Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 125 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 94 out of 125
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 125
  3. Negative: 14 out of 125

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  1. Reahunt
    Jul 3, 2014
    8
    Pure nostalgia...

    I didn't have the many issues people are reporting and i found myself really enjoying the game. It gets rather repetitive and you'll either love it or hate it.
  2. dom_qp
    May 27, 2014
    8
    Summary: Exactly what you would expect from a DW game.

    Pros:
    - Mind numbing fun
    - Tons of weapons and characters
    - Tight controls and fluid animations/combos

    Cons:
    - Keyboard controls
    - Lack of online multiplayer

    Conclusion: Would recommend to fans of the series, especially those that haven't played since the earlier PS2 days.
  3. hwarming
    Jun 22, 2014
    8
    Not really sure why the metascore and userscore are so low, but this game is a blast. The gameplay feels a lot more fluid in this one, and there's a huge roster of characters. The graphics don't look amazing or anything, but look like PS3 graphics, which isn't the worst thing ever, there's a lot of NPCs allowed on screen, without them disappearing like they did in older Dynasty Warriors games.
  4. correlatedsquid
    Jul 22, 2014
    8
    If you're a fan of the novels or simply hate Chinese peasants then you'll probably enjoy this Chinese genocide simulator.

    The good -Hours of content, easily around ~40-50 hours to finish off all of the story mode and the bonus XL missions -Gameplay is addictive and has been improved upon since inception, though it's basically the same -Many more units on screen    If you're a fan of the novels or simply hate Chinese peasants then you'll probably enjoy this Chinese genocide simulator.

    The good
    -Hours of content, easily around ~40-50 hours to finish off all of the story mode and the bonus XL missions
    -Gameplay is addictive and has been improved upon since inception, though it's basically the same
    -Many more units on screen
    -Hypothetical&historical(loosely) routes are available based on what decisions you make during story mode.
    -Soundtrack is great.
    -Voice acting is amusing, though unfortunately not as enjoyable as DW3.
    -Yu Jin, Han Dang, Lu Su and Chen Gong are great new additions to the game.

    The bad
    -Gameplay whilst addictive is extremely easy and may become repetitive.
    -There is no online co-op mode.
    -Enemy AI is very poor and hasn't improved since DW2.
    -Price is too high, though reasonable when on sale.    … Expand
  5. elven_ranger
    Jul 28, 2014
    8
    Wow, this game is not that bad, just the gameplay itself is kinda repetitive.
    I appreciate the story system that now can be branching and twisting, and the main plot is like the novel.
    I have fun many times with this game.

    I just want to see the career mode, why you took it away from DW 4?
    It's awesome dude. maybe KOEI should make a title just to make the career mode.
  6. sintri
    May 24, 2014
    5
    Since when are complete editions incomplete? Game for one is missing online multiplayer, also is an inferior port resulting in a noticeable drop in graphics quality specially textures, there's no Japanese audio free or otherwise at all, lastly it's missing any actual DLCs since they only packaged in free DLCs (excluding Japanese audio) and not the other 80% of DLCs that are available.Since when are complete editions incomplete? Game for one is missing online multiplayer, also is an inferior port resulting in a noticeable drop in graphics quality specially textures, there's no Japanese audio free or otherwise at all, lastly it's missing any actual DLCs since they only packaged in free DLCs (excluding Japanese audio) and not the other 80% of DLCs that are available. Complete edition this is not, if they'd bother naming it super special deluxe premium plus edition wouldn't really care. However it's named complete edition, and isn't even anywhere near complete.

