Yesterday, we got a series of neat trailers that celebrated 20 years of Dynasty Warriors. The series introduced us to the mousu concept, a unique type of hack and slash title that the franchise has driven pretty much single handedly for these two decades, and new titles are coming, and we should hear about them soon.

In the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, Producer Akihiro Suzuki talked about the series. As many assumed, he confirmed that Dynasty Warriors 9, the last entry in the series, will not be getting a Xtreme Legends expansion. But he did also confirm that new titles will be coming for the anniversary year, saying, “I hope to be able to announce a 20th anniversary title in the near future. By the way, there is not only one anniversary title” (thanks to to Gematsu for translations).

There had been mention of a new project for 2020 when the 20th anniversary website went live earlier this year, but we haven’t heard anything since. Dynasty Warriors 9 tried to mix up the formula with a more open world approach, but it received mixed reception. It’ll be interesting to see where they take the franchise after that.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of the genre, the mousu has become something of a staple for Japanese gaming. There’s been multiple different franchises in the genre, as well as popular franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem and Dragon Quest having spin-offs in that style. But it all began with Dynasty Warriors, and today the publisher celebrated two decades of that hack and slash.

The company released two trailers, one in English and one in Japanese, to highlight the linage of the titles. It actually begins with Dynasty Warriors 2, as the the first game was a fighting game. It only covers the Dynasty Warriors titles, not its many offshoots, and shows how the games have changed (and not changed all that much, either, frankly). The last game in the franchise was Dynasty Warriors 9 in 2018, which saw mixed reception from fans.

A website popped up earlier this year for the 20th anniversary, hinting at a new game coming this year, but since then nothing has been said nor is that hinted at in either trailer.

For over 20 years now, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms has been retold through a fury of action and hordes of expendable nobodies with the Dynasty Warriors series. The franchise has seemingly been endless, with multiple offshots such as the Japanese-based Samurai Warriors and the fantasy-themed Orochi Warriors. Now it seems the original is gearing up for its next entry.

A new website just launched to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary. On it there’s a timeline beginning in August 2000 with the release of Dynasty Warriors 2 (the first game was not a musou title, it was a fighting game, so therefore is not counted). On the 2020 part, it simply says ‘new project’ and nothing more.

Dynasty Warriors 9 was the last mainline entry in the series and tried to change things up to some mixed results. Unlike previous titles, it never received an expansion or offshoot version, such as an Xtreme Legends or Empires, so it’s possible this new project could be that, or Koei Tecmo could be looking to go straight into Dynasty Warriors 10. We’ll keep you updated.

CONTRA

When Contra was at its peak, it was one of the best franchises in the industry. Contra games brought with them a guarantee of riotous fun, gruelling action, and non-stop carnage, and when the franchise died down with the advent of time, it came as a bitter disappointment to a lot of people. Recently, Konami revived the franchise- perhaps “revived” is the wrong word though, because really, all Contra: Rogue Corps has done is drive the series even further into its depressing grave. Opting for a third person shooting style instead of the sidescrolling run’n’gun action the series is know for, Contra: Rogue Corps completely misses the mark in every way possible, and doesn’t seem to understand what fans liked about the series in the first place. It’s failure is made all the more baffling when you consider that an indie game called Blazing Chrome that came out earlier this year delivered everything that made people love Contra in spades- and yet Konami seem to have completely lost their way. Perhaps it’s best to let the legendary property die with some dignity.

CUCCOS (ZELDA)

Ah, the legendary chickens- a more famous Zelda mainstay than Ganondorf instead. We hate what they do to us if we whack them one time too many, and yet we can’t resist doing it over and over anyway. The wrath of the Hyrule chickens is a fearsome thing, and if you anger these fowl birds, not even the might of the Triforce can save you.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-annoying-video-game-enemies-we-absolutely-hate/feed 0 404327 https://gamingbolt.com/14-so-called-non-lethal-attack-moves-in-video-games-that-are-most-definitely-lethal https://gamingbolt.com/14-so-called-non-lethal-attack-moves-in-video-games-that-are-most-definitely-lethal#respond Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:30:37 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=364484 Killing stuff in games is fun. Simply pressing a button and watching an entire fleet of baddies evaporate is just fun. And yet, there are some games that like to sort of “pretend” that some things are non-lethal. “No one really died!” they’re probably saying, somewhere in some fever dream. But we know the truth – we know just how lethal some attacks and abilities really are. Let’s take a look at 14 such examples here.

Pokemon – Self-Destruct, Hyper Beam, Etc.

Anyone who’s played Pokemon, even the first generation, will be familiar with attacks like Self-Destruct. You know, the one where your Pokemon explodes to damage and/or kill the enemy? It’s pretty metal but how in the world do the Pokemon just faint? Even if there is some logical explanation, how do all of these cataclysmic beam attacks result in Pokemon? Given how Gary’s Raticate died, we’re motivated to think that some of these attacks are killing Pokemon (even if that particular theory involves the Raticate not receiving medial attention in time).

The good news- Dragon Quest is returning to PlayStation, as yesterday, at Sony’s pre-TGS conference, Enix and Koei took the stage to announce Dragon Quest Heroes.

The unexpected news- it’s not what you think it is. If you were expecting another glorious full fledged console Dragon Quest RPG such as Dragon Quest VIII was back on the PlayStation 2, you may be disappointed (and just a bit baffled), because Dragon Quest Heroes is essentially Dragon Quest meets Dynasty Warriors. Yes, it’s Dragon Quest’s version of Hyrule Warriors.

