#mine dw4

[mournstera]

And you go with him, that wonderful Doctor.

[nightglider124]

OK, so... I remember that you like Dynasty Warriors and I have just played DW4, sooooooo.... fav DW character? Mine, I'm stuck between Xiahou Dun, Zhang He and Zhao Yun!

SHDIFHDFIHKDHLKDHFSDFHSDLKFHSDF. You have asked the holy question, my child.

Dynasty Warriors is literally my childhood to the point, I still play it now and love it. Like... I may need to replay soon since I haven’t in fucking forever. 

I love Dynasty Warriors. To the point I own DW3 up until the latest one, plus the additional games like Extreme Legends and Empires too. I frickin love this game series.

Now, I am a self proclaimed ‘Wu’ gal, myself so basically all of my favourites are within that kingdom. They also happen to mostly be the female characters but ya know, growing up playing video games when it was seen very much as a ‘boy thing’, i tended to identify with the strong ass ladies. 

But... my all time fave who I will never fail to play as, given the chance is this queen:

Sun Shang Xiang has been my go to character since I first played DW 3 back when I was like... 6 years old? (My brother bought the game and I had just started playing with him or watching him around that age ha!)

She is my sun; I loveeeeee her. She’s kickass but is so upbeat and happy and shit but also has a fucking trainwreck of a time in the games; what with family members dying and being torn between her boo and her famjam. It’s great. I love her. 10/10 character.

But, if on the off chance I can’t play as her then my second fave is:

Da Qiao is literally the CUTEST bean in the series. Along with her sister, Xiao Qiao, these two are freakin’ adorable. I love them. They’re just SQUEE. Cuties for days, man. 

Side note - I am totally here for Da Qiao and Sun Ce btw. Again, they are just the sweetest. Like ugh, had I not enveloped robstar as my first real otp, these two woulda been second, I swear. SO. DAMN. CUTE.

Ahem, I went on a tangent here omg but yeah Sun Shang Xiang is my fave and bestest girl, but Da Qiao is second. 

Haha, all applaudable characters, honestly. I’ve played the game with each of those characters but I’m partial to Zhao Yun, if only because it holds nostalgia since my brother’s go to when we were kids was always Zhao Yun. Lmao we were predictable siblings.

But aside from that reason, Zhao Yun, is just an all round epic character. :D

[guansuo]

sonshoko because she's a bae

send me your url and I’ll tell you…

My Opinion on;

Character in general: Shangxiang holds a really special place in my heart! I first encountered her in DW4 as a little kid, and I really wanted to match her in her badass tomboy personality. she’s DEFINITELY CHANGED SINCE THEN (ANGRY FACE!) and after the mess koei made of her in dw6, i felt she was never quite the same, which is unfortunate; she was more of an independent character back then, and now she just sucks up to liu bei :( but i still love her for her old self. aspiring to be like her helped keep me strong throughout hard times! plus her dw8 outfit is bomb—How they play them: Tricia writes with the essence of the old Shangxiang but adds her own layers of complexity to her characterization! she doesn’t feel flat at all and is way more than her marriage to Liu Bei, which i MUCH appreciate oh my god. sometimes the things her SSX says or the choices her SSX makes aren’t things i would expect, but I feel they are reasonable interpretations of her character! tbh I used to RP Shangxiang, and perhaps the way she writes her muse is not quite the way I would write her—probably because Tricia writes SSX with more maturity than I do—but I still enjoy her portrayal and like seeing her interactions on my dash!  :)The Mun: Triciaaaaa! maybe you don’t remember me but we used to be good mutuals in the past, and i’m sorry for letting our friendship die ;u; I used to be over at @hosanjo, and this blog’s old url was wei-zhi; i recall we also followed each other on our personal accounts (mine back then was heiyusan!) if that rings any bells????? but that aside i always admired your writing! you write with a dramatic eloquence that is really distinct and captivating, and your characterizations of all your muses are really layered and deep! i loved dicking around with you ooc in the tags, and it’d be nice to start talking with you again ? :’)

Do I:

RP with them: have in the past! perhaps not on this blog, but others. but as of now, no :CWant to RP with them: yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas! although to be honest i always worried that you felt i wasn’t fun to RP with, so i understand if the feeling is not reciprocated ;u;

