What has changed

[Kritarion]

So,

before I buy this tomorrow: The last Dynasty Warriors-Game I played was Dynasty Warriors 5 on the original X-Box.
So, What has Changed in the last years (I am not talking character-roster here)
Thanks in Advance

[Zealos]

They explain it pretty well on the official website, just check out the System and Mode pages, and it should give you a good idea of what is different from the past games.

http://www.tecmokoeiamerica.com/dw8/#home

[Mr. Stimpson]

Originally posted by Such Skill:

So,

before I buy this tomorrow: The last Dynasty Warriors-Game I played was Dynasty Warriors 5 on the original X-Box.
So, What has Changed in the last years (I am not talking character-roster here)
Thanks in Advance

Last I seen, in number 6 (maybe 5) they took away the heavy/light attack buttons and replaced them with an attack/special attack buttons. Forcing you to hit the secondary button alot less. I wasn't a fan of that system at all (I have fond memories of square, square, triangle, square, square, triangle, square, square, triangle, square, square, triangle, square, square, triangle in DW4). Anyone know if they reverted that change in 7+?

[RX-0Banshee]

Overall, KT has focused on a more cinematic "Hollywood-style" theme in the latest versions of the DW series. The stories are much deeper than they ever were, there's more in-game cutscenes explaining big events, the factions seem more significant than they were before, and the gameplay focuses on a rock-paper-scissors style weapons system (you can pick two weapons now) that's mainly effective when fighting enemy generals.

Gate captains are gone, and it's much easier to get 1000 kills. The characters level up to 150 instead of 99, and can equip up to five skills that have various attributes like strengthening attack or defense. You now have attack animals that can protect you during battle if you equip them (from hawks to bears). There's also Nightmare difficulty if you think Hard Mode is too easy.

The new Ambition made allows you to build your own kingdom and conquer China through various battle scenarios, and there's also a challenge mode as well.

[Kritarion]

That actually sounds pretty good, apart from the Changing the Battle-System. Well, i will see how it turns out.

And Thanks for the link.

[DeadlyKitten]

Im actually more happy about the XP leveling than anything else XD . 82 characters to lvl till 150 lol .

[Cinnymin]

The cinematic-style storyline is a lot more interesting and involves you in the story line. The style for weapons is more close to how it used to be pre-6 (an endless string of attack is so boring), and each person has a weapon unique to them, though the attack patterns will be the same, save a few key things.

7, to me, fell a little flat after the storyline was done. I dunno how they'll change that in 8. If you don't mind the repetitive means of attacking, honestly, it's a great game.

[nxmt]

Dynasty Warriors campaign mode tends to swing between individual stories and a grand faction specific one. DW8 is more faction based but they added a "Hypothetical" route where the story and outcome will change based on events like "What if X general did not die". Also they added a new faction which extends the historical timeline to dozens of years later where the Three Kingdoms are unified.

Gameplay wise, there's just improvements and there are far too many and numerous small incremental improvements over the years to list. Small changes like being able to summon a horse, mount horses while running, general AI improvements etc (no longer need to babysit). Climbing walls and ladders etc/

In summary, DW8 is quite the definitive experience thus far. Some of the prominent changes is having multiple musou attacks per warrior, the ability to change weapons mid battle and even equip any weapon you want.

[Kritarion]

Originally posted by NXMT:

In summary, DW8 is quite the definitive experience thus far. Some of the prominent changes is having multiple musou attacks per warrior, the ability to change weapons mid battle and even equip any weapon you want.

Every Warrior with every weapon? MENG HUO WITH THE WORLDS TINIEST DAGGER, HERE I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ COME!

[nxmt]

Originally posted by Such Skill:

Every Warrior with every weapon? MENG HUO WITH THE WORLDS TINIEST DAGGER, HERE I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ COME!

Meng Huo with Zhen Ji's flute or Xiao Qiao's fan... if the weapon + model scale doesn't crack you up, the feminine attack animations on a burly guy certainly will.

[R9delta]

A lot. I think 7 did a great deal to change the series for the better. Hell i favor 7's story mode over 8's but apart from that 8 took the gameplay a bit further and added back some important things that were missing from 7.

[Xiahou Mao]

Dynasty Warriors 7 brought in the 'weapon swapping' feature, but then also included clone movesets on top of that, so that (for example) Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Sun Jian, Sun Quan and Sima Zhao all used as their base weapon the same type of generic sword, only distinguishable be a single 'EX' charge attack and their unique Musou attacks. You could swap different movesets between characters, but there were more characters than there were movesets. With DW8 now, each character has their own personalized weapon by default that isn't shared with anyone else, though you can still equip someone else's weapon/moveset if you want to. That means not everyone has their 'iconic' weapon from the past (Sima Yi uses a new Horsehair Whip, to get him away from Zhuge Liang's feather fan, for example), but it does mean that every character stands on his own now. No more Huang Zhong/Xiahou Yuan/Gan Ning clones, no more Ma Chao/Jiang Wei clones, no more Zhang Liao/Lu Meng clones, no more Da Qiao/Xiao Qiao clones, and so on.

Some of the new weapons are really absurd, too. Which can be a good thing! Who doesn't like blasting into the sky with Xiahou Ba's Siege Spear and moving a targetting reticule across the screen to determine where you want to come rocketing back down to earth to crush your foes?

[Cinnymin]

I am glad that the weapon movesets aren't all the same now! It makes it feel much, much more unique. When I was playing 7 it just felt like everyone was pretty much the same.

[Xiahou Mao]

Just to clarify the above where I listed the five generic sword wielders from DW7, here's what they now look like in DW8.

Cao Cao wields the General's Sword, a moveset whose charge attacks will generate shadow clones of Cao Cao that will attack while Cao Cao himself might be free to do other things.

Sun Jian wields the Nine-Ringed Sword, which generates soundwaves as he swings it, making it strong for crowd control.

Sima Zhao wields the Striking Sword, and his charge attacks will cut through the fabric of reality, leaving slash marks that will detonate for extra damage.

Xiahou Dun gets his Kirin Fang back, a fast, heavy-hitting scimitar-like moveset that people will remember from DW2-5.

Sun Quan? Well, someone had to keep the generic DW7 sword moveset...

The same holds true for the other DW7 clones, who get new weapons, including Sima Yi's Horsehair Whip, Zhuge Dan's Short Baton, Xiahou Yuan's Rod & Bow, Zhu Rong's returning Boomerang, Cao Ren's returning Shield, Dong Zhuo's adoption of DW7 DLC Bombs, Jiang Wei's double trident, and many more!

[Tavio]

sorry to intrude, but ive been looking over for some info regarding this game, and so i have a few questions, mostly in regards to the coop

i see the game has multiplayer tag but:
can one play with another person the storyline? (2 players)
can the ambition mode be played by two on the same side?

or is the ultiplayer restricted to one specific mode?

[RX-0Banshee]

Originally posted by Tavio:

sorry to intrude, but ive been looking over for some info regarding this game, and so i have a few questions, mostly in regards to the coop

i see the game has multiplayer tag but:
can one play with another person the storyline? (2 players)
can the ambition mode be played by two on the same side?

or is the ultiplayer restricted to one specific mode?

From what I know from the Japanese PS3 version that I have, each mode has an option for offline and online co-op play (except Gallery, of course).

I don't know about Ambition Mode, though, as I've never had any interest in it.