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[Rymuth]

• Developer: Omega Force
• Publisher: Koei Tecmo
• Platforms: PS3, PS4. Xbox One & PC
• Release Date:
  JP: November 20th 2014
  NA: February 24th 2015
  EU: February 27th 2015
• MSRP: $49.99/ £29.99 (PS4/Xbox One/PC) $39.99/£19.99 (PS3 - Digital Only)
• Audio: JPN
• Website: Official Website
• Pre-Order Bonuses:
  • Special Costume Set (Date Masamune, Guan Yinping, Guo Jia and Tenko costumes)
  • Edit Armor Set 1 (for male characters)
  • Edit Armor Set 2 (for female characters)
  *Available through GameStop, EB Canada and GAME*

• Stratagems from Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires return with enhanced features. New grand-scale stratagems take longer to complete but can dramatically affect the flow of battle. Weather conditions and time can affect certain stratagems' proficiency and change a battlefield's appearance.
• Certain characters have DLC weapons as their EX Weapons:
  • Deng Ai's "Revolving Crossbow" – can be used for long and short-range attacks and can rapidly fire multiple arrows
  • Guan Suo's "Sabatons" – equipped on the feet, focused solely on kicks and able to launch combo attacks in the air
  • Lianshi's "Mandarin Duck Hooks" – dual-wielded weapons that make up for ther short reach with sheer speed
  • Liu Shan's agile "Dragon Column" – known for its variety of special counterattacks
  • Meng Huo's hefty "Stele" – transforms into a palm tree or other items during Strong Attacks
  • Sun Quan's "Flame Blade" – a well-rounded powerful sword, enveloped in flames with fast attack speed at distances both near and far
  • Wang Yi's "Emei Piercers" – used primarily by assassins has a short reach, but is capable of multiple rapid attacks
  • Xiaoqiao's "Paired Fans" – can create a flurry of small tornadoes that fly freely in the air
  • Yueying's "Bladebow" – combines a crossbow with a short-range sword that fires a homing arrow after multiple shots are executed
• Preset bases have levels to indicate their potency. Simple bases can be constructed anywhere on the map to provide auxiliary assistance.
• If players possess a high rank, they can order other generals.
• Rulers can set specific priorities to policies.
• Fame has been revamped to allow the selection of different play styles. It lost its visual GUI notices.
• The marriage system now enables couples to have children. Scenes dedicated to married couples have been expanded. Offspring inherit their parents' stats and genes.
• Players can keep and reuse their previous edit characters since the same edit features return in this title. They can also edit the appearance of their banner, soldiers, horses, and create scenarios to upload for online sessions. Other players can download them.
• Soldiers - Customizable features include body posture and weapon usage.
• Horses - Customizable features include hair color and size.
• Crossplay can be done between the PS3 and PS4 ports.
• Custom Scenario Mode - Players can fully control and customize events and details of a scenario. Everything from setting the location, rulers of the kingdoms to officers can be changed. Players can also name their own scenario and create a custom introduction and upload it online to share with others.

GAMEPLAY

Question: Is this game just an updated Dynasty Warriors 8 like Xtreme Legends?

No, Empires is a stand-alone spin-off game that focuses on strategy and conquering territories. You won't be able to experience DW8/XL story mode in this iteration. Instead of following the history of the Three Kingdoms, you can change the scenario to suit your needs. Want to be Lu Bu's strategist? Go for it. Want to serve Sun Quan and then stab him in the back? Don't let me stop you.

Question: Is this a good jumping point for me to get into the series?

Dynasty Warriors is not exactly the most complex of games but Empires appeals to the veterans precisely for the ability to create your own scenarios. The main games follow a rigid scenario: Chi Bi will always be won with a fire attack, Lu Bu will be defeated by flooding his castle and the Yellow Turban is doomed to fail. Veterans of the series enjoy Empires because it allows us more leeway in crafting our own stories.

Question: Why isn't this game dual-audio? I thought they said they were going to add Dubs.

They did, but they changed their minds.

Question: Can I import my character from Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires?

Yes, absolutely.

**OFFICIAL TRAILER**

Go easy on me, GAF. It's my first OT. Special thanks to dakkumauji.​

 

[Samurai_Heart]

Will do my tradition of creating Gintoki for my CAW XP

And aren't OT supposed to be out on release days now?

