Koei unveils Sengoku Musou

Koei and developer Omega Force are working on a Dynasty Warriors spin-off known as Sengoku Musou, which the pair unveiled in detail for the first time on Tuesday in Tokyo. According to a report on IGN, producer Yoshiki Sugiyama spoke at length about the game, highlighting various changes from the traditional Dynasty Warriors formula.

Technically speaking, the game has lost the rolling fog, gained a day/night cycle, seasonal changes and overhauled interior environments (with falling floor and spike traps) and is now backed up by Dolby Pro-Logic II support to really ram every katana thrust home, but the real changes are all gameplay-related, from the new Action Mission System (which gives you various sub-missions to complete whilst in the grip of battle) and new/upgraded rides (horses can now perform a jump attack) to randomly generated castles and a whole new game mode accessible from the start - although details on the latter are sparing to say the least. We can also expect to see weapons growing in experience and a new Skill system, of which we'll presumably hear more closer to the game's release.

In terms of single-player structure, Sugiyama-san said the game would take the details of the Sengoku period (the Age of Civil Wars) and craft an original tale out of them, and also apparently unveiled one new character, a female ninja called Kunoichi, adding that a few more ninja and samurai would make it into the final game. He also spoke of a revised character editing system known as Commander Raising mode, and told the by now sake-laden press pack the game would feature more character-driven scenarios than country-driven ones, with multiple endings depending on your actions.

Although Sengoku Musou has no official European/American name just yet, we fully expect Koei to deliver it sometime next year after the game debuts on PS2 in Japan next February.