Dynasty Warriors 5

Dynasty Warriors 5 (真・三國無双4, Shin Sangoku Musou 4) is the fifth numbered installment in the Dynasty Warriors series. So far, it's the title with the most amount of spin-offs. The game's characters, visuals, and fighting style are also the most publicized versions to date.

Kenji Tanigaki is the opening movie director.

Gameplay

 * The Musou Token is a new item that activates Musou Rage which powers up the character momentarily. The player can pick it up on the ground by killing certain soldiers, breaking certain boxes, or by getting 100 KO's when wielding a fourth weapon. To activate it, press R3 (right analog stick). Enemy generals can also activate Musou Rage as well.


 * Evolutionary attacks add an additional 4 attacks to a moveset. When using a weapon who's informational screen has a blue, swirling sky-blue dot on it and also having a full Musou bar, players can press an additional 4 times after, , , , , . The first two additional attacks are regular with the third attack being a launch, and the last attack's purpose is to clear crowds, but will not activate elements despite some having charge attack animations; this is a nod to Samurai Warriors' normal attack string finisher inputs via using the same non-charge attack effect for the string starter.


 * Dynasty Warriors 5 adds a Weight system to weapons. Weapons' weights are classified as being Light, Medium, and Heavy. Light weapons are faster compared to the other types, but have weak damage - only at 75% capacity. Medium-weighted weapons have average speed and power, with 100% attack power. Lastly, Heavy weapons make the character attack slower, but with a 125% damage percentage.
 * By proxy, the Weapon Level system has been removed, and weapons can be acquired in this game independently while being able to hold up to four. New to this game and carried over from Samurai Warriors however, is the ability to discard and replace any weapon in the inventory which allows multiple copies of one weapon to be kept. Bonus stats on weapons barring primary weapon power have also been re-added.


 * Instead of the original multiple bodyguards that would accompany the player during a battle, only one bodyguard is available to have. Bodyguards are classified into grades that affect their stats, and can also have elements and abilities added to them.


 * Orbs are obtained through special conditions instead of randomly receiving them. Also, levels for the Orbs are unapparent in this game and no longer require a full Musou gauge to activate.
 * However, all C1 and C2 attacks no longer activate elements, save for the reworked-elemental shot attacks which are now elemental bomb attacks (e.g. Cao Cao, Sima Yi, Zhuge Liang, etc.).
 * In regards to the Musou Gauge, disjointed beam and shockwave attacks can now once more fill the gauge whenever they connect on enemy targets.


 * A majority of stats are combined together in this game, especially both attack and defensive stats of the same category (e.g. bow attack and bow defense are both combined into a single stat).


 * Visual indicators for being able to ride mounts appear in the form of a faint white circle when the player is close enough to one.


 * Knocking down towers now causes them to fall over a certain orientation depending on which area they were stuck at, and no longer does difficulty setting render them being easier or harder to destroy.
 * Towers now can fall on and damage all units if destroyed, and will launch them on hit and damage multiple times. This damage however cannot KO any units as it counts as hazard damage.


 * The auto-lock-on associated with attacking units is now more lax (carried over from Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires), making attacks more easier to divert/direct while making them harder to aim for others.


 * The Charge Drive C5 function has been removed, and is now replaced with a new launching energy-based C5 called a Charge Shoot for all returning characters.


 * Character moveset bases shared across both playable generals and NPC generals no longer have differing idle stances, and now only use a single idle stance each.


 * Several previous graphics from the previous installment has been removed, such as certain types of projectiles, as well as unblockable grab attacks.


 * Jumping charge attacks are now more varied and unique depending on the character, and no longer alter the camera during execution.


 * Jumping no longer carries any horizontal momentum from grounded movement, and only from somersault recoveries.


 * Several characters' parry animations have changed. Parries can now be done without the camera orienting behind the character if both L1 and undefined are tapped at the exact same time, and the parry attack animation no longer carries a full-lingering hitbox on its ending frames.


 * All characters now have unique True Musou attack finishers.


 * A majority of characters now have completely new and redone victory animations.


 * Difficulty settings can now be selected each time a stage is selected or if a character's Musou Mode is selected. Chaos difficulty has been added, where enemy officers ignore the player's defense stat when calculating their damage inflicted.


 * All stage maps are now completely independent of each other like in older installments.


 * The enemy AI will now actively use joint attacks very often. Enemy spearmen will perform a joint C1 attack after they get into position, while pikemen will do a joint jumping attack.


 * Crashing/collision/smash knockback no longer affects all units in range of the victim, and now only affects units of the same allegiance as the victim. At a cost however, smashing/collision no longer inflicts any damage.


 * All enemy generals now have a Super Armor/flinch-resisting red aura while posing in their Musou charge/guarding stance to signify their Musou Attack activation, as opposed to using their Musou Attack instantaneously like in previous titles.


 * As of this game for future Warriors titles, HP bars can now have two tiers of health, depending on the enemy unit and difficulty.


 * Having attacks with high raw power or other offensive modifiers can no longer can overpower units' guarding/blocking based on their defense stat with an unblockable attack.


 * Actual square-shaped bases have been added onto battlefields (refined from Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires), where they are categorized as attack, defense and supply bases. Taking down bases by destroying their Gate and Guard Captains will cause them to stop functioning, along with other active bases to stop functioning as well for a short time and lowering the corresponding forces' morale.
 * Attack bases have ranged artillery and cause enemy units within them to act more aggressive and will use joint Musou Attacks very often.
 * Defense bases will cause enemy units to guard very frequently.
 * Supply bases will give out random stats boosts mid battle and will always have breakable wine jars inside. Supply bases can also give supplies to boost the morale of other units.
 * Bases will close up if opposing units approach them, and from the inside have ramps to prevent the player from getting stuck inside if this situation occurs.
 * CPU officers can burn down bases with a fire attack, but this cannot be done by the player.
 * For certain maps, base categories are all set at random for each playthrough, but some stages will always have the same types of base regardless.


 * Carried over from Samurai Warriors, gate captains can be slain and replaced with the forces respective of the ones who took them out, allowing units to both seal enemy entry points while also gaining control of them to their side at the same time.

Modes
Note: Versus mode has been removed.

Musou Mode
Removes factions' story method from the previous installment in favor of individual stories for every character.

Free Mode
Same as most other titles.

Encyclopedia
Same as the previous title but with somewhat different summaries for each officer. The timeline section is also extended a bit.

Challenge Mode
Allows players to pick their officer of choice and participate in one of the four following modes
 * Time Attack - Defeat 100 enemies as fast as possible within Luo Castle.
 * Rampage - Beat as many enemies as possible before being defeated or when time runs out within Nan An at Tian Shui.
 * Sudden Death - Both the player and enemies will die in one hit regardless of HP amount; defeat as many enemies as possible in the time limit under those conditions within Cheng Du's northern forest.
 * Bridge Melee - Knock off incoming enemies off the bridge within the time limit within a special castle map, surrounded by a fairly deep pit.

Characters
The game retains the same cast from the previous installment and adds six new officers. Characters are unlocked by clearing several stories in Musou Mode. Those with bolded names are new in this title.

Expansions

 * Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends
 * Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires
 * Dynasty Warriors 5 Special - Xbox 360 and PC version of the game that includes content from Xtreme Legends (excluding the Edit Mode and Destiny Mode features). Sports higher resolution graphics and includes the Japanese and English tracks. Exclusive to East Asian regions.

