Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires Review by: Eirinn - 8.2/10
My Return To The Musou FieldSo a series I've fchangingfor years now in a sense is Dynasty Warriors Empires. I started with Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires on the PS2 and since have watched as it released with one version after another. I've mocked it and derided it for it's many many versions and the like, but still I enjoyed the gameplay of the only one I'd played, mindless as it was.
But hey, I like mindless fun sometimes, so I enjoyed DW5: Empires for what it was: a hack 'n' slash trying to appear to be more strategy based than it was. Seriously empire mode could be beaten on Chaos difficulty with no strategy at all. Just mash buttons right. And so after obtaining a PS4 I began looking at Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, and when I finally got it I was pleasantly surprised by how it had matured.
Graphics: 9/10
Excellent.
Okay so it may not be the best looking game on PlayStation 4, but it's still pretty nice. And while this rating is probably better than most would give it, suffice it to say that I don't get bogged down in all of the pixel count details and other jibberish that many modern gamers do. If it looks good it looks good, and this game looks good.
The characters, while not looking as real as some games have managed this generation, look very detailed and polished. Their animations are clean (I'm assuming motion capture was employed), and their attacks are nicely done. Also bear in mind that this is a multigen title, so it's not going to look cutting edge but seriously, what's to complain about here?
The levels are also a huge improvement over previous entries, but that's to be expected since I came to this one from a PS2 entry. Still it's nice to see that the developers actually tried to do something with the power given them.
The environment not only looks detailed in pixel count and reaction to movement etc. it also has a great deal of attention invested in the layout of each level. No more are they mostly grassy fields with a few buildings here and there, now each level actually looks like a real environment that you might have found in China during the second century A.D....said the guy who never actually saw it. Oh well, pretend my logic makes sense. They look great anyway.
Next the effects: if you've ever played a Musou game then you know flashy visual effects are a big staple in the formula, and with good reason. How else could you explain one person taking out ten thousand enemies alone other than with super exaggerated special effects displaying all over the place while they performed insane and impossible maneuvers?
So those flashy effects have been taken up quite a few notches from the older titles, and they do look good. Still they could be a bit of a distraction from what's actually going on. Nothing major, and in the end I prefer they stay the way they are. But it bears mentioning anyway.
If I could point out one real flaw graphically speaking, it would be that enemies still have to phase in. And again this is partly due to the multigen nature of the release, I hear the current gen exclusives reduce the popping quite a bit. And with all of the detail in the effects, characters, and environments coupled with the fact that sometimes tens of thousands of troops are supposed to be in the area depicted on the screen, it makes sense that only a small percentage can be shown at any given time.
Highlights:
-Detailed characters look better than ever before in a DW game
-The levels have seen an overhaul in design, not just sharpness
-The effects are crazy, but a good kind of crazy
Sound: 7/10
Very Good.
The sound is a bit of a mixed bag, but the good does out weight the bad. Let me start off with the music: right off the bat if you've played many Dynasty Warriors games you'll not only know what to expect the music to sound like, but you'll also know what tunes to expect, because in true Warriors fashion they've compiled a massive sound track...consisting mostly of recycled tunes. And that's okay really since there are new songs and all of them are nice and mood fitting.
Sound effects are fitting but nothing to write home about. If I could use one word to describe them it would probably be traditional. Basically if you've played many Japanese games or watched much animé even, you know what to expect here as well. It's not revolutionary by any stretch, but it's nice nonetheless.
Voice acting... Ahh DW's Achilles heel. The voice acting in Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires wasn't bad but it also wasn't convincing. The voice acting in the series since then however has gone all Japanese, and only by subtitle can you understand them. Now I know that some see this as a good thing but frankly I will never understand why. Which is better: hearing someone deliver so-so quality voice acting that I can understand, or hearing someone deliver good voice acting that sounds like jibberish to me or anyone else who hasn't studied Japanese? Yeah. I'd personally rather look at the enemies I'm fighting than the text on the screen, but still at least we're getting the games in the West one way or another.
And the all Japanese isn't the real issue here, it's that -- while some of the acting is really good (albeit very typical with every reaction sounding canned like it was stolen from an animé studio), it has some seriously annoying flaws in certain areas.
Firstly the lines each character says are determined by their voice, so if a two characters in your troop have "Innocent 1" as their voice, they'll spew the exact same lines as one another for the entirety of the battle.
Second, some of the acting in one or two voices is really grating including one whose favorite line which you will hear many times over is extremely cheesy to read, and even more annoying to hear given how it's delivered. "Time to give the enemy a good thrashing!" Sound like legit Ancient China battlefield talk man. Well done. Could you NOT sound like you're insane while you're at it? No? Okay.
