Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighters Battle

4 Responses to “Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighters Battle”

1. Matthew Katrosits says:

   August 30, 2010 at 10:45 pm

   I reflect that the game has a bunch of excellent points and that it plays like the other DW sports meeting, but for a portable system.
   Rating: 4 / 5
2. Xueqin says:

   August 30, 2010 at 11:39 pm

   In the Tactical Action game, DYNASTY WARRIORS DS: FIGHTER’S BATTLE, players must reunite a divided nation, but this is a challenge they will not face alone. Its the first of probably a sequence of sports meeting based on converting PS2 Dynasty warriors to DS, so there’s obviously going to be room for improvement.

   In the game, players will take the role of one of three new characters, each with its own special attribute: the Phoenix (key attribute: balance), the Dragon (key attribute: alacrity), and the Chimera (key attribute: potential). Using a “Battle Deck” of cards, players will brilliant up to seven of the original Dynasty Warriors to serve as officers who will defend their bases. Thus there’s certainly some changes from the original, adding to the the mobile fun.

   A new “Obstacle Roulette System” lets players let loose tactics or spells using cards from the players’ Battle Deck. These Obstacle attacks can disrupt an opponent’s progress and are crucial to victory, especially in the game’s wireless Vs. mode, which is essentially what gives this more stars than it would otherwise deserve.

   By and large, it really is splendid fun to play mobile and head to head, so if you are a die hard fan of the DW series – this is a must. If your kids demand this game and you prefer them to do something more constructive, try getting them the actual novel that the game is based on – China’s most legendary Romance of Three Kingdoms – the ancient version from the Beijing Foreign Language Press, or the new version from DW Three Kingdoms.

   Otherwise tell them to just stick to playing their DW on the PS2.
   
   Rating: 4 / 5
3. Tile Fort Brother says:

   August 30, 2010 at 11:46 pm

   The game is splendid but it would be alot better if they added more charachters and a longer tale line and also clarify in an intro why are they fighting and what for. Make the enemys a small harder, I beat them too easily and I hardly trained, I just went straight to playing the game.
   Rating: 4 / 5
4. S. Rhodes says:

   August 30, 2010 at 11:54 pm

   Dynasty Warriors is an odd franchise. On one hand, it never really changes up its formula or anything like that. But on the other, its usually been a pretty fun hack and slash game. At least the console versions have been. In the handheld department, Dynasty Warriors hasn’t been all that exciting, and the DS version of it is really no different.

   It took a while to get here, but it’s finally here: Dynasty Warriors Fighter Battles. Conundrum is, it’s really not anything special. There’s not much of a storyline here (as if Dynasty Warriors focus was storyline anyway) and you only get to choose between three characters. There’s a character who wields an axe, a character who wields a sword and one who wields a spear. So there’s no huge array of characters to choose from like the console version. Certainly the gameplay has to be fun, right? Well, it was on its way there, but there are just some things that really mess it up.

   In each mission you and your enemy have bases. Your job is to go to each base and take out the soldiers there. You’ll then go from one base to another in an attempt to get to your enemies main camp. All the while, your enemy is doing the same thing, taking out your bases. You’ll get a chance to brilliant officers to place in each base, but in the end you know you’ll be doing all the work. Your enemies keep on the prowl, and so will you. You’ll get messages telling you when an officer has been defeated, when they defeat an officer so on and so forth. If you should run into the enemy captain, but, you’ll both duel in a one on one match. The loser of the duel is then whisked away to a different location on the map.

   It sounds like its fun, but the gameplay suffers. The thought of going to your enemies bases and taking them down is not anything new, really. It’s similar to the PSP title in that respect. You defeat the enemies at the base and then you brilliant another base to go onto and do the same thing. When you’re in fact battling it’s fun at first, but in reality it just doesn’t feel as engaging as the console sports meeting. It’s a hack and slash, but for some reason on the DS it just feels a bit more limited. You can string together light and heavy attacks, and in the process you can also use your musou, but that’s really it. Not much different from the console versions, but again, it feels a bit more limited here.

   The enemy AI is something of a joke. Most enemies are taken down quite easily. When defeating enemies not only does your musou gauge fill up, but they also drop coins. Coins eventually let you pull off some special attacks like a whrilwind to decimate your enemies. It seems like there’s a variety of things to do, but there’s no real challenge in it at all, and your enemies are easily taken down by your normal attacks anyway.

   Then there are the duels with the enemy captain. At first it seems really cool and unadorned, until you in fact defeat him. Sometimes they’re sent back to a starting point, but sometimes they’re not. In fact sometimes defeating the enemy captain will send him closer to your main camp. Likewise, sometimes you losing the duel will send you into a better position. It doesn’t make much sense why sometimes when you win the duel you’re the one who gets punished and the enemy gets a boost. The reverse can also happen, but it’s a terrible terrible flaw in the design of the game. It doesn’t make the game fun, really.

   Visually, the characters look honestly excellent, but everything else is just sloppy looking and pixelated. Sure it’s got some 3D elements, but the game is just downright hideous. Sometimes there’s a dip in frame rate as well.

   The game also won’t take you long to complete, and when it’s all over there’s really no incentive to do it again, nor is there anything more rewarding for you. In other words, there are virtually no extras. There is multiplayer, though. You and your friend can go up against one another, but it’s really no more exciting than the main game and it suffers from the same flaws as the main game.

   In the end, even the die-hard Dynasty Warriors fan will find it hard to delight in this game. It’s marred by flaws all around. It’s very rare to find a game unsatisfying, but here’s one you may want to avoid. If you must play it, then at the very least, don’t pay the full retail price for it.

   The Excellent

   +For the most part, the base to base gameplay adds some kind of approach
   
   +There’s multi-player to play against your friends
   
   +The character sprites aren’t terrible looking

   The Terrible

   -Gameplay feels somehow limited
   
   -Enemy AI is atrocious
   
   -Forgettable soundtrack
   
   -A horrible pixelated mess
   
   -The way the duel system is set up is terrible, what’s the point of winning a duel if the enemy isn’t punished but could be helped instead?
   
   -Incredibly small game
   
   -Not anything rewarding after it’s all over
   Rating: 1 / 5