What is my;

Overall Opinion: clapping emoji good shit yaaaas work! no but really, you’re amazing, and i enjoy reading how you write SSX + all your other muses!! it was great interacting with you back then, and i hope we can start talking again in the future, yea? C:

@sonshoko​ | **Note: Mun’s answer are all to be completely honest. Don’t send url if you don’t want brutal honesty

[fishphobic]

Dynasty Warriors 9 - 65 Hours Thoughts

It’s time to lay down thoughts on this game after 65 hours, trying in and out as many things as possible without being rushy. Overall impression to begin this thoughts, I enjoyed the 65 hours I have had with DW9 and am still looking forward to play the game again. So far I’ve finished two stories (Sun Jian and Sun Ce) with Chaos difficulty activated and currently sitting in Chapter 5.

1. Story

I no longer care about story in video games because that’s not what I’m looking for when playing a game. But this game managed catch my attention to the story although the quality of the conversation scene is using a very simple Japanese RPG-esque method. One thing that catched my attention is how the three factions didn’t just being all about them from the beginning to end. They instead have relationship with each other. They were able to relate to one another before slowly cracking apart. Not only that, just like in real life, there is always a conflict, disagreement, suspicions inside a company. The characters feel more natural because of this.

2. How the Tale Blends into the Missions 

While the story is enjoyable, some of the missions can be awkward. I think it can be as awkward as DW4. Sometimes when I look at the map and see the positioning, I can’t help to think: “But why…?”. For example in The Pursuit in Chang Ban, Zhang Fei is already holding off Zhang Liao and Xiahou Dun at Chang Ban bridge while Liu Bei and the rest are still trying to run from the opposing army. What were Xiahou Dun and Zhang Liao chasing at that point if Liu Bei’s fellows were behind them? Another example in the same mission, Zhuge Liang would be standing by somewhere far behind after helping some peasants crossing the river. In Coalition Army mission, the story says that going directly to Luoyang is dangerous due to tight security. But the Wu generals in fact standing by there already instead of going through the famous gates. Other than this, I wouldn’t bring up tale altering stuff as this is normal to happen in DW, such as Zhang Fei blocking the bridge with shields instead of destroying it (I think it’s just technical difficulty) or Guan Yu didn’t come using the backup army ship.

Outside of those, some story side missions can be nice and covering short story, such as Liao Hua’s and Zhang Liao sending a letter from Cao Cao. When I played Chang Ban mission with Zhao Yun, wandering around in rushy manner behind everybody else completing side missions point to point to rescue friends felt as awesome as I would read in his tales.

Overall in my opinion, some missions may need a time constraint to push the thrill of the lore. There is also the need to have either force/individual based side missions as well. Of course, side missions are optional and can be used to have fun altering the game lore that instead of X doing A, Y does it. But perhaps there can be a list of ‘Important Mission’ for the character to have a focus on while still can choose to take the lore-breaking side missions. I had my fun beating doped-up Lu Bu at Hulao Gate with Sun Jian, but I would love to have my Sun Jian his own specific tasks in that battle.

3. Range of Weapon and Their Movesets

The kinds of weapon offered in this game brings back to the nuance of PS2-era DW feel. Many moves have been re-done and/or added in the respect of the humbled-down moveset design. Some of my favorites are Spear and General’s Sword. A lot of movesets are cloned/shared, although there are unique ones to a certain extent, but I guess this time I could exempt it at the expense of a more beautiful animation. Even though gimmick is gone, thanks to the moveset and its less exaggerated attack range and suck-in effect, some weapons are more suitable to fight against crowd while some others are more towards lesser enemy. 

Speaking of animation, clone and unique ones, it’s a bit of double-edged in my eyes. At one side, the shared animations are more of a generic-esque, making the weapon switch feature to work in a more neutral sense without any feel of making a character turning into another with a chopped-off moveset. Equipping Yue Ying with a Sword/Dao or General’s Sword didn’t make her acting like Sima Zhao or Cao Cao or Xu Shu. She looks like she knows how to use said weapons in a more common knowledge style. And so we can see on the flip side, these movesets are sadly also done and shared by the owners, although more in a DW5 manner.

