Dynasty Warriors

Upon release, it was greeted as a success in this regard by most critics.

• Title — Dynasty Warriors • Developer — Omega Force • Publisher — Koei • Series — Dynasty Warriors • Genre — Fighting • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — PlayStation

All combat is weapon-based, similar to the Soulcalibur series. Rather than having a single all-purpose block button, as in most fighting games, the player must parry the enemy's strikes by executing their own attack at the same height with the correct timing, leaving the enemy vulnerable to attack. The stages are at dawn, noon, and dusk.

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 a discrepancy in title numbers that has continued ever since.

The game features 16 playable characters, six of whom are unlockable. 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; this is their only appearance in Dynasty Warriors, but they do appear prominently in the Samurai Warriors spin-off series. The characters are not grouped into factions, as each have individual slots similar to most fighting games; for convenience, characters are listed according to the factions they are accorded to in later games. • Shu — Wei — Wu — Other • Guan Yu — Cao Cao — Lu Xun — Diao Chan • Zhang Fei — Dian Wei — Sun Shang Xiang — Lü Bu • Zhao Yun — Xiahou Dun — Taishi Ci — Nobunaga • Zhuge Liang — Xu Chu — Zhou Yu — Toukichi ---- Bold denotes default characters. ----

Dynasty Warriors was first unveiled at the November 1996 PlayStation Expo, shocking attendees familiar with Koei's track record of historical simulation video games. The character's animations were all created using motion capture.