While I have never played a DW game, the game looks quite interesting and a change of pace in regards to shooters and RPG's that I normally play.

Since one of the kids lost my Killzone 2 game yesterday, I figured this would be a good break to play Fight Night 4 (which I purchased yesterday, never played a FN game before), Prototype and maybe DW6 for a change.

I am curious to hear from folks that have played DW6 or any other DW game.

Thanks,

Honestly, DW6 felt pretty flat compared to previous entries in the series. The fighting system got a little dumber, the character roster was reduced, and some past favorite characters lost their appeal when their fighting styles were changed.

For the main series, DW5 for the PS2 is probably the best all-around choice. It has the biggest roster, seas of enemies, and the best weapon system. If you don't have any familiarity with the Three Kingdoms story, then DW4 might be a better starting point -- its campaigns go by kingdom instead of by character, so the narrative is clearer.

Once you're familiar with the core story and gameplay, the Empires offshoots of the series give the game some added strategic and tactical depth, allowing you to build and manage armies, then lead them into battle DW style in an attempt to unify China. While I've only just gotten DW6:Empires, I still think DW4:Empires was the best of the bunch (and the first of its type). It had some slowdown problems, and the time limit on battles was really short, but the battlefield action was great, and things got incredibly hectic as you cut the enemy down to its last base or two. DW5:E and DW6:E seem closer to their mainstream counterparts on the battlefield, and may have more management options than necessary.

If you don't mind button mashing and you haven't played the other games, DW6 might actually be a decent purchase for you -- but it's not the best the series has to offer.

- Jer

I just wanted to add that after playing DW6:Empires for a while, I've seen more of what it has to offer and I've warmed to it considerably. Being able to move between Vagrant, Officer, and Ruler over the course of the same campaign is pretty neat, and the Mercenary missions offer a nice change of pace. I like how they refactored the Renbu system into a weapon leveling system, and the optional carry-forward of some money and items from a completed game is a nice compromise on the persistent character stat issue.

I have mixed feelings about the new card system, and the return to DW4:E's model of sharing one small set of officers across all your territories while your opponents don't is kind of disappointing (though DW5:E required too much officer management when it tried to do it right, so I don't know what to suggest).

That said, I've had some battlefield moments in DW6:E that rival the best that DW4:E had to offer, and DW6:E brought back most of the characters missing from the original DW6, so it may actually give DW4:E a run for its money in the end.

- Jer

If you've never played a DW game, I'd say give it a try - the DW experience can be very addictive and rewarding.

Agreed. Pick it up, play around. Beware the addiction!

The last DW game I bought, I think, was 4...maybe 3.

I played DW6 at my cousins' place, but was very disappointed in the weapons. They felt very generic and the fighting styles were too similar.

Did they improve that with DW6:E?

If so, I may consider this game, as my wife hasn't been able to play a game with me (except for Rock Band and SingStar) since December.

I played DW6 at my cousins' place, but was very disappointed in the weapons. They felt very generic and the fighting styles were too similar.

Did they improve that with DW6:E?

All of the carried over characters from DW6 keep their same moveset. Some of the new characters in DW6:E are minor tweaks on the existing movesets, but others are unique (like Meng Huo, who now wields a stone pillar and can throw rocks, or Ling Tong with his nunchaku). If you found the DW6 movesets universally boring, then DW6:E probably won't bring enough new stuff to change your mind -- but since you'll generally stick with one character throughout a campaign, you really only need a handful of movesets that you like to keep things fun.

If you haven't tried them in the main game yet, Yue Ying, Sun Shang Xiang, and Sima Yi have pretty unique movesets, too...

- Jer

Eh, I'll probably just play it at my cousins' at the next family gathering.

Well, I plan on trading a few games to get this one in the next few weeks. Right now I just puchased a bunch of games that I am going to try and finish before purchasing DW6.

Thanks for the information thus far.

One other question.

Is this game more like an RTS where you move your forces around? Do you get to build/level up stuff to make your forces better?

Kinda. It's not so much RTS as turn-based strategy. In the battle, you can do some things that will make it seem like an RTS, but very limited.

