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yeonchi · 5 months ago

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Koei Warriors Retrospective Part 7: Dynasty Warriors 5

Dynasty Warriors 5 (真・三國無双4) Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox Release dates: Japan: 24 February 2005 (PS2)/25 August 2005 (Xbox) USA: 29 March 2005 (PS2)/13 September 2005 (Xbox) Europe: 24 June 2005 (PS2)/23 September 2005 (Xbox)

We have now reached the pinnacle of the classic era. With rumours of the PS3's development spreading among gaming circles, Dynasty Warriors 5 was created to be a culmination of the series' PS2 era. With the amount of spinoffs using character designs from this game, this is one of the most iconic games of the series.

I brought this game sometime in 2007 on a bit of a whim after having played the PSP game over and over again for at least a year. I was at a GAME store on a day trip out of town (this was a time when GAME, a UK chain, existed in Australia) and I asked the worker there if they had any Dynasty Warriors games for the PS2. They went off and got two games of which I had to pick one; one was DW3XL and the other was DW5. I picked this game (preowned for $40) and looking back, I made the right choice.

Anyway, let's dive right into my childhood and I'll try not to let toxic nostalgia blind my judgement of this game.

As a side note, this instalment will also serve as a tribute to Taiki Matsuno, who voiced Ling Tong and Liu Shan in the Japanese dub.

Dynasty Warriors 5

This game introduces six new characters. Shu and Wei have two characters each in an effort to balance out the rosters for the Three Kingdoms, while Wu and Other have one new character:

Shu

Guan Ping

Xingcai (based on Liu Shan's first two wives, who are both Zhang Fei's daughters)

Wei

Cao Pi

Pang De

Ling Tong

Other

Zuo Ci

Musou Mode goes back to being individualised. In an effort to put focus on the individual warriors, the narration segments are replaced by character narrations between battles and the commander/strategist introducing each battle (the two parts are merged into the battle introductions for the Other characters). The narrator's role is relegated to the ending narrations, where the final sentence changes depending on the difficulty you play.

Most characters have 5 stages for their Musou Modes (making it a seamless experience coming from the PSP game). Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, Sun Ce and Guan Yu have an additional stage unique to them (Guan Yu's Escape, Wan Castle, The Trials of Sun Ce), Other characters (except for Zuo Ci) have 4 stages while Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian and Zuo Ci have 8.

Speaking of Zuo Ci, he does appear as an enemy, but only once or twice in the Musou Modes for Cao Cao and Xu Zhu. He doesn't even appear as an ally in Liu Bei's Musou Mode even though he claims to support him.

For the first time, the battle lineups are more historically accurate, meaning that characters don't appear in battles after they historically died. Therefore, you won't see Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Jian all the way to the end unless you play as them. Sometimes you'll also have Musou Modes containing stages set after certain characters' deaths just to fill up the quota, or historically deceased characters just appearing in battles after they died for some reason. Examples for the first case include Dian Wei having battles after Wan Castle or Sun Ce and Da Qiao's final stages being Xiakou when they never appeared for anyone else. For the second case, Taishi Ci historically died in 206 (or nearly a decade later at the Battle of Hefei according to DW7 and 8), yet he appears at the Battle of (New) Hefei Castle. Huang Zhong died a year after the Battle of Mt. Dingjun, but he lived until the Battle of Yiling (in the novel) or the Battle of Baidi Castle (in this game).

Also as a result of giving everyone 5 stages in Musou Mode, a bit of stuff concerning minor warlords is cut, such as Sun Ce fighting Yuan Shu or Huang Zhong and Wei Yan serving Han Xuan. Heck, the only times we see Yuan Shu is at Sishui Gate and at Xiapi if his reinforcements arrive, which is guaranteed to be averted if the flood attack on the castle succeeds (in Cao Cao's scenario). Yuan Shu's reinforcements in that stage consist of two generals with four subofficers each in Cao Cao's scenario compared to one general with three subofficers in Lu Bu's scenario. Honestly, I'd rather see Yuan Shu's reinforcements being overrun by my allies had the flood attack succeeded. To make up for it, there is the Battle of Changshan in Yuan Shao, Diaochan and Lu Bu's stories, featuring Gongsun Zan as the enemy commander.

Battles in Free Mode are sorted chronologically and only contain stages that appear in Musou Mode. As such, most battles only have one or two sides to play as, with the exception of Fan Castle which has three. In addition, no two battles share the same map, which creates a bit of confusion when it comes to Nanzhong as there are 4 maps set in the region, but the battles are named differently which does help. This is the only game to feature conflicts set before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, even if they are mostly fictional battles set up to have Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao and the Nanman fight the Yellow Turbans.

