loved the demo, but there are many games I need to finish before getting this, hopefully the price will drop by then
Dynasty Warriors Next Review
Dynasty Warriors Plus comes with new touch-based diversions, but they don't prevent this entry from being the same old button masher.
The Good
- Mowing down enemies can be fun for a bit
- Sprinkles of strategy keep things a little interesting.
The Bad
- Repetitious combat is the bulk of the experience
- Touch-screen segments range from boring to frustrating
- No variety in maps or enemies.
There was a time when the Dynasty Warriors franchise wasn't just exciting for its devoted fan base. Mowing down hundreds of enemies in Dynasty Warriors 2 was a good, early display of the PlayStation 2's power. Since then, however, the series has been scorned for being monotonous and for iterating very little from one entry to the next. Dynasty Warriors Next attempts to pump some new life into the series' combat with the power of the PlayStation Vita by throwing touch and movement controls at you, which flirt the line between being interesting diversions and being unnecessary annoyances. Still, there can be something cathartic about destroying hordes of enemies with a few taps of a button, so it might be worth revisiting China for longtime fans or casual players who have been away from the series for a while.
Like all other games in the series, Dynasty Warriors Next is loosely based on the Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which itself was loosely based on ancient Chinese history. Therefore, the campaign mode tells a story you may be familiar with, dense with details about royal families, broken alliances, and ambition to rule. It often feels like the CliffsNotes version of a much larger epic, which it more or less is. The story is told in a relatively linear fashion, and you play as generals from different kingdoms as the plot demands. Some missions let you play as any available general from your kingdom, while others force you to play as someone specific. Different generals use different weapon types, which give them slightly different movesets.
While most Dynasty Warriors games are rightfully accused of being the same old song and dance, they do tend to differ somewhat outside of battle. In this regard, Dynasty Warriors Next is most like the Empires subset of games. Between battles you have a map showing you the different territories of the country, including who controls what. From here, you have some choice about where you want to attack next, giving the illusion that Dynasty Warriors Next is a turn-based strategy game. This comes into play most in the Conquest mode, which lets you play random skirmishes against AI opponents. Here, the strategy map plays out almost like a simplified game of Risk, with territories having different number values that come into play when attacking your opponent. In the campaign, however, the strategy element can be largely ignored, with the choice of missions being meaningful only if you want to grind out new weapons or items.
From the map screen you are also advised to choose stratagems to employ in battle. Stratagems are essentially abilities associated with generals that give you an edge over your opponent. You can select up to four of them per battle, and each has a cost associated with it that fluctuates depending on the mood of the general they're associated with. (If you've been using Cao Cao in every battle, for instance, his stratagem will cost more to use than if he's all fired up and ready for a fight.) Some stratagems are purely positive, such as those that increase the defense for your entire army or one that sends fire attacks to the first enemy base you attack. Others give a little and take a little, like one that greatly increases your attack power while also lowering your movement speed. These bonuses can be a big help in winning a battle (or just finishing it more quickly), though in many cases you may not need to use them at all.
Once you've decided to invade a territory, you are dropped directly into a battlefield filled with a variety of bases and a seemingly endless supply of allied and enemy soldiers. Each base on the map can be captured by eliminating the required number of enemy forces defending that base, which is a number that can change as reinforcements arrive. Your goal in almost every battle is simply to capture the enemy's main base while making sure he doesn't capture your own. Along the way it's advisable and sometimes required to capture smaller bases that can provide your army with certain bonuses if controlled, such as more reinforcements or occasionally boosted attack strength.
Keeping an eye on the minimap is key because it tells you where both your forces and your opponent's are, letting you know if you need to hoof it back to your main base to play defense. Thankfully you're never a one-man army, and you can use the touch screen to expand the map and issue attack or defend orders to certain allies on the fly, which adds just a hint of strategy to the action.
50 comments
Ug i have the game, the reviewer just sounds like he is doing his best to not enjoy the game. He completely didn't even mention VS play,online (bot) player duels,ranking system, and how your very own created characters could very well be waging war on them. Hell my game says i am currently on 25 people's maps waging war against them.Not only that but if you beat one of these characters that someone made, they might join your army.AND they are recorded and will from then on pssoibly appear in conquest mode. Musou attacks last more than long enough(hold the button down you fool reviewer) to easily make a difference int he middle of a base. Oh and he didn't bother to mention that taking over many bases is important.Unless you want constant volleys of arrows,swarms of tigers and wolves, and to be blown up. Bases are VERY key in harder modes. Oh and the complaint about playing the same maps over again...ya know...if you battle in that territory it has a map.If you battle in it again it has the same map.AND I F YOU DO IT AGAIN ITS GONNA BE THE SAME DAM MAP. Jeezus. Each territory only has one map, and its portable give it a freakin break.