 

[NZerker12]

Good job OP

I can't say I'm a fan of some the weapon changes but I'm sure I will get used to it.

This will be my first empires game.

 

[DryvBy]

Just pre-ordered. Forgot this was so soon!

 

[shaowebb]

I play a lot of musou, but I've never played an Empires title. Does it focus on bases in battle like Hyrule Warriors for added difficulty and challenge or is it just sorta there?

 

[Rymuth]

And aren't OT supposed to be out on release days now?

Ah well, I made two miscalculations. The first, the game is out where I am from and second, I've seen a few OTs that were made before the release day (The Order, Kirby & Rainbow Curse)

Hopefully the Mods will not be too wrathful with me.

I play a lot of musou, but I've never played an Empires title. Does it focus on bases in battle like Hyrule Warriors for added difficulty and challenge or is it just sorta there?

It's more like a gimped version of Romance of the 3 Kingdoms games. You can either be a vagabond and play the game like a normal Musou (i.e. fight for you ruler) or you can become a ruler yourself. As ruler, you have to manage your resources, recruit officers, make alliances and enemies. Play your cards right and you won't even set foot on the battlefield.

 

[KadeYuy]

Are the differences between ps3 and ps4 version noticeable? I'm trying to decide if I should wait till I have a ps4.

 

[Samurai_Heart]

Ah well, I made two miscalculations. The first, the game is out where I am from and second, I've seen a few OTs that were made before the release day (The Order, Kirby & Rainbow Curse)

Hopefully the Mods will not be too wrathful with me.

I'm guessing it should be fine, game has been out a while in Japan and all. So the mods shouldn't do anything to you ;P

 

[orthodoxy1095]

How do you downlod other people's characters? Do you need a code?

I bought 8 and I have HW to still finish, so I'm debating if I should buy this or not.

 

[Rymuth]

Wonder if people realize this is going to be Xbox One's first musou title.

EDIT: whoops, forgot Ultimate.

 

[VoltySquirrel]

Wonder if people realize this is going to be Xbox One's first musou title.

EDIT: whoops, forgot Ultimate.

Was just about to correct you, considering I reviewed the game. What's weird is that they didn't bring Samurai Warriors to the platform. Very jarring to me.

 

[shaowebb]

It's more like a gimped version of Romance of the 3 Kingdoms games. You can either be a vagabond and play the game like a normal Musou (i.e. fight for you ruler) or you can become a ruler yourself. As ruler, you have to manage your resources, recruit officers, make alliances and enemies. Play your cards right and you won't even set foot on the battlefield.

That sounds like the exact opposite of what I want in a musou

I want to be on the battlefield as much as possible and with a ton of options. If I turn this into sim kingdom management it sounds like a genre I don't get into...ie Civ kind of stuff.

Now if the battlefield stuff has a ton of unique options and missions per fight like Hyrule warriors though I'm down. I'm addicted to the Adventure mode in it. How's the challenge on a scale of DW8 to Hyrule Warriors with HW being high difficulty and DW8 being Rock/Paper/Scissors=freeeeeeeee outside of higher difficulty options being used.

 

[Rei no Otaku]

Excited for this. I always enjoyed the Empires games a lot.

 

[Tarahiro]

Love these games I have this preordered for xbox one but it's not out here until Friday

 

[Risette]

Preordered on PS4, quite excited for it. Love Musou, but this'll be the first Empires game for me.

 

[Parakeetman]

Nice to see an OT for this game!

Also never forget

*will only make sense to those who know what happened in Japan with this game lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMVP-N8z4Hs

And aren't OT supposed to be out on release days now?

It can be a day or two in advance or a little more depending on if said poster is unable to on launch date or day earlier.

 

[VoltySquirrel]

*will only make sense to those who know what happened in Japan with this game lol

Care to enlighten us?

 

[Bracket]

How close is this one to the Dynasty Tactics games? I played DW5 Empires long ago and it felt like a very watered-down version of Tactics. Is this one closer in terms of the strategy and gameplay outside of combat?

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Empires has always been my favorite of each generation of DW. That said, I'll probably get this later, Monster Hunter and Xenoverse will be keeping me plenty busy.

 

[Parakeetman]

Care to enlighten us?

Watch the video that should be an explanation enough. It mainly occurred with the edit characters.

 

[dakkumauji]

Great OT, especially since I was too lazy to make one this time.

