The newest from Koei Tecmo, the publishers behind the legendary Nioh series, Ninja Gaiden series and of course the Dynasty Warriors series. The last game in the series was Dynasty Warriors 9 which came out in 2018 almost 7 years ago. It did not live up to the expectations that fans were hoping for and thus interest for the series had died down.
But Koei Tecmo had released a trailer in Sony’s state of play earlier this year announcing that the next one in the series is set to be released in January of 2025. Furthermore, the game will focus more on the narrative front while also making sure to rectify the mistakes of its predecessor.
Revised Combat Mechanics
The demo that is available to play on PC, PS5 and Xbox already shows the work that was put in by Omega Force, the developers of the franchise. The impressive and highly detailed visuals, the popping of the colors in the midst of battle and the general feel of the game are a lot more improved when compared to its predecessor.
The combat has received some clear revisions and improvements, any swings we take be it a sword, halberd or even our bare fists feel much more effective and flashy. Hitting multiple enemies has never felt this good before, along with the improvements to combat an emphasis has been put on performing perfect parries which continue the flow of combat and allow us to perform critical attacks that do massive damage.
The combos we perform seem much more seamless and flow much better, giving the player incentive to perform them as much as possible to clear out the battlefield. All in all, these improvements are a signal to all those who have been craving for the authentic Dynasty warriors that the franchise has returned and it is back to its roots.
A Focus On Visuals
As previously mentioned, from the demo it seems clear that there was a proper emphasis on visuals, the battlegrounds seem much more detailed and varied, long gone are the similar looking trees and barren battle fields that we would ride through in the old games.
The areas and battlegrounds this time look much more natural and repeatedly used textures or building faces aren’t as obvious anymore, which does more than its share in improving the experience of what it means to play a Dynasty Warriors game.
The characters themselves look more lively and they are able to show their expressions more clearly. Every character has their own unique style which helps in distinguishing them and design helps in giving a clear picture of who they are and what their personalities are like.
Some New Features
There is now a new over-world map that is a breath of fresh air to travel between battlefields, purchase items or it can even be used to converse with NPCs relevant to their areas or points of interest.
There is a system where we can choose a general to accompany us during mission preparation, during the mission we can take control of whoever we pick for a short time period. Choosing to control them at the right time can quite literally turn the tide of battle, this becomes increasingly crucial on the higher difficulties.
Activating their special abilities at the right time can help in dealing massive damage to enemies around or on the boss that we are facing or just killing them outright. They can also be called when our character becomes low on health and there aren’t any more potions left to use.
A Hopeful Conclusion
While the demo is out for fans or potential fans to try out, it is always recommended to wait for the full game to come out along with reviews. The game has the potential to be one of the best for 2025 if the demo is anything to go off. It seems the developers really took it to heart with the failings the predecessor had.
We can only wait a few weeks until the full game comes out, which is 17th of January to experience what the iconic Dynasty warrior games felt like for both veteran and new players to the series.
