After a week of family time in Taiwan, I am back in the States with jetlag, presents for my friends, and a copy of Dynasty Warriors 6 for PS3! The Japanese version went on sale just a couple days before I leave while the US version is scheduled for sometimes in 2008, so I was very happy with the purchase.
Perhaps I should call it “Shin Sangoku Musou 5″ since I got the Japanese version and somehow when the game franchise arrived the US, it was +1. Many non-Asians players often find it hard to understand why in the world we would ever need another Dynasty Warrior game, possibly because they don’t have as much appreciation for one of the most popular Chinese Literature of all time - Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The influence of the historical fiction is so tremendous that people continue retell the story through movies, TV series, mangas, and video games. Some even try to dissect the characters and apply them into the modern business world, demonstrating the characteristics necessary to be successful. With that in mind, it might be easier to understand why KOEI has made the strategic version of the game 11(!) times, each time trying to improve the gameplay, battle system, or simply graphics. It is kinda hard to believe, but each one of them are typically best sellers in Asia with expansions and such.
Enough of history lessons, is this button-smashing, hack-and-slash game any different than its older siblings and worth you to take a look at? Why yes! To my surprise, DW6 has increased the difficulty level from mindless button pressing to “you better think twice before charging into that swarm of enemy, but button-smash away!” Outside of the typical goals of killing the main general of the enemy army, mini tasks (or achievements as I like to call it) are introduced to help you gain extra experience (and satisfaction) for your favorite general. Examples of these tasks are like: breaking into the castle in 5 minutes, conquer certain enemy strongholds in 10 minutes, finish the mission with a couple of selected generals remaining alive, and etc. These tasks are surprising difficult to complete, even in normal mode. I mentioned breaking into castles, in DW6, gates now have HPs as well, and for bigger cities you won’t be able to just button smash your way through the door, you have to protect your team to set up catapults or other things to break it down, or you can protect the soldiers that will set up ladders allowing you to climb on to the walls to take down their archers. This new element make invasions more fun and definitely more challenging if you want those extra points.
Another part that makes the game more difficult is the increase of enemy AI (or decrease of your allies!?). You will notice that if you venture away from the main force, your guys don’t stay alive as long as you would like. I failed several missions because the guy that needs to stay alive for the mission just kept getting kills while I went around to complete another task of conquering enemy strongholds. Also in the very first mission, one of the most badass general - Lu Bu will show up half way through the level and make you his bitch. Unless you have previously leveled up your guy, you will more than likely die if you try to take him on. After a few tries, I just make went right for the final boss for the level and try to kill him ASAP.
One other thing I like about DW6 is the increased role of horses. In the past, they are rare items that you can only obtain after meeting certain conditions, and once you do, it becomes an unfair advantage for your general. However, in this one, you begin the game with a couple LVL1 horses, and you get to level them up and obtain new ones by defeating enemy generals. Not all are the same, some are faster, some jump higher, and some are more powerful. My favorite part about the horses that you can press the down button on the D-Pad and your horse will find you no matter where you are and how far, pretty neat and life saving if you want to get back to the main group to protect some dying ally.
Since I only own a PS3 and not a 360, I can’t say how they compare when it comes to the graphics, but the PS3 version is easy one the eyes and make the experience more enjoyable. While I have some minor issues with the control, I still find myself playing in for hours till dawn since I still suffer from jetlags. If you like Dynasty Warriors, and you can/don’t mind read Japanese, I think you may find the DW6 fun and more than just a past time.
(man, after a week of speaking only Chinese, I think my English is definitely rusty, sorry if my writing is worse than usual =D )
- Paul
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