It’s taken a while but Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires has finally arrived on the PlayStation Vita and boy, was it worth the wait.
Everything has been carried over the console versions, which means a fully strategic battle simulator complete with hack n’ slash elements. To give a bit of background, Dynasty Warriors Empires is a popular spin-off of the franchise that focuses more on large-scale army management than the story-based progression found in the standard games. For players new to the series this can be somewhat daunting, though it’s worth persevering as it adds a whole other dimension to the game.
Graphically, it’s not exactly a looker and has been seriously toned down when compared to its console counterpart. Textures are very low resolution and environments feel very empty, though the character models are mostly okay. These technical cut-backs were likely done to achieve a smooth frame-rate on the handheld, which we’re glad to report has worked. Even during the more tensely -packed scenes, there didn’t seem to be any noticeable slowdown.
It’s worth noting that there are still storyline elements in the game, they’re just greatly reduced. The game begins with you creating your character and choosing their move set, before giving the opportunity to customise your army. Everything from their clothing to the banner and even the horses can be altered, giving plenty of opportunity for some unusual designs. Cross-save functionality also means you’ll be able to use PS4 characters on the Vita and vice-versa, pretty handy if you own both titles.
When you’ve finally finished having fun with the incredibly deep army creation tool, it’s time to jump into the actual gameplay. Empires follows real Chinese history to provide context for the battles but from there, it’s up to you. Depending on the outcome, you’re essentially free to re-write things as you see fit and lead previously beaten armies into victory. Things are played out in a month-by-month scenario, with time between major battles to plan strategies and manage your empire. The whole thing can get quite menu heavy and at higher difficulties really becomes an integral part of your pre-fight planning. When the battle inevitably arrives, you’ll be glad you made those alliances and spent time recruiting extra help.
In terms of the actual fighting mechanics, this is Dynasty Warriors through and through. Generals are assigned to their posts and areas must be captured to advance the battle further. From there, you’ll likely be running around solo cutting things up in your path and chaining combos. Stratagem cards are back and grant a series of single-use special abilities on the field, which become invaluable on higher difficulties. The implementation of them on the Vita is so much better than the console versions, with the cards only needing a touch-tap to activate. Once a battle has ended, you get various rewards and bonus points for your performance, plus resources for additional upgrades. From there you simply repeat the cycle.
Koei Tecmo are making good strides with the series and Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires is one of their best additions yet. On the Vita especially, it almost feels like it was made for the handheld, such is the perfect pick-up-and-play gameplay.
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