DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition

There is no online co-op

The best game in the Dynasty Warriors series - branching stories, massive amounts of content, good balance between powerful attacks without going complete insane with the power scaling like some of the new entries, great coverage of the entire RoTK world because of the multiple independent viewpoints/what-if scenes, great soundtrack, customizable camp, it's all there.

This is a biased review. I've missed playing a DW game and to be able to play this on my laptop (hand-me down) with no issues is pretty amazing. The game FIRE

The Game, very Good..!

this game is so good

this is a very good hybrid between hack-n-slash and RTS, held hostage by 100s of hours of progression hell button masher.
if you're looking for the latter, then i don't need to elaborate any further on recommending this.
however if you're curious whether dynasty warriors is a real video game and not just a baby sensory video for the yellow fevered, i promise you it is, and its a great one, and all you have to do to play it is download a 100% save file and play on the highest difficulty.

why cant you play on the highest difficulty from the start? stats are the answer, and the biggest flaw. it is effectively impossible to play higher difficulties initially because enemies become insane damage sponges, taking several minutes to kill just one officer. which forces you to grind for levels and weapons on the lower difficulties, where the enemies display their lobotomite behaviour that the series is often criticised for. gain too many numbers, and the game flips back to being thoughtless button mashing. good balance is fleeting.

so the solution here is to have all your characters at max level, and the game on the highest difficulty. that stabilises the stats, and reveals the games true balance. your equipped weapon, skills, and bodyguards then become the de-facto difficulty settings, and regardless of how you tweak it, the game will always be fair and engaging, and won't tip the delicate balance because of too many or few levels. this is the true game, with the true AI that actually puts up a fight, and its the carrot on the stick that the game would have you chasing otherwise. you can still play through the campaigns in order, you won't be overpowered or miss out on anything. all you miss is progression through ambition mode, which is just randomly generated missions you grind.

with all that stripped away, whats the appeal of the game itself? you get a beat-em-up sort of combat system. no lock-on, rollspam or parry-slop here, you have attacks, a block button that lets you strafe (kinda like spikeout strafing, excellent 3d bmup), and jump that you use for aerial combos or general evasion. combat has a solid foundation of fundies, though not as good as a dedicated bmup, and a lot of the meter mechanics undermine it somewhat. there are weak soldiers that swarm you and are deadly in large groups, beefier officers with more involved movesets that you usually face in groups of 2-5, and the other playable characters which sort of act as bosses. the combat and enemy designs are solid but nothing remarkable on their own.

where it gets interesting is in the broadstrokes. each map is a large battlefield where the objective is usually to kill the enemy commander. however, when the game is balanced correctly, you can't just run across the map and nae-nae the boss, because there are literally hundreds of enemies defending key objectives and chokepoints, and trying to pass alone is like trying to swim through a sea of needles. you have to allow your allied characters and forces to gather, so that they can support you as you slowly push through the enemy lines, all the while they are calling reinforcements and trying to fuck you over with various assaults and strategies that divert your offensive or require you to fall back to defend an objective. you are not a one-man army, you are one general IN an army, and its a very unique and immersive experience that makes each stage feel like a true battle, often taking 20+ minutes to clear. the game doesn't explain the macro side of things at all, so you'll likely have to look online to understand stuff like the morale system for example, but once you get a grip on how it wants you to play, its fun.

and an exceptional thing beyond the gameplay, and the appeal for even those who just think its a button masher, is the sheer amount of content, and the inherent richness of the literary and historical setting. you have 83 characters with completely unique movesets, and 6 campaigns comprising well over 100 stages without the dlc, which can also be played as the opposing faction effectively doubling them. and all of this shit is REAL. this HAPPENED in china, 1:1. and it will happen again when the mandate of heaven turns, and it will be us popping-in with spears in hand.

in the interim, this game is worth playing and analysing beyond being a stressball. i almost refunded the thing because it hides this fact so well, but with some persistence i found that there is indeed a good game here with challenge and depth. i hope this can convince the more discerning player to give this a fair shake, and perhaps make other players re-evaluate the virtues of this series.

I've been fans to DW series since childhood and by far I think this series is one of the best to play, with various option of gameplay, campaign, character, and item.

