What’s New in Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers

Genre Change Is New

One of the first things you’ll notice when starting up Dynasty Warriors Godseekers is the rather big shift in genre, as the series has always been a third person hack n’ slash title. With this change comes interesting twists on existing gameplay mechanics and tropes that we have seen in previous franchise entries. Instead of controlling armies, users take command of up to five different heroes that are capable of wiping out entire battalions of soldiers with little effort. There is also a massive roster of characters to pick from, each of which presents their own moves, weapons, and skills that can be upgraded for battle.

Combat is now turn-based with the map laid out like a grid, which will force a more tactical approach to gameplay. Since the Dynasty Warriors series has always had an undercurrent of having players managing multiple forces, this genre change makes sense for the series’ direction. Every hero still has a special attack that sends units into the air via a spectacle of insane blows. Even though the actual moment to moment gameplay has been reworked for the format of a strategy game, the Dynasty Warriors personality has not been lost.

Story Is New

In previous entries, the story always felt either pushed aside or treated as a simple backdrop for the action. Dynasty Warriors Godseekers fixes this problem and weaves a tale that involves both the various warring factions and a mystical being only known as Lixia. The plot revolves around two childhood friends, Lei Bin and Zhao Yun, who discover an unknown woman trapped in a massive crystal pillar. Upon freeing her, the duo learns that five magical orbs have been released into the world and need to be returned before devastation is brought upon ancient China.

However, Lei and Zhao will need to navigate the dangerous political landscape between the various armies that are fighting for control of China. Generals such as Cao Cao and Lu Bu use the protagonists to further their agenda, without diving to harshly into simply being good or bad. Dynasty Warriors Godseekers is much more about the gray areas and what some people will do to obtain the power and vision they believe in.

This centralized narrative helps Dynasty Warriors Godseekers have a better sense of urgency when it comes to the actual campaign and battles. Since players will have a better sense for what they’re fighting for, this will raise the stakes for each engagement and the characters. This is coupled with both cutscenes and text dialogue that is fully voiced, both before and during the mission itself. It’s clear that developer Omega Force wanted to have a much deeper single player campaign than in previous entries.

The Skill Board Is New

Skills are nothing new to the Dynasty Warriors games, however, Godseekers moves this idea into a different direction. Instead of just picking some base abilities, you can now scroll through a massive grid of both passive and active attributes. Yet, you can only have three primary skills equipped at any time, these are much more powerful buffs to officers and lend special, game-changing enhancements. They can range from simply healing a percentage of their health once per turn to having a better chance to land critical hits. These skills allow for better customization and synergy among your five different heroes.

As you play through the campaign and various side missions, players will earn skill points based on their performance. If you want to rank up a hero, they need to be used frequently as that will allow you to obtain more powerful skills. In contrast, the Dynasty Warriors Godseekers passive skills will just upgrade base stats like defense, strength, and spirit. This allows a better sense of progression than the other titles and will give users the ability to customize their officers to their linking.

Despite the rather big shift in gameplay, Dynasty Warriors Godseekers still pays tribute to the past games. However, the better focus on story, tactical gameplay, and skills allow this title to feel fresh and different. Now if you excuse us, we need to go wipe out an entire arm with one guy and a giant a mace.