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English logo
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Japanese logo
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European cover
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Japanese cover
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March 1997 Monthly DaGama cover
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English ad flyer
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English ad flyer 2
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English ad flyer 3
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German ad flyer
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Japanese ad flyer
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Save data icon
- This article is about the first Dynasty Warriors title. For the series in general, see Dynasty Warriors (series). For the live action film based on the games, see Dynasty Warriors (film)
Dynasty Warriors is a one-on-one fighting game inspired by Romance of the Three Kingdoms and marks the start of the Dynasty Warriors franchise. Playing similarly to other 3D fighting titles, the developers focused less on historical accuracy and more on exaggerating character traits to distinguish it from the tactical games the company had been known for at the time.
The game's English tag line is "You can't say you know the Three Kingdoms until you've played Dynasty Warriors!". The Japanese version, on the other hand, uses the catchphrase "Swords dance and spears flash — an extraordinary clash of weapons like no other!".
BLUE SKY BLUE 'SO BLUE served as the game's image song and was performed by former girl group Seirei Bishojotai Ceres.
Gameplay
Mechanics
Being a fighting game, the player's objective is to deplete their opponent's life gauge by hitting them with a continuous stream of attacks. 
is a slash attack, 
is a thrusting motion, 
parries slash attacks, and 
redirects thrusts away. Slashes and thrusts are also divided into high, mid, and low variations. Note that the button inputs for and are flipped in other versions of the game. Being able to know when and how to parry a slash or thrust adds a tactical aspect to fights especially in higher difficulty settings where button mashing is discouraged. If a hit is successfully parried, the attacker is left vulnerable for a brief moment.
Weapon clashes occur when both characters swing their weapons at one another simultaneously and end up deadlocking. The character that button mashes the most in this instance wins, enabling them to knock their opponent off-balance and deal more damage. The feature itself is retained in future installments of the series.
Each character has their own set of special moves and stances triggered via command input, but these are generally more down-to-earth compared to other games. Some moves can be chained together to form a combo. Jump attacks and throws are also present with the former working well against downed opponents and the latter being more useful to catch enemy fighters off-guard. Aside from parrying hits with the aforementioned buttons, it is possible to sidestep them entirely by tapping both and . Should the player be knocked down, they can get up or roll over to a specified direction; combining these actions with button inputs will have the character either perform a counterattack or rise up quicker.
Musou Attacks can be performed so long as the player's health is dangerously low or if their chi meter is full; if both conditions are somehow met, the character's Musou Attack becomes longer. The chi meter itself rises whenever a character launches an attack, dashes forward, blocks enemy hits, or wins a weapon clash. Conversely, it falls if the player backs off from the opponent or gets parried by them. This encourages players to be more aggressive when controlling certain characters that excel at pressuring opponents with fast and strong combos.
Modes
- 1P Battle - Compete in a series of rounds against AI-controlled enemies. Upon being defeated, players are given the chance of resuming the game with the same character or switching to a different one if the option to do so has been turned on beforehand. Also features special ending scenes for most characters minus Sun Shang Xiang, Nobunaga, and Toukichi.
- Versus - Compete against a human opponent. Also allows players to adjust their handicap level. The lower the rating, the less damage a character can inflict. Conversely, it also enables them to perform Musou Attacks with slightly higher health than usual.
- Team Battle - Compete against a human or AI-controlled opponent with a team of three characters. Fights do not end until a team loses all of their fighters. The amount of health recovered after winning can be adjusted through the option menu.
- Tournament - Compete in an 8-character elimination tournament. Opponents are selected at random.
- Time Trial - Clear the game as fast as possible. Each fight is comprised of two rounds. The mode is unaffected by difficulty levels.
- Endurance - Defeat as many opponents as possible with only one round per fight. The mode is unaffected by difficulty levels.
- Practice - This mode allows players to practice controlling different characters and experiment with their movesets. It enables them to set the opponent's AI level and behavior, observe the amount of damage an attack can inflict as well as its properties, and properly time certain maneuvers such as parrying.
Options
- Configuration - Changes the game's settings according to the player's own needs. This includes adjusting the difficulty level, round number, time limit, and much more. Any changes made can be reverted back by tapping both L1 and R1 simultaneously.
- Difficulty - Changes the difficulty level for various gameplay modes minus Time Trial and Endurance. Options include Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard.
- Round - Increases or decreases the amount of rounds allotted per fight. Options range from 1 to 3 rounds.
- Time Limit - Adjusts the time limit for each fight or does away with it entirely. Options include 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 60 seconds, 99 seconds, and unlimited time.
- Selection - Switches the character selection layout between normal type for aesthetic purposes or quick type for faster loading.