    As for the game itself, it is Dynasty Warriors 8 bundled with Xtreme Legends and a couple DLCs that were already free to begin with. Textures are low, environment and rendering's average at best, and fps is consistent so there is that. So if you were just looking for Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends minus everything mentioned above, sure this will do since it's also the only one available. However if you were expecting a complete edition, this isn't it.    … Expand
  7. Jarvis
    Nov 27, 2014
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When I first bought this game I was very excited at the prospect. I had just finished the excellent "Hyrule Warriors" (Which was a crossover between this franchise and the Zelda franchise) And I was excited to see what it would be like to experience the source material. not to Mention I love war stories and games which allow you to select and play as different factions. when I got this game I actually was really enjoying it. the soundtrack seemed great, the characters seemed memorable and the game play looked like it had everything good about Hyrule Warriors except with more Characters. This game has a total of 6 campaigns. "House Shu" Which obviously has the moral high ground of the three main factions, "House Wu" which is the descendents of the great warrior and philosopher "Sun su". "House Wei" which is lead by the great emperor Cao Cao, who wishes to bring peace to the land through sheer power" "House Jin" Which is just an extension of the Wei campaign but following on of their more powerful clans...I think. "Lu Bu" which is an addition from the original version of this game following the godlike warrior Lu Bu who wanders the land being a bad ass and betraying almost every alliance he makes at one point or another. And who could forget "Other" where you play as all of the small factions who didn't last long enough to be considered important to the plot. Like I brought up earlier, I loved this game when I first got it, (Actually I added it to my steam "favorites" list two days after buying it) but once you get to playing as the factions you don't care to much for, the game becomes tedious, where in previous campaigns you can get behind the motives of the warriors you play as and truly wish for them to come out victorious you will end up playing as groups you disagree with and find yourself killing all of the characters you grew to love before. the best example of this being the Jin campaign in which the main protagonist is just a puppet for his evil accomplice. to make him look more likable he is shown growing resentful against his allies who push him to do this, but he never acts on it. even when asked what he wants to do with an enemy kingdom which he has nothing to gain from, he still invades claiming he has something he need there but never saying what. this leads to the player slaughtering ALL of the shu commanders (remember, the good guys?) and letting the bastards get there way. but hey, look at history the endings all ways suck. and by the end of the Wei campaign it was taking so long to finish that I found myself verbally begging the game to end, as if this game was some kind of purgatory and I was a confused sinner. But enough Religious metaphors for bad games lets get on with the review. It is also notable is that the level design is massive and labyrinthine causing you to run all over the map looking for the objective, just to find the next objective is way across the map for no good reason. The game also has a massive player roster, each one with their own type of primary weapon, and two special moves, however the character development in this game ranges from okay to abominable, some characters which are playable never appear in the campaign or aren't explained as to why they are there. the only time for them to appear is in "Ambition mode" what is ambition mode? False advertising. In the trailer it is claimed that ambition mode allows you to "forge your own way across the land" what they ACTUALLY meant by this was that you would have a small city you will build from materials gained by timed battles. Maybe I was expecting to much from one tagline but this game mode still has nothing to do with forging your "own way" across china. And there is NO REASON for every mission to be timed. I have plenty of other complaints but I will try to just focus on the big ones. I was looking forward to the idea of the military battle experience this game promises but it lacks in that regard too. you have to do everything while your allies stand around like morons barley doing any fighting. this games AI is actually so bad that characters will stand still while being repeatedly struck by catapults, not giving it the slightest thought. The voice acting is terrible and the Japanese voice option is only available in DlC, there are so many enemies that killing armies isn't satisfying or heroic, its just repetitive. cut scenes are poorly executed in many ways, from the CGI movies looking blurry or distorted to characters literally letting wounded enemy officers walk away for no good reason. Not to mention many characters are heavily sexualized, I wouldn't mind this if it weren't for the fact that many characters in this game are based off of real people this just makes you feel awkward. And most notably the game uses the poor ps3 graphics when it should use the ps4 graphics, it has no reason not to.In the end this is just too disappointing to buy and you should probably just move on.… Expand
  8. Rabid_Shark
    May 15, 2014
    9
    DW 8: XL Complete Edition
    its PS3/PS4 gfx and it does run at 60 fps if you know how to set it up right there is also going to be a lot of zeros here because of no online multiplayer or they could not boot the game which they should not review until they set it up right or at least play it >:( also you will need to play with the controller settings because the default is all backwards    DW 8: XL Complete Edition
    its PS3/PS4 gfx and it does run at 60 fps if you know how to set it up right there is also going to be a lot of zeros here because of no online multiplayer or they could not boot the game which they should not review until they set it up right or at least play it >:( also you will need to play with the controller settings because the default is all backwards ("controller required, xinput")...

