Actually thats made up, but in Dynasty Warriors the 'Way of the Sword' rules, so being adept with a long sharp bit of metal is very much a bonus.

Developer Koei has split from the ranks of one on one fighting games - taking Dynasty Warriors 2 with it. On the PS1 the original Dynasty Warriors was a precocious upstart of a fighting game. It featured a wide variety of fighters, with unique weapons, and gameplay modes - one of many that graced Sony's console. It fared a bit better than most but was no Tekken or Street Fighter. Nonetheless it was a competent game.

It seems that Koei's ambition was to introduce a game that blended elements of real-time strategy and arcade fighting. To a degree it succeeded but not without some flaws.

On bootup it becomes very clear that Koei have put a great deal of effort into its intro. Some will remember pictures and video demos from online sites, showing superb characters on horseback riding into battle - a demo that was supposedly all in 'real-time'. Sadly the reality is that this is all prerendered. In the past I've ejected the disk to prove whether the screens shown were being processed in real-time, or streamed off the CD (i.e. Ridge Racer 5 intro). As soon as the eject button was pressed, the intro froze completely. When the CD was reinserted the intro continued on - no worse for wear. The intro is a great piece of work and would not be out of place amongst efforts from Namco, or Square. Interestingly Koei have also included another intro of sorts. This can be seen after the prerendered intro if no buttons are pushed. It plays alongs the lines of Sega's Soul Calibur with fighters 'shadow fighting' by themselves. This demo IS in real-time - the whole thing in fact. As soon as it starts the CD can be ejected and it will continue right through without a hitch.

There are two modes of play in the game, but both seemed pretty much the same. On entry a character must be selected - each possessing differing weapons, life, etc. The initial choice of 9 characters blows out to over 20+ if the game is completed with each default fighter. The next screen shows what looks to be an overview of the battlefield, with coloured arrows showing each armies forces, and direction. Landscapes vary from castles on flat plains to twisting mountain passes. There are several options (all in Japanese) but none save the last seemed to do anything intelligible.