Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends (PlayStation 2, 2005)

DW5XL, or Dynasty Warriors 5 - Xtreme Legends, is basically the same game as DW4XL, with minor upgrades to several characters. The game is fun to play like most Dynasty Warriors games made by Koei, but, like any of the games in the DW5 series, it lacks creativity and could tire fairly quickly.

The xtreme mode, which was first seen in DW4XL, is kept. For those who haven't played this mode before, the xtreme mode allows you to choose one of the 48 playable characters, and play in as many battle scenes as you possibly can before you die, without the luxury of the character automatically restoring his/her health at the conclusion of each battle (you can "buy" health from the merchant after each round, but the meat buns become increasingly expensive and beyond affordable in later rounds). It is always a challenge to see how far you can go, and with each character... but who are we kidding here? Lu Bu will probably take you through a few more rounds (or many more rounds) than Zhang Jiao (pardon me here, yellow turban fans).

Dynasty Mode allows you to create your own character and follow one of the 48 characters as their side-kick. You can be loyal to your general throughout, or you can choose to betray him/her for your own gain. As you progress through the stages, you gain experience and can purchase abilities. What I really don't like about the Dynasty Mode is that it is way too short - 7 rounds and you are done. The strategies you can put into this mode is also very limited - it is not even a "chess match" like Xtreme Mode where you must calculate whether you should spend that 10000GP to buy one meat bun.

It is important to point out that the saved data from DW5 can be loaded up to DW5XL, so you need not try to unlock Zhang Jiao or Zuo Ci again. Your created characters from Dynasty Mode can also be transferred to DW5 Empires, which actually is VERY helpful when you play Empire Mode in DW5 Empires.