While I happen to be a big
FPS and RPG fan at heart, one series that I’ve always particularly enjoyed is
Koei’s Dynasty Warriors since I played the first one on my PS2 system. Soon, I
was even more impressed when they managed to take Dynasty Warriors and turn it
into a good and enjoyable turn based strategy title called Dynasty Tactics.
Well, Koei is celebrating 25 years in business, and has now released Dynasty
Tactics 2 for the PS2 system. While it follows very similar in some areas to the
original title, it also adds some good improvements that just make it a little
more enjoyable.
Dynasty Tactics 2 takes
place at the end of the second century when China is facing the collapse of the
Han dynasty. The people have lost almost all faith in the emperor completely,
which has tossed the land into an era of chaos as different powerful factions
battle each other across the entire country. You get to take control of one of
four heroes (after a quick Liu Bei tutorial) from the Dynasty series, Liu Bei,
Cao Cao, Sun Ce, or the vicious Lu Bu, and play to expand your forces and unite
the country under one rule to finally bring back and restore peace across the
land.
Dynasty Tactics 2 plays out
in a very similar fashion to its predecessor in the whole turn based strategy
concept. Battles are fought on a map where squares (similar to a chess board)
determine movement and 45 degree facing. Also true to the “tactics” name, each
troop type can utilize powerful tactics attacks that not only deliver a more
devastating blow to the enemy, but also allow for a chain combo system to be
utilized. If you haven’t played the first one yet, an example of this is
performing a “decoy” tactic that forces your opponent to move towards you one
space. If you have a troop in a square sitting next to the space that your enemy
just occupied and is facing the direction of that enemy, you will get a second
chain (and a second strong attack) to add to the losses that they already have
to take. It’s a neat system, and allows for some good strategic thinking to pull
off some heavy chain combos that not only look nice, but prove heavy losses and
higher morale for your troops.
As far as changes go this
time around, the biggest really falls into the strategy of not only winning
battles and meeting objectives to obtain new tactics or items, but also in the
troop building, editing, and recruitment phase of the game. While a large part
of your time will be spent on the battlefield, you will also have the
opportunity to use Craft points gained by defeating enemies to apply to training
your generals in new tactics to use while fighting for a territory. You also can
edit and build your armies by trying to persuade captured generals to join your
side, and by recruiting new officers to fight for you. While this may seem like
a simple step that can be skipped if you are winning, failure to keep trying to
make your armies better can quickly turn into severe losses when up against a
more powerful opponent.
Another neat feature that
was added in this time around is the ability for certain generals to call for a
chain tactic to be used on surrounding troops. What this does is allow the
troops to not only use one tactic, but link more that one together and really
put a hurting on an opposing army. This is a really fun way to try and keep
combo stacking one troop with another, or trying to end out a combo chain and
wedge an enemy in between two generals on the same team to sometimes use a
“pinch” tactic or something similar to hit hard on two fronts and possibly
confuse the opponent into not being able to move or fight for a certain amount
of turns.
Lastly, there is also now
the ability for generals to talk to each other on the battlefield, and for some
troops to actually build certain structures like defensive towers and such to
try and give you the winning edge. When two officers talk, it will sometimes
provide some helpful tips or possibly even hints on how to better progress to be
more victorious in battle. Also, troops that are instructed to build towers
allow for crossbow barrages to be fired at oncoming enemies or opponents that
are pulled in range to continue to lower morale and decimate enemy fighters.
Graphically, Dynasty Tactics
2 provides a good looking game with some really, really cool cutscenes as we’ve
seen from the original Dynasty Tactics. Moving into tactic positions and
unleashing these styles gives a great animated sequence showing your troops
knocking over enemies, charging out of tall grass, and so on which can be
skipped after you’ve seen them once or twice. The strategic part of the game
where you move into new territories or recruit troops is played out on a still
screen showing the surrounding lands and cities, and does well for what it is
intended to do.
Overall, Dynasty Tactics 2
provides some neat changes, about twice as many tactics, and a couple of new
characters to play with which will not only help to prolong gameplay and make
for a fun experience, but also give players of the original a little something
new to mess with in the series. If you are a fan of the original, you should be
pleased with the new release, and new players to the Dynasty Tactics series
looking for a good turn based strategy game will probably have a good time with
it as well.
Gameplay: 8.0
While there are
some similarities to the original title, the addition of the planning phase to
build and modify armies as well as recruit and train in more tactics was a good
addition which added a little more than just fighting one battle after another.
There is a good and informative tutorial in the beginning, and the ability to
play as four different characters with four storylines should add to the initial
play value and replay value of the game.
Graphics: 8.0
There weren’t a
lot of changes made to the original concept of Dynasty Tactics, but what is
there looks good. Character animations looked decent, and the cut scenes that
occur during the story and when tactics or combos are pulled off look really,
really nice in typical Koei Dynasty fashion.
Sound: 7.9
The voiceovers
are decent, even if some sound a little like you are watching an old kung fu
movie, and the combat sounds are clashing of weapons and charging of horses. The
background music has that nice eastern feel to it that may not have you walking
away humming, but does a decent job in setting the overall atmosphere of the
game.
Difficulty: Medium
While the
controls are easy to learn, the chain combo system and upgrading your officers
is where your strategic thinking will come into play. There is a good tutorial
that is played at the beginning to help you learn the major ins and outs, and
half the fun is to experiment and keep learning how to play one officer with
another to maximize your power.
Concept: 8.1
While many
players of the original may not think that this was a radical new format, the
changes that were made from the original game were nice and added to the overall
enjoyment and replayability value of the title.
Multiplayer: 7.9
Two players can plug in a go head to head on the
battlefield playing as their favorite hero. It’s a fun way to take that new
devastating chain combo that you just learned and try it out on a buddy!
Overall: 8.1
Fans of the
original Dynasty Tactics should be pleased with the changes made in the sequel
to what was already a good game. While it’s not a radical new title or something
that will really make you go “Gee, this is really different”, that’s not
necessarily a bad thing. Fans should go and pick it up, and gamers looking for a
new strategy title to fill their PS2 library should definitely look into
checking it out.