@antichuso1984 its not going to end so soon, as long as there is money milking chance, there is money milking =D
@7heDragon I only hope they drop the price but your right it's not gonna happen, this reminds me of those days when getting 1gb for a psp was a expensive $100 adventure, though those days of expensive limited space were over, guess not
@hks2iu7000v By that you mean the reviewers of the western countries? I do care for the history, i already liked it and when i saw a picture of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei where i used to practice Kung Fu, then i liked it even more :).
@jinzo9988 they do some non-cannonic games like Warriors Orochi. I buy them, i like that style of gameplay, its different from the usual series. And yes, they could move forward on the history, maybe do the next period of china's war, or the previous along with the normal campaign. They could do Han's dynasty, it's good for understanding how they are where they are.
@anticusho1984 i do not know about the tecnical details but im sure that they could cut the price by half or even more, but they won't do it because they are the only company selling the cards, therefore they have a monopoly and can sell the cards for the price of another vita if they want.
@7heDragon memory it's too expensive, sony should push to psn game for lower prices but limited space it's a bad plan, I'm sure they can cut the price by half, they haven't talk about transfer rate so I assume the transfer speed it's not that amazing might by like a pro duo
I'm saying replace the cast as in pick a different point in history to draw from. Did these characters live and battle forever? How many times do we have to go through the Yellow Turban Rebellion? Even from a story and historical perspective, are there really new elements to it with each game?
@jinzo9988 The Three Kingdoms era has been chosen because that is the best known period in Chinese history. They could go for the Tang or Song Dynasties, but current fans of the series would see none of their favorite characters returning. Which would be sad, of course...
@jinzo9988 Euhm...right...you did say you have no connection to it and you probally misunderstand the history and story of the game. But how do you want to replace the cast when these games are based on the historical war in China? The characters where people during the war, you can't just make up new ones for the sake of creating new characters. And you comment that it didn't chage, can you please explain to me why Halo or CoD get 9's while they haven't changed either, infact they hardly changed at all compared to 20 year old shooters. Only graphic wise, and the latest CoD and Halo done nothing new to the genre either that we hadn't seen before. And the argument that those games are "good" or " fun" doesn't count cause that is all based on a personal opinion. Fact remains that game sites tend to see thing different while they are the same. Some games are forgiven to do the exact same trick every time, where other games are getting burned down for not doing something different. With Dynasty warrior you know what you can exspect and for the genre they do it nicely. Not all games are good but most get a low score just for having the name Dynasty Warrior in it where any generic shooter can get the tag Call of Duty and get a 8 at minimum just for that.
It's cool if Asians have a connection to the game. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the history and story of the game but it's been the same characters in these games for DECADES, not just including Dynasty Warriors but Romance of the Three Kingdoms(which started on the NES, or possibly even before if the NES version was just a port) and god knows what else. They really haven't exhausted their material yet without getting a new cast of characters? This is getting a low score because this series has been exactly the same since Dynasty Warriors 2 which came out TWELVE YEARS AGO. Even the Samurai Warriors games are the same and that's a totally different series. The Gundam games still manage to have that familiarity to it even though they're using robots... the gameplay transcends from humans to robots. It's beyond old and stale if you're taking it at face value, which is a game. If it's supposed to be about the story and history, I have a great idea... they can partner up with BioWare and make an action RPG in that setting. It's like if Konami continued the X-Men arcade game and they just released X-Men: The Arcade Game XVI, which would have the same gameplay that the first did.
@jinzo9988 not to imply anything, but i think you should know that the Dynasty Warriors games were based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms. if a game is based on another game you can't blame them for having the same characters.
7heDragon I guess Asians have more connections to this game since this game is based on a chinese history. All these characters are real except for the highly exaggerated looks and fighting skills (obviously). DW series are highly anticipated in Most Asian countries like South Korea, Japan and obviously China. So I kinda understand why Gamespot is giving a low score coz they don't understand the concept of this game. I guess all Western countries don't really care about the story line. Thats just my opinion.
I don't really 'get' the Dynasty Warriors franchise anymore. Sure I love DW5:E on the PS2 and DW:Vol 2 on the PSP, but I don't understand why the developers aren't pushing forward with anything. Someone must buy these games, particularly in Japan, otherwise they would stop making these games. If people stop buying them, they'll stop making them.
@slappylad I agree with you in the point that they should move forward, they are too scared of doing new things and end up making the same game, and when the company tries to be innovative they end up doing some things that kill the china-war context (like putting weapons with lighting effects) or removing great features (like the versus mode, or the duels from DW4) instead of putting my long-awaited 4x4 online mode with a strategic-focused gameplay (and without respawning in the bases like DW Online, if you die you must take control of another officer that is alive and if the force runs out of officers and reinforcements the team loses), that would make a great addition to the game, to the replayability value, and would be the selling point for many players.
