Yeah, I too am curious to know what gaf's early opinion on this game is.
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Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires |OT|: OK, You Can Marry Lu Bu
- Thread starter dakkumauji
- Start date
Yeah, I too am curious to know what gaf's early opinion on this game is.
British Monsoon
Member
It's still RotTK-lite, but the in-battle strategy has definitely improved thanks to the stratagems system. Also, the AI is noticeably improved on both your side and the enemy's, with officers using stratagems at will and generally responding a lot better to threats on the battlefield. Out of battle though, I definitely would have liked to see more depth - it feels like you're mostly increasing stats to unlock better stratagems, higher level weapons, stronger soldiers, etc. Also, while I like the idea of appointing an officer to be a prefect of a single territory, it has little bearing on the game other than to make that territory harder to capture. Plus, there's no travel penalty for officers assigned to those regions, so any officer can take part in any battle anywhere in or beyond your empire's borders. Finally, while you can upgrade your base of operations for your war council, it's an entirely cosmetic change. I would have loved to see a system in place for upgrading the facilities and defences of each individual territory, but sadly your whole empire's economy, your whole armies training is covered by a few tasks on the strategy screen. Oh, and I miss being able to assign tasks to specific officers, other than the odd diplomatic mission here and there. Eh. It's still fun and I'm sure I'll get my money's worth, but the Empires series could be so much better with some added depth.
AdawgDaFAB
Member
How do you get your CAW to show up as a character to use / recruit?
Also, can you do multiplayer online or is it limited to just split screen?
Also, can you do multiplayer online or is it limited to just split screen?
British Monsoon
Member
Yeah, you can play as your CAW's in Empire mode (if you select the Gathering of Heroes scenario), also in the historical scenarios you can have your CAW's show up as recruitable officers. To do this there should be a 'created characters' option when starting a new scenario.
I think there's definitely online play, but I haven't tried it myself, just seen something about online mentioned in the menus.
NeonZ
Member
That was done in the player's benefit. It's basically to avoid leaving the player "stuck" in a territory and unable to participate in battles if he's playing as an officer, rather than a ruler, and he's assigned to be the prefect of some region.
British Monsoon
Member
Ah, that makes sense I guess, but it would be nice if it was different when playing as a ruler. Without having to move your officers and troops between territories it takes away a lot of the risk, as I'm finding that, no matter the territory, I've always got enough officers with enough troops to handle any battle. I'm never under pressure because I've extended my borders too far, too fast, or because a powerful enemy is relentlessly attacking the same region turn after turn, etc.
dakkumauji
Member
Your CAW can be used in any scenario of Empire mode. They are just more hidden in the crazy long character select menu when you start a scenario.
Online mode is hidden in the Extras section for whatever reason. Haven't tried it out yet though.
FrostuTheNinja
Member
Online play is in but it's buried in the Extras menu. Weird, yeah.
I stayed up way too late last night. Really haven't played a game in such a long time that evoked that whole, "Just a couple more turns" feeling. So many bars to fill! Can't wait to do a pure evil run and tax the crap out of everyone.
Edit: Yeah, what he said!
D
Deleted member 20920
Unconfirmed Member
Probably zero. Japan is already playing with DW8 this week so Koei has no reason to go back 1 instalment and try to port it.
dakkumauji
Member
This game really does have that "just one more turn" feeling. I just can't stop taking another turn which leads to another battle, then more turns and there goes my night.
So far in my first run, I married Xiahou Dun, rebelled against whoever took me in with him and became leader of the north half of Ancient China.
FrontalMonk
Banned
Played a fair bit last night trying to get the hang of the systems at play since I haven't played an Empires game since DW4:E. Was harder than I thought since I kept playing as rulers with little to no power (if I wanted to play as Cao Cao I would've played DW7).
I finally got the hang of things with my current playthrough as Gongsun Zan. Took out Yuan Shao and Kong Rong, which basically just means Cao Cao is repeatedly beating on my doorstep. He's going down next.
I finally got the hang of things with my current playthrough as Gongsun Zan. Took out Yuan Shao and Kong Rong, which basically just means Cao Cao is repeatedly beating on my doorstep. He's going down next.
NeonZ
Member
I'm in the middle of my first playthrough - In fact, it's the first time I'm ever playing a Dynasty Warriors Empires game. Yellow Turbans scenario with Liu Bei on Hard. I gathered Liu Bei's sworn brothers and Zhuge Liang and then "created" a pseudo-Shu after Meng Huo started expanding to that region. I kind of miss the chance of visiting multiple cities and talking with officers back before I gave a land to Liu Bei though... now, he can only visit that main city that he initially conquered apparently and none of the officers seem to appear there.
