Some other weapons that feel super satisfying and weighty include the fan blade (Cao Xiu, Zhong Hui or Guan Xing) and Flail (Cao Ren or Dong Zhuo)Īs for the combat system, I remember how alien the whole flow combo system felt at first but I never really hated it and only gradually start to love it. It depends on the character and weapon but I definitely feel the animations are a real step up this time. Especially compared to past games, a character like Xu Zhu and his club actually feels so weighty and powerful to use in this title. While I can understand you're still getting used to the combat (it's always possible it might not work for you) I cannot agree on the combat feeling weightless. I also assume that this is the case for Zhong Hui and Deng Ai as well Wen Yang also seems to have some missions that Sima Zhao doesn't in Ch. Wen Yang's costume after defecting totally makes him look like Taishi Ci (same color scheme and all).He also feels way less jealous/annoyed with Sima Zhao overall then I remember him being in previous games. He still dies after rebelling at Shouchun, but Koei seem to have him graciously going along with his execution after realizing he was manipulated by Cao Mao. Zhuge Dan's story arc is kind of different this time around.Also, I couldn't help but laugh when one of the final objectives in Sima Zhao's chapter is meeting up Huang Hao who I think is stated to be the leader of the "Anti-Jiang Wei" faction.I don't remember this being in the Shu version of that chapter, but I wish it was because gimmicks like that would have made playing as Shu a bit more interesting. One of the Jiang Wei's campaigns involves someone trying to impersonate a Wei/Jin general as a lynchpin to their invasion. Fighting against Shu from the Jin side is pretty interesting.It has an insane amount of range that makes it very easy to continue air -> ground combos. I also realized that Sima Zhao's launch trigger is pretty good. I did like Liu Shan popping up in his ending, since Liu Shan's ending is kinda depressing and bittersweet. Sima Zhao's story ended up being pretty decent.After a total playtime of 160-70 hours, I definitely need to take a break from the game. It ended up being pretty enjoyable, though Chapter 12 was a serious marathon to get through (I was not expecting THAT many missions in a single chapter). It got me the remaining trophies (Battle Encyclopedia and Legend of Jin). After burning out on completing the Wei roster, I'm definitely not ready to replay more Wei stages as XianyingĪlright I just completed Sima Zhao's story. At the same time, her starting at Chapter 6 is just ugh. I like that she's a female addition that's not just a spouse or daughter to an existing playable, I like that she uses a proper weapon and I kinda dig her voice. I also like really her variation on the flappy sword I definitely find Sima Yi's praise quotes to be hilarious (he asks if she could be nicer to enemy generals lol). I didn't really care for her in 8 but she's actually kinda cool here in 9.
I mostly used Chunhua because I felt Sima Zhao wasn't starting from the very beginning of Chapter 11, which is exactly was happening, and then switched over to Zhao when she caught up to his part.
I also played Zhang Chunhua and Xin Xianying briefly. I think his neutral flow combo actually is his old string but reanimated and better looking, and his old C4 attack animation is used for one of his reactive attacks. It feels just like his moveset from DW7 (basically it's a serviceable, if boring moveset where bodysurfing is the only thing that's particularly fun to use). I don't really have much to say about his moveset. Currently using Sima Zhao to complete the Jin trophy. Okay I finally got Man Chong to level 100 after repeating Chapter 11 a few times.