Thanks, they worked fine. I definitely planned to turn it off immediately; I was just curious how cutscenes and gameplay looked with it off. I *think* I found some videos of gameplay after I posted, but it was hard to tell between the Youtube compression, the descriptions not being in English, and the minimal graphical upgrade in general.
This'll be the first Dynasty Warriors I've bought since 6 (of which I barely played), so I'm looking forward to it. I don't think 4 can ever be topped in my eyes, but here's to hoping this one comes close!