    i like the game it runs just fine for me at max and looks good enough, they have a funny definition for complete edition because it does not have much paid dlc except for BGM packs.. multiplayer is local split-screen co-op only so i'm not too fussy about it its a SP game anyway..no chinese voice overs settings well have to wait to see if any dlc pops up in steam later,, i would give it a 8.5 / 10 but ill go for 9 i played DW3 XL 100% and DW7 back in the day so i'm not new to DW and this makes for a great return to the good old mindless hack n slash days :)    … Expand
  9. Motoflou
    May 4, 2018
    8
    If you're familiar with the Dynasty Warriors series, this is probably the best Dynasty Warriors game yet. It deserves a better score than it has. It has Story Mode, Free Mode, and the new Ambition Mode. Ambition Mode is great, you hang out in a camp and visit the blacksmith, etc, and you can choose various battles to participate in, in order to level up your officer. Also, your officerIf you're familiar with the Dynasty Warriors series, this is probably the best Dynasty Warriors game yet. It deserves a better score than it has. It has Story Mode, Free Mode, and the new Ambition Mode. Ambition Mode is great, you hang out in a camp and visit the blacksmith, etc, and you can choose various battles to participate in, in order to level up your officer. Also, your officer can have two weapons at a time, you simply press a button to switch. Which is pretty fun when you have 1200 weapons to choose from.

    The only negative aspect of this game is that they apparently removed the Create-A-Character option. Bummer, but with so many weapons and abilities (and more characters than ever), it doesn't matter much. Also, my computer is a couple years old, but this game ran perfectly on 1600x900, high settings. To be fair, this is also a good stoner game. So, GO GET IT.    … Expand
  10. ashley44
    May 15, 2014
    10
    New Dynasty Warriors for PC with improved graphics. There a lot of new characters, new battle system. I just love the original story of the Three Kingdoms. Its a very good game, one of my favourites.
  11. HELLruler
    May 18, 2014
    8
    Dynasty Warriors is that kind of game that you either like it a lot or you totally hate it. It's repetitive, the story isn't too appealing, and overpriced. On the other hand, you can have a lot of fun killing hordes of enemies and enjoy some chinese story

    The game looks beautiful, but since it's a PC version, it could be better. Nonetheless, it looks like PS3, which is acceptable enough    Dynasty Warriors is that kind of game that you either like it a lot or you totally hate it. It's repetitive, the story isn't too appealing, and overpriced. On the other hand, you can have a lot of fun killing hordes of enemies and enjoy some chinese story

    The game looks beautiful, but since it's a PC version, it could be better. Nonetheless, it looks like PS3, which is acceptable enough

    The combat is by far the best in the series. The weapons have a category, and they can counter each other, just like fire>grass>water. The AI seems to be a lot better, enemies are smarter, and your allies fight too (finally). And there are lots of characters to choose, just like always