Anyway, a few years later, only Yuan Shao, Sun Jian, Dong Zhuo and my own forces remain. Jian was kind of crazy though, and kept attacking everyone, so now he only has one territory left, many important officers of his died in battle against my forces, and he's about to be finished off... I kind of wish there were a way to kill rulers, leading to some kind of succession, but it seems like they only can be killed after they lose their territories.
Edit: Also, I made custom characters based on the new ones from DW8, and used the generic replacement feature. It was kind of cool to see my custom Han Dang among Sun Jian's forces.
Anyway, a few years later, only Yuan Shao, Sun Jian, Dong Zhuo and my own forces remain. Jian was kind of crazy though, and kept attacking everyone, so now he only has one territory left, many important officers of his died in battle against my forces, and he's about to be finished off... I kind of wish there were a way to kill rulers, leading to some kind of succession, but it seems like they only can be killed after they lose their territories.
Edit: Also, I made custom characters based on the new ones from DW8, and used the generic replacement feature. It was kind of cool to see my custom Han Dang among Sun Jian's forces.
razgriz417
Member
So i decided to pick up a PAL copy from a seller on ebay for $35, I find it weird that its shipping from HK yet is a PAL version, has HK games always been PAL? Here's hoping I get it in a week or 2 
dakkumauji
Member
D
Deleted member 20920
Unconfirmed Member
So i decided to pick up a PAL copy from a seller on ebay for $35, I find it weird that its shipping from HK yet is a PAL version, has HK games always been PAL? Here's hoping I get it in a week or 2
It's probably because Asian countries like HK and Singapore tend to import games from all over the place. It is not rare in Singapore to find Singapore, Pal and US copies of the same games in one single shop. Sometimes also Japanese versions. All at 4 diffferent prices.
razgriz417
Member
ah ok thanks, I'll be curious to see what version of the psn store I'll have to use if I wanna get dlc. I picked it mainly because it was the cheapest option
razgriz417
Member
Huh? I'm finding that its cheaper to import than download. My copy I won on eBay for $35 and the other 2 copies from the same seller went for $33. And $34. I saw on base.com that they are selling it for £28+£3 shipping if you want to go that route
dakkumauji
Member
If you can find it cheaper importing, then import it.
The only real reason I went with the digital copy was so the costume DLC from DW7 will crossover.
Fongul
Member
Actually base.com had it for £22.99 + shipping. The price on the website includes the VAT tax already added for UK residents. With shipping, it ran me $38 (just having to wait instead of downloading is the big pain....)
razgriz417
Member
Nice, the price was higher when I got mine on eBay. Would have preferred using base.com because shipping should be faster than getting it from hong kong
dakkumauji
Member
Regular 7 is the normal game with the large story mode and free play. It is more action than anything else.
Empires is more about tactics. There is still all that action, but it is more focused on using strategies and such.
NeonZ
Member
Finished my first playthrough (Liu Bei in the Yellow Turbans Scenario) - Sun Jian's was by far the strongest force around, with the battles against Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao being fairly underwhelming afterwards, in spite of Lu Bu popping up there both times and Cao Cao's crew joining Yuan Shao. Although I did get to try a few things with them, like the Kind fame command that allows unhappy territories to join the player without any battles.
Started my second playthrough in the coup/Jin scenario with Wang Yuanji. I'll probably keep her as an officer this time, rather than going for ruler like I did with Liu Bei. I'm kind of disappointed about the fall of Shu event happening so early though, way before the player even has time to conquer/pacify Wei, unlike in actual history. They should have included as a condition for the Shu invasion event Jin controlling the entire Wei territory...
It's the "ultimate" version of DW7 in some ways - all movesets from past DLC, from the XL expansion and even extra new ones are here, however, it's also just plain different in many ways. The basic fighting engine is the same, but, rather than being used for a cutscene filled story mode or other preset battles, you've got it being used for the battles in a tactical game, with additions like being able to order troops around the map and employ special abilities, like calling for reinforcements or leaving traps in the field. As a result of that focus too, they've upped the power of enemy officers, although being a one man army still is possible in low difficulties or after completely powering up everything in the higher ones.