The redeeming factor with voices and also one of my favorite features of the audio is that the speaker on the controller is used alongside the volume on the television for the voices. I do wish they would have also added the sounds of the swords into the controller speaker, and the crazy guy with lame lines coming through the controller makes me slip a finger off of the buttons and over the speaker until he shuts up, but in the end the good of it outweighs the bad. It adds immersion and makes it feel as though your enemies are actually in your face instead of on a screen.
Highlights:
-There's only one voice that sounds like that man with the awful acting
-The music is good, if recycled
Depth: 8/10
Exceptional.
This is where I was so surprised. The game has added several layers of depth over the years. Some newer features include the ability to wed and have children which will look somewhat like you and somewhat like your spouse (sadly this ends up with a real monstrosity at times though. My last child was so ugly. How ugly was he? He was so ugly...nevermind), the ability to make a sworn sibling vow with another officer and essentially adopt each other thus unlocking special benefits on the battlefield and in the diplomatic portions of the game, and the ability to play as a free officer, join another kingdom, raise your own kingdom, or rebel from under a leader and take their land and troops.
All of these new features added a ton of depth to the game, and the character creation was also drastically improved. You can customize the officers you make, the soldiers that follow you, the horse you ride, and even your banner that your men carry into battle. One of my favorite features is the ability to import pictures from a flash drive to place on your banner. This was awesome and really let me customize my experience when I played as a ruler.
Speaking of playing as a ruler, it's nice that the various rankings in this game now have meaning. Each one has specific abilities, and they all come in handy. No more are you messing around pointlessly with so called strategies. Now they play an important role and indeed you can spend more time running your kingdom than fighting, depending on your play style. If you play as a ruler you are in charge of the way your officers conduct their business among the kingdom, you'd do well to keep your citizens happy, you must keep good relations with your officers lest they leave or rebel, and you must take care of building facilities, raising money, garnering materials, and negotiating relations and deals with other rulers.
Still at it's heart Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires is a musou game with that familiar "1 vs. 1,000" OP hack 'n' slash gameplay, but you can be easily defeated now if you don't pay attention to what you're doing and plan ahead, especially with all of the new (and now useful) strategems that can turn the tide of battle, and the strength/weakness balance of the three affinities.
Highlights:
-The empire portion of the game has really been beefed up and now requires real strategy
-Relationship system makes for interesting changes in gameplay
-Strategems and affinities can be game changing
Story: NA
While the game technically has a story, it's simply the same as in all of the games: the historic account of ancient China. There's literally nothing here but what's accepted as fact and common lore. And that's almost all contained out of game.
Addictiveness: 9/10
Excellent.
Okay so this game is repetitive in ways, I'll give you that. But it'll keep you coming back because what it does offer is very solid. It all comes down to whether or not you're a musou game fan or not. If you don't like the combat then don't let the strategy pull you into a buy, because you will be disappointed. However if you like musou games then this is a solid game for you.
To elaborate, "musou" games would be games like Samurai Warriors, Dynasty Warriors, Warriors Orochi, Dragon Quest Heroes, and Hyrule Warriors. There are others, but you get the idea.
The game has plenty to offer a fan, but it doesn't try to win those who aren't a part of it's target audience and I for one can appreciate that. Let a game be what it is, and that's what Koei Tecmo and Omega Force have done with this series.
Highlights:
-Really short winded section
-It does what it does well
Difficulty: 3/10
Very Easy.
Now realize that I'm rating this based on it's easiest difficulty, but even at some higher ones it's not a real challenge as long as you know what you're doing and have the right equipment, items, and stratagems on the right officer. Figure that out and you'll have an easy time in the main game. However those chaos scenarios are easily the most difficult things I've ever played in a game. No exaggeration there either.
And you can make this game harder if you choose to depending on how you play Empire mode, but in the end what's presented directly to you is an easy but enjoyable experience. It's a musou game after all.
Highlights:
-Easy enough for everyone
Overall: 8.2/10
Exceptional.
A fairly fitting rating, though for fun alone I'd be more inclined to pick 7.5 or so. It's a solid game for fans of the gameplay style and offers plenty to do. It's certainly not stagnated over the years and time has only served to make it a more refined and enjoyable experience.
If you're a musou game fan then you need to try this game, and if you've never played one, this is as good a place to break into the series as any.
As for purchasing I'd suggest no more than $35 for anyone who owns DW7: Empires, but as much as $45 for fans who have sat out a few entries.
For newcomers, wait for a $20-$30 price tag just to play it safe, as it is what it is and unapologetically so.
One last thing I'll say for this game is it utilizes the remote play function (with the PS Vita) extremely well. In fact it's better at this than any other game I've played.
So there you have it: Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires. A very solid entry among the musou game lineup.
Graphics
9 Sound
7 Addictive
9 Depth
8 Difficulty
3
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