Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition (PS4) Review

That’s a lot of enemies I’m going to kill in one swipe.

Last year, Dynasty Warriors 8 hit the PS3 and it was the very first time I had ever played a game in the series. I had played other Musou games in the past, usually set in an anime series universe, but this was my first time taking on the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Now making its debut on the PS4, Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends comes into the fray with some new features, along with some new characters to hack and slash with.

For the most part, the game carries over most of the first entry, so I will be focusing on the new additions and upgrades in this review. If you’d like to see my original review, you can find it right here.

Slide, slide, slippity, slide.

The badass of China.

The first and biggest addition to Xtreme Legends is the inclusion of a new campaign in the story mode. This campaign features none other than the badass himself, Lu Bu. His story is slightly shorter than the other clans’, but there are branching story arcs that allow players to play though historical events and “what if” moments depending on what the player does during missions.

Along with Lu Bu’s story, there are also new characters for each clan. These include some that have very interesting mechanics, like one that uses a flaming bow and another that uses a cloth, yes, a magic cloth, to attack enemies. They offer up a different feel as well as add to the already gigantic character roster.

Added EX attacks for each character is also a bonus featured. Many of these change up combos and offer up even more strategy to the hack-n-slash game play.

Back to the grind.

Ambition mode now allows the player to take up to three bodyguards into a mission, but only when the character has a certain amount of leadership. That means a ton of grinding in Ambition mode. In fact, it seems Xtreme Legends wants players to grind even more in this mode for numerous things. Another addition is the weapon upgrading through fusing multiple weapons to share the stats of said weapons with a single one. Doing this requires gems that can be earned in Ambition mode, but each mission only gives out a small amount, so getting enough to do what I wanted to do took multiple missions.

There is also a new challenge mode that has the player competing in special game types like knocking enemies off a bridge for points, or a special boss rush mode that has players taking on numerous enemies and stronger foes while trying to survive.

The PS4 is pushing it.

The PS4 version has some pretty big upgrades as far as visuals go. Everything is a bit smoother with textures and many of the cut scenes look impressive. During game play, the sheer amount of enemies on screen at one time is staggering. Easily 200 enemies are standing in front of me all there for the slashing. With that many enemies on screen all with their own animations and with me killing them all in the span of a five second combo, there is some slowdown in frame rate. It only lasts for a few seconds but for those few seconds, it crawls.

That’s a lot of health bars.

Xtreme Legends features cross save for the PS Vita version as well. Unfortunately, it is not cross buy, but for those of you who want to screen clear enemies on the go, it is there.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends has the 30+ hours of the original and adds even more to it. Sure, it has some mindless game play at times, but it’s still a rather fun time. Ambition mode has even more to do, and if you don’t mind grinding…a lot, it can offer up even more customization. The PS4 version is the one to get, with its updated visuals and ability to render as many enemies on screen as it does. Dynasty Warriors fans will have their fun here, and people who missed out on the original release will have a ton to play through while having some mindless fun.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Tons of content both old and new
  • Fun, mindless action
  • Nice visuals
  • Impressive enemy count on screen
Bad
  • Grinding is required in Ambition mode
  • Some slowdown in some situations
8
Great
Written by
Drew is the Community Manager here at ZTGD and his accent simply woos the ladies. His rage is only surpassed by the great one himself and no one should stand between him and his Twizzlers.