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Home >
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> Results: Dynasty Warriors Advance
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by Cary Woodham
October 12, 2005
Koeiﾒs long running series slashes its way onto the Game Boy Advance.
Reviewed for GBA.
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Koei brings you both strategy and action with Dynasty Warriors Advance. Take command of one of three warring clans in ancient China and fight for supremacyﾗand your lives! The game has two distinct gameplay phases. In the Movement Phase, you move yourself and your allies around an overhead map, like a board game. Use your turn to search for items and health, equip new weapons, or engage the enemy in the Battle Phase.
In the Battle Phase, you switch to a close overhead view of your character and directly control him or her as you attack wave after wave of soldiers. The bigger and more powerful console versions of Dynasty Warriors would pit you against dozens of enemies, but the limited capabilities of the GBA only allow five bad guys on the screen at the same time. Hack and slash your way through soldiers, archers, and boss commanders. The battle is over when you defeat your quota of enemies. If you beat them quickly, you earn rewards. Gain experience points in battle and raise your status and skills with weapons. Gain enough skill and you can even unleash elemental attacks. Strategically switch between Movement Phase and Battle Phase to complete conditions for victory in nearly 200 battle maps.
The graphics aren't mind-blowing, but they get the job done. Seeing the squatty 16-bit characters battle it out gives the game a slightly lighthearted feel, as unintentional as it may be. A driving yet repetitive rock'n roll soundtrack fills the battlefield, and feels a little out of place in the ancient China setting. Play control is easy to get into and there's a tutorial mode you can pull up at any time if you get confused. Use the A and B buttons to perform a combination of sword strikes, and when a meter is full, charge up to release a powerful Musou attack. With many maps and selectable characters, there's plenty to do. Unfortunately, the meat of the gameplayﾗthe battlesﾗbecomes repetitive extremely quickly as you slash your way through wave after wave of five soldiers at a time. Ultimately this makes Dynasty Warriors Advance a rather boring game.
Reading skill is a must to understand the complex storyline, names of characters, in-game dialogue, tutorials, menu screens, and conditions for victory and defeat. This being a game of war, obviously there is violence. But there is no blood and enemies just fall over and disappear, so it's really no worse than a Zelda game. Older kids who enjoy simple strategy board games may appreciate Dynasty Warriors Advance, but the repetitive battles will bore them sooner rather than later.
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> Results: Dynasty Warriors Advance
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