Koei’s Musou games (or Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors as we know them over here) are a guilty pleasure of gamers. Although they tend to be simplistic and repetitive, they are easy to get into, and they are quite educational thanks to their historical setting. Plus there has always been a certain charm to be gained by slashing up dozens of Chinese warriors or evil samurai with a guy who wields fans as weaponry. While the Dynasty Warriors games cover China’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms period (in which Three Kingdoms vie for ultimate power in the wake of the collapse of the Han Empire), Samurai Warriors deals with Japan’s Age of Warring States (in which Nobunaga went head to head against other warlords in an attempt to unify Japan under one banner). Fans often speculated what would happen if the casts of the two games teamed up. In fact, you can go onto any message board and find a “Samurai Warriors vs Dynasty Warriors Heal/Hurt” game. It would only be a matter of time until Koei and W-Force answered player’s wishes, and in 2007, the great warriors of Ancient China and Japan joined forces in Koei’s Orochi Warriors. While it’s not perfect, it’s the crossover fans have been waiting for.
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