    The music is inspiring, the animations are cool, and the game is better than before. The only problem is the price. But if you are a fan of the series, I recommend waiting for a sale haha
    Still an awesome game    … Expand
  12. besttuanlong
    May 14, 2014
    6
    Just accept the PS2 graphic and annoying 30fps lock, then this will be a fun hash and slash game.
    P/s: The fighting in this game is the best in the series.
  13. TitaniumDragon
    Feb 12, 2015
    7
    Dynasty Warriors 8: XTreme Edition is a Hack and Slash game where you control a single hero and fight your way through a vast horde of enemies to single-handedly win battles. You will regularly kill hundreds if not thousands of enemy soldiers and a dozen or more enemy officers – characters like yourself on the opposing side – every mission. The game is very much about the light experienceDynasty Warriors 8: XTreme Edition is a Hack and Slash game where you control a single hero and fight your way through a vast horde of enemies to single-handedly win battles. You will regularly kill hundreds if not thousands of enemy soldiers and a dozen or more enemy officers – characters like yourself on the opposing side – every mission. The game is very much about the light experience of running through and killing massive numbers of foes; while the core gameplay is decent enough, and there is some amount of character-to-character variability, on the whole the game itself is fairly repetitive as all of the levels boil down to almost exactly the same thing, just in a different environment with different orders of objectives. There is little meaningful variation in the enemy units, and thus the game is pretty samey from level to level. It is decent enough as a passing experience, but it is not much fun to sit down and spend hours fighting through the game.

    Story

    The game is based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a culturally-important work of historical fiction about the unification of China in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. All of the major characters – all 77 of them – are given unique appearances, and their personalities from the stories tended to be reworked to give them more dramatic impact. As it is an old Chinese story, in many ways it seems odd to modern sensibilities, and many important events occur between battles, summarized in telly text. The story isn't great, and isn't what you're here for - the characters are mostly flat, uninteresting, and unsympathetic, and their motivations are often very shallow and yet still confusing.

    Gameplay

    The gameplay itself is all about visceral satisfaction; you play as a single hero who wades his way through hordes of enemies, with some friendly officers and a handful of soldiers at your side who are, by and large, worthless. It is your job to do everything, your job to beat your way through the enemy lines, your job to keep your own officers alive, to complete all the objectives, and to otherwise do everything.
    But that’s what you’re here for, right?
    The protagonist you play has can switch between two weapons of the player’s choice, though it is always best for their primary weapon to be the weapon that they gain an ex bonus for, which grants them special attacks with it. The character can equip two of the same weapon, or can equip two different weapons to get a bit better versatility. Depending on which weapons enemies are you using, you may get an advantage or disadvantage, and because you have two weapons, you can always work out to at least be on even footing with them.
    Each weapon has its own unique attack pattern, and as noted each character additionally has a special set of attacks with their preferred weapon. The character also has three “super” attacks which are built up by killing enemies and collecting dropped items from slain foes, as well as a secondary super meter which causes them to go into a “rage” and make a very powerful area of effect attack which will usually wipe out entire enemy forces by itself, killing hundreds of enemy soldiers and possible multiple enemy officers at the same time.
    Each level consists of the player walking around it (or calling in their horse to ride around on it), fighting their way through an enemy army to try and capture various objectives, protect their allies, or just kill the enemy officers or general. These levels tend to mostly feel very similar; while there are differences between the levels, most of the levels are not very different in effect as the environments usually matter little (with a few notable exceptions) and the player is mostly just going from one place to another, fighting their way through the enemy horde.
    While the weapons and characters all have their own abilities, ultimately the gameplay isn’t very different, and the enemies tend to feel very samey. Still, there is some satisfaction to be found in occasionally jumping in to murder large numbers of soldiers in a stage or two; it is not the sort of game to be sat down and powered through, but the large number of game modes, levels, alternative levels, collectables, and other things that the game offers means that it is possible to keep playing the game sporadically and still have a feeling of making progress for a very long time.

