Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires

Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires (真・三國無双6 Empires) is the Empires adaptation of Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends. The theme of this title is "lifestyle", in which the developers claim that players can experience an in-depth political and tactical system. The producer replies that this game is being brought overseas primarily for the fans who still enjoy the basic Warriors format. He believes the open system of choice has a chance of appealing to a wider audience.

Consumers who pre-order the title can obtain three downloadable outfits for edit characters.

Like with Warriors Orochi 3, this game will only be available via download in North America while other regions are planned to have it as retail. This is most likely due to the lack of English dubbing in the game.

Gameplay

 * Items and the Morale Bar in battle return. Executions also make a comeback. The amount of Musou gained from attacks has been considerably reduced. Character introduction cutscenes return and are exclusive to select characters: Zhang Liao, Gan Ning, Guan Yu, Xiahou Ba, Lu Bu, and Meng Huo.
 * The dual weapon system return with Dynasty Warriors Next weapon changes in effect. The previously downloadable weapons and additional new weapons are now assigned to certain characters. Weapons that had gender restrictions are removed, and Warriors Orochi 3 jumping charges are not in the game. All weapon movesets are completely unlocked at the start.
 * Much like in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3, defeated players and characters can re-spawn into the field at the cost of a large number of troops. Officers can be killed after sustaining injuries from previous battles. This condition also reduces their proficiency in power and speed to zero. However, officers will not die of old age.
 * Each character can use their own special skill in battle, which varies with each individual. Similar to Pokémon Conquest, the unique playable cast will have their individual skills separate from the shared ones.
 * Strategies that can be used in combat include water attacks, fire attacks, combining tactics, falling boulders, and so on. A special splash screen ala Sangokushi 12 is triggered when they are initiated in battle. Other tactics are also available during the politic phase.
 * There are six individual Fame parameters: Valor, Ingenuity, Benevolence, Fortune, Order, and Atrocity. Each trait can be increased based on the character's actions in battle such as implementing tactics, defeating enemy officers, accomplishing specific missions, etc. A character making use of their surroundings to gain an advantage can help boost the amount of fame they earn.
 * Fame can alter the missions the character can accept and their character's general attitude during pre-planning stages and cutscenes. It can create interpretations of a character which would not otherwise appear in the series's main installments. For example, players could theoretically create a Benevolence dominant Dong Zhuo to make him care for the common folk or an Atrocity dominant Liu Bei who slaughters barbarians.
 * There are over eight new types of bases available in the game.
 * New battle maps for regions (such as Xiapi, Huiji, and Xiangyang) have been added.
 * There is online and offline multiplayer; players can only use edit characters online.
 * Players have the option of changing the interior appearance of their abode by hiring a carpenter.
 * Players cannot use external music saved on the PS3 system in this game.
 * Downloadable content is edit character parts, strategy rooms, scenarios and weapon skins. All costume, music, new weapon packs and weapon skin DLC from Dynasty Warriors 7 and its Xtreme Legends expansion is made available for this game through online campaigns via DLC.

Empire Mode
Aside from being a loyal officer or an ambitious ruler, players may also choose to become mercenaries. Similar to the gameplay concept featured in Söldnerschild Special or Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War, these wanderers are given the goal of earning fame and renown by fighting for different factions at their own discretion.

Like the previous title, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms promotions, rises to fame, and wedding/oath events have been kept.

The mode is two player friendly.

Extra Mode
Online extensive feature primarily for registering and downloading edit characters online, updates, and downloadable content. Registered characters are permanently on a server and shared online with other users. One may submit an individual character or a team of five. Uploaders can automatically or manually update a character's status based on their character's offline progress.

If edit characters are registered as a team, then they may appear in the downloader's Empire mode as a faction. One person can be designated as ruler and the other four act as subordinates. Teams can also collaborate with other players in online only stages found within this mode. Online rankings like KO count ranking and so on are included.

Options
Changes the game's settings. Ability to chose portraits for conversations: Still or Model. Still uses preset expressions and portraits. The Model option dynamically changes the portrait to match the character avatar and removes portrait expression changes.

Characters
The entire Xtreme Legends cast returns with one new addition. This is the first Empires game to introduce a new playable character.


 * Xu Shu

Related Media
A Facebook and Twitter campaign for naming edit characters was held in mid June through mid July. Interested fans were asked to send in their favored name for a particular character theme: lord, female, warrior, and strategist. The names were limited to figures who existed in the Three Kingdoms era but lack an unique appearance in the series. A single vote was counted every 24 hours per account, thus resulting in a possible two votes per day for simultaneous Facebook and Twitter users. The winning names will be used for the character in the game and winning fans will be credited in the game's staffroll.

The polls closed on July 17, 2012. The warlord and female winning names were announced on the 19th; the warrior and strategist winners were on the 26th.

Players who have downloaded the Japanese trial version of the game's Edit Mode can participate in an edit character campaign. Interested users need to register themselves and their created character with names, a screenshot, and a brief description. The winning character will be showcased on the official Dynasty Warriors 7 twitter and as a pre-made edit character set within the final game. The campaign ended on November 1, 2012.

With the release of scenario DLC, each set of stages comes with a series of Staff Made edit characters: Zhuge-tan, Gao Shun, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Ji Ling, Yan Yan, Shamoke, Wen Yang, Zhuge Ke, King Duosi, Zhang Bao, Chen Gong, Tian Feng, Fa Zheng, Li Ru, Cao Xiong, Elenmia, Ahui-nan, King Mulu, Zhuge Jin, Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Sun Yu, Dong Cheng, Wang Zifu, Wu Shi, Wu Zilan, and Wu Tu-ko.

RADIO 4Gamer featured this game for their November 8th episode. Visitors with a Niconico Douga account can log-in and watch their recorded gameplay footage for the episode.

Consumers of this game can obtain Xu Shu and Wang Yuanji capes for their avatars in Shin Sangoku Musou SLASH. Players can input their Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires serial code once services for the social game begins.

There are two main collaboration third-party projects that will be available as downloadable content. The first is one with Minna to Isshou. The other includes character parts designed by Hiromu Arakawa who illustrated the Three Kingdoms comics recently published by Koei-Tecmo, Sangokushi Spirits.