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Dynasty Warriors 8's story mode has 70 characters, new battle mechanics

Dave Cook avatar
News by Dave Cook Contributor
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Dynasty Warriors 8 has been announced for PS3, following a leak in this week's issue of Jump. Famitsu has posted details of three new gameplay mechanics and character details, as well a potential co-op story. Get the details below.


This is a pic of Warriors Orochi, not Dynasty Warriors 8 by the way.

Gematsu reports that ten playable characters have been revealed so far. Here's the roster:

  • Li Dian (CV: Kousuke Toriumi) – Utilizes a battle spear as a weapon.
  • Gakushin (CV: Kentarou Itou) – Utilizes two hooks as weapons.
  • Cao Cao – His special weapon has been changed to a commander sword.
  • Xiahou Dun
  • Dian Wei
  • Zhang Liao
  • Zhou Yu
  • Sun Shangxiang
  • Zhao Yun
  • Zhuge Liang

There will also be an expanded story more with 70 key characters, new troop visuals and new gameplay mechanics that change depending on your enemy commander's affinity.

The mechanics include Storm Rush, which can be triggered whenever your weapon's affinity reaches a certain level and trumps an enemy commander's weapon - how that works we're not yet sure - you can break their stance and follow up with brutal attacks. It sounds like a guard break, but again, we need more information.

If your weapon's affinity towards an enemy commander's weapon is negative, you can unleash Variable Counter, which lets you counter their attack and blow it back at them, or cause it to spread to nearby troops for an area affect. It also sacrifices your weapon and you get a randomly selected replacement.

Finally, Awakening Action is another state that, when activated, boosts your skills dramatically, triggering an “awakening display of power." Kill a number of enemies when the skill is activated and it the power will rank up to a “truly awakened display of power," which boosts gained XP from felled enemies.

Phew. Developer Omega Force has also revealed that players will have more freedom to march towards enemies, and that one-button attacking is possible - which surely dumbs down the experience to 'Sunday morning-hangover' levels of attention.

There is also talk of a co-op story. There is no release date in place so far, but we'll keep our ear to the ground for more details.

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