The game will nonetheless be somewhat of an RPG, adding some nuance and depth to the gameplay and combat, which has otherwise been known to get monotonous and repetitive (the previously mentioned Hyrule Warriors promises the first shake up of the formula in over a decade). Sony also announced a new special edition Metal Slime PS4 that will go with it, which is expected to be due out, alongside the game, in 2015.

Stay tuned.

“It didn’t keep the momentum there. And if they can release the Xbox One as close as possible to the North American release date, I think that would make a really big difference this time around. Looking at the recent announcements about the Xbox One – just looking at the numbers, the specs and about what kind of things the Xbox One can do with its CPU – the gap between the PS4 and Xbox One, in terms of functionality, may not be that different.

“So, if the Xbox One comes to TGS and doesn’t have a delayed release in Japan, Microsoft’ll have a good chance [in the region].”

Japan is currently classified as “tier 2” region and will see the Xbox One release in early 2014 with the remainder of Asia seeing the console by late 2014.

Special moves are cool.

The game has two modes with one being Story Mode and the other being Conquest mode.  In Story mode you can play through the same story, seen through the eyes of four sets of different characters or kingdoms rather.  Each mode will take you to different events as well as seeing and battling new characters.  Just playing through one of these four modes could take you 10-12 hours, which is fun the first time but can get boring or repetitive trying to complete them all.  You will want to complete them all as playing through the story unlocks many things including the 62 different characters you can choose from in Conquest mode.  The story or game series is based on a novel called the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ in which three Kingdoms move to take over the Emperor of China through battle.  Some of the cut-scenes and even the gameplay is that Matrix style Japanese battle where Warriors look like can almost fly, but it’s just an average leap for them.  Keep in mind that this is all based in ancient China, where battles with blades on horses or on foot are what take place.  This is what the series has always been based on, like the novel which can get repetitive in itself but players will be happy to see that there is a new fourth Kingdom called ‘Jin’ in Dynasty Warriors 7 adding to the legacy of the story with the other three being ‘Shu’, ‘Wu’ and ‘Wei’.

In Conquest Mode you can choose any characters you have unlocked and battle away very similar to story mode only you battle on a map that you must conquer each section at a time.  Each character looks different as well as having varying stats which are health, speed and attack power.  You can level up character by adding points to the skill trees they have in addition you also have an energy bar that once filled (by performing the required attacks) you can use a special move on enemies that can be devastating.  There are power ups strewn across the map that will either heal you, give you a temporary boost in a certain skill, or can even give you a permanent one.  Enemies drop loot and weapons all the time but it is only the more difficult enemies like officers that tend to drop a more powerful weapon.

Each of the 62 characters are unique.

The weapons in the game are all pretty cool in one way or another as each one having a unique look to them some even giving you a special move.  I could almost compare the game to Too Human only set in ancient China, but would give you a good idea of the type of game you would be playing.  Another new addition to the series is the dual-wielding weapons; when I say that I mean you can have two weapons equipped at the same time with the ability to switch between the two at will.  Players can equip any two weapons they want with their character but certain weapon types will be nearly useless depending on the character type you are.  There are also now ‘Seals’ in the game where weapons will have empty slots for with each ‘Seal’ giving you a bonus to health, speed and many other things.  This definitely adds to the game as a whole being that hack and slash type game have to rely on other things now a days to be considered a good game.  There is even a tutorial system in the game that explains the combat system in depth which was helpful and you can also map attacks to whatever button you would like giving you complete control of the games attack mechanics.

There are no checkpoints in the game and even though you can save at any time it doesn’t do much it you are just about to complete a level and then die or a mission is failed.  The graphics are ok, but nothing jaw dropping but the cut-scenes are usually pretty epic.  All the audio is narrated which is especially nice when in battle.  General mechanics in the game seem to be more polished than previous games in the series, with everything flowing nicely.  If you are on foot you can call your horse at any time two move quickly through the large maps as long as you are not in battle.  Every battle is a slaughter of hundreds of enemies but not one drop of blood is spilled, but I can’t imagine how much there would be everywhere if there was.  Playing alone I was actual amazed at how much was fit on screen at once while playing online at time was the complete opposite.  I don’t know if the massive amount of enemies gave the online issues but it was hard to play in co-op online.  Luckily you can play the game split-screen and in system link.

Massive battles.

All in all Dynasty Warriors 7 is a good game and probably the king of button mashing.  This game is definitely the best out of the series with all the polishes to all the game aspects and the additions to the game.  I really can’t say that this is not worth buying because for one, there is a massive amount of gameplay on the disc between the four different Story modes and Conquest mode as well as all the characters or weapons you can make stronger.  If your a fan of the Dynasty Warrior games then this is the best yet, but I must note the series in it self is repetitious, not to mention the battles.  If you are new to the franchise you will probably enjoy its massive battles and get sucked into collecting everything in the game.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

The game is set for release on March 11th in Japan-only 2 months after Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires- although there is no date set for when the rest of us can get our hands on it. Nevertheless, should you choose to import it will cost you around $56 (JP¥ 5,040).

The latest game in the Strikeforce series will feature many gameplay tweaks and enhancements, as well as more characters to play as. There is going to be added emphasis on multiplayer team-based skirmishes this go round, too.

Making a reappearance from the previous Strikeforce game, you will still have the ability to fly (always cool) and there wil be varying levels of weapon resistance- archers are effective against mages but warriors will destroy archers. The level cap of 3 is also expected to be lifted.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for the latest on Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce 2!