TV. So I only play on easy as I cannot be arsed to deal with the shoddy AI.
As I mentioned earlier, Omega have made several improvements to it. Enemy officers now block a lot less which makes them less frustrating and easier to take down. There is now a Weapon Fusion that allows you to combine weapons that you acquire rather than having to swap between better weapons and allows for more customisation than in previous games.
Probably the biggest change is allowing the player to pick three characters to go into battle with and allowing them to be swapped out using the triggers. This helps in harder difficulty modes as characters regenerate health when not tagged in and makes Chaos mode a little bit more achievable.
The other thing to mention is that for achievement whores, these games are ripe for farming and you should be able to get around 800 points from each game without too much hassle.
The Warriors games are certainly an acquired taste and many of the snobs on here will turn their noses up at them but I really enjoy them as they are fun games but will never set the world on fire.
It should also be pointed out that they are straight up PS2 ports and feature no graphical improvements but are instead released at the 'budget' price point of about ?30 though I got mine from Shopto for ?15.
Let me give you some background on the title before we jump into impressions.
Koei create Dynasty Warriors 5, a story based hack and slash game set in ancient China. A few months later they use the EXACT SAME engine and art assets to put out Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires which is basically the same game but instead of having a story, you have a Risk style map to take over.
Not long after they release Samurai Warriors 2. This uses the same engine again and some of the same art but has all new characters and story set in Japan. A few months later they release the EXACT SAME game but with the Empires mode. Sound familiar?
So now we have Warriors Orochi. In this, the serpent king Orochi is using his magical powers to teleport the Samurai Warriors characters into the Dynasty Warriors world. In this you follow the stories of different warriors from both franchises as they partner up to take down the evil Orochi with the exact same character models in the exact same stages used in the previous four games.
So that means that using the same engine and art assets, Koei have been able to put out FIVE games that are all essentially the same. And if we take into account that there are several PSP games that use a modified engine and adapted art the asset reuse really starts spiralling out of control.
Anyway, these games are kind of my guilty pleasure. I cannot help but love them despite them not being great games. They are distinctly average titles with bad art (on the 360), terrible writing and voice overs and a weak combat system but there is just something about them that I cannot get enough of. I think its the cheesy characters combined with kill counts of 500+ a mission.
After the gameplay in the other titles essentially stayed the same, Omega Force have made a few changes which help people like me not feel so ripped off but are barely noticable to people that hardly play them.
The basics remain intact; you level up your character through a series of battles that tell that character's story. In each battle you complete objectives by taking over enemy bases and battling enemy officers.
The combat uses one standard attack combo that grows in length as you level up but can be mixed up with the charge attack which changes the combo depending on when you mix it in. You also have the Musuo attack which is kind of like a super attack. When the Musuo bar is filled you hit B and unleash a special attack which takes down most normal enemies around you.
The game is hard even on normal. This comes from the poor AI of the enemy officers that do not have any kind of awareness of what they are each doing when you are fighting several of them. In most combat games, multiple enemies will not all attack at the same time. Instead one will attack and then after a pause another one will. This allows the player to get their attack in and start taking the enemies down. Not so in the Warriors games.
When you are crowded by several officers you can get stuck in combos and juggles that can go on for ages and really drain your health. Not only does this make the game hard, it also makes you want to snap your controller and embed both pieces in your TV. So I only play on easy as I cannot be arsed to deal with the shoddy AI.
As I mentioned earlier, Omega have made several improvements to it. Enemy officers now block a lot less which makes them less frustrating and easier to take down. There is now a Weapon Fusion that allows you to combine weapons that you acquire rather than having to swap between better weapons and allows for more customisation than in previous games.
Probably the biggest change is allowing the player to pick three characters to go into battle with and allowing them to be swapped out using the triggers. This helps in harder difficulty modes as characters regenerate health when not tagged in and makes Chaos mode a little bit more achievable.
The other thing to mention is that for achievement whores, these games are ripe for farming and you should be able to get around 800 points from each game without too much hassle.
The Warriors games are certainly an acquired taste and many of the snobs on here will turn their noses up at them but I really enjoy them as they are fun games but will never set the world on fire.
It should also be pointed out that they are straight up PS2 ports and feature no graphical improvements but are instead released at the 'budget' price point of about ?30 though I got mine from Shopto for ?15.
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