Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires vs Shogun: Total War
Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires
Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires is another Empires spin-off from the main Dynasty Warriors franchise. It combines the repetitive hack and slash that the series is so famous for with a more strategic, Risk-like gameplay where you'll not only need to get your hands dirty in actual combat, but also make important military decisions based on your role as a leader of an army.However, many players have said that this game is definitely a step down from the 7th installment. Not to mention, like Dynasty Warriors 8, this PC port is plagued with the same control issues if you use the mouse and keyboard combo, but the problems go away once you switched over to using a controller. So, if you plan on buying this game, make sure you have a controller ready.
That being said, Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires is definitely the sort of game that caters to fans of the game series and may also appeal to some fans of strategy games, but as mentioned, despite being the newest, it's certainly not the best game in the spin-off series - it is merely a somewhat decent one.
Shogun: Total War
Shogun: Total War is the first original title in a legendary, 15-year (and counting), award-winning, real-time strategy game series that currently spanned across multiple themes and settings. However, this game is set in ancient Japan - 1542 to be exact - when the last shogunate collapsed and the entire nation is thrown into conflict as multiple daimyo (faction leaders) vie for the most powerful seat. To make things worst, Europeans have also ventured to island at this point, bringing guns, religion and disease - factors that you'll eventually have to deal with if you are to attain the people's support and conquer the whole of Japan.The gameplay in Shogun: Total War is akin to Rise of Nations in the sense that each battle is carried out in real-time, but moving your troops on the world map is pretty much turn-based (Risk-style). However, unlike the latter, the battle itself is purely consisted of the actual fighting rather than having you build a base and amassing resources and an army. Instead, Shogun lets you view the entire battlefield from any view you like and send commands to your troops as the battle unfolds. This is basically something that's unheard of until this game came along.
Shogun: Total War may be an old game by modern standards, and due to this, many players might simply opt for its sequel in order to have a taste of that this game has to offer. However, if you truly want to experience the very first of the Total War series, this is the game to play.