Genre: Strategy
Publisher: Koei
Developer: Omega Force
Release Date: October 24, 2006
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With Koei, it's usually been a long time coming when a truly polished version of one of their (probably long-running) major franchises finally matures to a point where the "What the hell?" moments slow down to the point where the game finally feels complete. I've doddered on about this in many a review, but I'm going to say it one more time: Dynasty Warriors 5 was the game that dragged the series to the level of quality at which it should have been from the start. Around the same time, Dynasty Warriors for PSP dragged the brand right back to where it started – Dynasty Warriors 2 (we're not going to count the original version, which was a terribly mediocre one-on-one fighting game) – and brought back nightmares of near-launch PlayStation 2 games. Not Orphen bad, just Dynasty Warriors 2 bad.
If you played Dynasty Warriors for PSP, or god forbid, purchased it, you know exactly why I'm using such strong words to describe it. To truly appreciate what a wreck that title was, think of this: You purchase a PSP. You look at that big, sharp, high-resolution screen. You think, "What a nice, wide screen! I might like to play widescreen games on it!" Koei decided, "Hey, why don't we make early purchasers not fully enjoy the most notable quality of their brand new portable console?" So, out of sheer laziness, so none of Koei's poor staff would have to tweak their engines to work properly with the PSP's standard ratio, a giant map was placed on-screen, taking up a good third of the viewable area.
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And the game still ran like utter, glitch-ridden trash.
So, Dynasty Warriors fans and casual observers alike, take note! Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 is actually a pretty good game! In fact, it's probably what the first DW for PSP should have been, and could have been, if anybody with half a brain and a slightly enhanced work ethic compared to the team that produced the game could have been on the project back then.
There are over 300 generals available. That's 300 distinct, playable characters, any of which can be wirelessly traded with friends! Full-screen play is now standard! Musou Mode, the strategy board battle system, is actually in full operating form! Full-screen play is now standard! And did I mention that full-screen play is now standard?
(End of PR rant.)
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You'll still be listening to the worst butt-rock imaginable, but hey, there's an option to turn it off, if you're not the type of creep who would demand that the clerk at your local import store track down a copy of the soundtrack for you. (You probably think the Guilty Gear soundtrack was a work of genius too, don't you?) And even if you did like the music, why would you want to let it obscure the grunts and death-squeals of the literally hundreds of thousands of hapless soldiers that will fall to your blade(s) after a single play-through of Musou Mode? And all of those deaths come with minimal slowdown, thank you very much.
The real problem here is intrinsic to Dynasty Warriors: Hitting the Square button gets old. So please, make sure to start the game on the hardest difficulty setting so you actually have to utilize the surprisingly usable combo system. Pressing Square, Triangle, and Circle once in a while is much better than just Square, don't you think? Even on Easy mode, most officer battles will pull some frantic combo action out of you, but seeing as the bulk of the game is plopping a sword or spear into the collective heads of far too many goomba-esque combatants, it might be worth the terrifying challenge of locking horns with officers on Hard just to keep from going comatose during those in-between moments.
For any "higher level" players (does that community exist? If Armored Core has a "professional" following, there has got to be something for Dynasty Warriors), the battles here won't be challenging at all. For these players, the real challenge will be knowing when and where to place your generals in Musou mode. Even the best players won't be able to get past the first few maps on Easy if they simply charge forward and attack. Certain things aren't in the hands of the player-controlled General. A.I. Generals will consistently flank, creep up behind you, charge long past you, and take it straight to their main objective and end your death-march through their armies with a single well-placed invader.
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This isn't Empires. There are no resources to manage, no unforeseen circumstances along the lines of earthquakes, plagues, etc. You equip your personal General with a weapon and a mount – there are eight slots to hold on to a selection of each – and choose a few trustworthy leaders to run the rest of your army. The rest is just timing and common sense, the latter of which many gamers probably don't have. If you fall in that category, you just might have a pretty tough time with Vol. 2.
Yeah, it's another Dynasty Warriors game, but this is still exciting to me. Mindless games always seem like the best fits for the portable format, because all of the external distractions that go with the medium aren't such a big deal. I simply can't spend hours in my living room playing games like this, not even something as polished as Dynasty Warriors 5, or even great dungeon crawlers like Champions of Norrath. Deeper PC titles, stuff like Baldur's Gate, that's a different story.
Let's face it; the PC equivalents have so much stat tweaking and open-ended story development. The console side seems to have more to do with filling the void left by the (mostly) dead, lamented beat-'em-up genre, and they do it well (Yakuza fills the void left open by the River City Ransom side of things, just in case you wanted to know). As long as you're looking to kill thousands of bad guys, you'll find something to like in Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2.
Score: 6.8/10
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