Developer(s) Omega Force Series Dynasty Warriors Genre(s) Fighting | Publisher(s) Koei Platform(s) PlayStation | |
Release date(s) JP: February 28, 1997
NA: June 30, 1997
PAL: December 1997 | ||
Dynasty Warriors (三國無双, Sangokumusō) is a weapon-based fighting video game developed and published by Koei. It was released on December 1, 1997 for the PlayStation. Unlike the later installments in the series which are hack and slash, Dynasty Warriors is a "one-on-one" fighting game.
Contents
Gameplay
The fighting system in Dynasty Warriors is fairly complex. All combat is weapon-based, similar to the Soulcalibur series. The player's aim is to parry the enemy's strikes with considerable timing and recognition, leaving the enemy vulnerable to attack. The stages are in morning, noon, and dusk.
Name and series
In Japan, the game was released as Sangokumusou. With the next installment in the series a departure in genre and style from the original Dynasty Warriors, it was entitled Shin Sangokumusou in Japan. Nevertheless, in Europe and North America, the game was released as Dynasty Warriors 2, leading to the discrepancy in title numbers.
Characters
The game features 16 characters, six of whom are hidden by default. These characters are mainly historical figures from the Three Kingdoms era of China, though two characters; Nobunaga and Toukichi are figures from the Warring States period of Japan; two of them only appear in the first game and Koei's Samurai Warriors. Unlike in future games, the characters are not grouped into factions, as each have individual slots similar to most fighting games; for convenience, characters will be listed according to the factions they are accorded to in later games.
Bold denotes default characters.
Reception
Dynasty Warriors was met with positive reception upon release, as GameRankings gave it a score of 78.14%.