To be honest I dont know why this is irritating me as much as it is, but its like a constant mental itch that I just cant scratch. So writing this is me trying to scratch it. First a little background, I am generally a big fan of DLC. As long as its not transparently exploitative or bullshit “horse armour” rubbish then why wouldnt I want more content and options for a game I enjoy? So I will generlly buy DLC for games I enjoy. However these days I normally only play through a game once (there are some noteable exceptions like the Souls games) so if I know theres a lot of DLC coming I have two choices – play the game now and then try and get another play through when all the DLC is available or put off playing the game until all the DLC is out. Both of these approaches have their downfalls, which I have fallen prey to.
Sometimes a game will release DLC at a glacial pace so you have to wait literally months for it all to come out, this is even worse when each individual part of DLC is relatively small. With Disgaea 3 on the PS3 for example I decided to play through it, buy the DLC as it came out and then play through it again. The DLC took literally months to all come out, so I bought it piece by piece but before I could get to my new “DLC Enhanced” playthrough an enhanced port, with all the DLC I’d purchased wrapped into it, was announced for the Vita. Which I bought (and still havent played). Whats worse is that I did exactly the same fucking thing with Disgaea 4. But theres no way Im buying the enhanced port before I play through the PS3 version of that again! I’ve done the same things with other games, Borderlands 1&2, where I’ve picked up DLC that ends up never getting played because I’ve already completed the main game and moved on. Obviously this isnt entirely the DLC’s fault, the nature of how I play games these days (and the sheer amount available vs my free time available) is equally to blame. While its a bit annoying it isnt really the end of the world, I enjoyed those games and can semi-justify it to myself as supporting the dev’s I like (though it makes my frugal soul howl).
As I’ve been burned by the “Buy all the DLC as it comes out and then play through again” I started moving towards the alternate approach, wait for all the DLC to come out before playing the game. This approach also has its flaws, the main one being that sometimes I just end up never playing the game because by the time all the DLC is out I’ve lost that initial spark of interest. In theory this approach is cheaper, because I wait for the DLC to come out and then purchase it when Im about to play the game, so I dont end up buying DLC I dont use like with my former approach. However if I dont ever actually get around to playing the game then the money I spent on the game is in theory wasted. This approach tends to work better with PC games, where you can almost rely on either sales or GOTY editions to appear. Its less succesful with console titles (as my unplayed copys of Disgaea D2, The Guided Fate Paradox and Tales of Xillia, among others, will attest).
I’m not really sure if theres anything publishers could do to alleviate these issues because as mentioned the way I game and the amount of time I have to do so also plays a major role. I would like it though if publishers issued a release schedule for all planned DLC when the game launched (some such as NIS do this and its great) so I can better gauge how long I might have to wait. Ideally the publisher would just release all DLC day one but thats not feasible for a number of reasons. I suppose releasing the DLC in more complete “expansion” style packs would be another way to go. Ideally publishers would change how they approach DLC depending on the style of game as opposed to just adopting a “one size fits all” approach e.g. weekly or monthly content releases is fine for stuff like fighting games or fps’ i.e. games where you will be playing it frequently and cosmetic changes have little impact. But for long single player games like RPG’s it would be much better to “front load” the DLC distribution.
Anyhow, I wrote this because Dynasty Warriors 8 is pissing me off so its time to get to that. I’m a fan of the Dynasty Warriors series of games (though possibly a bigger fan of the “spin-offs” like the Gundam or Samurai Warriors games). I’d sort of drifted away from the franchise after the disappointing Dynasty Warriors 6 (and being swayed by Capcoms amzing Dynasty Warriors-alike Sengoku Basara). But I’d heard a lot of good things from people who had imported Dynasty Warriors 8 and got caught up in the hype for it as the approach neared. So much so that in a moment of (fucking) madness I purchased it Day 1. Not just that but I purchased a physical EU copy (this is noteable because these days for console purchases I am a) almost 100% digital and b) nearly always buy from the US). This meant that I had to wait a week for the game to arrive. A week during which I learned that while there was a Japanese language option it did not come with the game, but would be coming later as DLC. I decided to wait for the Japanese voice DLC. I figured it would take a week or two. The game released on July 19th. The Japanese voice DLC released October 8th, nearly three fucking months later.