You choose a starting scenario and then can pick any characters from it, and from there attempt to conquer ancient China (or join one of the kingdoms that want to do it and help them accomplish that) with the gameplay going from management of production, support and diplomacy of the kingdom through menus (although a fairly basic one compared to the RotTK games) to the action gameplay when you participate in a battle.
This game also takes some elements from the more roleplaying focused versions of RotTKs, with the player being able to take various positions, rather than always commanding a kingdom. In my playthrough as Liu Bei in the Yellow Turbans scenario, I started as a free officer just roaming the land and helping other armies fight against the Yellow Turbans, before hiring some other characters and forming a vagabond unit. In this phase, I travelled around and found a kingdom with higher level weapons. After arming myself, I travelled somewhere else and challanged the ruler there, taking his lands after winning and finally creating a kingdom ruled by my chosen character (Liu Bei) and starting an expansion from there.
Started my second playthrough in the coup/Jin scenario with Wang Yuanji. I'll probably keep her as an officer this time, rather than going for ruler like I did with Liu Bei. I'm kind of disappointed about the fall of Shu event happening so early though, way before the player even has time to conquer/pacify Wei, unlike in actual history. They should have included as a condition for the Shu invasion event Jin controlling the entire Wei territory...
It's the "ultimate" version of DW7 in some ways - all movesets from past DLC, from the XL expansion and even extra new ones are here, however, it's also just plain different in many ways. The basic fighting engine is the same, but, rather than being used for a cutscene filled story mode or other preset battles, you've got it being used for the battles in a tactical game, with additions like being able to order troops around the map and employ special abilities, like calling for reinforcements or leaving traps in the field. As a result of that focus too, they've upped the power of enemy officers, although being a one man army still is possible in low difficulties or after completely powering up everything in the higher ones.
You choose a starting scenario and then can pick any characters from it, and from there attempt to conquer ancient China (or join one of the kingdoms that want to do it and help them accomplish that) with the gameplay going from management of production, support and diplomacy of the kingdom through menus (although a fairly basic one compared to the RotTK games) to the action gameplay when you participate in a battle.
This game also takes some elements from the more roleplaying focused versions of RotTKs, with the player being able to take various positions, rather than always commanding a kingdom. In my playthrough as Liu Bei in the Yellow Turbans scenario, I started as a free officer just roaming the land and helping other armies fight against the Yellow Turbans, before hiring some other characters and forming a vagabond unit. In this phase, I travelled around and found a kingdom with higher level weapons. After arming myself, I travelled somewhere else and challanged the ruler there, taking his lands after winning and finally creating a kingdom ruled by my chosen character (Liu Bei) and starting an expansion from there.
razgriz417
Member
Just got my import pal version from ebay, really surprised theres a full color manual in this
NeonZ
Member
Koei has just uploded some free DLC (Wuzhang Plains battle scenario and new face acessories for custom characters) and also a paid pack - 4$, Fantasy Battle scenario (with a new faction with 11 pre-made CaWs based on random Western legends attacking kingdoms from various periods - Sun Ce's Wu, Cao Cao's Wei, a late Shu/Jin coallition led by Sima Shi and many smaller kingdoms), 2 new castle skins (mystic forest and castle) and one new Trishula lvl5.
dakkumauji
Member
Rather amused by some of the new accessories at least.
I hope Koei is having a quick turnaround for that upcoming patch that should be fixing most of the game's problems.
I hope Koei is having a quick turnaround for that upcoming patch that should be fixing most of the game's problems.
SiegfriedFM
Member
I just had a scare. I've been playing the game for about eight hours straight. Suddenly when doing a musou, the framerate went to hell. Literally a frame every three seconds. Also got some polygon warping. Is my PS3 overheating (regular slim model) or is there a problem with the game?
Edit: I restored the file system through the safe mode, and it runs fine again. Maybe this game streams a lot, so it tends to hang if stuff is placed in a faulty area of the hard drive?
Edit: I restored the file system through the safe mode, and it runs fine again. Maybe this game streams a lot, so it tends to hang if stuff is placed in a faulty area of the hard drive?
AdawgDaFAB
Member
Anyone else really disappointed in the lack of a free mode? I still go back to DW5E and SW2E because I can pick it up at any time and set up any kind of map how I want, with the characters I want, and just have at it.
British Monsoon
Member
You can't change the set-up of the different territories, but in the 'A Gathering of Heroes' scenario you can at least change which rulers command the territories and the officers under their command.
