Dynasty Warriors 8, KOEI’s 2013 release in the series. The same mindless hack n’ slash we all know and love is back with new features you’re bound to enjoy! As with previous titles in the series, Dynasty Warriors 8 follows the stories of the kingdoms of Wei, Wu, Shu, and Jin through the actions of historical figures of time as they fight to gain control over the Three Kingdoms of China.

The games previous titles had much influence to make this release something great, a few minor things I was disappointed in, but nothing to worry about. This game will offer plenty hours of play time with it’s new features. We all know Dynasty Warriors tends to be a copy n’ paste type game for each release, but this one has completely new scenarios and maps unfolding the story in new defined ways, which was an extremely nice change from the other games. The multi-ending, What if?’ scenarios is one of my favorite features, it’s interesting to see how one small change can have a massive effect on history. Also the vast amount of characters you can choose from, over 70+ characters at your disposal gives this game it’s edge, along side the plethora of weapons and skills specially built to accustom each unique character.

Other minor features I enjoy are, the updated graphics and the smoothness of gameplay, also the animation of you’re musou attacks were quite astounding with their new visuals, and this new battle mechanic called ‘Storm Rush”, which is a multi hitting attack that requires you to repeatedly press the attack buttons, it’s quite fun when it randomly triggers. It seems like since KOEI released Dynasty Warriors 7, the series has become well polished, it’s impressive. Even said, I still love the older Dynasty Warriors, along side Samurai Warriors, and Warriors Orochi, but alas those were mere stepping stones to the most recent titles.

The only thing I can really complain about is, the Ambition Mode, it’s where you develop your own base, and fight to win the Emperor’s favor. I don’t mean to sound like I hate it, because I don’t, but it feels a little pointless. I wish it was more in-depth, especially with the base building itself. If you’re in the midst of a war you want to keep your base fortified, right? Well, you’d expect your base to get attacked every now and then, but it doesn’t. I’m trying to say, I wish it had RTS features, I suppose it does in a way, it has your traditional Blacksmith, and Barracks, but it’s not the same, It’s a unique vision, maybe a little picky, but it’s my opinion.

When it comes down to it, Dynasty Warriors 8 is impressive, I find it to be the best in the series so far, following plenty of pros to keep you interested while you delve into the War of the Three Kingdoms, and very few cons not even worth mentioning. KOEI’s doing a great job with Dynasty Warriors, I’m excited to see what the future holds for this title.