The battle difficulty is now set as you select the stage or Musou Mode instead of through the settings like in previous games. What was the Very Hard or Expert difficulties, being a step up from the Hard difficulty, is now the Chaos difficulty for the first time in a mainline game. Chaos difficulty can be unlocked by clearing Lu Bu's story in Musou Mode.

Challenge Mode consists of Time Attack, Rampage (Endurance from DW4), Bridge Melee and new stage Sudden Death, where you defeat as many enemies before you die in one hit.

The weapon and item listings are separated out from the Encyclopedia into a new Camp section where you can see the weapons listed under each character. You can also explore the character models as well, rotating them and viewing the different costumes using the L1/R1 and L2/R2 buttons respectively. The Encyclopedia retains the officer biographies while also introducing an overview of the late-Han and Three Kingdoms periods, from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the fall of the Three Kingdoms and their unification under Jin.

The battle mechanics by now should be familiar to you whether you're coming from earlier games or the PSP game, but even if you're new to the series the controls are intuitive. Up to six attacks can be performed depending on the weapon. This is also the first mainline game to not have the charge lock-on mechanic that was the bane of past games.

Characters whose C1s grabbed enemies have had them changed to perform unique attacks, most of them being stomps that do little damage. Characters whose C1s shot magic shots have been changed to elemental orbs that explode after a few seconds. All C5 Charge Drives have been changed to Charge Shoots that knock enemies up into the air. Some characters have had their C6 changed as well.

Jump Charges and True Musou Attacks have been changed to be unique between characters. In the case of Jump Charges, those usually consist of attacking enemies multiple times in the air or firing a shockwave straight ahead or towards the ground. Nearly half of the movesets in this game have Jump Charges that retain or incorporate the old style of "smash into the ground", namely:

Guan Yu

Zhang Fei

Xingcai

Dian Wei

Xu Zhu

Xiahou Yuan

Sima Yi

Cao Ren

Zhou Yu

Taishi Ci

Sun Quan

Lu Meng

Sun Ce

Diaochan

Lu Bu

Dong Zhuo

Yuan Shao

Meng Huo

Great Sword (Fu Xi/CAW)

Rapier (Nuwa/CAW)

This game introduces a new mechanic known as Evolution Attacks, which is an extension of the Normal Attack string from 6 to 9 attacks (with no additional Charge Attacks). To trigger this, you need a weapon that has that capability (some third weapons and all fourth weapons) and your Musou Gauge must be filled.

Musou Rage is another new mechanic introduced in this game. When you obtain a Musou Token, pressing R3 will activate Musou Rage, which doubles your attack, defence and attack speed and prevents you from flinching when being attacked. It also enables you to perform a True Musou Attack regardless of health. However, you are still prone to taking damage even though you don't flinch, which can be detrimental against juggernauts or Lu Bu. Enemies, particularly those with a hyper mode aura about them, can enter Rage Mode as well when their health goes down to a certain level. Although Musou Tokens can be found at random around the battlefield, one is guaranteed to drop every 100 KOs if you are using your fourth weapon.

Weapons are no longer levelled or categorised, meaning that you can have up to four weapons of any level or attribute. Weapons can have up to 5 attributes (out of 10) and each weapon can have a weight of light, medium or heavy. Compared to medium weapons, light weapons are faster but they are weaker (at 75-85% power) while heavy weapons are slower but stronger (at 125% power). And as mentioned, some third weapons and all fourth weapons are compatible with Evolution Attacks.

Battlefield items remain similar to those from DW4 with separate saddle and orb categories. Orbs are no longer randomly obtained from items, but are obtained as rare items on Hard or Chaos difficulty like with fourth weapons (other rare items are still available on any difficulty). Elemental attacks no longer require a full Musou Gauge to trigger. The number of items you can equip is now balanced among the cast; you start off with 2 items and can equip up to 5 at the maximum rank.

