Dynasty Warriors 8 is fantastic fan service that makes serious improvements which solidify it as the best entry yet.
The Good
• Drastically improved AI and difficulty
• Every character has their own unique move-set with their personal weapon
• Largest roster of the series to date
• Best stage design and mechanics yet
• Great gameplay mechanics
• Return of Free mode
• Online and offline 2 player co-op
• Extremely high replay value
The Bad
• Story mode has limitations in terms of character selection
• Some slight slowdown in certain areas of the game
• Some story elements are not voiced
I have been a huge fan of the Dynasty Warriors series since its second installment and Dynasty Warriors 3 and 4 were by far my favorites because of their uniqueness and difficulty with 2 not falling too far behind. However, with the PS3/360 generation the Dynasty Warriors series seemed to be going in a different direction with the mediocre Dynasty Warriors 6 and worse, but slightly better in some aspects Dynasty Warriors 7. In probably one of weakest installment to date the Omega team made some bold and questionable changes in Dynasty Warriors 6 which included drastic character changes (which included appearance changes and weapon changes), the introduction of a broken combat system and the introduction of seemingly useless gameplay mechanics i.e. ladder climbing and swimming. Dynasty Warriors 7 was a small step in the right direction and two steps back; character's got their own weapons back (sort of) and the gameplay had been improved, but with a poorly executed online multiplayer mode, the lack of a free mode and the abundance of character clones it made this outing something more to be desired. Come Dynasty Warriors 8, the newest and now new king of Koei's flagship series. The improvements to this game are astounding to say the least and it is clearly evident that Koei has listened to fan feedback this time around.
Many areas of the game have been improved with my favorite probably being the increased difficulty of the AI and of the game itself overall. It is also nice to have characters with their own unique move sets and weapons. In addition, the gameplay is extremely fun, packed with improvements and additions and unlike earlier installments it isn't as repetitive. With over 60 unique characters to choose from, great combat and more features that you can shake a spear at this is a title that I recommend to not only fans of the series, but fans of the beat-em-up genre.