“Mike! Where are you going?!? The fight’s this way! MIKE! YOU SUCK!”

Remembering and keeping the past alive is important: making it engaging and accessible even moreso. It is incredible that I have never, even once, covered Romance of the Three Kingdoms in any of my various classes from elementary through university, and yet I have a fairly good, if basic, understanding of the epic. The 14th century tale of the feud between Shu Han, Cao Wei, and Eastern Wu has been the cornerstone of some truly fantastic games. The existence of the Dynasty Warriors franchise only heightens this, with Koei Tecmo elevating the animation of history to have the best flavor possible to education: musou combat. One of the most celebrated titles in the series, Dynasty Warriors 3, has now been remastered for modern consoles, and this is a phenomenal execution to bring this acclaimed installment to current players.

Some of you may be understandably confused when you realize that, for the most part, the Dynasty Warriors series conforms to the same subset of plot points and general storytelling beats from all the games. You can choose one of several characters that, ultimately, fall under representation of the three warring factions and proceed from there, carving a path of both historically accurate and sometimes alternative moments. In total, the historical timeline of the Three Kingdoms is complex to follow, as it takes place for only sixty years, yet has multiple touchstones that involve events happening decades or even centuries earlier. If you’re really passionate about the how and the why, you can get some incredible information from Dynasty Warriors games about important figures, fights and factions that make up the skin and bones of this series.

An incredible amount of exposition for one dude about to beat hundreds of nameless to death.

Having said that, you can absolutely jump into Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered without having any information about the long, sordid history that makes up the backbone of the Three Kingdoms or even the previous iterations of the games. Longtime fans will know that 3 is one of the most important in the series. Firstly, it’s where the franchise really starts to get its legs. The first game was essentially a Soul Calibur fighter, and the second Dynasty Warriors began to shape what would become of the game. Dynasty Warriors 3 is where you get some important, key elements that make the series what it is. The main characters and generals all get their own storylines. Items appear on the battlefield for boosts and heals, and equipment begins to become a key factor. Xtreme Legends (an expansion disk) that, thankfully, is baked into this Remastered edition from the get go.

Musou titles have grown in prominence over the years, with Fire Emblem, The Legend of Zelda and One Piece all having a crack at the formula, with some decent success. However, I’ve never quite gelled with these games because the power fantasy is a bit too far off the charts. I like the idea, but the execution of watching a character beat over a hundred enemies to death in a single blow is a tad far fetched. Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered rides this brilliant line of overwhelming combat with some “realistic” restrictions via the strategy stance. Every battle within Dynasty Warriors 3 has you being less of a Superman and more of a powerful tactician. You need to trust that you can delegate to the AI to a certain extent while choosing where your powerful strikes come into play. Even then, you aren’t the whole army: just one person.

As you can see, the peace mission is going exactly as planned.

It’s great to become inundated with the degree of hyperspecific information that comes from these styles of games about various historical elements right before dropping into a fight with actual magicians and wizards. The fact that Koei Tecmo realized that, technically, there were very few women who fought in these battles (Zhu Rong being the one inspired exception), but still chose multiple female figures from the histories to include as combatants is satisfying. If you take the time to look and research, you realize that the degree of detail and inclusion for buildings, landscapes, icons and monuments is ridiculous. Everyone likes to applaud how much Assassin’s Creed gets recreations right, but how about the fact that The Battle of Changban has real influence from the tapestries and written accounts of the time? It’s borderline overwhelming to see what’s presented here.

Speaking of overwhelming, the gameplay strategy of Dynasty Warriors 3 can take some getting used to if you haven’t played many musou games before. You need to constantly be aware of the battlemap and where enemy forces are invading, where they might be breaking through and where you can potentially turn the tide of war with your presence. Players must get good at getting on and off a horse in a hot second in order to traverse the sprawling, chaotic field, making decisions if you can strike someone from horseback or if you need to dismount to engage. You charge up your musou meter through light and heavy strikes, hopefully culminating in a massive area attack to give yourself and your allies some breathing room. But there isn’t really any. Imagine if a round of Final Fantasy Tactics constantly had your pulse at 140. That’s Dynasty Warriors.

