Dynasty Tactics is a video game which was created and published by KOEI Ltd. Inc. The game was released exclusively on the PlayStation 2 home gaming console from Sony. It arrived on September 11, 2002, and is classed as being a hybrid between a role playing experience and a strategy game with elements taken from real life history, which is being played from an isometric top down perspective.

Dynasty Tactics is a game spun off from the well-known and long-running Dynasty Warriors franchise, which KOEI is still working on. The narrative arc of the videogame borrows quite heavily from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese written epic that itself blends real life historical facts, mainly when it comes to the wars and battles that were fought, with fantasy elements.

In Dynasty Tactics, players are able to select one of three military figures, each with different abilities and backgrounds, and then lead their armies to victory by gaining control over 60 cities on the map. The game relies heavily on military conflict to obtain control of a city, but there are also some diplomatic options which can be used. The battles are found on a 3D grid and each player takes turns moving his units and then watching the results of his actions. As with all Dynasty Warriors videogames, there are complex combo systems and the game offers multiple endings.

GAMEPLAY HINTS

Long distance army swaps

One of the obstacles in the game is having a strong force on one side of the map while needing that force on the other side. Since the distance per turn rules bar any army from getting across the map in one turn, this can lead to a second rate army having to fight a first rate army. If the two distant armies are connected by territory (linked to the capital), you can simply trade one army for another by using the following trick. Choose "Form" at one army and remove all the generals and strategist (swap the commander for a different one). Then, swap those free generals and the commander for the generals on the weaker army. Another benefit of this is that later in the game, when you want to expand, you can set up armies with only a commander (smaller armies allow for more armies), and send them out toward cities you want to take. If you think that you might have to fight a battle to take a city (if it is not empty), use the general swap trick for an instant army.


Here's a cutscene taken from the game: