Dynasty Tactics 2

While I happen to be a big FPS and RPG fan at heart, one series that I’ve always particularly enjoyed is Koei’s Dynasty Warriors since I played the first one on my PS2 system. Soon, I was even more impressed when they managed to take Dynasty Warriors and turn it into a good and enjoyable turn based strategy title called Dynasty Tactics. Well, Koei is celebrating 25 years in business, and has now released Dynasty Tactics 2 for the PS2 system. While it follows very similar in some areas to the original title, it also adds some good improvements that just make it a little more enjoyable.

Dynasty Tactics 2 takes place at the end of the second century when China is facing the collapse of the Han dynasty. The people have lost almost all faith in the emperor completely, which has tossed the land into an era of chaos as different powerful factions battle each other across the entire country. You get to take control of one of four heroes (after a quick Liu Bei tutorial) from the Dynasty series, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Ce, or the vicious Lu Bu, and play to expand your forces and unite the country under one rule to finally bring back and restore peace across the land.

Dynasty Tactics 2 plays out in a very similar fashion to its predecessor in the whole turn based strategy concept. Battles are fought on a map where squares (similar to a chess board) determine movement and 45 degree facing. Also true to the “tactics” name, each troop type can utilize powerful tactics attacks that not only deliver a more devastating blow to the enemy, but also allow for a chain combo system to be utilized. If you haven’t played the first one yet, an example of this is performing a “decoy” tactic that forces your opponent to move towards you one space. If you have a troop in a square sitting next to the space that your enemy just occupied and is facing the direction of that enemy, you will get a second chain (and a second strong attack) to add to the losses that they already have to take. It’s a neat system, and allows for some good strategic thinking to pull off some heavy chain combos that not only look nice, but prove heavy losses and higher morale for your troops.

As far as changes go this time around, the biggest really falls into the strategy of not only winning battles and meeting objectives to obtain new tactics or items, but also in the troop building, editing, and recruitment phase of the game. While a large part of your time will be spent on the battlefield, you will also have the opportunity to use Craft points gained by defeating enemies to apply to training your generals in new tactics to use while fighting for a territory. You also can edit and build your armies by trying to persuade captured generals to join your side, and by recruiting new officers to fight for you. While this may seem like a simple step that can be skipped if you are winning, failure to keep trying to make your armies better can quickly turn into severe losses when up against a more powerful opponent.

Another neat feature that was added in this time around is the ability for certain generals to call for a chain tactic to be used on surrounding troops. What this does is allow the troops to not only use one tactic, but link more that one together and really put a hurting on an opposing army. This is a really fun way to try and keep combo stacking one troop with another, or trying to end out a combo chain and wedge an enemy in between two generals on the same team to sometimes use a “pinch” tactic or something similar to hit hard on two fronts and possibly confuse the opponent into not being able to move or fight for a certain amount of turns.

Lastly, there is also now the ability for generals to talk to each other on the battlefield, and for some troops to actually build certain structures like defensive towers and such to try and give you the winning edge. When two officers talk, it will sometimes provide some helpful tips or possibly even hints on how to better progress to be more victorious in battle. Also, troops that are instructed to build towers allow for crossbow barrages to be fired at oncoming enemies or opponents that are pulled in range to continue to lower morale and decimate enemy fighters.

Graphically, Dynasty Tactics 2 provides a good looking game with some really, really cool cutscenes as we’ve seen from the original Dynasty Tactics. Moving into tactic positions and unleashing these styles gives a great animated sequence showing your troops knocking over enemies, charging out of tall grass, and so on which can be skipped after you’ve seen them once or twice. The strategic part of the game where you move into new territories or recruit troops is played out on a still screen showing the surrounding lands and cities, and does well for what it is intended to do.

Overall, Dynasty Tactics 2 provides some neat changes, about twice as many tactics, and a couple of new characters to play with which will not only help to prolong gameplay and make for a fun experience, but also give players of the original a little something new to mess with in the series. If you are a fan of the original, you should be pleased with the new release, and new players to the Dynasty Tactics series looking for a good turn based strategy game will probably have a good time with it as well.

Gameplay: 8.0
While there are some similarities to the original title, the addition of the planning phase to build and modify armies as well as recruit and train in more tactics was a good addition which added a little more than just fighting one battle after another. There is a good and informative tutorial in the beginning, and the ability to play as four different characters with four storylines should add to the initial play value and replay value of the game.

Graphics: 8.0
There weren’t a lot of changes made to the original concept of Dynasty Tactics, but what is there looks good. Character animations looked decent, and the cut scenes that occur during the story and when tactics or combos are pulled off look really, really nice in typical Koei Dynasty fashion.

Sound: 7.9
The voiceovers are decent, even if some sound a little like you are watching an old kung fu movie, and the combat sounds are clashing of weapons and charging of horses. The background music has that nice eastern feel to it that may not have you walking away humming, but does a decent job in setting the overall atmosphere of the game.

Difficulty: Medium
While the controls are easy to learn, the chain combo system and upgrading your officers is where your strategic thinking will come into play. There is a good tutorial that is played at the beginning to help you learn the major ins and outs, and half the fun is to experiment and keep learning how to play one officer with another to maximize your power.

Concept: 8.1
While many players of the original may not think that this was a radical new format, the changes that were made from the original game were nice and added to the overall enjoyment and replayability value of the title.

Multiplayer: 7.9

Two players can plug in a go head to head on the battlefield playing as their favorite hero. It’s a fun way to take that new devastating chain combo that you just learned and try it out on a buddy!

Overall: 8.1
Fans of the original Dynasty Tactics should be pleased with the changes made in the sequel to what was already a good game. While it’s not a radical new title or something that will really make you go “Gee, this is really different”, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Fans should go and pick it up, and gamers looking for a new strategy title to fill their PS2 library should definitely look into checking it out.