Those who are pining for another Warriors fix are in for a longer wait. Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires was originally slated to come out at the end of January but is now set to release on February 24th instead. KOEI TECMO hasn’t released a reason as to why the game has been delayed, but one can only assume it’s for further polishing. While this news is definitely disappointing, at least it’s only a month out as opposed to being pushed back to the late spring/mid-summer window.
Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires differentiates itself from the non-Empires version with content and customization. You can customize existing warriors (around 83 in total), armies, banners and horses, and can even go as far as to create your own characters. So, if you played Dynasty Warriors 8 back when it released last summer and wished there was more, this could potentially be the beefed-up version you’ve been looking for.
One small silver lining from a game getting delayed is the increased window of time for you to pre-order said title. As is the industry-standard, pre-ordering from certain retailers will allow you exclusive access to certain extra content. There’s a variety of extra armor/costume options, banners, horses, officers, and new weapons to be acquired.
To those who are hoping for more meaningful changes, Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires might fall short. This re-release is very much in the “more is better” frame of mind, as is evidenced by the amount of extra content they’ve thrown at it rather than any “patch notes,” if you will. But hey, KOEI TECMO and Omega Force know their audience well and playing it safe is never technically a bad thing, so Empires should please the majority of their demographic.
You can pick up your copy of Omega Force’s latest Warriors iteration on PC (digital), PS3 (digital), PS4, and Xbox One come February 24th, 2015 (February 27th for Europe).