Nice attempt on changing the usual ol' Dynasty Warrior saga
-------------------------New Features--------------------------------------------------------------------This time,as in this game,you can dash around here and there,lock on to enemies,glide(provided that you have the ability and all) and several more new features as well.Unfortunately,they booted out the usual Free Mode,you can only play in Story Mode with Three save profiles.(Enough for the 3 Dynasties.)You Unlock Characters along the storyline or by fulfilling certain requirements like the previous sagas.You can change them in the 'Shrine".Whenever your not in battle,you'll be in a Town or City(As the storyline progress,it will change from a humble lil' Camp of some sort to a small stuffy city)In the Town you have a total of 9 features of which you can use.
--------------------------Weapons-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weapons are no longer limited to a...say 4 or so weapons for each character.Now,you have to get materials and money to get new weapons and the characters aren't just limited to the weapon they specialise,though their more effective on using weapons their good at of course.You can also bring two weapons into the Battlefield.Note that special effects like Fire requires you to buy an Orb and infuse it into the Weapon.Apparently,the Orbs can be used again and again.
-------------------------Items--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unlike the previous sagas,you can now carry items of which you can use to Heal or refill your Fury bar.I will now move on to the description of Fury Mode.
---------------------------Fury-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of the usual Musou Attack,this time you transform into some kind of Demi-God like entity.Your damage and other abilities are significantly more powerful.Depending on the skills you equipped,Fury Mode will have various special boosts such as slower Fury bar decrease rate.
----------------------------Gameplay----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can't quite fly in this game but your close to it,you can jump at ridiculous level of height(depending on ability)dash like a cheetah(again,it relies on passive skill)The controls are rather complex at first but once you got used to it(which is a must,this is almost a skill game now)you could do rather flashy combos.
--------------------Duelling Missions-------------------------------------------------------------------
You can fight a one on one(it's not really a one on one most of the time,the baddies usually cheat alot)Interestingly,you can fight Orochi in this thing.(For those who played Orochi Warriors should know who I am refering to.)
------------------------Missions----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Story Mode,you can only choose one Character to use,though you unlock the rest along the way.And there are several type of Missions.For Storymode Missions you look for the Gate Keeper,however,for Free Missions(It replaces Free Mode in some sense)
--------------------Materials--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are no horses nor weapons dropped by enemies now,they now drop Musou jars,buns or materials.Materials are needed for Crafting and other similar self boosting stuff....Now that I mentioned it,there are no mounts as well.I guess the dashing system replaces it but..
------------------------Cons---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course,after mentioning all the good stuff,here comes the bad ones.
----------------------Storyline------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know the story is limited due to History,however,China have many many kingdoms and eras...they could've just moved on to another Era and give the Three Kingdoms Era a break.
------------------------Design-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The character's design is no different from the Dynasty Warrior 6 Design and some of the Fury Mode isn't exactly extremely pretty looking.
-------------------------No troops--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not enemy troops,I mean ally troops,there's not even a single ally soldier in several acres(or rather,the whole game)If you don't count the fact that your friends can help you in Multiplayer mode.
------------------------Modes-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These guys kicked off most of the modes,leaving only the Story Mode behind.Not much Bonus Feature to speak of either