Dynasty Warriors 8 introduces some new elements for the basic gameplay, as well as expand on some of the basics in previous games. Dynasty Warriors 7 introduced multiple Musou attacks per character and DW8 expands this by having three different Musous per character. Each one will have two ground Musous, as well as an air Musou.
In addition to that, there are three new gameplay elements in the game, which are Storm Rush, Switch Counter and Rage. Storm Rush occurs when your character has the advantage in the Three Point System. There is a spirit gauge over an enemy officer's head and continuously attacking will lower that gauge. When it's empty, the next attack will trigger Storm Rush, where repeatedly pressing the attack buttons will perform a barrage of attacks.
Switch Counter is what happens when your character is at a disadvantage in the Three Point System. You'll know because a special icon will appear over the opponent's head. This will allow you to perform a Switch Counter during one of your opponent's charge attacks, allow you to either push your opponent back or stun them long enough for you to counterattack.
The last new element is called Rage. Once certain conditions have been met in battle, your character will enter a state of Rage that will enable them to perform powerful attacks. Pressing the Musou attack button while in Rage will perform a Rage Attack. Defeat enough enemies with this and you will go into a True Rage Attack, which will make enemies drop EXP items upon defeat.