The other part that I like is Ambition Mode. If you lake to write your own path and grind, this is the best mode for it. Even though this not good as DW Empire series that let you build your empire, but I think this one is close enough to that.

controller doesn't work

Game won't start, and when it does, game is locked at 30fps, also crash every 5-10 mins which forces me to restart the map.
My machine is old but I saw a streamer playing this on a toaster while live on youtube, gotta blame the mokokos

The greatest among the other series!

great game

Dynasty Warrior definitely is an old franchise in the Hack & Slash genre. And I'm still amazed that in the eight installment (I'm referring to THIS game), the developer somehow still manage to improve the combat system, adding more complexity yet still managed to make it fairly easy to learn and hard to master (Classic). While at the same time making more playable character with their own unique weapon to the point that some of their weapons are just plain ridiculous. In the Complete Edition, pretty much is the combination of all the variation (Vanilla + Xtreme Legends) so it's pretty much the whole pack minus the extra DLC stuff (for the Die Hard Fans). If you love to beat 100 enemies in a single hit, you might want to try this one.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☑ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☑ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☑ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☑ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

This is the best dynasty warriors game so far, note however that the controller is really hard to set up for it on pc though i used keyboard because of this

classic and amazing good for low effort nights and idk wanna play a massive game "nights"

There is literally a character called Dong Tuna.

Tons of content. If you like DW youll like this. Was not able to run higher than 1080P.

The Best

It's Dynasty Warriors. Romance of the 3 Kingdoms + Unstoppable Chinese powerhouse heroes. So good. 10/10 Maybe mindless at times, but so much fun to play!

One of the best musou games and runs on almost anything.

Love this series, i played the shit out of this on xbox when it originally released
Was great to play on steam again

Fun game

Peak Dynasty Warriors game. Achievement grind is suffering though, finally managed to get all achievements as of this review. English Voice is nostalgia, but Japanese Voice is pretty nice too. The DLC is free so might as well get it.

It is exactly like ever Dynasty Warriors game ever.

You will pick a character.
Fight through a map of mooks for 75 minutes,
get 4,557 kills. (Thats like Genoc!de levels, man)
Die in the last minute to a boss fight you did not know would be that hard, but that you had no way to avoid.
Lost 100% of the last 76 minutes of progress.
Never play it ever again. until you get jerked into buying Dynasty Warriors 17, A New New New New New History.

Terrible pc port. Controller glyphs are wrong and in order to fix it you need to use a texmod that might not even work. Resolution doesn't go above 1080p and there are almost no mods out there to fix it, and there's no borderless option so it will screw with any other windows you have open. The game doesn't close properly either. You're genuinely better off emulating the console version (legally ofc) if you really want to play it. Don't give Koei your money for this.

One of the best DW titles, long campaigns, lots of weapons and variety of build, a bit repetitive but any DW fzn should get this. Runs smoothly on Legion Go

So much fun! I'm happy I've had the chance to re-live my favorite childhood game

Damn, i love this game.

Yes.

This game is a great addition to the franchise and is fun while still presenting a solid challenge for those who want it.

I CANT SAFE THIS GAME IN MY PC DOG!

medicore

I love Dynasty Warriors even since I was a kid. The game is exactly what I expected with great graphics and awesome plots. Highly recommeneded

Do you like defeating mass armies as a single warrior? Do you like History and medieval warfare? Do you want to feel epic whilst killing half-starved peasants? Of course you do! Buy the game. No regret. (Needs a controller really).

Still one of peaks of the Musou franchise even these many years later and practically runs on a potato. After randomly picking it up again as a comfort game while supremely ill, I've been obsessing over it just as much as originally. The story is expansive, the cast of characters is huge, the bugs are unfortunately numerous, Ambition mode is shockingly addictive and provides some of the most fun challenges I've had in a Musou game, this entry borders on perfect with only Dynasty Warriors 5 and Samurai Warriors 4 really coming close to matching it. Especially if Dynasty Warriors 9, Samurai Warriors 5 and Dynasty Warriors Origins don't feel right to you, give this one a go and remember the last time the series really felt good to play.

Literally my only problem so far is the keyboard inputs being permanent that I get some buttons mixed up whenever I play this game with a PS4 controller... and maybe vague requirements for some Star Missions. Otherwise, it's amazing for people that want decloned movesets for everybody so badly. Great tracks, original and old ones alike, getting certain skills, the RPS system and Storm Rush are still tricky while everything else gameplay-wise is very refreshing. It's actually so fun :3

Also I'm literally giving this a chance since I have yet to play DW Origins and I've been spending way too much time on WO3UDE 😅😅😅

Great game to play on steam deck

It's just not a very good version of this series. It's focused on kingdoms instead of characters, it has very poor control support. The rock paper scissors mechanic for which weapons enemies are weak against is dull and annoying. Not a good evolution, the older games were better.

