Next Generation has an interesting little interview up with Dynasty Warriors producer Ken Matsumoto, who discusses the latest in the series, Dynasty Warriors 6 (released in the US this month) and has one or two things to say about the criticism that gets heaped on Koei's millions-selling franchise.
Like Zhang Fei fending off the pursuing Wei forces at Chang Ban, Matsumoto expressed dismay at the way the series is gleefully savaged by reviewers, and points out the fallacies that he believes they use when complaining. When asked what criticisms especially annoy him, Matsumoto had this to say:
"Sometimes I feel annoyed. Comparing us to Halo, which I’ve seen on one occasion, is stupid – they’re just different. Games are often criticized on what they’re not rather than what they are. People got annoyed with Wii Sports because it didn’t have league tables, or allow you to have a three-wood in golf, or something, and it’s a brilliant game that’s simply not interested in offering those things.
With Dynasty Warriors we might feel the negative criticism isn’t fair, but when there have been a few sequels it’s hard to turn those opinions around. You’ll sometimes read something that doesn’t mention any of the new things in the game, then says it hasn’t done anything new, and you wonder: was it even played for more than 20 minutes? Perhaps people think, ‘Oh, that can fill up half a page’, and just give it to someone who doesn’t know the subtleties of this particular game – and when you get into an iterative series, subtlety is where the value lies."
Although there's no defense for releasing countless sequels (outside of the obvious one that people will buy them), he makes a fair point. Fact is, titles like Warriors Orochi and the Empires spin-offs are deeper, more interesting games that develop the series, but are often quickly derided as the same old pap. The fact a strategy game like Bladestorm was dismissed as another Dynasty Warriors by some professionals indicates that they don't even bother playing Koei titles, which is a shame (someone at Koei once thanked me for taking the time to actually play it fully for our review). Of course, DW games are never going to be anything more than niche outside of Japan, so Matsumoto really shouldn't worry too much. At least the Japanese releases rake Koei oodles of cash.
Contest:
6:44 PM on 02.11.2008
| 
Screwed over again....
That's a damn good defense, methinks.
On a serious note, How do the Dynasty Warriors Series fare in sales here compared to overseas?? I mean if they're not selling here I wonder why they put it out here. Not dissing the game just curious.
BTW: I'll be picking it up this time. I need a hack n slash affair as FPS are getting BOOOORIIING.
I could go on, but if what I described above doesn't sound interesting to you, I would question you on what you think is a fun game.
DW is very niche and there's so many of them that it seems a lot of reviewers just don't care about making the effort for a review on them.
For me, Dynasty Warriors is just about jumping in a large field and beating the fuck out of crowds of retards. I think anyone could jump in the series anytime, doesn't matter what number is on the end at all.
Also, Reaprar bashing this game is funny. He clearing can't debate. All he brings to the table is name calling. Classy.
I don't have a problem with people disliking the DW games. If I got upset every time someone attacked it, I'd be Emodrox. What I'm saying though, is that the people who attack the games don't PLAY them. It's just cool to bag on Koei games. Like I say, I was thanked because I actually played Bladestorm. Not played "properly" like the Lair stuff -- I actually bothered to keep the disc spinning for more than ten minutes.
Fact is, the DW games innovate about as much as the Final Fantasy games have, and people are all up on FF games' nuts. Shmups have no AI, and all you do is bash a button, and those are hailed as hardcore gaming Gods. But that's fine, it's a matter of taste.
I play up the DW fanboyism for entertainment purposes, but I honestly don't give a shit who dislikes the series. I love the games and don't need the love of others to re-affirm my own enjoyment. I do, however, think that Ken has a point when it comes to comparisons and people calling games like Orochi "more of the same," when it innovated the series about as much as most long running sequels did.
Above all though, I see no comments made in this thread that warrant you launching a rather unfair diatribe against everyone, Reaprar.
Moving on,
Jim this is a fun reminder for two reasons.
1) I need to go out and play Bladestorm. That demo was AWESOME.
2) I'm really excited for Dynasty Warriors 6. Does this one even have online play? I hope it does. Although truthfully, I don't care. I'll buy it anyway.
sure you do the same moves over and over, but what about a racing game? you can only go back an forth and right and left with a car and yet it is a great concept to do it for hours on end... same thing with DW-series :-) the 'basics' might seem a little restricted, but once you get into the flow and get the games, they're brilliant :-)
I mean, Jesus Christ, people. Because someone doesn't share your personal opinion on game X, that means he's a hypocrite for having a personal opinion of game Y.
Do people just stake their manhood or penis size on how many people like a game or console or whatever else they do? Am I fucking missing something here? Here's a thought: play the games you like. Don't play the games you don't. It's really that simple.
Any fan of iterative series can tell you every minor change can either make or break it. Look at sports games (a tried and true example for me). Nobody complains that, year after year, football is still football. Madden goes through subtle changes that a fan can tell you, makes one year good and the next year terrible. But the overall gameplay remains the same, and that's okay. Most people understand this, and accept it. Few people afford the same understanding towards DW and it's various spin-offs because they don't understand that the game isn't supposed to be totally different every year.