That sounds like the exact opposite of what I want in a musou

I want to be on the battlefield as much as possible and with a ton of options. If I turn this into sim kingdom management it sounds like a genre I don't get into...ie Civ kind of stuff.

Now if the battlefield stuff has a ton of unique options and missions per fight like Hyrule warriors though I'm down. I'm addicted to the Adventure mode in it. How's the challenge on a scale of DW8 to Hyrule Warriors with HW being high difficulty and DW8 being Rock/Paper/Scissors=freeeeeeeee outside of higher difficulty options being used.

Yeah, Empires is more of the kindgom sim and the musou stuff is only really secondary. It does give you more options in battle with stragems like causing floods or fire to appear but the battles are shorter in scale and time limit too.

Care to enlighten us?

Basically the game had some bugs when it first came out in Japan on top of being delayed like twice. Usually Koei brings us (almost) up to speed patch wise so we probably won't be seeing that. Maybe.

 

[Memory]

I've been waiting for this for sooo long, the JP demo sated my hunger for a while but i need the real deal asap.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Ooooh. Disappointing about the lack of Eng VA, but day 1 deffo.

 

[serversurfer]

I've never played any of these games, but I think I got 7 recently. That one was just on sale, right?

So basically, I can play through 7 and make my dude this badass warrior, then import him in to 8 and conquer all of Japan?

 

[Berordn]

Yeah, Empires is more of the kindgom sim and the musou stuff is only really secondary. It does give you more options in battle with stragems like causing floods or fire to appear but the battles are shorter in scale and time limit too.

So if I want straight up musou I should've bought Xtreme Legends rather than wait for this? Or is Empires going to be the definitive version in the end?

I'm a bit puzzled by their expansion model.

 

[NolbertoS]

Hmm, so this an expansion of DW8. Was holding off buying Extreme Legends, but now will have to buy both Extreme and this.

 

[dakkumauji]

I've never played any of these games, but I think I got 7 recently. That one was just on sale, right?

So basically, I can play through 7 and make my dude this badass warrior, then import him in to 8 and conquer all of Japan?

No, you can only import how your character looks, none of the stats since this game uses a different leveling/stat system.

So if I want straight up musou I should've bought Xtreme Legends rather than wait for this? Or is Empires going to be the definitive version in the end?

I'm a bit puzzled by their expansion model.

The Complete Edition (PS4 only) is the definitive version of DW8. Xtreme Legends is the usual expansion pack that's PS3 only.

Empires games are just a side game, with more focus on the kingdom sim and the create a character aspects. The only definitive part is that some characters get new weapons which we'll probably see anyway in DW9.

 

[Risette]

So if I want straight up musou I should've bought Xtreme Legends rather than wait for this?

Yes

I'm a bit puzzled by their expansion model.

Base game —> XL Expansion for regular Musou. Then a strategy-based Empires game comes out using the mechanics and characters from XL.

Basically, one expansion, then strategy spinoff.

 

[Berordn]

The Complete Edition (PS4 only) is the definitive version of DW8. Xtreme Legends is the usual expansion pack that's PS3 only.

Empires games are just a side game, with more focus on the kingdom sim and the create a character aspects. The only definitive part is that some characters get new weapons which we'll probably see anyway in DW9.

Yes


Base game —> XL Expansion for regular Musou. Then a strategy-based Empires game comes out using the mechanics and characters from XL.

Basically, one expansion, then strategy spinoff.

Ah, dang. Thanks for the responses, kinda kicking myself that I didn't grab it for PS4 during the last flash sale now.

 

[NeonZ]

I want to be on the battlefield as much as possible and with a ton of options. If I turn this into sim kingdom management it sounds like a genre I don't get into...ie Civ kind of stuff.

Now if the battlefield stuff has a ton of unique options and missions per fight like Hyrule warriors though I'm down. I'm addicted to the Adventure mode in it. How's the challenge on a scale of DW8 to Hyrule Warriors with HW being high difficulty and DW8 being Rock/Paper/Scissors=freeeeeeeee outside of higher difficulty options being used.

Based on what has been said, the difficulty depends on which path we get. One of the newest paths apparently made npc generals get levels faster than before overall making the game harder. Of course, it also depends on which character and scenario you play. For example, if you go into a battle with less troops, in the actual combat, the enemy starts controlling larger parts of the map.