This would have been annoying enough if it was just the wait, but it also came out during the fairly packed “Fall” season. In addition, and in the interim, other DLC had been released, quite a bit of it and looking at the DLC that came out for the Japanese version it was clear that more was on its way. The final piece of DLC release mid-way through December. But now I was faced with a new problem, even buying just the DLC I wanted (i.e. leaving out DLC that just added extra BGM or cosmetic base upgrades) it would cost over sixty euro to get all of it. At this point I deeply regretted not picking the game up digitall from the US so I could get it a bit cheaper. I decided to hold off on the DLC and ask for some PSN credit for a christmas present. I did actually end up playing a little of Dynasty Warriors 8 over the christmas holidays, co-op, and it was quite fun.
But by the time I got around to looking at the DLC again Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends edition had been announced. This would provided expanded content and options for the base game and could be purchased as either an upgrade for the PS3 version or as a “complete” PS4 version. Luckily enough the DLC for the existing PS3 version was compatible with the new version and if you had bought it would be available free when it was re-released for the new version. So I decided to hold off and pick up the DW8XL PS4 version. So March rolled around and DW8XL got released, the PS4 version offered performance upgrades and improved textures, lighting and effects. However, at launch the PS4 version didnt have the most up to date patch nor did it have the Japanee voice option (nor was all the old DLC instantly available for it). March was a pretty packed months in terms of releases and I was getting back into Diablo 3 in a big way after the 2.0 patch so I decided, yet again, to hold off.
Then a month or so later the PC version of Dynasty Warriors 8 XL was announced for a surprise localisation and was released a scant month later. Which brings us up to last week.
Last week I re-read and caught up with (the 15 or so unread volumes I had of) Kingdom, which is an excellent and epic war story set in ancient China. A different time period to that of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms but it really put me in the mood for some Dynasty Warriors. Which gave rise to my current mental unrest because here are the options I have available:
Dynasty Warriors 8 XL – PS3 Version
Pros:
-> I already own the base version so only need to buy the XL upgrade, making it the cheapest option
-> All current extant DLC is available for it
-> Japanese language option is available
Cons:
-> Worst looking of the three options
-> Least stable framerate of the three options
-> EU version so DLC is quite expensive
Dynasty Warriors 8 XL – PS4 Version
Pros:
-> Nicest looking version, enhanced textures lighting and effects
-> More enemies on screen and enhanced frame rate compared to the PS3 version
-> I could buy the US version and then purchase the DLC from the US, though it works out roughly the same as upgrading the PS3 version and buying all the DLC
Cons:
-> Still has framerate drops
-> Missing the most up to date patch
-> No Japanese voice option
-> Significantly less DLC available
Dynasty Warrios 8 XL – PC Version
Pros:
-> Rock solid 60 FPS framerate
-> With Steam trading possibly the cheapest to pick up
Cons:
-> Based on the PS3 version so worse looking textures, effects and lighting compared to the PS4 version
-> No Japanese language option (though it seems you might be able to fan patch them in)
-> No DLC nor any announced DLC at all
-> Technical issues (some of which were patched yesterday)
Each version has sizeable pros and cons, based largely on my need to not listen to the fucking terrible English voice acting and to have the DLC. If I wasnt broke I’d be tempted double dip on the PS4 and PC version, but that would mean I bought the original PS3 version (at full price no less) for nothing. Really I’m torn between the PS4 versions superior visuals (and an actual reason to take my PS4 out of its box) and the PC versions generally superior FPS/gameplay. But knowing that theres currently unavailable DLC out there would just lessen either experience as I’d feel like I was playing a “gimped version”. I think ultimately I’m probably not going to buy any DLC and play the PS3 version I already own to get it out of my system. Yay a decision, which makes writing this post worth it for me, but probably not for you unlucky reader.