As someone who never played the original 2001 release and has never been a particular fan of the Warriors franchise, I approached DYNASTY WARRIORS 3: Complete Edition Remastered with a blank slate. Free from the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia, I was simply curious to discover what made the original a classic and whether its gameplay still holds up for a newcomer today.
Packed with Content
The game takes place during China’s Three Kingdoms period, where the factions fight for control. There’s a large selection of playable characters, each with their own weapons and fighting styles. Musou Mode is the main story campaign, where you play through battles from different perspectives. The story itself is fairly simple and mostly serves as a reason to move from one battle to the next, but I do like the historical setting.
There’s also Free Mode, where you can replay battles with different characters, along with Challenge Mode, VS Mode, and local multiplayer. With the Xtreme Legends expansion included, there’s quite a lot of content here, even if most of it revolves around the same basic gameplay.
Old Game but With More Modern Standards
Graphically, I think the game looks okay. It’s not particularly impressive, but it does a decent job of bringing an old game up to more modern standards. You can definitely tell it’s an older title underneath the updated visuals; it feels and looks PlayStation 2. The environments are fairly basic, and some aspects of the presentation feel dated. I also noticed occasional framerate drops, particularly when there’s a lot happening on screen. Nothing game-breaking, but still disappointing.
A mixed and Old Bag
When it comes to the gameplay, I have mixed feelings. Running around the battlefield and taking down hundreds of enemies can be satisfying at first, and I understand why people enjoy it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long before I start feeling like I’m doing the same thing over and over again. The different characters add some variety, but not enough to really change how I feel about the combat. After a while, I found myself losing interest rather than looking forward to the next battle.
It’s worth remembering that this is a remaster of a game from 2001, not a modern reimagining. Some of the older mechanics and design choices haven’t aged particularly well, at least in my opinion, but I appreciate that the developers have kept much of the original experience intact.
Conclusion
Despite my criticism, I can definitely see the charm here. If I had played Dynasty Warriors 3 back when it originally released, I might have felt differently about it. There’s something appealing about its straightforward, old-school approach, and I imagine returning fans will enjoy revisiting familiar battles and characters.
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