Game I tried to replay after years of not playing. There is a glitch I have tried to reset many times that my keyboard and controller once plugged in will NOT ALLOW setting button mappings. Honestly makes this unplayable, boo!

The game and content is great. This PC port of this game is disappointing.

Major issues with showing only a black screen when launching. Fortunately someone has made a 4K/120fps mod that fixes resolution issues. Although, I think when in deadlock with the enemy (where you must mash attack button to win) it requires superhuman amount of button mashing to win because it's meant for 30fps??? I could be wrong, but that is the only issue I have with DW8 now.

One of the best in the series.

peak of the muso dynasty warrior franchise where each character play style is unique. to play this game on modern day resolution 1080p/1440p/4k and 8k. use lossless scaling and upscale it to the native resolution.if do not want mess with game file with mods as well supports intel, amd and nvidia graphics card.

Love this, it’s my Son and I’s Favorite for years, sadly only 2 player versions, if Origins is not 2 pkayer will not buy.

All Dynasty Warriors are kind of similar, but this is one of the better ones. Tons of fun with friends. Given its age, $50 might be a bit steep, but its worth it on sale.

No resolution higher than 1080p + terrible controller support + the game is based on the inferior ps3 version compared to the one on ps4/5 = steam support granting me a refund after 14+ days have passed good job Koei(I'll still be buying on my ps5)

the best dynasty warriors entry of all time, don't @ me

I've never been sure if I enjoyed Dynasty Warrior games. I've liked some of the spin-off Warriors/Musou games, but never really gave a mainline game a try.

If you're brand new to the series, it might have an effect like Vegemite. Or Miracle Whip. Or whatever food reference fits. Some people will either really love what the game offers, others will have a harder time seeing it. I've had to realize I fall into that latter camp, but I appreciate what's on offer and can see that it would have its audience.

What can be seen as a big plus for some, can easily be seen as a negative for others. So, here's some overview: it's very much a literal hack-n-slash mode of combat. There are combos to be mastered and some timing to perfect, but much of the game is plowing through waves of mobs, seeming to worry more about the named enemy commanders and the higher rank infantry units. You complete objectives along the way, whether it's clearing a group from a gate or taking down a target, etc.

There's a lot happening at once; it can be manageable after giving it some time, but with characters speaking, icons flashing, text boxes appearing, enemies spawning, small victories cheering, etc - it might be enough to put some people off, while others will see no big deal with it (especially after giving it time to get used to.)

The English voices are a little rough, but in an endearing way at times. Other times, you'll hear the same voiceline about 100 times before the mission is done.

It's tough to fully recommend this game, or the Musou franchise in general, but it's also not fair to say it's a "bad" game or franchise. It just has its niche, and it's not easy to immediately tell if you might fall into that niche without playing it as a newcomer to the games. If you're even looking at the game, you're probably on the fence. I'd say give it a shot and see where you stand on it. Especially as this game in particular has some renown for being one of the better ones on PC.

Probably the best version of Dynasty Warriors, both for new players and returning fans of the series. Especially considering what comes after.(not including Origins}

Good game.
Not great port.
Controls are basically keyboard-only, If you use a controller (I do) it's still 8-direction movement/turning. Just terrible.

Graphics = Mediocre
Controls = Jank and bad
Gameplay = One of the best feels for DW. This and 5 have the best impact. Real weight behind things. I usually prefer SW or SB.
Value = None. The game is good. The DLC is so bad that it it sucks up the value of the base game.

Buy a PlayStation version.
If you're sick of your controllers breaking, get a PS3 and play there. You'll also get to experience OG Demon's Souls (it IS different)
If you can't do either of those, buy it at 75% or more off.

There's also 5, which you can play Any Way You Can TM.

buggy mess. events don't trigger to open gates. officers get stuck behind gates that suppose to open by defeating them.

like a lot of other negative reviews, my experience is just trying to get the game to work right. controller set up is a nightmare. if you have the console version i would play it on that instead until they fix this issue for the PC port. its funny too because the keyboard and mouse controls on origins work great but that too is not the setup for this game and all they have to do is use those so until they fix it i would not recommend this version