Bodyguards are no longer the groups of soldiers that level up into officers that was the case in previous games; in order to accommodate more soldiers appearing on the screen, you now only have one bodyguard officer accompanying you in battle. Bodyguards can wield swords, spears, crossbows/bows or staffs/fans depending on their gender and as they level up (to a maximum of 5), they can learn an element and an ability. If your bodyguard wields a fan, they can heal you when in trouble (which is helpful in Chaos difficulty where meat buns are scarce and only provide +50 health), otherwise they will mostly assist with attacks. At the end of a battle, Shui Jing (Sima Hui) may recommend a new bodyguard to you. Their development potential is noted by how many kingdoms they are famous in and their ability development is noted by their talent evaluation. Up to 8 bodyguards can be kept in total and their names and attributes are randomised. However, I hate that the only line the bodyguards speak is when they apologise after being killed. Give them some praise phrases, for God's sake.

A new stage mechanic introduced in this game are bases, of which there are three types. Attack bases attack enemies around it with catapults or arbalests and the soldiers inside can perform group Charge or Musou Attacks. Defence bases have soldiers with shields and they will guard your attacks from the front. Supply bases can provide supplies to boost the morale of other units and use items to buff the stats of every allied soldier (and officer) in the base when enemies are within. Defeating the guard captain will conquer the base and cause other bases to become confused (stop functioning).

Some stages have neutral bases that fall to the allied/enemy forces depending on which unit enters them first, but a base doesn't switch sides after it has been conquered. I would have liked to see that be a thing but if the battle's favouring your side then I guess there's no point in it. If there are enemies outside an allied defence/supply base and the gates are closed while you are inside, you can use the ramps on the side to escape. Getting back in is a bit of a problem and there is no way to take your horse with you as well. It's almost like this problem can be solved with a mechanic from another game.

Strongholds, known as checkpoints in this game, are carried over to this game as well, spawning reinforcement soldiers which can prove beneficial in racking up your KO count. Unlike in previous games, checkpoints will belong to your side (ie. stop working for the enemy) after you defeat the enemy guard captain for them. In previous games, defeating the enemy guard captain would make them stop working at all, while in DW4, checkpoints may spawn again for the enemy after a while if the battle calls for it.

Interim saves no longer bring you back to the main menu like it did in previous games, however depending on the difficulty, you have a limited number of saves. Novice (in XL) and Easy difficulties can save unlimited times, Normal difficulty allows you to save 3 times, Hard difficulty only allows you to save once and Chaos difficulty doesn't allow you to save at all.

And now for some quick-fire thoughts:

Enemies in this game can perform group attacks, which is precipitated by them moving back.

Enemy officers will glow red in a stance when they are about to perform their Musou Attack, allowing you to move away or quickly attack them before they unleash it.

Destroying archer towers can cause damage to anyone nearby that it falls on.

HP bars can have a second layer, something that would be seen for allies and enemies alike from here on out.

A white ring will appear around horses when you go near them, indicating that you can mount and use them in battle.

In older games, you would have encounter and retreat/death scenes when facing enemy player character officers. These treatments are now reserved for so-called "highlight battles" with hyper mode aura powered officers in the former case and all enemy commanders in the latter case. Overlaps for both cases do exist.

Towards the end of each battle when your forces' morale is high, your allies will offer passing comments when you pass by them.

And finally, I find it interesting that the HUD shows the character's name written in Chinese/Japanese in all versions. It's probably just how the HUD is designed and they probably could have put the English name underneath the side profile portrait, but it's a nice touch nonetheless.

Dynasty Warriors 5 Xtreme Legends

Dynasty Warriors 5 Xtreme Legends (真・三國無双4 猛将伝) Platforms: PlayStation 2 Release dates: Japan: 15 September 2005 USA: 15 November 2005 Europe: 10 February 2006

Before we go on, can we take a moment to appreciate how incredible the Western box and promo arts are? It looks like a cross between Japanese manga and Western comics, but if you say that the tagline "Get ready for some Chinese take-out!!!" is racist, I will call you a snowflake.

So yeah, despite me playing Dynasty Warriors 5 for nearly a decade, I never really got into the Xtreme Legends expansion for it until quite recently with this game and Special. 10-year-old me would have loved what it had to offer.

Legend Mode in this game is different compared to 4XL. All the characters are featured in one of 18 new maps created for this game, with 6 of those being rehashes of maps from the vanilla game. Presumably due to the 5-stage limit for Musou Mode, the Battle of Shiting and The Two Qiaos from 3 are relegated to this mode. There's another Nanzhong stage in there, bringing the total to 5 for the entire game. The difficulty for those stages is not mentioned, but I've seen it stated that they are equivalent to 5-star stages. Clearing each map once allows you to play them as any character.

After being removed from the original game, Edit Mode is back in the expansion. You can create up to 10 custom characters and the game does give you a little more freedom in terms of choosing your face, body, armour/outfit and moveset, but I hate how the profile images have the same (colour) clothes without any head armor where applicable. But that's not all.