Oddly, the lack of destructive environments makes this shed an invincible barricade.

This Remaster has long been teased by Koei Tecmo for the recreation in Unreal 5, and the wait was worth it. It’s become far too easy for games from the PS2 era to be sloppily ported and dropped onto modern hardware with little more than a filter and a hiked price tag. Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered looks incredibly sharp, with the colors and textures fully elevated to match modern sensibility. The intricate clothing and weaponry, which looked surprisingly good back in 2001, now positively gleams in this 25th anniversary release. The draw distance is superb, which helps so much in a game where battle is always on the horizon. In my play, there was never any chugging, frame drops or slowdown. It was smooth and vicious from the very beginning to the bitter end.

The soundtrack has also been remastered, and this is where Dynasty Warriors 3 goes from good to great. Having just recently done some other historical titles, I was ready for a soundtrack of orchestral greatness that incorporated a lot of traditional Chinese instruments and sounds. Instead, you get a positively shredding influx of electric guitar and borderline heavy metal composition. The anachronistic contrast between the fighting and the music is overwhelmingly great, and it adds more severity and excitement to the sounds of clashing steel, screaming horses and the neverending wave of roars that are enemies and allies alike, turning the battlefield crimson with honor and sacrifice. I’ll be honest, it’s been far too long since I’ve played a Dynasty Warriors game, but getting back into that symphonic havoc really put me in a positive and empowering headspace.

The RPG elements let you improve your leader over time, getting more stats up in attack, defense and life/musou meters, but these feel almost ancillary to the core mechanics of the game. Don’t get me wrong, being able to find and craft better weapons, pick up accessories to equip and further boost stats, and focus on how to create and lead the strongest faction possible are important, but that’s information to think about once you have a moment to breathe. When I’m out dealing with the Yellow Turban Rebellion, I don’t consider if I should be focused on min/maxing my character. I just want to beat the hell out of anyone and anything that has a name because they’re probably important and destroying them might make my life easier.

Although I do like being able to replay the battle like a disappointed college football coach.

Speaking of which, two player mode! You don’t need to wage war alone. Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered brings back the two player mode introduced in the original, and it can be exceedingly helpful. Maybe. It honestly depends on whom you’re paired up with and how well they understand the concept of the game. A good co-general will be able to divide and conquer, knowing when to pair up with you and let loose the dogs of war in the appropriate direction. This is essential: working together in order to attain the common goal of victory. If one of you perishes in combat, the whole exercise is a failure, so be sure to communicate and get the maximum amount of work done with minimal casualties. And, if you don’t play well together, take it to the versus arena where you can wail on each other in a classic Dynasty Warriors fashion.

What makes Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered so well worth it is how much meat is on this frame. You’ve got the storyline battles, the free campaign battles, all the goodies from the Xtreme Legends expansion and the missions, unlockable characters and additional items that it entails. You’ve got the ability to rewatch the cinematics separately to really lavish attention on these updated graphics, a soundtrack mode to jam out to the positively stellar score, and a chance to look at all the info that goes into the selection of characters and who they are in relation to history and the game. You can even see a multi-paged manual detailing concept art and rough sketches that eventually became the glorious game before you. I know the remaster was delayed, but it was clearly worth the wait.

After a failed co-op mission, you can show your fellow player the full extent of your displeasure!

This might be one of the best places for new players to get a juicy taste of musou. It’s got the grit, the havoc, the majesty and the might without being overwhelming, comical or hyper detailed. The entirety hinges on your ability to conduct yourself in war and lead others to victory. You set a good example and watch everyone else fall in line. You trust your generals and your troops and set out to do what you need to do. Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered proves this is the strongest of the series, and it’s been painstakingly, lovingly brought back to life for everyone to enjoy. This is the definitive way to conduct the bloody tale that is Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Even if it is a little…creative.

Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

A copy of Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered was provided by the publisher.