Dynasty Warriors 4 is definatly a game that can either hook you, or make you put it away, and never play with it again.
I loved the game a lot, and wanted to unlock everything possible in the game. So, I went to Gamespot, and looked at the 'Hints & Cheats' section. Of course, before you get there, you see the summary of the game, and what it's score was. I was a little bit surprised when I saw the score the game got. I went on to read some review about the game. There were 2 drasic's to the reviews. Reviews either said this was the best game ever, or the worst game in the world. Even though this was my favorite game, I did not believe it was the best. Far from it. The game, like every other game, had flaws. But, these flaws didn't make this game the worse game, for there are a lot worse games out there. Dynasty Warriors 4 isn't anything special, but it isn't horrible either.
There are many things you can do in Dynasty Warriors 4. There is the main story mode, the Musou mode. There is also the Verses mode, and the Challenge mode, which are exactly what they are. There is a edit mode, which allows you to make 4 officers, with very little options to actually make them, and different types of bodyguards. The edit, challenge, and verses mode in my mind, are all pretty lame. But they don't make the game. There is a nifty encyclopedia, which allows you to view all of the officers of the kingdoms actual life, and when the actually died. It also allows you view the actual history of what happened during this time period, called the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You can also view you characters weapons, and items. I am not going to bore you with what items there are, and what weapons, and how they work, and blah, blah, blah. If you really like the game, you will most likely do more research, and even buy the game. But hey, I'm just here to give an overview of the game, and my opinion, not to go into every single detail. There is also the Free mode. You can play battles that you have already unlocked in the Musou mode (Levels that you have already played) and play on the sides available. Unlike in Musou mode, where you have to play from one of the characters in the force you play as, you can play from any of the 42 available characters, if you have unlocked them. For more information on characters in Dynasty Warriors 4, read on.
Anyway, the musou mode starts at the end of the Han Dynasty, with you, the player, playing against...THE YELLOW TURBANS. Of course, in the beginning, you can pick from one of the 3 kingdoms availabe, and one of the 3 characters in that kingdom. The three kingdoms are Wei, Shu, and Wu. This is what the Han Dynasty breaks into. After you defeat the Yellow Turbans, Dong Zhuo tries to take control of the Imperial Court, and once again, the Allied Forces (Wei, Shu, Wu, and others) go to stop him. Yay, the evil Dong Zhuo is gone. After this, each kingdom goes on their personal stories. You will run into the other kingdoms, most of the scenario for some kingdoms, and not many for others. With the 3 main kingdoms in Musou mode, you will go through 6 acts, and Tale Stages, if you fullfill requirements to get these 'Spcial' levels. Of course, there are other 'Groups' that are later playable if you fullfill certain requirements. Those are Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, Nanman, and the Yellow Turbans. These groups Musou modes are only 4-5 acts, with no Tale Stages.
As you go through the Musou mode in each kingdom, you will unlock different characters. Of course, to unlock some characters, you need to fullfill special requirements in that Musou mode. These requirements might ask you to skip some stages in Acts, for in Musou mode, there are normally 3 battles in each Act, but you only have to do the one at the end of the list, if any. Sometimes, to unlock a Tale Stage, and a character, you have to get a Tale Stage, to unlock those characters.
Well, that about sums it up for Dynasty Warriors 4. As I said before, I didn't go into detail about everything, as this is a basic review of the game, not the manual. If you are intrested in the game, and want more information on the game, go to www.koei.com, and learn more about the creators of the game, and the actual game. Also, Congratulations, for making it to the end of this very long review.