AdawgDaFAB
Member
You still have to build up whatever group you are playing with in order to get items and weapons and whatnot, whereas before I could hop in Free Mode and any item, weapon or character that I unlocked in Empires mode was there for me to pick. I miss that pick up and play aspect vs feeling like I need to dedicate a good amount of time to my Empire building whenever I play.
dakkumauji
Member
So that's what's feeling missing from this game. Yeah, a Free mode would have been great since Empire mode starts to drag once you have build yourself up and now just going towards ending it.
At this point, I'm just rushing to get the platinum.
tiggerkiddo
Member
One of these days I'll try one of the Empires games, I'm a big Musou fan but I've yet to try one out yet.
dakkumauji
Member
This stupid trophy. This god stupid trophy.
Unparalleled Warrior seems to have so many damn factors stacked against you. I gotta randomly get the cutscene of the character in that battle, then capture them and then get the resulting cutscene afterwards? Of course, it looks like other stupid events can override it, so useless friendship events seem to cost me the trophy. :E
Unparalleled Warrior seems to have so many damn factors stacked against you. I gotta randomly get the cutscene of the character in that battle, then capture them and then get the resulting cutscene afterwards? Of course, it looks like other stupid events can override it, so useless friendship events seem to cost me the trophy. :E
NeonZ
Member
For random free battles, can't you just choose online? Although you won't be able to set up anything though, just randomly help someone else in a random battle.
The cutscene where the captured officer and your character go to battle together doesn't need to happen right afterwards. I had a lover cutscene with another officer in my first battle alongside a previously captured Guan Yu, but after a few extra battles I got the horse racing cutscene with Guan Yu. I think it might be tied to friendship level too, considering how the dialogue talks about them becoming friends. Doesn't make sense if the cutscene is triggered right in the following month.
Anyway, I've finally played through all event battles in the game. After going through Chibi, I kind of wish there were some way to "force" ship battles outside of that one event. Now, I'm almost finishing my Chibi "Wise" officer playthrough as Xu Shu, and only will be missing an evil playthrough to get all cutscenes. I'll probably go through that Fantasy Battle DLC scenario later with an evil character. Too bad DLC scenarios don't have new event battles.
I wish that it were easier to lose sworn siblings/spouses though, I basically have to attempt to kill them to get them to die in battle. The cutscene is well done, but the fact that it needs to be basically forced kind of ruins it.
The cutscene where the captured officer and your character go to battle together doesn't need to happen right afterwards. I had a lover cutscene with another officer in my first battle alongside a previously captured Guan Yu, but after a few extra battles I got the horse racing cutscene with Guan Yu. I think it might be tied to friendship level too, considering how the dialogue talks about them becoming friends. Doesn't make sense if the cutscene is triggered right in the following month.
Anyway, I've finally played through all event battles in the game. After going through Chibi, I kind of wish there were some way to "force" ship battles outside of that one event. Now, I'm almost finishing my Chibi "Wise" officer playthrough as Xu Shu, and only will be missing an evil playthrough to get all cutscenes. I'll probably go through that Fantasy Battle DLC scenario later with an evil character. Too bad DLC scenarios don't have new event battles.
I wish that it were easier to lose sworn siblings/spouses though, I basically have to attempt to kill them to get them to die in battle. The cutscene is well done, but the fact that it needs to be basically forced kind of ruins it.
dakkumauji
Member
There's another cutscene where you capture the officer and shows you talking to them which is related to getting the trophy which can get kicked off if you have a friendship event happen instead which is juts annoying.
The event battles were pretty disappointing. And the fact that they usually happen near the start of each scenario doesn't help since I rather stomp through it with my overpowered characters, not newly fresh ones.
Yeah, not even sure if I'm ever going to get that event with the death of a sworn sibling or spouse.
Well, I just platinumed this game after spamming some boss killing and save abusing to grind up the bonus points I needed and finishing up that chaos mode run. This was probably the easiest musou game to platinum yet, even though it does require about 6 or 7 playthroughs for each of the endings, that still beats grinding up every single character to unlock something in the gallery. My hands definitely hurt now from chaos mode.
publicpwnerer
Member
Just bought this a week or so ago, copy should be here in a couple of days, or definitely monday.
My version is PAL U.K, and I'm wondering if the DLC comes with all disc-based versions of the game, or only the Asian region disc version?
My version is PAL U.K, and I'm wondering if the DLC comes with all disc-based versions of the game, or only the Asian region disc version?
