Very good game, I recommend to everyone, especially those who are fans of the series and haven't played it yet. Though I still wish the other, older games were on Steam, this game is great though. I prefer this game over DW8XL any day, and it just might be me, but this game looks graphically better than DW8XL, and I'm not a graphics kind of person. If you were to get this on Steam, I would definitely recommend a controller. Also, this Steam version lacks the achievements that were present on the console versions. Overall Difficulty: 4/10, generally quite easy - easy to pick-up (with a controller) Much easier than the classic games (DW3-5) and doesn't have any of the random intensity spikes of DW6. Overall, it's an easy game but it would definitely get more challenging if you play on harder difficulties when not prepared. This game was a sign of what would come of the later games, with a heavy focus on the 1 VS 1000 slogan. Peons (the basic standard enemy) are basically mindless, and it has been this way since DW6 and at least up to DW9. You can block the majority of Musou attacks, with very few being able to break the shield/ignore it entirely. Musou attacks that do break shield usually happens at the end of their Musou, so there is no point of it. All of the grab attack Musous completely ignore shields, though they are usually slow to wind-up and can be easily ignored. Standard non-Musou character officers never do Musou attacks (though I haven't checked on harder difficulties) like they used to on older games. Warning, this version of the game does come with all of the original DLC, so I would PERSONALLY avoid using the overpowered DLC weapons which you start out with off the bat (or at least I did). Thankfully Koei didn't make you spend $40+ for all of the DLC and just gave it to you for free, so that's nice. Also, despite being labeled DW7XL, it does include the base DW7. For those who don't know, the original console versions of 7XL were more like expansions that only had the extra stuff. So no story and many other things, unless you inserted the DW7 disc first then the DW7XL disc when prompted, combining both the games together (which is what this game is, the combined definitive version of the game). So although this might not have the original, nostalgic feeling of the PS3, this is definitely the BEST version of the game you can get. (Some of my information may be wrong as I have been playing base DW7 on the PS3 recently as of this and haven't played DW7XL in almost a year since this review) DW7 has empire stories, unlike the older games. This means that instead of playing the story of Cao Cao, you play the story of Wei. The story focuses on certain characters more than others, and I think some (but I'm not sure) characters just don't appear in the story as a playable character at all. There is no definitive free mode, but there is Conquest mode and a couple other modes introduced with 7XL. This is the first game in the series to actually feature Jin as a playable faction. DW7 brings back many features that was removed from DW6 and also adds in new things as well. This and DW6, I would say, are the most emotionally powerful games in the series. The cut-scenes look amazing (much betters than DW8's cut-scenes) and are very impressive, even on the PS3 version (which looks better than 8XL on the PS4). The cut-scenes look professionally-made and have strong emotional impact (unlike DW9). DW7 also has a really good soundtrack, even more so since the free DLC also includes music from the older games. DW7 is the first mainline game to feature the use of multiple weapons, and the ability to swap out weapons to whatever you like. One great feature that I wish made it to DW8, was the ability to change out a weapon mid-battle (not referencing weapon SWAPPING), as it made weapon testing/play styles much easier. DW7 also features a seal system and skill tree. Seals are earned by getting KO's with weapons. These seals can then be equipped on weapons to do more damage, have more defense, run faster, etc. Instead of leveling up characters/Renbu system, DW7 uses a skill tree/mastery system. Characters get skill points for routing officers which can then be used to unlock skills. These skills give you a longer chain attacks/power attacks, certain ability boosts (power, speed, etc.), or resistances to certain elements. Mastery is basically a characters preferred weapon, but you can earn a mastery seal and equip it on a weapon to make any character proficient with that weapon. Instead of element orbs, weapons are instead imbued with an element. This is also the first mainline game to feature an aerial Musou, though not every character gets one. This game removes the power aerial attack (jump + triangle on PS controller), and instead only uses a normal aerial attack. Some weapons would've benefited from a lighter, faster aerial attack, and others with a slower, but more powerful aerial attack, though this is just a small complaint for a decade old game. In base DW7, some characters have shared weapons (a feature I personally like), but I think DW7XL 'fixes' that 'issue' mostly. DW7 introduces/re-introduces many characters into the franchise. Zuo Ci still doesn't make a comeback yet until DW8. Later Shu gets fleshed a lot more (instead of just Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei), and even more so in DW8 if you're into that. Jin is an entirely new kingdom to the series and Sima Yi is moved from the Wei category to this. Only two new characters are introduced to Wu: Ding Feng & Lianshi. Shu gets 4 new characters: Guan Suo, Bao Sanniang, Ma Dai, & Liu Shan. Base DW7 Wei gets two new characters: Jia Xu & Cai Wenji. 'Other' gets none. Jin, the new kingdom, introduces 8 new characters plus moves Sima Yi over to them, the new ones are: Sima Shi, Sima Zhou, Wang Yuanji, Deng Ai, Guo Huai, Zhuge Dan, Zhong Hui, & Xiahou Ba. DW7XL adds/re-adds 3 characters, all of whom belong to Wei: Guo Jia, Wang Yi, and the re-added Pang De from DW5. This brings Wei's total amount of new'ish' characters from 2 to 5. Overall, DW7/7XL, is in my top 3 favorite Dynasty Warriors games. This Steam version is definitely the best version of the game (and it even saves you money with the DLC). If you do play, set-up and use a controller. I recommend ignoring the DLC weapons until later. Conquest Mode is worth it. I hope this helps those who are thinking of coming back to this game via PC/those who are playing the 'older' games for the first time. -------------- Based on my previous comments of difficulty, I would like to share my opinion even more so on the other games, with a rating. Mind you, these difficulty ratings are based off of the series, and NOT on video games overall: DW3: 7/10 <-- Archers DW4: 5/10 DW5: 5/10 DW6: 4/10 - 6/10 <--(specifically the powered-up glowing red enemies, even on easy they can 4-shot you if you're low level, and are still very imposing with a max-level character on the hardest difficulty) DW7: 4/10 DW8: 3/10 DW9: 3/10 - 4/10 <--(specifically only the giant beast bosses which take forever to beat, and sometimes bandit bosses which do more damage than 99% percent of enemies in the game SOMETIMES) -------------- Also, despite all of my flak towards DW8 and others, I still love all of these games, and I mean ALL. I wouldn't rate a single MAINLINE DW game under 'B Tier'. And if you want to include spin-offs & Warriors Orochi (WO) because technically it sorta basically is and also whatever... ANYWAYS... S- DW6, DW5, WO1, WO3 A- DW4, DW7XL, DW Advance, DW Strikeforce B- DW8XL, DW9, DW3, DW: Godseekers, WO4, Warriors: ALL-STARS C- Dynasty Tactics, ROTK:XIV
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