    Final Summary

    Dynasty Warriors 8 XTreme Edition is a game which is best in moderation; it is fun to run through and kill large numbers of enemies, but the gameplay gets monotonous after a few levels and stops being as interesting. Still, as a “sometimes food”, a game that you play on occasion, it works well enough – it just isn’t much fun to run through the whole thing in one sitting. If you’re looking for something other than mindless killing, though, like plot or challenge, you’re better off looking elsewhere.    … Expand
  14. Shinhwagg
    Aug 6, 2014
    0
    Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition
    Complete add dlc??? the is really Complete?
    Japanese you know what is Complete?
    Japanese you know what is Complete?
  15. EdgarAllanOoo
    Oct 11, 2016
    8
    This game is essentially the same game as all others in this series, so if you liked those games then you will like this one. If you like those kind of games, this game is an 8+, if you do not it can go down to a 3 or lower simply because it is repetitive and not at all strategically stimulating. A complete hack and slash game with an intriguing story line for those interested in theThis game is essentially the same game as all others in this series, so if you liked those games then you will like this one. If you like those kind of games, this game is an 8+, if you do not it can go down to a 3 or lower simply because it is repetitive and not at all strategically stimulating. A complete hack and slash game with an intriguing story line for those interested in the Three Kingdoms story. There are many different characters to choose from, which is enjoyable, but the fighting styles are fairly similar. Although, when playing as Lu Bu you will always feel overpowered, which is not necessarily a bad thing!… Expand
  16. jelikey
    Nov 22, 2016
    6
    Since when are complete editions incomplete? Game for one is missing online multiplayer, also is an inferior port resulting in a noticeable drop in graphics quality specially textures, there's no Japanese audio free or otherwise at all, lastly it's missing any actual DLCs since they only packaged in free DLCs (excluding Japanese audio) and not the other 80% of DLCs that are available
  17. Escargot
    Jan 1, 2019
    4
    I personally found this series of games to be very inaccurate to history or the original novel even though it uses terms like "historical route" inside the games. The story isn't written with the values of that time period in mind. Some of the content is very rude towards particular historical figures of China, while the developers' favourites gets special treatment. I just cannot give theI personally found this series of games to be very inaccurate to history or the original novel even though it uses terms like "historical route" inside the games. The story isn't written with the values of that time period in mind. Some of the content is very rude towards particular historical figures of China, while the developers' favourites gets special treatment. I just cannot give the game a higher score because of how disrespectful I found it to be.

    The game has lots of content, but it is very repetitive grind. It works like an RPG where you can upgrade characters and collect weapons doing different stages. Most of the stages involve you running around a map to complete some tasks, mostly killing some enemy, to unlock the next area. You get to see your character execute cool looking attacks simply by pressing attack buttons randomly. Or when you're more accustomed to your character your will learn different button combinations give different attacks.

    It would have been good if it was coupled with a well written story, but even though the story was taken from a Chinese classic, I found the delivery to be very disappointing. The developers favour particular characters over the actual important people in history and novel, the story makes an effort to criticise particular characters and it shows that they don't understand the values of China at that time. The dialogue is cheesy and lack depth, and it just feels like a poorly written anime. This is a very bad version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. If you're wanting to learn about Chinese history or culture, I recommend looking elsewhere. Looking to grind and collect items? You can consider this game.    … Expand
  18. Shimmeywill
    Feb 20, 2020
    3
    The lack of a character creator in this title stifled my enthusiasm for this title. Otherwise it is a classic musuo game with average visuals.
  19. JoshuaVon4
    Feb 28, 2023
    9
    The best game in series with well designed IF story, What if this happened in the moment.
  20. AgentLvi
    Jun 18, 2023
    8
    Great game. The story is decent. The scoring is great, visual is really amazing, the voice & sound is also amazing

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. CD-Action
    Jul 25, 2014
    85
    The gameplay model developed by Omega Force still works great and if you’re into it, you’ll find it hard to leave this game. It’s a shame that the PC version was ported from PS3, not PS4, and there’s no original Japanese voice acting. [07/2014, p.62]
  2. PC Gamer
    May 27, 2014
    70
    A brilliantly absurd arcade brawler that’s brimming with personality, but suffers from repetition and a glaring lack of online multiplayer.
    Read full review
  3. COGconnected
    May 23, 2014
    60
    Bottomline, if you are a fan of the franchise and you’re stuck with no other means of playing this game, go ahead and pick up the PC version and push through the problems and enjoy yourself.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »