[Review] Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends (PS3)

Undoubtedly, hack and slasher fan favorite Dynasty Warriors has been known to pushits fans to collect just about every item and weapon and complete every stage. Withthe advent of DLC based add-ons, the series’ long time expansion, Xtreme Legends, seemed like it would becoming in the form of DLC for sure. Alas, fans will be receiving a full retailgame instead, which will inevitably beg the question of whether there is enoughnew content to warrant such a release.

Most notably, the game features three new characters for Wei,returning officer from Dynasty Warriors 5character Pang De, who wields dual axes like Zhang Liao; Wang Yi, a newcharacter who uses dual blades at lightning quick speeds; and Guo Jia, astrategist who uses a staff and giant billiard balls to attack enemies. Thelatter two are quite interesting; whereas Wang Yi is a blast to play as sheplows through the field, Guo Jia’s billiard formation allow lots of fun to behad as he places them around him and even lets his musou rip enemies apart ashe can continues to attack.

On the weapon side, Omega Force has introduced four newweapons for preexisting characters Xiahou Dun, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, and ZhangFei. Considering how iconic these characters are, it’s only right that theyreceived unique weapons this time around and it certainly aids the issue ofhaving multiple characters with eerily similar movesets in Dynasty Warriors 7. With these weapons, the four characters feelmore like their original selves from previous iterations of the game. Much likethe story of Romance of the ThreeKingdoms towards the end, the Wu kingdom is eerily silent, given noadditional rosters or weaponry, which will be disappointing to some fans.

Loyal fans of the series will be rewarded with the Remixmode, one that avid Dynasty Warriorsplayers will be familiar with, where players disc swap the original version withthe respective Xtreme Legends discfor additional content. This may have been acceptable ten years ago, but onlyproves to be an annoyance and inconvenience when DLC would have been a farbetter route. While previous versions of the Remix mode simply allow players toplay through the original’s campaign, Remix mode this time around actuallyenhances the story and conquest modes, adding multiplayer support, the newofficers from Xtreme Legends, and allowingplayers to use any officer desired.

New to this expansion is the inclusion of the Legend and Challengemodes. Legend mode offers another campaign for players as they build up a cityfrom its humble beginnings into a haven for the emperor, playing throughrecreations of stages from past Dynasty Warriorsgames and original level designs. To quench players’ thirst for item and weaponcollection, this mode offers additional item for players and weapons if theycomplete explicit conditions on the Chaos or Nightmare difficulties. This is awelcome change from the past, when players were forced to look through internetwalkthroughs instead just to seek the proper conditions for unlocking weapons. Thoughthis may sound daunting, the game’s inclusion of titles, which can have effectsfrom life absorption to increased damage against officers, makes the Chaosdifficulty more manageable, save for a couple of random hits that will quicklydrain away at a player’s life bar. Challenge mode offers players a chance to showtheir skills, either by taking down as many officers or troops as possible,knocking units off a platform while staying atop, or running through a level asquickly as possible.

Xtreme Legendsadds a healthy amount of new content for players who may have already plowedthrough Dynasty Warriors 7. However,the disc-based rather than DLC route proves to be an inconvenience that relieson decade old technology rather than embraces the new. This game definitelyimproves upon the original experience,but will be lost upon players who are playing sans Dynasty Warriors 7. 

Available on: PS3; Publisher: Tecmo Koei; Developer: Omega Force; Players: 1-2; Released: November 15, 2011; ESRB: Teen; Official Site

Note: A retail copy was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.

[Denki for Listening] Episode 5 - Cool Story, Brah!

Though I may have been plagued by the lack of a PC and PS3 in recent weeks, this week's episode marked the return of my computer and hopefully some holiday favorites like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Amidst the games on everyone's wish lists, I put in some time with and offer impressions on Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends while Jhonny, troubled by an overbearing schedule, still makes time for gaming with iOS favorites like Fieldrunners and Hanging with Friends. In news, I discuss a plethora of Konami news, including the delay of New Love Plus for the 3DS in Japan and Metal Gear Solid 5's confirmation, while Jhonny brings up more Modern Warfare 3 related news and an interesting new Manny Pacquiao app for the iPhone. Here's to you getting up to level 500 on Fieldrunners, Jhonny!