@anticusho1984 well man, Sony Brasil, sony's official store here, is selling this for 1600$$, but i just got it for 280 dolars (560 reais) because i bought on ebay. But yeah, if you consider the original price, its surprising how its so cheap. About the memory cards, 80U$ for the 32gb card its because its made of Nintendium, the strongest material in the world, they got rights to use with Nintendo rofl. But seriously, 80$ is what i would pay for a regular 32gb microSD with my country's currency. I think that the price is that high because sony must have made some Anti-piracy improvements on the chip, after all this card is only used on the Vita.
@hks2iu7000v right? well, it has some obvious problems, and this game is FAR from being perfect haha i just dont think that it deserves the score given, thats all. Im a fan of the series, and seeing a great ammount of people that never EVEN PLAYED any game of the series saying that "this game is another piece of crap" because of the way they review or just because of personal taste, makes me sad.
@slappylad I can't speak to the other games you mentioned, but I love the Dynasty Warriors games. I love beat 'em ups in general, and Dynasty Warriors Next does not stink. Granted, I don't like the quick time battles as they disrupt the otherwise all powerful feeling I get when mowing down 1000 or more enemies in any given battles, but besides that, I think it's a great game. I do love the way the touch screen and touch pad are used during the musou attack to give you further control of who you hit.
@7heDragon expensive memory cards agree, expensive vita not much when you think about 4-core processor OLED front and back touch panel it's fine, when you see higher prices of other "high end" devices that only have 2 core processor and lcd
I definitely agree with 7heDragon, I never cared about other game sites' rating. I love playing DW, just the joy of beating up people makes me excited for this game, I already have this game and i bought it before the rating was out in Gamespot. It's an awesome game though I agree with Gamespot with one thing, its kind of shallow but who cares its still an awesome game.
Dynasty Warriors is an acquired taste. It is pretty mindless as far as gameplay is concerned, but if you're into the games, that degree of mindlessness is part of the fun. They've added a lot of different and new features over the years to the games, but the core product has remained the same for what I assume is the same reason there are such heavy similarities with the CoD games that come out each year. On a much lower scale, Dynasty Warriors is a niche franchise that sticks around because of it's fans. If they change it to much, the fans might get turned off.
Lets be blunt: the DW series, along w/ Gundam and any Dragon Ball game thats been released..ever..just stink. Instead of making the point of your game to smash 75 characters, then run around and do it again, try being innovative and actually build in a real STORY and PLOT. In its current form, this franchise just relies on tired formulas and plain lazy design, which Tecmo/Koei has been champions of for years (anyone remember romance of the three kingdoms parts I-XVII?). I also say the same things about CoD, FF or any other franchise product as well. I found while the new CoD/Battlefield entries interesting in design, it was the same old "rah rah USA/kill some brown people and Russians" plot lines. Instead of going scorched earth on the reviewer, take your anger out on the devs of this game and DEMAND a better product from the ground up...
@OoSubaruoO : Agreed. Sometimes i think the reviewer just looking for an excuse to justifies their personal preference/Score.
I like how CoD/Madden/etc all get great reviews and they basically stay the same with minor updates. Yet, this series does the same thing, and gets these low scores. Seriously, reviewers are just hypocrites.
When i buy the PS Vita in a very far future when the prices are way cheaper, i think i will buy this. I Beat everything of dw 4 and 5 and now bought dw7, and have never been disappointed with Koei, i dont care for gamespot scores, never cared, 95% of times i disagree with their notes, they care about the company that made the game, not the game by itself. They say dw is boring, i couldnt disagree more, i have never felt bored while playing dw and that means a lot because i played their games from the start to the very end. The soundtrack is divine and thrilling, the guitars and solos fit very well in the game. But the strong point for me is hearing the characters talking, seeing strategies being made, planning which way im going instead of rushing to the enemy camp, seeing the history develop... the gameplay is not what makes this game a jewel for me, but that doesn't mean that it sucks, actually i have fun comboing the enemies, trying to do what i would usually do in a 2D fighting game on a 3D space, its pretty good. OBS: everything i said here is about the previous games, if this game in particular is a 5.0 i cant know (but still dont think it is) because i have never played it. If you are interested in this game, focus on the user scores, because there is a discrepancy. GS didnt even give a score to DW 7, but when they do is 5.5 for DW 6 Empires for instance, while a lot of people consider it better than 6 which got a 6.5.