Spin-Offs
The games listed below either use character visuals or movesets from this title.
 * Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2
 * Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighter's Battle (simplified and stylized versions)
 * Dynasty Warriors Mahjong
 * Dynasty Warriors: Online/BB
 * Warriors Orochi
 * Warriors Orochi 2
 * Pachislot Shin Sangoku Musou by Olympia; additional screenshots can be seen here.
 * CR Shin Sangoku Musou by San Three
 * CR Shin Sangoku Musou Moushouden

Related Media
Koei published a series of trading card game (「真・三國無双 4」トレーディングカードゲーム) based on Dynasty Warriors 5 on July 29, 2005. The cards are illustrated by Hiroyuki Suwahara. Starter box (53 cards) cost 1500 yen, while booster pack (10 cards) cost 280 yen. Available starter box including Wei set, Wu set, Shu set. There are total 266 cards in the game, including 36 commander, 160 general, 35 strategy, 15 trap, 20 item. Booster pack include 10 cards from the set of 266.

Meister Japan created mini replicas of the game's weapons. They can be seen here, here and here.

The eight volume fanbook publication, Musou Fan Field combined information for this game with Samurai Warriors and its then upcoming sequel. It included exclusive illustrations, sneak peaks to new features in the games and their expansions, dream match novelizations or coverage between two factions, and a showcase of letters and fans from both franchises. Voice actor commentary, several comics, and other editorials answering questions to fans were also included. Three compilations of Three Kingdoms based novels were also published under the label, Musou Fan Field Novels.

Aside from the official guide books, character illustration book, character encyclopedia, and scenario guide, Koei officially funded the following publications for this game:


 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 1 - collection of four panel parody comics created and illustrated by fans. ISBN: 4-7758-0317-4
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 2 - ISBN: 4-7758-0339-0
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 3 - ISBN: 4-7758-0337-9
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 4 - ISBN: 4-7758-0338-7
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 5 - ISBN: 4-7758-0339-5
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 6 - ISBN: 4-7758-0386-7
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 7 - ISBN: 4-7758-0387-5
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 8 - ISBN: 4-7758-0388-3
 * Comic Shin Sangoku Musou 4 ~ Wonder Evolution Vol. 9 - ISBN: 4-7758-0450-2

Bugs and Glitches
Stage boundary exit

This is essentially the same exact glitch from the previous installment and its expansions. To do this, one must move themselves towards an entry point/gate via guard-moving sideways on a horse, then inching their way through to the gate with the horse being able to somehow nudge further than the sideways movement into the gate. Upon reaching the edge of the gate, then continuously running into the corner and forward into the said gate (with the "no entry" sign not showing), save your game with an intermission save then exit out of the stage. If done right, the mounted character will then appear on the other side of the entry point, and can also bypass certain mountains when out of bounds. However, this doesn't work on all entry points with some being easier than others. This works on all versions and ports of Dynasty Warriors 5, including Xtreme Legends; however, the Xbox version due to being only able to move in exactly 8 directions, will make this a bit more difficult to pull off unless the horse is oriented just right.

Rain at Guan Du

By using the above glitch at the most northeastern entry point (easier accessed when playing on Yuan Shao's forces), it's possible to find rain effects past the entry point when the gate exit glitch is performed. So far, the out-of-bounds rain only exists at Guan Du, and is likely a programming asset placed there unknowingly.

Allusions

 * Alternate costumes for the new characters later appear in Warriors Orochi 2.
 * A particular fighting scene in The Restless caused quite a stir with movie goers, many claiming that it copied too many actions from this game's intro sequence. Though the director denied the claim, it was a somewhat popular topic for its time.

Trivia

 * An error occurs in Cao Cao's Musou Mode ending where Xu Zhu is rendered in his Dynasty Warriors 4 default outfit.
 * A majority of green-colored-shaft weapons from the prior installment are rendered as blue in this game.
 * Most previous installment costumes in this game have one of their elements' textures rendered in a colorless-peach hue, which applies to some versions such as the Xbox version; these texture issues have been fixed in the expansions.
 * The peon entry points are now rendered once more as empty exits towards the stage boundary (like in the third installment) as opposed to the alcoves in the prior installment, only extra background elements (such as bushes and trees) cover the pathway at first glance.