However, DW7E didn't get all patches from the Japanese version, which is why we're not sure about DW8E's situation.

 

[TheSpoiler]

Holy shit that pillar weapon has status effects tied to it. Double elements then?

I'll be grabbing this on the PC day one. Last game I played on the PC was like 7 and it ran pretty well.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Damn, had no clue about this...

I recently got into Musou Games, and wanted to play an Empires game...but I have so many games as it is. Yakuza 4, Monster Hunter, Xenoverse, Rainbow Curse...

I'll pick it up soon enough, though.

 

[Spainkiller]

I still don't get it. This is supposed to be a strategy game, but all the gameplay I see of it is the standard Musou hack & slash fare? Where's the strategy? Is it all menu-based decision-making or something? How does it factor in with the Musou action gameplay?

 

[Spainkiller]

Never mind, I think I get it now.

I think I'll stick to Hyrule Warriors and Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate.

 

[biteren]

Tuesday cant come soon enough

 

[FallingEdge]

Only question for me is PS4 or PC. In any case, can't wait!

 

[Shauni]

Do these games tend to go on sale very often? I'm curious about Empires, but I'm not sure if I want to risk a full $50 on it. The idea of a light sim with occasional bouts of mosou-ism sounds like something I may enjoy.

 

[serversurfer]

No, you can only import how your character looks, none of the stats since this game uses a different leveling/stat system.



The Complete Edition (PS4 only) is the definitive version of DW8. Xtreme Legends is the usual expansion pack that's PS3 only.

Empires games are just a side game, with more focus on the kingdom sim and the create a character aspects. The only definitive part is that some characters get new weapons which we'll probably see anyway in DW9.

Looks like I have DW8:Complete. Is that a good place to jump in to the series? That's a "musou," or whatever, and you control your army from the battlefield like Caesar? But in Empires, it's more of a standard strategy game?

 

[biteren]

looks like im gonna be spending a few hours re-editing everyone before i even get to playing the game, i made so many edit chars in 7 empires...

honestly i dont mind at all, i get a little giddy as i design a back story to each char/kingdom...

this is gonna be awesome!

 

[autoduelist]

How in depth is the overworld strategy game? I only have Dynasty Warriors Next to use as comparison.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

How in depth is the overworld strategy game? I only have Dynasty Warriors Next to use as comparison.

Hmmm.....there's alot of things. Going off DW7, theres marriages, alliances, theres about 20-30 areas to conquer, strategy revolves around getting troops, resources, building up equipment, getting things like horses or weapons for your generals, recruiting. It's pretty...basic though. But I'm not trying to say it's a bad thing, it spices it up!

 

[Gibbo]

Sorry if i missed it in the OP, but is the PC port based on the PS4 engine this time?or is it the HD PS3 version that the PC received for DW8

 

[Rymuth]

I've spruced the FAQ section and added the Custom Scenario in the features.

Sorry if i missed it in the OP, but is the PC port based on the PS4 engine this time?or is it the HD PS3 version that the PC received for DW8

Hmmm. I've asked around and it *kinda* looks like it might be an HD PS3 version for PC.

 

[IronicTonic]

Apparently there's no online for the PC version major dissapointment for me.

 

[Scribble]

It looks like we'll be paying for a broken game. Apparently there's a bug where male NPCs speak with female voices and vice versa. This is exactly how the Japanese version was shipped (it's been patched six times since then) and Koei tend to treat us non-Japanese fans like shit when it comes to patches.

 

[Kojirospath]

Anyone know what dlc works with this game? I was wonderinh if the bladestorm and orochi troops skins worked with empires?

 

[Atwa]

Still don't know if I should get this one. Only played 30 hours of DW8XL, so got tons of stuff to go back to there if I want to, on the other hand. I don't really like Ambition Mode.

 

[AdawgDaFAB]

I'm tight for money right now, so I'll only be able to grab the PS4 F2P version. I just want to at least try out all the moveset changes for now and possibly play with some friends who buy the full game.

 

[studyguy]

Apparently there's no online for the PC version major dissapointment for me.

Man again??
What a bummer, DW would work so well with PC multiplayer.

Does Samurai Warriors have online on consoles? We're supposed to get that soon on PC as well iirc. I bet it won't have anything online either.
Wth Koei.

 

[Seyavesh]

so uh, is this supposed to be on steam? i haven't seen it on the steam store list at all