Viewing Single Post From: Dynasty Warriors 6 Review

Viewing Single Post From: Dynasty Warriors 6 Review
LittleDragonZ	Aug 25 2008, 12:06 PM
Behold the spear of Baby Dragon! Posts: 6,846 Group: Admins Member #3,636 Joined: October 5, 2006 Gender Male	Introduction: The debut of the everlasting Dynasty Warriors series has hit the PS3. Not only that but the Xbox 360 and now soon the PC. But here I'm going to talk about the PS3 version which I have. Core: As simple as said, the game has debuted but has been described to have been rushed for release. From what it does have, and has improved on, it was done nicely. Such as allowing more customization with your mounts and being able to choose the element and other features that have are new to picking your horses. And the cutscenes have been drastically improved and lengthened mainly because of the PS3's engine I'm assuming. As well as how deep their stories dwelve, though some tend to be fictional; a bit more than wanted in my opinion. The story is the same basic part that a warriors fan would come to expect, though tends to tell the stories better because of the cutscenes playing a bigger role. However, there are many fictional aspects to take into recognition that really didn't happen in history. I have no idea why Koei chose to do this since it was improved in DW5 and was expected to improve in this title and keep to the actual past; not having to make stuff up. Each character has 5 stages, but remember that not all have story modes. Having said that, some, even if totally fictional such as Lu Bu's will give you the best challenge available. Modes: A Musou Mode which is the story in these games is open to 17 people out of 41 characters. Yes, not a lot is it. But it should keep you busy for a few weeks to complete the game on normal mode or higher. Free Mode has only 19 stages, some stages only having one side to play as. This will most likely be the mode you concentrate on after you have completed all 17. It will get very boring, especially if your the type to do everything and play with everyone. I only play this mode now really just to have a go at a level that has awe-inspiring music such as He Fei Castle, Xia Pi and Xu Chang. Other than that its story-time so I can have the cutscenes interest me a bit more. However, having said all this Free Mode has been going downhill for a long time, so its not as unexpected or as terrible as it sounds. The other parts worth noting are the Challenge Modes. This mode builds really on the potential as it has had in the past. This could be because of the lack of stories and the game starting to weigh you down and you losing interest in Free Mode. Plus there is a database and encyclopedia where you can listen to some very lovely calm and persistant music, and read and even listen to voice clips and watch movies from the game. Something refreshing to use every once in a while it seems. Gameplay: Amazing kung-fu actions were performed as a new direction to follow, and I must say all these attacks were new apart from a few being thrown in to keep the nostalgic feel open to those who've followed for a time. This new Renbu system allows unlimited chaining and attacks with just a split-second break inbetween one full combo or a set of movements to another. It's something exciting that doesn't really last because of the lack of attacks; only one single charge that can be extended has appeared in this installment and it's a major letdown effecting diversity in combat. Soldiers stay on the floor a while before vanishing. Not something I personally am ecstatic about, but I guess its some promising feature debuting. Being thankful that these dead bodies do not cause bugs or get in your way either. I'm sure it slows the game down somewhat however. Horses are more enjoyable. There are quite a few types open to you such as the dreaded Red Hare and Liu Bei's Hex Mark. However, there's a chore or two to actually get them special steeds. It takes a lot of time and patience and something that would be best removed and put back to how we got them before by completing stage tasks. But having said that, you can have more than one type of the same saddle and even put your favorite element onto it/them and other abilities that really do add some range of diversity and make them more fun and customizable to use. Customizable being the big word here. Finally. Special weapons were removed, there is now only 3 types - Strength, Standard and Skill. Each having their strengths and weakneses to the other. And just like the saddles you can put some very handy abilities on them. A positive way forward and close enough to Warriors Orochi. The AI was not too bad, some stages were tough without the correct abilities on your weapon. Naming Shi Ting as one of those difficult stages. Having said something generally positive, the fog of war has returned enabling units that were all in one pile to vanish and suddenly appear out of thin air and stab and possibly kill you. This was very common when running to a base that had high morale and was not the closest to your base chain. Skill Tree: Another new feature to spend some fun time on. It's fairly basic and incredibly easy to understand, that helping of course, this made it possible to choose your way across the board and reach the end if it were. Similar to Final Fantasy 10's sphere grid in fact. This is an improvement and it does seperate similar characters a bit more because beforehand each stat just builded-up after each stage until it was maxed. However this game does allow you to max yourself of course, level 50 being the highest level and the level where all skills will be available to purchase. Swimming and Climbing: Has been put into the series. At long last it took its time but doesn't really do anything worthy of putting them in either. Swimming generally looks ugly in the sea and the new patrol boats that were in just to cause you problems act daft and don't do anything to bother you or make problems. They are just there just for the sake of it it seems. And the other thing, climbing, well basically thanks to the new engine there are mountains and whatnot on this beautifully crafted design selection of stages. A definite plus for the next gen and a promising way forward...except the actual climbing a ladder to kill a few wasting your time. On the level Chi Bi however, it helps to find alternate ways to get across the map. But I've said its nothing spectacular or to dance for. Sound: A few wonderful tracks make the game thrilling, very exciting at times depending on the mood of the track and battlefield. I have about five I like, but that's really only a few that stood out to me out of the OST. I still believe DW3's to be the best soundtrack yet. Replay Value: 17 stories done and now you have 24 left. These are clones, people who share more or less identical attacks but with a few tweaks here and there. Nothing to be happy for because playing 19 stages of which you don't have all sides on and having to reach level 50 to maximize everybody is very dull. Saying so there's Challenge Mode to play for a few hours, and your able to get those horses you need to work hard for, I guess it has replay value though that isn't rewarding. I doubt you will have fun and will have completed fully this game on your first go, especially if another will attract your attention for instance. The average gamer anyway. Closing notes: We expected more, that's really the problem here. We didn't expect less but more. A next gen should have given us more and had more time spent on it. And this is not us being greedy. Ok guys, thats it. I will edit this post now and sort it a bit better. Just thought to post it, so please try not to quote it thanks.


Dynasty Warriors 6 Review · Dynasty Warriors Series Reviews