It’s hard to think of a game series that has had as big of an impact on my gaming journey as Dynasty Warriors. Since the original, my brother and I would spend our formative years embodying the ambition of Chinese warlords in epic 1 vs 1000 battles that felt as grandiose in practice as it did to discuss the on the playground.
In our small corner of the world, many people had Dynasty Warriors fever in the early 2000s, so when Dynasty Warriors 3 hit the PlayStation 2 it was akin to a national holiday (at least in our school). The holiday continued when the add-on, Xtreme Legends, followed nearly a year later. All that excitement from the early 2000s has returned with Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remaster, a title that adds a few improvements, a beautiful new coat of paint with fluid animations and quality-of-life changes to smooth out the experience. Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remaster is the best way to experience the epic third entry, and it’s not close.
Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered retells the story of the classic historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (just like the strategy games of the same name) written by Luo Guanzhong. The novel was inspired by earlier historical records known as Records of the Three Kingdoms, compiled by Chen Shou. Those accounts chronicle events surrounding the fall of the Han dynasty and the subsequent establishment of the Three Kingdoms. These are the events that unfold in Dynasty Warriors 3, told through the lens of the 41 warlords who comprise the roster.
“Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remaster is the best way to experience the epic third entry, and it’s not close.”
The roster remains varied, and unlike the original or Xtreme Legends, Koei Tecmo included the main character of Dynasty Warriors: Origin as an addition to the roster. Zilaun can be fully playable in Free Mode once unlocked, but unfortunately, he doesn’t have a dedicated Musou Mode. On top of that, it would have also been cool to see the Origin variants of other characters make their way into the game, but Zilaun is the only transplant, so there’s no super-handsome Zhang Jiao this time around. All other character decisions stay the same from Xtreme Legends, including the addition of Meng Huo, and allowing players to take the side of Dong Zhou in Musou Mode.
Where Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered shows its edge is on the battlefield. While the same move sets and weaponry are on display from the original, each character has been given extra care to detail their movements. Guan Yu flexes his muscles when thrusting his glaive now (like most other characters), and you can see smaller details in each of the characters’ movements, which adds fluidity to combat. Now, fans can perform a dodge and use a perfect block which acts like a parry, and these additions make the entire game feel renewed.
On the battlefield, opposing officers will have tells when they use strong abilities, so it’s up to you to remain vigilant and respond. If an opposing officer is charging an attack, slide in and hit them with your own charging attack first you can stun and punish their health bar.
If an opposing officer is about to activate their special attack (also called Musou), a gleam will spark from their body like an audible warning sign. This tells you to either block, get out of the way, or use your own Musou to break through the opponent. Surviving on the battlefield is all about how the player responds to what’s occurring when, and Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered tosses you in the deep end.
With the new dodge and perfect block (parry) mechanics, Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered effectively removes many of the shortcomings the original had when it comes to stiff gameplay. In the original (on the harder difficulties), swarms of unnamed enemies would make life unfairly difficult, with arrows and errant swings crushing a hard-stage run at a moment’s notice. The added dodge puts control firmly in the hands of the player, and unfairness feels more like your fault than the game’s mechanics.
Aside from upgrading basic gameplay in every aspect, the soundtrack has returned from the 2002 original with all its electric guitar glory. Dynasty Warriors 3 may have looked rough from 2002, but it sounded incredible, with blood-rushing metal crescendos driving fire and story in scenarios like The Battle at Wan Castle. In Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered you can almost feel how hard or intensive a level is going to be based on how hard the track goes, and like the original, it delivers in full force. Dynasty Warriors 3’s soundtrack still rocks. Depending on who you are (and if you played the original), the English voice work also returns from the original for better or worse.
“Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered has campiness to it, and it shows in the almost musical theatre–like entrances of its main cast.”
Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered has campiness to it, and it shows in the almost musical theatre–like entrances of its main cast. No officer will hesitate to stop the battle and announce their arrival. This is an awesome concept, and it allows you to know there’s a big bad in your midst.
It also sets the stage for a big confrontation, hearkening back to the original title’s fighting-game roots. However, the voice acting is so off tone that it comes off as funny more than anything else, and during tense cutscenes I couldn’t help but laugh along due to how out of place the performances sound. While this may break immersion for others, I like the insistence on keeping the original performances. Unfortunately, unlike other remastered titles, Dynasty Warriors 3 doesn’t allow you to toggle between the old graphics and the original graphics.
Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is the best way to experience the original legend. With a shiny new coat of paint, added quality-of-life improvements, and sheer faithfulness to the original, Dynasty Warriors 3 is back and better than ever. While some issues persist with gameplay regarding CPU behaviour and questionable movements, frame-rate issues also occur, and the English vocal track could be hard for some to get over.
Although it has been over 20 years, Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is a return to form, and unlike newer entries in the series, it still lets you hit a stage with a buddy on the couch in split screen.
