Before I go on with this review, I need to get a little autobiographical here. (Please scroll to the fiftth paragraph, if uninterested). Dynasty Warriors on the PSP was my first purchased game and my third game overall for the PSP. But besides that, it was the very first game that I reviewed ever. Back then, Giantbomb didn't exist, so I posted my thoughts on gamefaqs.com.
And guess what? I gave the game a 10 out of 10.
So as time went on, as I became more comfortable in reviewing games and subjected to game review sites such as Gamespot and IGN, I look back at that review and thought, "Man, was I stupid at that time". Almost half a decade later, I have decided to give a second crack at reviewing this game.
So... here I go.
Dynasty Warriors is the first ever game for the hack-and slash franchise on the PSP. It uses the roster, look and style of play from Dynasty Warriors 4 (or 3, if you are from Japan). And to a certain extent, DW on the PSP could look like a seamless transition to the portable platform. The staples such as the normal, charged and musou attacks are still there. Likwise, you'll be pitted against hundreds of soliders (well, kinda) and sometimes other heroes from the Three Kingdoms Period. And of course, speaking of the 3 Kingdoms, the storyline is still the same, with three factions attempting to unite all of China.
With that in mind, however, does that make Dynasty Warriors a good game? Well, its console counterpart, DW4, isn't exactly a godsend to the franchise either. And like the games before it, DW4 is all about hacking and slashing through hundreds of meat shields with inccessant button mashing. With that core transitioning to the PSP, Dynasty Warriors is about hacking and slashing through... well, you get the picture. But given the limitations on the PSP, the game has also made compromises to its presentation (which wasn't that good, to begin with) and its game flow, although it isn't drastic enough to deviate the game as a whole from the franchise. As a result, Dynasty Warriors is a subpar third person action game that should be considered as either a short rental or a "might-get" for Dynasty Warriors fans.
The storyline behind Dynasty Warriors is once again about conquest like the other DW games. It's about 3 factions (Wu, Shu and Wei) vying for control over all of China. However, to the game's credit, there are some new storylines that are not in canon with the history. For example, what would happen should Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turban Rebellion actually overthrow the Han throne? What would happen should Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu and Diao Chan win the Battle of Hu Lao Gate? What about the Nanman Tribe's Meng Huo and Zhu Rong? What would their fictional conquest of China look like? These are intriguing storylines, but the game puts these interesting ideas into irrelevance. The stories are presented in slides of texts and that's about it (well, there is in-game chatter during a battle, but that's almost nothing). Let's just say that the stories are worth forgetting, which is a shame because there is certainly potential.
Now let's get to the part where things are more different than the mainstream DW games, and that's the battlefield where every character is going to fight in. I am not talking about the dull plains and unexciting caves. It's that the battlefied has been split into little squares. You move around each of those squares when navigating the battlefield, meaning that the game changed from one huge battle to around 15-20 smaller battles. In each of these battles, each side has a morale bar. The army whose bar reaches zero first is defeated. This is, thankfully, not much of a change, although the only difference is that you'll need to take more time to move around the battlefield.
But a newer concept in this game are the officers. Depending on how many command points you have (It differs for each character), you can recruit officers to fight alongside you. Not only are they extra hands, they also come with some abilities. For instance, some could give you health in exchange for their own. Some could increase your army's morale in a square, while others decrease the opponent's morale. In addition, when you level up, they level up with you as well until the end of a stage. The officer system is a nice idea, but it really doesn't change what you do on the battlefield.
We finally get to the combat system, which is the common thread between both Dynasty Warriors and DW4. As stated earlier, you have 3 main attacks: The spammy normal attack, the slower charged attack, and the super-ultra Musou attack. Well, you do have a set of arrows to shoot opponents from afar, but there's no way you're going to use that often. You also have the standard combos of (Square button X [X= 1-5]) + Triangle = combo that does cool thing. Of course, this battle system makes it easy to pick up and play, but after knowing the basics, you know just about everything there is to learn from the game. Whether you like this type of combat is, of course, based on your preferences.
Despite staying mostly faithful to the game it is sculpted after, there are some glaring weaknesses in Dynasty Warriors. Firstly, the game is too easy. The only way you would lose is by losing your commander in battle or running out of the supplies (aka the time limit). The former is as frequent as a solar eclipse, and the latter doesn't occur too often, because you often have enough time to finish the mission. The game increases the difficulty with some cheap, cop-out solutions: An overpowered Lu-Bu with god-like stats, and making enemies tougher to kill. But those adjustments don't really change the way you play. You'll still be doing the same thing to beat them, and that's spamming combos and using the Musou attack as often as you can.
The presentation is also lacking. Not that this is a strong point for the franchise anyway, but the drawbacks are noticeable in Dynasty Warriors. Everything, from the characters to the soldiers to the buildings, lack detail. The faces of the characters are noticeably blocky and a bit ugly to watch. The soundtrack has its standard rock music that is totally uninteresting and not worth discussing.
At least the game has a little bit of longevity. There are over 5 storylines to complete, with over 20 characters, although each storyline (and the missions in them) look like every other storyline. There are hundreds of officers to collect, although like the storyline, they are hard to separate. Once again, the replay value that you get out of this game depends on your preference. However, there is no multiplayer involved, which is bad because this game is more exciting with more than 1 player.
Overall, Dynasty Warriors on the PSP doesn't stray beyond the typical features from the franchise. It is still a button masher at its core while having little sprinkles of depth. Sadly, it isn't exactly the best Warriors game on the PSP, because I actually like its sequel better (DW Volume 2). But it can offer short spurts of fun, so a rental isn't out of the question.
Breakdown:
Story: 2/5
It is barely worth mentioning, and each storyline is so similar in nature.
Gameplay: 3/5
At least the game is functional, but outside of a few combos there is little depth in the fighting system. The game is also too easy and the way the game tries to mask that is cheap.
Presentation: 2/5
The graphics lack detail and polish. There are also no memorable soundtracks
Bonuses, Alternatives and Replay Value: 3/5
5 storylines and over 20 characters. Looks good on paper, but you won't be doing anything different from character to character, from story to story.
Overall: 10/20 (2 and a half stars)
Not a buy for DW fans because of better options (think DW Vol 2, also on the PSP). But a short rental is plausible since it offers short bursts of fun and entertainment.
