Dynasty Warriors 4.

[Drewbacca]

Wicked. I love DW3! It's one of the little known PS2 greats that many people overlook. (Hey, 3 hit when Tony Hawk 3, MGS 2 and GTA 3 hit within a month or so from one another and the launch of 2 spanking new consoles. Needless to say it was trampled to death) But I always like the series and will probably end up buying 4 in April or May.

[ChaoofNee]

Unfortunately, I've heard that Koei is also dumping the Chinese histroy after these next few games and moving to Egyptian. 'least that's what my friend said. No idea where he got it from or even if it's true, but take it for what you will.

Still, I can't wait to play this.

[StriderKyo]

I can't see myself buying this unless there are some serious improvements. There's only so much of the Three Kingdoms that even I can take. Here's some improvements I'd love to see:

• Multiplayer! And by that, I mean more than 2. Would 4 player split-screen really be that hard to implement? Okay, yeah it probably would...on Xbox maybe?
  
• Online play. This would be one way to do the multiplayer. It would probably be less taxing than having a 4 way split screen, and it would be really cool if you could match one army up against another.
  
• Different scenarios. I've played through the battle of Wu Zhang plains in about 15 different games now, and this series is going to get stale in a hurry if they follow the same history every time. Take a page from Kessen and do different wars - I'd kill to see this game with the Nobunaga guys, or even Ghengis Khan.
  
• Hire real voice actors - an ongoing Koei problem. Too many characters, not enough budget. But tell me they can't do better than Xu Shu's voice in DW3!
  
• Engine upgrade - this is the one thing that's definitely going to happen in 4. Better draw distance, less legs warping through the backs of robes, etc.
  
• What's up with the music? Kessen gets a soundtrack for the ages by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra that would have made Kurosawa proud . So does Dynasty Tactics. Dynasty Warriors, now their bread and butter, gets a cheesy synth-guitar soundtrack. What gives?
  
• More moves! You do a heck of alot of fighting in this game. Making the combo engine a bit more complex, adding more special moves would really help this game stay fresh longer.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll end up playing this, but it's hard for me to get really pumped about it since I've already played basically the same game twice before.

Originally posted by ChaoofNee
Unfortunately, I've heard that Koei is also dumping the Chinese histroy after these next few games and moving to Egyptian. 'least that's what my friend said. No idea where he got it from or even if it's true, but take it for what you will.

It was in this month's OPM rumour column. I'll believe it when I see it. They may do the next Kessen as one of Ramses II or Alexander's battles or something, or start a new series. But they've done the impossible - managed to make a success out of a series that features hyper-asian characters with names like Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao. No way they just abandon all that marketing now.

[Drewbacca]

Originally posted by ChaoofNee
Unfortunately, I've heard that Koei is also dumping the Chinese histroy after these next few games and moving to Egyptian. 'least that's what my friend said. No idea where he got it from or even if it's true, but take it for what you will.

Still, I can't wait to play this.

Egyptian history is just as enthralling as Chinese. They are very similar in the structure of heroes, dicipline and strange creatures. Mongolian history would rock too.

Just because something changes doesn't mean it would be bad.

[ChaoofNee]

YES IT DOES!
Dynasty Warriors was better before it was created. That was when it was 2D.
Now it's 3D! It's not right! They should have kept it as they didn't conceive of it at all! They changed it to what it ended up being!

[AaronChance]

They should really look what they did with Crimson Sea and try to bring as much of that gameplay wise into the game. Things like different weapons that aren't just extra stats and the exact same attacks, missions that aren't always kill the enemy general and dance his grave, getting rid of that damn fog, etc.

There's a lot of room for improvement, though I still think it's a great series.

Oh, I seriously doubt they'll change to a different history when the Romance of the Three Kingdoms really does help to sell the title. It's like replacing Mario with a rapping warthog or something. People aren't going to miss the difference.

[J2d]

DW4 scored a 36/40 in Famitsu. 2 got 31/40, couldn't dig up a score for 3.

[Drewbacca]

Keep diggin'!

And I like fog. Without it we would be able to see EVERYTHING! And, by damnit, there's some things I just don't WANT to see. (Any photos of Whoopie Goldberg. And I'm not talking nudity here, just plain pictures)

[Thief Silver]

u must get the black horse...in [tong gates] liu bei side:even in easy mode .ok start kill all 4 general in right side [don't kill gates captain first,wait]then the ice gate open kill xu huang & yu jin.....then kill cao cao
---guard general 1 is fat xu chu.& the thin 1..I think a event after gates open that show our troop fine many horse...the trik is u must madoe cao cao morale drop... one easy way is keep the gates captain at start..and after the many horse kill all gates captain.another ways is kill his guard general or shot the bow troop at tah tower......this black horse very special u can't drop even get hit by lu bu...I have try new hero in hard mode..very easy to finish the stage...esspecially with ma chao the T hits....like u hits with jumbo very useful.......just try
*I just love myself* [used to work with TRIAD]

Yeah ok, this guy is in 2nd grade. Now for the translation I submitted for the thread on GameFaqs.

An Easy Way to Finish the game, Even in Weak (Pla'r?) and Hard Mode.

You must get the black horse as Lui Bei in any mode. Kill the 4 generals on the right side (On the map I suppose) but ignore the gate captain. Then when the ice gate opens, xu huang & yu jin will appear, kill them. Follow up by killing Cao Cao, The Fat one is Xu Chu and the thin one (No name able to be seen) I think an event occurs after the gate opens, showing the troops many fine horses. The trick is to have Cao Cao's morale drop. One easy way is to keep the gate captains alive at the start, then after the event kill them off. Another way is to kill his gaurd captain (Assuming Cao Cao's) or shoot the archer up in the tower. The Black horse is very special, you won't fall even if your hit by Lu Bu. I have to try a new hero in hard mode, very easy to finish the stage after doing this especially with Ma Chao the T hits (No clue) Like you hit with Jumbo, very useful. Just try *I love myself*[This guys an idiot].

[TaiMaiShu]

I'll try to pick this up next week...Been looking forward to it all month.