For the Koei fans (You know who you are, don’t hide, I see ya!)

You know who I’m talking to. You went back and checked out the original “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” novel after playing the strategy game of the same name to read up on your favorite character. You compared notes to the in-game Dynasty Warriors encyclopedia to see if they got your favorite character right. You decided to major in history after playing Samurai Warriors gave you an intrest in feudal Japan. Yeah, I see ya hiding. Don’t make me call out your name. It’s all good, becuase I’m one of you.

Koei’s games sell like hotcakes in Japan, but they don’t get nearly enough love over here. Samurai Warriors is a spin off in Koei’s Dynasty Warriors hack and slash games. Samurai Warriors differs from Dynasty Warriors in that it’s set in ancient Japan. The original SW had a number of gameplay features that made it unique from DW, and after playing SW, I was disappointed to see that these features weren’t integrated into Dynasty Warriors 5.

Samurai Warriors 2 comming to Xbox 360 and PS2 later this month will take the series where it has never been before: online. Although it’s only for 2 players, it’s long overdue. Also, Xbox 360 users will notive that several special mounts and bodyguards are already available for purchase over the Xbox live market place. Beside conforming a Sony/Nintendo fanboy’s biggest criticism against the Xbox 360 (Charging people for a special item! GRRRRR!!), this opens up the possiblities for what Koei could have planned for future Xbox support. Unfortunantely though, it seems that just as in the 360 version of Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires, this new version will receive minimal graphics enhancements at best. If you don’t care too much for graphics though, get ready to sharpen your sword and head back to the battlefield this fall!