@Reaprar
Aren't you generalizing a bit? I'm not a Halo fan but I have never bashed it for being anything more than a solid shooter with way too much hype behind it. I like what I like because I played it and liked it. I've been playing DW games since DW2. I like the series. I didn't start liking it because it wasn't mainstream, or because Jim liked it.
We DW fans sort-of rally around Jim because frankly, fans of the series rarely have any sort of representation in gaming communities. We're usually bashed and flamed and shunned into our little pockets of fandom. Frankly if it weren't for Jim our games wouldn't get coverage on Dtoid at all, I believe. There's still plenty of haters here, just read the comments on nearly anything KOEI related. There's a difference between people "coming out of the woodwork" so to speak, to show support for their favorite games, and simply pretending to like something because, somehow, it became trendy. And frankly I don't think we're there quite yet, at any rate. The day DW becomes trendy I might just pull the sheets back over my head and go back to bed, as clearly I'm still dreaming.
Personally, I like tons of mainstream games. I have what I consider a "versatile" set of favorite games. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Just because someone doesn't dig every single mainstream title doesn't mean that everyone here should be lumped into some arbitrary grouping.
"I just find the whole thing fucking disgusting, the gaming community is really biased at the moment, hating anything that's 'mainstream' and then loving the less mentioned games, you're as bad as fuckin' emos, the lot of you, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED."
LoL, I don't even know how to respond to that.... It's just a silly rant. I'm not sure if you're serious or not.
Anyway, I hated Halo, and it wasn't for any of the reasons you've accused us all of giving. I just didn't think it was very fun, in the same way you didn't think DW was fun. Am I going to attack you for not liking a game? Hell no, personal tastes are personal tastes. We're all biased, at the end of the day.
For real though, calm down. I still don't get why you essentially flipped out on everyone.
LOLOL U NOB LOL LERN UR GRAMMRZ
And really, what sequels ARE totally different? DMC4 practically IS the original DMC. Most of the Zelda games pan out in exactly the same way. Fact is, DW6 has a different fighting system, completely overhauled movesets and characters, and numerous other tweaks including an adaptive AI. However, the reviews WILL still brush it off as "more of the same," and that, my friends, is where the real hypocrisy lies, as yet another JRPG that sticks to conventions founded in the fucking eighties gets another 9.0.
And again, not that JRPGs, if good, don't deserve a high score despite its archaic game design. But it IS archaic, and nobody raises an eyebrow.
Also Lu Bu will destroy anyone who says otherwise.
arent there essentially only one or two goals to any game?
With Dynasty Warriors 6, long-time fan's are seeing changes accross the board. I know I wasn't the only fan who was excited after learning you could now climb ladders and swim. The draw distance is very much improved compared to the past games. In a recent video you can see snow covered mountains in the distance. This is a very nice change considering we're so used to seeing fog.
When I see people hate on Dynasty Warriors, I automatically put them in the same group with people who hate on EA, Madden, Halo, or anything else in gaming that is popular/well known. We ultimately play games to have fun and get an immediate sense of accomplishment. Dynasty Warriors is a game to delivers these things. Are we as gamers so jaded, that we find reasons to hate on anything and everything? Even if the only reason we're hating on something is because it doesn't appeal to us?
That's Dynasty Warriors, if you don't like it, then don't play it. There aren't a lot of games like Dynasty Warriors out there, so when I want to play that style of game, I play Dynasty Warriors. It's not like it's a big budget game or anything, it's just Dynasty Warriors.
Actually, I got from the interview that he was annoyed by people saying DW was NOT Halo, not that it was like it. Like, people making unfair comparisons between two fundamentally different games. I think that's a fair point. Like he said, don't attack a game for what it's NOT, just stick to what it IS and attack that.
lol, I agree that getting excited about climbing ladders and swimming in a video game nowadays is pretty silly, but it really is awesome! I'm gonna say it's too hard to explain. You have your opinion on Dynasty Warriors and that's fine, I respect that.
Dont woz....I was excited to hear this too. Also, teams of siege peoples :-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D
Yep. In fact, you wait and see what Sima Yi does in DW6. Accidentally read his ending (I think), and let me tell you, he is moar badass than ever. :-)
God damn it...either im going to have to pay a fortune in trips home to play on my mates PS3 or im going to have to get one myself. Ehh I guess I have uni to keep me occupied until then. That and Jim teasing me with his free copy.
WHY JESUSS WHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
All joking aside, I am honestly one of the many that 'hasn't' actually played many of the sequels. I loved 2 and 3, but I'm also a budget gamer. I've never owned two Dynasty Warriors games at the same time, and I'd trade old ones in for new ones, because they're pretty much the same. Not exactly the same, I thought it was cool in 4(?) how you could customize your generals that fought beside you, little things like that made it cool, but the experience for me wasn't really any different than the one before.
I can't afford to sink $60 into a new DW game every time they make a subtle change to the gameplay.
AFter Dynasty Warriors 6 comes out, I'd be pissed if they put out a DW6:Empires 6 months later for like $40, when it could easily be a $10 downloadable content.
:)
DW2
DW6
Sorry if this breaks your blog, Jim.
Im only one man jim...it was only so long I could hold back in a DW thread before posting this...