izigame.me

Context scale
10 - perfect game / would single handily justify the existence of video games as a medium
9 - all time classic / easily the sort of thing you would replay on a whim in 10 - 20 years
8 - excellent game/ almost no objective flaws, most criticism would be up to matters of taste
7 - great game
6 - good game
5 - bog standard game
4 - waste of time
3 - uniquely bad game ruined either by corporate greed or severe incompetence at a high level
2 - actually painful to play/ the sort of game you make video essays about trying to understand
1 - actually unplayable or broken.

This game is an 8/10 trying to be a 9/10 and almost achieving it.
The important thing to understand is that this is not dynasty warriors 10 it is its own game or a side game like strike force or warriors of orochi. It doesn't tell the story of the three kingdoms so much as it tells a Wuxia inspired fictional story of its own that takes place during the three kingdoms period.

The combat is great and by great I mean it is the best it has ever been in any koei warriors tittle and by a large margin. They managed to make the battles feel truly epic in scale again like they did in the original dynasty warriors. They did this by relearning something that they used to know out of necessity. The battles can only feel epic and huge if the warriors/soldiers have real weight to them. See in the original games that were based on dynasty warriors (A fighting game in the style of like soul caliber) each of the soldiers could also do combo strings and had health and defense and attack on the same sort of scale as the officers. So fighting a group of five of them would require multiple combo strings of your own. They did this because they could only render like 20-guys on screen at a time. In 6 and onward they decided the battles would feel bigger if they rendered like a thousand guys at a time but each one was as threatening as a fly so you wouldn't get overwhelmed. This game found the best possible middle ground between those where each soldier in this game feels like a threat and certainly can be if you are already injured or if you aren't careful while at the same time making huge groups of them in more complex configurations. The reason why you don't get immediately overwhelmed is they relearned another thing they used to know. You are part of an army fighting another army, You actually need to have teammates. So now instead of like 6 troops following you and whatever generals are on your team you are part of an actual army clashing with another and they are actually useful enough to make it worth moving together or saving endangered allies so you can attack bigger formations. All of that is to explain that they made the battles feel truly epic again in a way they haven't since like dynasty warrios 3 or 4 or maybe 5.

I was going to put this onto the last section as one big the way the game feels from moment to moment way but trying to explain the feel and epic scales of the battle took more words than I thought. Anyway the Combat is inspired, Not only have they drastically improved the basic combo strings of every weapon but they made the weapons different from each other in meaningful ways rather than just changing the animations they do as you use the basic combo strings of basic attack strong attack or basic attack basic attack strong attack. Now each weapon has different enough mechanics without getting away from the punchy fast and fun hack and slash the series is known for. But most well implemented is the new battle arts mechanics in which you can equip four different moves depending on what type of weapon you are using to further customize how your warrior fights in battle. This can range from special high damaging attacks, ranged options, stuns and mix ups or simple aoe wave clear options. It really adds an element both to your custom experience as well as to the moment to moment action having these options to stop from getting into a repetitive groove of using the same combo over and over.

As I mentioned this is not dynasty warriors 10 you are not playing the famous generals and characters we are used to but rather the main character of the story being told (who you can name in game), Admittedly this comes across as unusually cruel because each of the characters from the series are there and at their best. Not only have graphic significantly improved since dynasty warriors 8 (The most recent dynasty warriors game as i'm sure you'll agree dynasty warriors 9 doesn't exist) but the actual art direction and design basis for these characters are the best in the series. They made the characters less over the top and more grounded but still managed to make each one immediately recognizable at a glance. This has three or four exceptions where I think characters have been portrayed better in the series but as a general rule this is the best most of the case has ever looked. Additionally each character is incredibly likable or at least understandable their personalities have been toned down but haven't lost their unique sense of self. For example Zhang He isn't an over the top border line drag performer but he is still a talented warrior with a unique sense of aesthetic who sort of exists on a different scale of morality seeing things as beautiful or not rather than good and evil. The character direction they took Diao Chan in particular justifies the existence of this game to be honest.

If in the future this game gets dlc that allows you to go down different story paths or an update with a free mode where you can do any battle with the normal cast of characters like the main line dynasty warriors game it is easily in striking distance of not only a 9/10 experience but being the best game Koei has ever made.

In conclusion this game is so good that it makes me angry/suspicious. Because if Koei had artists and game designers capable of creating a game at this level of quality why have several of their releases in the last decade been dog shit? Like did they do a mass murder of everyone who worked on dynasty warriors 9 before beginning production of this? Did they unlock the people who created dynasty warriors 2-5 out of the basement and then give them a billion dollars and let them cook? Did someone sell their soul? Make a sacrifice to Baphomet? Like what the fuck happened?