Dynasty Tactics is a game full of wonder and excitement.... If you call excitement moving around a battlefield, smashing armies to pieces then this is the game for you! The combination of elements such as Strategy, Puzzle, and Resource management make this a very unique game that any strategy enthusiast will be dying for.
Dynasty Tactics starts you off small, but in a manageable sort of way. The action starts from the first minute as you are engaged in battle from the start. This first battle acts as a tutorial for the games somewhat complex battle system. As a first time gamer to the Dynasty Tactic series, this tutorial helped me a ton, and it should clarify a lot about the game to other first time players.
Once you've trounced the enemy, you are taken to the "World Map" (although your world in this case is China). Here you are told about the basic controls, how to spy, move and create armies, and various other acts. This part can get a little confusing even with the tutorial help, but it doesn't take long to get it down.
Once you have finished the tutorial, you are given the option to play as one of 4 great lords of the time. Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Ce, or Lu Bu, each has their own unique path to total conquest. Each lord has several paths to finish the game, and there are more then one way to finish each path.
Each section of the story is called a Chapter. In each chapter you are given an objective, usually to conquer a city or destroy someone. There are also side-quests during chapters that allow for more army crushing or new officers to join your faction. Some of these side quests have great rewards and will take up a good portion of time, depending on how you play. So my advice is to take your time through the game, and just enjoy yourself and make the best of each situation.
Of course, during each chapter, there is fighting, lots and lots of it, so don't worry if you think the game is getting slow, there is always a fight ahead. Battles take place on large, chess like battlefields, with generally the two armies facing each other. Every army has a Commander, which if killed, generally finishes the fight. There are also Strategists and regular Officers. Strategist are pretty much officers, except they have two special abilities. They can "Order Chain" which allows other officers to perform a combo of tactics by themselves. And they can "Link" when performing a tactic, which freezes the strategist's target, and when another of your unit performs a tactic, the strategist will perform his. While that sounds confusing, it gets easier as you play.
Tactics are just special techniques learned by an officer. They can range from a simple Charge, or can be as complex as..... well, I'll let you find out. Tactics are learned at the village barracks, and must be learned by spending "Craft" points (this is the resource management aspect). Different tactics cost different amounts, and stat points also change the amount as well. he tactics are divided into three groups, War, Int, and Lea (for leader). An officer with strong Int will learn an Int tactic with less amount then a War tactic, and vice versa. However, its not to say that a smart officer can't Awe and opponent, it just costs more. This also brings the point of actually hitting someone with a tactic. The better you are with War, the better your chances of hitting with a War tactic. But if an Officer with low Int tried to use an intelligent tactic, it is more likely to fail. So sometimes, its better to just stick with what you know will work.
Props to the people at Koei, they know how to make a beautiful looking game. The CGI effects and cut scenes look great, although sometimes dialogue happens with flat sort of characters. For the most part, officers generally look generic, except for main, or notable officers and leaders, such as Liu Bei or Cao Cao. Also, even some of the notable officers have the generic bodies, but just altered head portions, which although technically does make them "unique", they could have done a bit more. Sound quality is great, and battle music gets the fires of war going. It will start off at a nice comfortable level, but whenever armies clash the music picks up and gets going, which is a great effect, makes you feel your right there sorta.
The game has various other perks as well. There is a versus mode, and an encyclopedia that has every officer in the game listed. There is also a History section, which shows the completed campaigns and paths of each ruler, as well as a Top Combo area, showing off your highest combos (which is great for bragging rights). Overall, if you take your time with the game, the longest campaign could take upwards of 20 hours. There is also plenty of replay value, if your into collecting all the officers and items you can find in the game, as well as getting the highest combo.
This game is great if you are even remotely interested in Strategy games, or if your a fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms books. If you are in both categories, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up, and even if you aren't, it deserves a rental.
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