I find most conversations about video games to be dull and boring, but you’ll have to excuse me while I go off on a tangent.

Dynasty Warriors is a series that takes place in your world’s ancient China. It’s about the events leading up to and subsequent war that took place over the course of about a hundred years.

It’s an action arcade-style beat-em-up. The mechanical draw of the games are the shear numbers of active units on screen at once. You’re literally up against hundreds of enemies at a time, with thousands placed throughout the map. On the easiest setting, you can wade through just about anything and decimate the battlefield. On the harder settings you need to pay attention to the objectives, troop placement, any requests for aid, all while fighting against hordes of enemies that can easily whittle you down, or enemy generals that can drop you in a combo or two.

The voice acting and choreography in cutscenes are super cheesey. There’s such a volume of characters that many wind up being lack-luster; with personalities that are no deeper than a puddle. A lot of the fights are historically inaccurate on a grand scale. But it is just so… all-in, over-the-top, ridiculously framed, fast-paced fun that I’ve been a fan since the series started proper with Dynasty Warriors 2.

And each one has had a different flavor, as far as game modes. 3 was my favorite up until 7, but it looks like 8 is going to top that in spades.

That was a lot more text than I originally intended. Here’s the final battle music to 7. Which is, like, the best track from the whole dang series.