Ranking Every Dynasty Warriors Game Worst To Best

First released in 2000, Dynasty Warriors 2 is the game that defined what Dynasty Warriors would be for the following two decades. Rather than a fighting game like its predecessor, Dynasty Warriors 2 brought battlefield gameplay to the series, and forever altered what large-scale combat games would look like. With double the cast size of the original game, Dynasty Warriors 2 started strong with inventive, unique character designs, and surprisingly polished graphics for a PlayStation 2 launch title.

The game has its strange hiccups, artifacts of an older era. Certain characters look or play more similarly to each other than they would today, harkening back to fighting game standards like Mortal Kombat's ninjas, or Tekken's Jin and Devil Jin. The base weapon combat is surprisingly reactive and weighty, but the supplementary combat additions like mounted combat and archery are clunky and ineffective. There's effectively no post-game, no secret weapons or achievements that boost replayability.

Still, Dynasty Warriors 2's impact upon the series cannot be understated. Without Dynasty Warriors 2, there would be no Dynasty Warriors as we know it. It dazzled an audience and nearly created its own genre wholesale, building a diehard fanbase that would stay with the series for decades to come. Though in hindsight, it may not measure up to some of its successors, Dynasty Warriors 2 is a worthy and respectable entry in the series.