Feel free to subscribe to us through iTunes and leave some feedback. If you have any questions or comments, go ahead and send them to info@denkiphile.com for us to read on the next podcast!


Download Link

[Friday Five] Good Reasons to Import

Back in the days of cartridge converters and illegal modifications all for the purpose of playing imported games, most American gamers only heard about the elusive Japanese games and could only find out about them from rare magazine articles or word of mouth. With the internet and a greater interest in gaming, not only is there more information making it to western gamers by way of individual user created videos, but there is a greater number of games making their way to western shores as well. Although that is the case, people still import games – and for good reason. Here are at least five reasons why to import a game instead of waiting for it to come overseas.

Japanese Voice Acting

This isn’t much of a knock against English voice acting, really. It has been done successfully before and games like the Metal Gear Solid series (which originally has Japanese voice acting) and many American games, since it is the game’s native language. However, let’s not forget the horrible translations that make it over without any Japanese audio option: Final Fantasy, the Dynasty Warrior series (before the free godsend DLC), and many others that I have probably blocked out from my memory. Just like with movies, lackluster acting can easily take the audience out of the experience and turn any potential blockbuster product into a dud. Here’s to those of you lucky enough to understand Japanese – your Final Fantasy experience will be infinitely better than others who are subjected to emotionless cries of characters’ names as they fall in battle.

Cultural Differences

While this may not apply as much to general gaming as much as it applies to any work that is translated. Anyone who’s familiar with more than one culture knows what I’m talking about. Some phrases and aspects of culture just can’t be translated. Cultural ideas like saying “gochisoosama” after a meal and speaking to employers or older classmates in the honorific speech, keego, that Japanese people use would be awkward if translated directly into English. Of course, there are acceptable replacements for the most part that localizers manage to think of, but purists can never be satisfied. But hey, that’s on them and they’re perfectly justified in spending about 50% more for an import copy!

Withheld Content

This is an odd one. Some games, despite being brought over, are not given to western gamers in their entirety. As much as I loved Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3and will ooze everytime I destroy entire squads of Zakus, it will always sting knowing that I won’t be doing that to tracks like “Unicorn” or “Turn A Turn.” InYakuza 3, fans were unable to take part in the hostess clubs or Japanese history trivia in the domestic release. Of course, this is a small price to pay compared to not having the game published at all, but it does take part of the experience away, which is a shame.

Waiting is Not an Option

I’m not talking about getting the jitters to play the latest niche RPG just so you can show off and tell others about it. I’m not talking about running through Final Fantasy XIII-2 with a complete disregard for the story just to be able to troll the internet with a spoiler screenshot. I’m talking about competitive gamers who can’t lose the edge to the competition and needs to get any release on day one. For some games, it’s a minor problem. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift’s Japanese release was only about a month before the US release but a full five months before the European one. Arcana Heart 3 took about three months to hit the US and another seven before European gamers got a chance at it. This isn’t only a dilemma for fans of niche genres – Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out in Japan a good two months before it did in the US and five before Europe. That’s a lot of practice and tournament time for a competitive player to give up.

It Won’t Go to Your Country. Ever.

Many times, those niche games just won’t make it to countries outside of Japan. As hardcore as some of the games’ followers might be, the Super Robot Wars series simply requires too much licensing to be considered a viable release in the states. Due to the original anime’s lack of popularity in the US, the upcoming Saint Seiya Sanctuary Battle will likely never make it to America – although it will still have a European release. Let’s not even get ourselves started on the obscure releases that westerners are unlikely to take to, such as dating simulator Love Plus+, and games that failed the one time a publisher brought it over, like the Taiko series. If you like these games, your options look grim and bank account empty. Yeah. You’re going to have to buy it.