- Continue - Determines if the player can switch between different characters if they opt to continue right after being defeated by the CPU.
- Handicap - Determines whether the handicap system is turned on or not.
- Recovery - Decides how much life the player recovers after winning a fight in Team Battles. Options include maximum, minimum, and none.
- Controller - Reconfigures button settings. Any changes made can be reverted back by tapping both L1 and R1 simultaneously.
- Records - Lists down records for each mode and provides details on the player's character preferences.
- Character Records - Shows how many times each character has been played as in terms of percentages.
- Winning Average - Shows the winning and losing percentages of each character used by the player.
- Time Trial Records - Displays records of the player's best performances in Time Trial Mode.
- 1P Battle Records - Displays records of the player's best performances in 1P Battle Mode.
- Endurance Records - Displays records of the player's best performances in Endurance Mode.
- Score Book - Estimates how effective a character is against different fighters based on the player's own performance against them.
- Delete - Deletes current records to start anew.
- Sound - Features various options related to music and sound effects.
- Music Volume - Adjusts music volume level from 1 to 4. Can also be muted.
- Sound Effects Volume - Adjusts sound volume level from 1 to 4. Can also be muted.
- Sound - Determines if the sound type is stereo or mono.
- Announcement - Changes between two different announcer types or omits them entirely.
- Music Test - Plays various music tracks.
- Sound Effects Test - Plays various sound effects and voice clips.
- Characters - Views character biographies and animations. New entries are added the more characters get unlocked.
- Memory Card - Enables players to save their progress or reload a previous saved file.
Characters
Starter characters are bolded. The game uses colored text to indicate which faction a character is part of with yellow indicating Shu, green representing Wei, red symbolizing Wu, and blue being associated with unaffiliated fighters.
| Shu | Wei | Wu | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guan Yu | Dian Wei | Lu Xun | Diao Chan |
| Zhang Fei | Xiahou Dun | Taishi Ci | Lu Bu |
| Zhao Yun | Xu Zhu | Zhou Yu | Nobunaga |
| Zhuge Liang | Cao Cao | Sun Shang Xiang | Toukichi |
Unlockable Characters
Once unlocked, the following characters below can be selected by pressing left when highlighting Zhao Yun or right when on Diao Chan.
- Zhuge Liang - Clear the game with every available Shu character.
- Cao Cao - Clear the game with every available Wei character.
- Sun Shang Xiang - Press the following button sequence in the title screen: Left, Left, Up, Down,
, 
, L1, R1. Shares the same moveset with Zhou Yu. - Lu Bu - Serves as the final boss for most characters in 1P Battle Mode. Clear the game with Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, every Wu character, and Diao Chan.
- Nobunaga - An extra character from Nobunaga's Ambition. Clear the game with Lu Bu and press the following button sequence in the title screen: , Up, , Down,
. Shares the same moveset with Lu Bu. - Toukichi - An extra character from Taiko Risshiden. Clear the game with Nobunaga and press the following button sequence in the title screen: Down, Down, Right, Up, , , R1, R2. Shares the same moveset with Cao Cao.
Stages
- Chang Ban - Stage used by Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun as opponents. Varies between dawn, noon, and dusk.
- Guan Du - Stage used by Dian Wei, Xiahou Dun, and Xu Zhu as opponents. Varies between dawn, noon, and midnight.
- Red Wall - Stage used by Lu Xun, Sun Shang Xiang, Taishi Ci, and Zhou Yu as opponents. Varies between dawn, noon, and midnight.
- Phoenix Palace - Stage used by Diao Chan as the opponent.
- Wu Zhang Plains - Stage used by Zhuge Liang as the opponent.
- Great Hall, Shang Yong - Stage used by Cao Cao and Toukichi as opponents.
- Hu Lao Gate - Stage used by Lu Bu and Nobunaga as opponents.
Trivia
- Much of the characters' attacks in this title continue to influence their future incarnations throughout the Dynasty Warriors series. Certain characters, such as Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci, and Dian Wei kept several of the same animations until Dynasty Warriors 6.
- The animations for their win poses also appear in other titles. A majority of them were changed by the series' fourth installment or fifth installment. As a likely homage, Zhao Yun's victory pose in Dynasty Warriors 6 replicates his actions during this game's intro movie as well as his win pose.
- Character models also appear as alternate costumes in Destrega.
- Nobunaga's theme music is remixed and later reused in Oda Nobunaga Den.
- Toukichi's theme music is taken from Taikou Risshiden II and remixed.
Gallery
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External Links
- North American Official Page (English)
- Japanese Official Page (Japanese)
- Official Game Manual (English)
- Opening and Ending Movies (Japanese)
- StrategyWiki Page (English)
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