Is this game more like an RTS where you move your forces around? Do you get to build/level up stuff to make your forces better?

The mainline DW6 game is mostly action with some minor RTS elements that you don't directly control (e.g. officers on your side may run into trouble, and you'll have to decide whether to go help them out or not). DW6:Empires adds an extra layer of RTS elements with supply lines, territorial control, and the ability to issue direct orders to your subordinate officers (e.g. capture a specific base, protect a specific officer, etc.), but the core battlefield gameplay still focuses on action. The turn-based strategy elements really just provide bookends to the battlefield gameplay in DW6:E.

Both DW6 and DW6:E let you gain experience and level up your characters' stats and skills. In DW6 those upgrades are permanent, so you can beef up your characters before taking them into a higher difficulty. In DW6:E the upgrades only apply over the course of a given campaign, but loading a completed game lets you carry over treasure, horses, and/or your chosen character's weapon if you choose. DW6:E also has troop strength and weapon leveling to worry about.

- Jer

After watching a few movies based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms lore, I had the serious itch to play some Dynasty Warriors, so I got DW6: Empires.

It's not bad...it's a whole lot different than the regular Dynasty Warriors series.

I have some questions though.

1) Is there no way to play this game as 2 players right off the bat? My wife and I made some characters and wanted to use them together.
2) At what point does the scenario end? Right now, I'm serving Cao Cao...does Cao Cao have to take over the entire map? When can I choose a new scenario?
3) I've made changed to my custom character, but it doesn't appear to show up on the character I'm currently playing. When can I change the weapon and keep the stats?
4) As an officer or a vagrant, are you able to have more than 4 friends? Or, do you need to be a ruler?

Just got Empires myself - for the 360, though - Target had it on clearance for $30. So I'm interested to know these answers, too :)

1) Is there no way to play this game as 2 players right off the bat?
Haven't tried 2-player, so I couldn't really say. Created warriors tend to show up a lot in mercenary missions, so you may be able to befriend your wife's character pretty quickly. You may be able to select specific subordinates in the Chaos scenario, too, which would give you another angle.

2) At what point does the scenario end? Right now, I'm serving Cao Cao...does Cao Cao have to take over the entire map? When can I choose a new scenario?
It ends when you take over every territory or reach the turn limit (year 300?). You can't pick a new scenario within the same game -- each scenario becomes its own saved game. The one thing you can do is load the save from a completed game to unlock some starting bonuses in a new game, and these points will accumulate over successive games.

3) I've made changed to my custom character, but it doesn't appear to show up on the character I'm currently playing. When can I change the weapon and keep the stats?
I believe that your created warriors get locked in when you start your game, and changes won't take effect until you start a new game. AFAIK you can't switch weapons and carry over stats.

4) As an officer or a vagrant, are you able to have more than 4 friends? Or, do you need to be a ruler?
I think you have to be a ruler to get over 4.

- Jer

Thanks.

When you said that you can't switch weapons and carry over stats...is that in reference to immediate changes? Or when completing a scenario and moving on to the next one, carrying over your weapon stats?

When you said that you can't switch weapons and carry over stats...is that in reference to immediate changes? Or when completing a scenario and moving on to the next one, carrying over your weapon stats?
Both, sort of. Immediate character changes never carry into an already existing saved game, and character stats never carry over to the next scenario. However, with enough bonus points from completed scenarios you can give yourself a big wad of starting cash for an early skill boost, carry over your horses, and carry over your weapon (but I think it has to be the same weapon on exactly the same character). You can also buy some rare resources off the bat if you like.

- Jer

Thanks.

I finally beat a scenario (seemed like it took forever). Before starting a new one, I changed my CAW's weapon. The level, imbues, and skills were the same as the previous weapon. So, you can change the weapon up and not have to worry about rebuying everything for your weapons. Very nice...and makes the game play extremely easy. Not to mention that I switched it from Normal to Easy just to get through all the scenarios as soon as possible.

The character my wife was using in the previous save is now walking around this story with a maximum level weapon, several imbues, and 4 skills. Glad she's on my side this time around.