The Musou series has managed to remain one of my favorites. Dynasty Warriors 3, released in the same year as Grand Theft Auto III and Metal Gear Solid 2, saw my hands on the controller more than either of those other venerable titles. Seriously, any action fan should have at least one of these titles in their collection. The portable versions have always managed to burn me. The bizarre Dynasty Warriors Advance and the interminably dull Samurai Warriors Chronicles were extremely poor representations of the prolific series. Therefore, no attempt was made by me to try one of the titles on the Vita. Strange, considering the power of the handheld was much more likely to turn in a respectable effort. So, when the opportunity arose to check out the Vita port of Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, it seemed the time to right that wrong.

An admirable attempt was made for this version; the entirety of Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires was crammed into this port, complete with cross save functionality. Unlike similar port jobs, such as the Vita Borderlands 2, this manages to be playable. Instead of focusing on established timelines, like the mainline series, the Empires variant allows the player to pick a hero and create their own history. Every nuance and decision that can be found in the home console version can be found here. This includes the large scale battles.

One of the major components holding the aforementioned handheld versions back was the lack of population on the fields of battle. Instead of feeling like a particularly effective participant in a violent melee, it felt like the player was wandering a barren meadow, slapping down the random helpless schmuck that had the misfortune of wandering the same area. On the Vita, the battles maintain their grandiose feel expected of the series. During my first invasion to establish a kingdom of my own, I managed to rack up a KO count of over seventeen hundred. Cutting down hundreds of enemies single-handedly to dismantle the opposing kingdoms’ supply chain was a profoundly satisfying experience.

As this version apes the console version, the problems found in the big brother transfers to the sibling. Simply put, the explanations of strategic decisions made in the war council are poor at best. The “tutorial” comes across as a riddle to be solved, not a starter’s guide to conquering the world. The menus remain atrocious, with little in the way of easily gleaned explanations of functions and and how certain actions affect performance. For example, I was attempting to act as a benevolent ruler, treating my conquered territories with kindness and compassion. Instead of levying taxes, I would trade with the people. Yes, this made accruing useful items more difficult due to reduced funds and materials, but a happy populace was the goal. Thus, it was with great surprise that I was slapped with the label of “Despot” and told that I had numerous unhappy territories. I got out of it by bribing the people, but a better indication would have gone a long way. People who searching for a more in depth look at these issues are encouraged to read our own Adam Beck’s review of the original console version.

When stacking up to the effort vs PS4, the leap to the Vita did not leave this title entirely unscathed. There is a noticeable downgrade to the texturing. The reduced power of the still mighty handheld simply is not able to render this quite as sharply. What remains is still not too shabby, especially for folks with the OLED version. More noticeable is the enemies pop in. When playing through the battles, especially when attacking a base, enemies tend to phase in and out of existence. This does happen when playing co-op on the home versions, but typically not single player, where all testing of this was done. What resulted was reminiscent of what the campaigns might be like in my aborted Star Trek/Romance of the Three Kingdoms fan fiction. This can lead to frustration when an officer vanishes while the player is in mid-combo, only to reappear behind to land a cheap hit. There are also slight issues with dropped frames. These tend to show up more during the in-engine cutscenes, fortunately.

There also seems to be an issue with the sound. For some unknown reason, it is oddly muted. The music, the Japanese voiceover, the clashes and clangs of battle: the entire thing sounds as though it is being heard through plugged ears. This issue occurs whether playing with the on board speakers, passive headphones, or powered noise canceling headphones. The sound must be turned up. Woe betide those with a noisy home theme should they not turn down the volume before going to the menu.

Finally, there are the stratagems. During the rumbles, players are able to make use of these special powers to turn the tide. Lightning strikes, refilling heath, becoming impervious to staggering and more are available. To activate these on the Vita, the player is meant to touch the cards on the right side of the screen, and touch their choice to activate. Taking a hand off of the attack buttons opens the player up for some abuse. Further compounding the issue is the lack of responsiveness. Sometimes it takes multiple taps before the game realizes the intent of the player, rendering these entirely useless in the midst of slaughter. The only one that ended up being useful become the health refill, as it can still be helpful during lulls.

This is not to argue that there is no merit to having the Vita version of this title. Once the player learns the ins and outs of the systems in place, it’s nice to have a decent Musou title to take on the go. This series has always been an amiable time waster and the transition to portable is absolutely a desirable thing. Just be forewarned that it’s not perfect. What seals the recommendation of snagging some version of this: there is a recruitable officer named “Dong Tuna.” That, alone, makes up for so much.