When Koei first announced Dynasty Warriors 2 leading up the to the Playstation 2’s launch, the possibilities seemed endless. Large, sprawling battles with hundreds and upon hundreds of enemies to hack and slash across rolling plains seemed like the next evolution of the beat ‘em up. And to my delight, it truly was a new and fresh way to beat up bad guys whilst not scrolling sideways. The first attempt was decent, and subsequent installments got better and better by improving the simple mechanics and adding more and more characters and unlockables, while at the same giving a little life and a little flair to the Three Kingdoms universe.
Softcore Sadness
At some point in the process, Koei designed to release two or three versions of each game by adding the Xtreme Legends or Empires tag at the end. With the Empires installment, players were “treated” to the task of managing their own armies and kingdoms through a series of clunky menus. Dynasty Warriors was no longer just about beating up tons and tons of dudes and unlocking weapons and abilities; the problem with this is the endless slaughter and trivialized softcore violence is exactly what made us fans fall in love with the series to begin with.
With Empires, you are forced to fumble through a bunch of useless menus just to get to the good stuff. The new system makes a sometimes brutally repetitive series even more brutally repetitive. The simple menu-based management system forced you fumble through various scenarios to power up your character, make friends, and rise in rank. There’s simply just not enough content for this feature to even come close to resembling a simulation, save for maybe a flash-based anime dating sim.
The various territories that you can occupy each yield different options and benefits. As you work your way up the ranks, you’re given the chance to join various factions and move up in the ranks. If you’ve ever experienced a true Koei simulation, such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, you’ll quickly notice that Empires is making an effort to blend the two genres. However, the simulation system in Empires lacks complexity, innovation, and any hint of cohesiveness with the main game. Beat ‘em games and historical simulations are two streams that should never cross. And for the record, you should never cross the streams.
Sidequests are also available to help you round up some cash, but these mild distractions generally don’t offer much more than the opportunity to run around and beat up some magic tigers – yes, magic tigers. And while it’s true that the Dynasty Warriors series has always been borderline-absurd, for most fans, it’s always been a blast. So, we can at least hope that the “good stuff” is entertaining, right?
Don’t Fix It
Ah, the good stuff. This entails rushing around a battlefield, juggling bodies, and helping computer controlled allies who never seem to figure out that you’re supposed to be mashing buttons in a very rhythmic way. In fact, those who never really “got” Dynasty Warriors probably never fell into a trance while in beat ‘em up heaven (or hell) – square, square, triangle – square, triangle – the waltz goes on and on. A special kind of charm existed – the kind of charm that constantly hints that you’re being deceived by something that’s not charming at all. It didn’t matter, this stuff was good and the battles were intense enough for my nostrils to flare every now and then. Ignorance is bliss.
Yet for some reason, with the first installment of Dynasty Warriors 6, Koei decided to mix things up with its new Renbu system. Let’s get this straight; most of us, me included, were pretty happy with previous control scheme. We pressed square about seventy-five percent of the time but were able to use the other buttons enough to make us feel creative about how badly we were mangling some conscripted peasant’s body. As mentioned, we could overlook the glaring flaws for the simple pleasures that Dynasty Warriors brought us. Yet with the sixth iteration’s Renbu system, the player can do little more than mash the attack button to build up enough combo hits to make his character’s arms jerk in a slightly different manner – you have little control over your characters moveset.
Step one: mash the attack button for an infinite combo. Step two: make sure you’re still mashing the attack button. Optional: any other button on the controller. As your weapons get stronger your infinite combos get more…infinite. Your charge attacks get a little zanier too, but this time around they feel quite disjointed from the regular attacks, whereas in previous games the charge attacks melded seamlessly with the regular attacks.
Let Me Stand Here While You Kill Me
The general flow of battle feels quite contrived, as well. Previous installments seemed to direct enemy forces into battle in a somewhat cohesive matter, so that the game at least fooled you into thinking you were on a living battlefield. However with Empires, the stages tend to be cluttered with wooden forts that constantly vomit poorly outfitted soldiers until you beat down enough of them. Very little thought went into the scenario design this time around (save for a few major battles), and one would figure by this point that the stage design would begin to take shape. Not so – most missions quickly becomes a chore as you repeatedly beat down respawning enemies who seem to be equipped with the AI of a Goomba.
Graphically, Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires looks like a glossy version of a PS2 game. With this generation, it doesn’t seem that the game can handle any more on-screen characters than before. Pop-in is still quite noticeable. At this point in the series, serious pop-in issues are unforgivable. I’m not a technical expert by any stretch of the imagination, but this game doesn’t appear to use more than 20% of the console’s graphical capability.
Overall, Empires comes off as a bit of a cheap attempt at cashing in on the Dynasty Warriors brand. Many fans will be totally pleased with the new movesets and characters, while the rest of us are still hoping for a sign of true progression with this series. As long as we keep gobbling up every incarnation of the series, there won’t be much of a demand for new innovation. Hopefully in the future we’ll witness what constitutes a true next-gen installment of Dynasty Warriors. Meanwhile, if you need me, I’ll be playing Dynasty Warriors: Gundam; I’m a frickin’ sucker for giant robots.