@anticusho1984 the problem is not a killer epic game at all, the problem are the prices, retarded card prices and ps vita's price.
@Gelugon _baat I do understand what you are saying but I've bought games in the past with very high scores and on ended disapointed. On the other hand some games with lower scores have ended being far better and more fun. One example is Final Fantasy XIII. Wow I still don't understand why reviewers gave this game so many high scores.
I expected that dinasty warriros would have a low score, still is fun. the psp had a low score too but I enjoyed it, hopefully vita will have a killer epic game soon to make more people buy it
they really are hating on themselves they say same as last year but so it every generic sports game and basketball they dont have changes they are the same all the time but madden always get great review wtg gamespot
I love how many people seem to think games that arent Call of Duty, or Final Fantasy are bad. I dont know why people think a game has to be some sort of epic for it to be fun. Haters can complain about it being the same game with a couple additions, which is fine, because its not broken. Its easygoing, based on historical events (though greatly exaggerated) and is generally fun, without being frustrating, or for one single audience.. In the end, its still selling well enough to keep getting released, so Good job Koei, and keep the fun games coming.
I read Infinity Blade in the review and I just had to stop reading. This person who reviewed this makes me sick. Honestly. I may have never got into a Dynasty Warriors game before and this may just be the same old "button mashing" foray that came before it, but I know a good game when I see one. I'm having a blast with it and screw you Britton Peele.
eh I'm a big musou fan but I have no interest in handheld Dynasty Warriors games. I'll stick with Sengoku Basara 3 Utage and Dynasty Warriors 7 for now. I'll still take the review with a grain of salt though. This is usually something you either like or you dislike.
@Galugan_baat: I'll just come right out and say what I've really wanted to say: That the reviewer should treat this like a new thing that no one has experienced and relay that to the readers in adequate detail, and by glossing over an important component, s/he cheapens the review. It makes it feel rushed, which often implies something else. Remember, we all spend our hard-earned money on these, and they're rarely cheap unless they're used. It's an insult to the reader looking for an informed view.
@Gelugon_baat: No one expects a reviewer to go over the bajillion iterations of anything, only the latest. I don't care if a reviewer does or does not like DW - or any other series. All I care about is how they nitpick. A score needs justification, and I don't see it, especially when the scores all have definitions given to them. It's great that the review is more than one page, but it says little more than "there are features and I don't like them". At least they went into why the touch controls are not so great, at least in how they're implemented. But Dynasty Warriors, at its heart is a beat 'em up, so the combat system is key. Throwing in a generalisation assumes that everyone else is familiar with it, and that isn't true, either. So yes, it is a poor review because the most important part is glossed over.
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@Gelugon_baat @Alyboy Of course they do! I've already bought the game, by the way. Just like I said I would. And I see where the faults are in this game, yet I still like it very much.
@soulreaper-4 But IGN aren't critical. They just score high to appease fan-boys. They gave Pilotwings a 7.5 and the game is like 2hrs long.
This really begs the question of why anyone bothers reviewing the Warriors games anymore. Its clear that for all the moaning and groaning the fans do, they'll still buy it. Even clearer is that Gamespot (and a few other sites) are NOT warriors' fans. Really, GS will release a 4-6 mark review, fans will complain and on the whole not a single **** will be given.
I starting to think I should no longer rely on reviews when getting new games. Nowadays I don't trust them. Look at this game, gamespot gave it 5, ign gave it 8.
Gamespot has not reviewed DW7...how can they compare this to all previous iterations if they're missing some in their own catalogue? Not only that, some crucial points - namely details about the combat system - are completely glossed over, which begs the questions if the game was actually played. It also leaves out comparisons from other DW games to use as a reference point. Is the combat like DW 2 - 5 and 7, or is it like DW6 and/or Strikeforce (which DOES actually boil down to mashing one button)? Are there special moves per character? Are there usable siege engines like in 7, and are the enjoyable and effective? All the things that put combat together, and you you write it off with a couple sentences without actually explaining anything. This is poor reviewing that comes off reflecting and agenda, not an opinion. There's some back and forth, but little quantitative evidence as to WHY things are good or bad. That said, this is not enough to spur me to buy a Vita, but at least it gives me one reason to consider saving up for it.
PIcked it up today...couldn't disagree with this review more. If you're a fan of the series it's refreshing. If you didn't like it before and wanted a different kind of game, then look elsewhere. The new touchscreen additions are a blast.
Sorry, GameSpot, but this time, I disagree with you. I'll surely pick this up sometime soon! :)
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Dynasty Warriors Next is one Vita exclusive you should check out if you haven't already.
Dynasty Warriors Next
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- Publisher(s): Tecmo Koei America Corp.
- Developer(s): Koei
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: T
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