There are unique moves sprinkled around the characters. But there is no fixed standard on the number it. Some characters may have less for whatever reason.

So in one hand, I personally feel this game has the best weapon switch experience for not forcing you to do it and doesn’t make characters behaving like the owner of the weapon. On the other hand, the moveset would be better if it was fully personalized. They have proven that they can with the existing unique moves. I also wish for a generic version of a Special Attack and Musou attack when using another weapon and also a different set of generic moves for every weapon types.

4. State Combo and Combat

The most flexible and fluid combo system so far. Essentially similar to (older) Samurai Warriors’ Charge system with the first Triangles in a charged attack string being the Trigger Attacks and the follow up Triangles being the follow up Flow Attacks, with basic Square string being the basic Flow Attack. Long story short: Same thing, different buttons, more combo friendly with the ability to smoothly override previous moves with Trigger Attack and/or Reactive Attack which would change accordingly up to seven different situations.

By playing in Chaos, I am expected to learn the combat quickly. Trigger Attacks and Reactive Attacks are needed to manipulate the enemy as tight as possible before they get back at you with unflinching armor as well as dodging their punishing attacks. I find Trigger Attack plays a big role in my Chaos fights. Charging it is needed at times to flinch an enemy, though doing it recklessly my cause them to find an open spot on you instead. No doubt DW9 provides me an intense combat I’ve never felt before in DW or SW.

I think State Combo system is alright for crowd fight, but more awesome for one-on-one fight, which coincidentally brings back duel to the table.

5. AI

Even after 60 hours, I still can’t tell what makes what with the AI. The AI is very bipolar. The enemy sometimes would vigorously fight, even when that means ganking on you like in older Warriors game, with enemy soldiers interrupt you now and then. At the same time, sometimes they can just stand there and dodge roll.

So far I can tell is that there are many grades to the enemy AI with titled enemies such as Captains are the type that are easier to manipulate and counter, while unique generals are the real deal fighters who would move fast, have a lot of defense, power, and agility. Generic named generals sometimes can be in between from these two. From my experience, the ally’s AI would be the most awful sight to see although at the same time, they could fight in a very chaotic manner, while also can be as bad as standing and letting enemy goes.

6. World and Content

I love open world games and I love travelling in the open world. But that doesn’t mean open world games always wins my heart. DW9′s open world however wins mine, or should I say better than some famous action open world games out there. 

For example, when I ride my horse to do the next task, I will run into streaks of raw material that will automatically obtained by running over it. And in the travel, I may run into a pack of feral or docile animals; or sometimes bandit group, which I can decide to kill them for some quality rewards. Continuing the travel, I will see the army are marching. I will see captured and contested checkpoints, bases, towns, etc. Should my character be injured after a random fight or mission, coming across a village/town/city and meet a vendor-and-craft-lady to patch me up is a big blessing. Or maybe stop at a bonfire or decide to fish for some luck getting expensive junks to sell or ingredients to cook for buffs before taking on some side quests from the army or civilians and many more..

To put it in another words, the world gives me something to do that everything leads back to my progress and development in the game. I don’t go around collecting hundreds of crap just for the sake of collection. Everything is linked to something that helps me improvise to accomplish the core part of the game, which is to fight and win in the war itself.

Overall above all the complaints I have for this game, I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. This is absolutely the DW that I used to know; it’s hated, it brings fun, and this time it’s like it just brushed its teeth with mint toothpaste - it’s fresh! 

[mournstera]

"Tell you what. I bet you're going to have a really great year."

[mournstera]

Rewatch because Donna is returning: Partners in Crime

[mournstera]

Rewatch because Donna is returning: Planet of the Ood

[mournstera]

I’m 906

[mournstera]

Rest of my life. Travelling the Tardis. The Doctor Donna.

[mournstera]

The end of time / The power of the doctor

[mournstera]

The Christmas Invasion / Journey's End

[mournstera]

Doctor Who, Planet Of The Ood.

[mournstera]

Partners In Crime, Doctor Who.

[mournstera]

Hope of a Lifetime, The Milk Carton Kids