Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered Review – A Musou Classic Reborn

I remember the way my neck hurt when I got dropped off at the electronics section of Walmart by my parents while they shopped, and I found a demo of Dynasty Warriors 3, and I was instantly hooked. Huge flashy attacks, taking down more enemies at once than I would in a whole level in some games. The iconic heavy metal music, the silly voice acting. Dynasty Warriors 3 made me love Musou games for life, and seeing it lovingly recreated with modern conveniences and gameplay improvements brought a smile to my face.

It took a couple of games, but Dynasty Warriors found its identity and stuck with it. The first one was a fighting game, the second introduced the 1 vs 1000 idea as well as the general vibe, and Dynasty Warriors 3 was the one to really dial it in and lay the groundwork for the rest of the series, and the budding genre that this series birthed. Have no idea what I’m talking about? Don’t worry, I’ll give you a quick primer. Dynasty Warriors is based on the 14th-century historical fiction novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and it provides the backdrop for all the action and story we get in the franchise. Of course, liberties are taken to have these generals leaping through the air, spreading lightning and fire across 100s of soldiers; that’s not quite in the original story

Musou games generally have you taking control of one character in a large-scale battle, where you have to support your army and the objective by traveling the field, completing events, and of course, absolutely blasting down 50+ enemies in a single combo string. There is something about the power fantasy that these give you that just feels so good. Plenty of challenges await, especially as you crank up the difficulty, but being able to decimate groups of enemies with one good special attack feels as good today as it did years ago at Walmart when I first played it. It is not uncommon to end a mission with a 1,000+ kill count, although once you start trying to grind out items, you will find a more surgical approach to missions can be far more effective.

You take out enemies using a combination of light and heavy attack strings that are unique to each character, unlocking longer strings and more impressive finishers as you go. The more you take damage and take out enemy soldiers, you will build up your Musou gauge, which, once full, lets you do a devastating unique attack with huge range, huge power, and can even break through enemy officer guards. You also have a bow that you can attack with that is occasionally useful, but the real appeal of this system is the massive cast of characters you can choose from to find your favorite combination of attacks and visual style. With 40+ characters, you’ll find something for you, and if you are new to the series, you’ll find favorites to follow through the series.

This remastered version of the game doesn’t only clean up the visuals and performance; it also brings it back up to speed with modern franchise systems. Omni-directional guard, a dodge button with a perfect-dodge system, parrying, and more are added, and thankfully they make combat encounters a bit more impressive thanks to the improved player kit. Revisiting the older Dynasty Warriors games reminds you how stiff they can feel, and this remaster really alleviates that.

I am glad to announce that the legendarily silly voice acting is still intact and just as funny as before. In general, the game has never sounded better, in fact. There are more sounds during battle overall, leading to a livelier battlefield, and you combine that with far more things on screen than in the original PS2 version. Of course, the legendary high-energy rock is still here, and sounds as great as it always has. I noticed right away how much better the soundscape was in Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered.

If you want to truly relive the old days of Dynasty Warriors 3, the hardcore fan can turn off all the modern additions to the gameplay, but I honestly never felt the urge to while I was playing, and the original is a pretty formative game to me. Playing some of these iconic missions again was such a blast, and the cast of Dynasty Warriors 3 is so good, with some of the new characters going on to become iconic for the franchise. It brought me right back to the ole days, effortlessly.

One thing that has not changed is that, hoo boy, grinding for anything past normal mode stuff is still stuck in the past. Trying to get better accessories, and especially grinding out some of the special final weapons for characters, is still pretty tough, but it kind of feels like a memoir of the game that was. Want a quick run through the story mode for your favorite characters on normal mode? No problem, a pleasant return to form. Want the absolute best weapon for your character, or to unlock some of the most powerful accessories? You better be ready to grind, fight with RNG, and fulfill some crazy conditions mid-battle to spawn them, and even more to get a good number roll for them. I think I’m glad these edges never got sanded off in the remaster; it’s still tough even with the modern gameplay improvements.

You can play through individual character stories in the “Musou Mode”, unlocking more characters and stories as you complete them. After unlocking them in Musou Mode, you can enter “Free Mode” to pick whatever combination of officers and maps you want, so you can play your way while maintaining progression and finding better items. “Challenge Mode” also offers fun as you compete for high scores across a variety of challenges. There is even a VS mode where you can go toe-to-toe with another player.