NeonZ
Member
Well, in the case of the Yellow Turban scenario, you can get Yellow Turbans battle in the beginning and then Dong Zhuo's event battle later, if he's left alone for a while and conquers some territories (Luoyang and Changan). It's pretty bad in the case of the Jin scenario though, especially because the event battle ends up falling in the wrong moment (with Shu falling before the Sima can even take over Wei).
I'm still working on DW7 (awesome game) but I'm really tempted to pick this game up, just that I'm not sure how it would fit in with me playing DW7. From what I understand, DW7E has the 3 DW7XL characters and one new one. Does any data from DW7 actually get transferred over? The PSN-only thing bugs me a lot, but I'm also not that keen on buying a EU version mainly due to the hassle of buying DLC (I might not buy any though).
I'm not really sure how I'd like Empires, as I've never played an Empires game.
EDIT: Well price is still $49.99 even without the bonus DLC, I wish they dropped it to $39.99 and I'd just buy digital. I'm downloading the demo now to check it out, how much would I get out of the demo to see how much I'd like the game?
I'm not really sure how I'd like Empires, as I've never played an Empires game.
EDIT: Well price is still $49.99 even without the bonus DLC, I wish they dropped it to $39.99 and I'd just buy digital. I'm downloading the demo now to check it out, how much would I get out of the demo to see how much I'd like the game?
dakkumauji
Member
As for what gets carried over (DLC related):
- The two sets of original costumes for all the characters (school and fantasy)
- DLC weapon skins
Otherwise, nothing else (like character levels) gets brought over between DW7 and DW7E.
Empires is pretty fun as it adds a nice level of customization of making your own character and scenarios. The strategy element is nicely done and can easily turn the tide of a battle. The AI is improved in this game as well compared to the original and the only parts that starts to drag is when you are out of things to do besides taking over the rest of Ancient China.
Deified Data
Banned
I haven't played a DW game since 4. This one looks fun, but it sucks that there's no physical release.
Ah alright, I'll most likely just import the EU version then. I haven't purchased any DW7 costumes other than DW5/6 costume packs that were $1 each and don't plan to buy weapon skins anyways. I really prefer the EU version since it's a physical release. I'm going to check out the Edit Mode demo first though. Thanks!
SiegfriedFM
Member
Nobody cares, but I wanted to check out the DLC costumes and the descriptions were very vague, so I took a bullet...
So, in the PAL version at least, Edit Armor Set 5 actually corresponds to Edit Armor Set 2 on this page: http://koei.wikia.com/wiki/Dynasty_Warriors_7:_Empires/DLC
The armors are named Kirin Warrior and Butterfly, and it's stated that both are for male characters. Well, they're not. Butterfly is obviously female.
I might be persuaded to buy some addons to this game, but it's laughable how little effort is put into the PSN items. For fucks sake, at least show us what we'll be buying, since there doesn't appear to be any official info on the main game site!
So, in the PAL version at least, Edit Armor Set 5 actually corresponds to Edit Armor Set 2 on this page: http://koei.wikia.com/wiki/Dynasty_Warriors_7:_Empires/DLC
The armors are named Kirin Warrior and Butterfly, and it's stated that both are for male characters. Well, they're not. Butterfly is obviously female.
I might be persuaded to buy some addons to this game, but it's laughable how little effort is put into the PSN items. For fucks sake, at least show us what we'll be buying, since there doesn't appear to be any official info on the main game site!
NeonZ
Member
The in game store has a function for preview pictures, but the store apparently doesn't work in the European version... And, yes, that's really sloppy.
Chance Hale
Member
Haven't played a Dynasty Warriors game since the second one way back in the day and was thinking of downloading this. Is it worth spending the 50 now or should I wait for 8/whatever the next expansion is? All so confusing.
Edit: Or should I get that Warriors Orochi 3 game instead?
Edit: Or should I get that Warriors Orochi 3 game instead?
dakkumauji
Member
Honestly get Warriors Orochi 3 instead. It's cheaper, feels much more like a typical musou game and much much more fun.
This game is only great if you like the idea of creating your own character or the whole tactics part appeals to you.
Chance Hale
Member
Forgot Empire was the strategy stuff, suppose I'll get WO since it's only 29.99. I won't regret doing so with DW8 coming out in July?
Edit: So many add-ons! Lol.
dakkumauji
Member
Not at all. Well besides if you get tired of all that awesome musou-ing you'll be doing.