More interesting to me is the newly-included Ambition mode. Some of the missions do run a little long, which can get frustrating, but for the most part, you’re looking at something between 10-20 minutes per level. It’s a fun way of getting around true-life events, and the multitude of paths you can venture down is impressive. What’s fun about this is that Omega Force lets you explore “what if?” scenarios that significantly divert from actual history. Taking charge of one of the clans trying to seize control of China, you’ll have to take part in several historical battles. The more familiar option is the returning story mode. Mission length is largely based on which mode you decide to delve into in Dynasty Warriors 8. However, Omega Force was able to optimize the engine in order to have it run smoothly on the Switch.
If the system had cracked under the stress of the gameplay, that would have been a significant black eye for the port. Playing the game both docked and undocked, I encountered little slowdown, despite the mass of people on screen at once. It’s also nice to see that even in the face of the intense action on screen, the Switch holds up under the pressure. With the option to bring in two weapons per battle, this opens the door to some welcome strategy being necessary on the harder difficulties of the game. Depending on if you have the advantage or not, you could either trigger a Storm Rush attack or have your guard wrecked by a general. This creates a rock-paper-scissors-like mechanic where one class is strong against one class but weak against the other. Every weapon can be classified as either Heaven, Earth or Man.
The big addition with the 8th entry is the “Three-Point System” used for weapon designation. However, that would do a disservice to the depth that Omega Force has developed over the past 20-ish years. And to be fair to the haters, the core formula can get pretty monotonous. It would be easy to write the franchise off as simplistic at first glance. Whether it’s with the hundreds of weapons you can acquire, or powerful Musou specials that each character possesses, you are never short on options for devastation. There are other goals to keep in mind, such as keeping allies alive or meeting with specific NPCs, but for the most part, you’ll be focusing on demolishing your foes in battle. You hack and slash, and hack and slash, and hack and slash through what feels like a million guys in your quest to rule China. Your commander is capable of wrecking just about any number of enemy troops, and that’s largely what you’ll be doing in Dynasty Warriors 8. Once the warrior of your choosing has been selected, you are thrust out into the middle of the battlefield. While far from historically accurate, what other franchise lets you mow down thousands of faceless troops with the ringed blades of Sun Shangxiang? All of your favorites from the Wu, Wei, Jin, and Shu kingdoms are here, along with others that don’t fit into any of the states, such as the iconic Lu Bu. As in the past, you get the chance to step into the shoes of classic figures from China’s historic Three Kingdoms period.
If you are familiar with 2018’s Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, you should be at least somewhat at home with Xtreme Legends. Rather than port the newest entry over for the franchise’s arrival on the Switch, publisher Koei instead went with Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition, an enhanced version of a celebrated earlier edition.Īlthough this is the first Dynasty Warriors game to hit the Switch, it’s not the first “Musou” title to appear on the platform. In the 20+ years since, developer Omega Force has replicated the blueprint for everything from Japan’s Sengoku period to the absurd world of Fist of the North Star.
The series got its start in 1997, but it was the first sequel that introduced the formula it has become known for - large-scale battles set against the backdrop of Chinese history. For pretty much as long as I’ve been seriously gaming, Dynasty Warriors has been around.