Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires

Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires is an expansion of Dynasty Warriors 6. It was originally scheduled for release in March but was delayed due to Koei wanting to improve the game as much as possible.

Gameplay
All of the characters from Dynasty Warriors 6 will be returning for the game. Zhang He, Ma Chao, Yue Ying, Taishi Ci, Ling Tong and Cao Pi keep their movesets from Dynasty Warriors 6: Special. Meng Huo returns with a different weapon than the one he wielded in Dynasty Warriors 5. The edit character mode also returns and is greatly expanded. All stages from Dynasty Warriors 6 and Dynasty Warriors 6: Special return to the game with seven new stages.

A level-up system for weapons has been implemented and requires players to have their weapons adjusted at a blacksmith. Besides adding more attack, players can also adjust what skills and abilities a weapon can have based on what items the player has collected from battle. The Renbu guage is no longer an element that requires the player to build up as they play. Rather, their Renbu level is now determined by the rank of their character's weapons. Strategies are implemented in battle by holding L2 and pressing ,undefined,, (on the PS3 controller). Skills from the original title return but appear with many new additions.

This installment of the game adds a new alternative to serve as a vassal to another lord as well as giving the usual choice of being a ruler. While serving under a lord, the player is given orders to participate in battles, serve as messengers and can disagree with their leader's decisions and offer alternatives instead. As a vassal, a player can also accept freelance missions from independent parties. During battle, players have the option of betraying their liege and fight against their former sovereign to gain control of the land. Similar to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, players can also swear brotherhood or marry other characters in the game.

Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires introduces the use of strategy cards to the series. After each turn, a new card is drawn, each with its own action. Everything from recruiting new officers, to restoring troops, to using fire attacks can be acquired via the cards. Leaders can also use special cards to set goals every certain amount of months during scenes known as councils.

Stages
These are the new stages in the game.
 * Battle of Lingling
 * Battle of Western Liang
 * Battle of Jiaozhi
 * Battle of Jinyang
 * Battle of Bohai Sea
 * Battle of Yong An
 * Battle in Middle Heaven

Allusions

 * Motochika, Nu Wa, and Himiko's new hairstyle appear as selectable hair types for the Edit characters.
 * Keiji's Samurai Warriors 2 appearance is a downloadable look for Edit characters.