To tie into the new Edit Mode, Destiny Mode has been introduced, allowing you to build up your character in a manner similar to SW1's New Officer Mode. You set up your character, assign them a weapon and pick a character out of the Three Kingdoms who you wish to serve under. From here, you start off as a Private and work your way to being a Lieutenant General over 8 stages.

Between stages, you obtain skills that not only allow you to expand your stats and moveset (performing more attacks, Charge Attacks and Musou Attacks), but learn various skills that can help you in battle, such as tactical skills, leadership skills, scout searching skills, horse mounting skills and archery skills. Skill points are required to obtain skills; for each battle, you earn 30 points as a baseline which can be expanded by selecting up to 3 objectives to complete in the battle. Such objectives include getting a certain KO or tactical KO count, defeating a number of officers or guard captains, finding letters, maintaining your health above a certain level, occupying a supply base or achieving victory within a certain amount of time. Tactical KOs are obtained by performing fire attacks on bases, ambushing enemy officers or revealing enemy ambushes, occupying the supply base and rallying allies. Sometimes, your commanding officer may gift you skills and weapons as well.

At the end of each stage, you are given an evaluation based on your military and strategy. If you basically don't do a lot in the battle, your commanding officer will tell you off, which is one of the objectives to acquiring a new armour/outfit set for use in Edit Mode. Both genders have the same objectives for getting these sets, mostly involving obtaining certain skills, except for their final set; male characters need to get a total of 1500 KOs while female characters need to serve all three kingdoms.

When you impress an enemy officer enough, they may give you an offer to defect to their army, which you can accept or reject. If you reject, your strategist may find the letter you threw away and offer a plan to act as an agent with that army. Your strategist may also just straight up offer that plan to you in secret. Either way, if you accept your strategist's plan, you will serve in the other army for a bit until it comes time to defect back. When that battle comes, your redefection is the main and only objective of the battle; you head to the specified area to prepare your defection ambush, then you go back and lure your commanding officer there, at which point you will defect back to your home force.

At the end of Destiny Mode, you may choose to save your character and if you do, you can choose one weapon to keep (and you can't keep your starting weapon to give yourself a generic officer moveset, believe me, I've tried) and that will be the moveset you use in the rest of the game. Destiny Mode is the only mode where you can switch movesets with your weapon, which is very unique. This mode allows you to create a new character that starts off with a third weapon and developed stats. It's pretty nice for what it is even though you don't get all the good stuff until towards the end.

Xtreme Mode returns with some modifications. In this game, you can also collect iron to improve your weapons at the blacksmith. When you choose a battle, you are taken to either the shop or the blacksmith, which is also something to take into consideration. Upon ending a playthrough, you keep 10% of the iron obtained if you quit or 5% if you die.

Troops are no longer hireable, but in exchange, you can recruit up to 6 officers, with 3 in reserve while the other three deploy with you. Captured officers can join your party at half health. Edit characters can also appear in missions and join your party as well. However, depending on your character's alignment, characters may leave your party if they find your behaviour unacceptable.

In this mode the equippable items are not the standard items, but exclusive items that apply to the current mission only and are destroyed when used.

The biggest expansion to this mode is that you can build your own kingdom. In the fifth mission, you will be asked to campaign against bandits, then after you clear it, every fifth mission will be a kingdom-related one to build your own kingdom, then defend it or invade another. Sometimes you may be asked to suppress an uprising if you're constantly taxing your people. After having taken 4 kingdoms (reaching a unification level of 80), you can fight a battle to unify the land. That battle will have you constantly fighting character officers in Hyper Mode, so be prepared for pain.

Two new stages added to Challenge Mode are Gatekeeper, which is similar to the same stage seen in Samurai Warriors, and Speed Strike, where you earn points by defeating enemies and destroying jars and crates. Crates and jars are worth 3 points, wood oxen 10, juggernauts 20 and enemy officers 25.

Throughout this game (vanilla content included), you can earn power-up books which you can use in the Camp section to boost your character or weapon stats. Weapon power-up books appear when playing on at least Normal difficulty.

There are no fifth weapons to be unlocked, but like with DW4XL, fourth weapons and all items from the vanilla game (alongside the new items) can be unlocked in Legend Mode without the need to "load" the original disc. To gain the fourth weapons for edit characters, you just need to play any stage on Hard or Chaos difficulty and achieve 1000 KOs.

Dynasty Warriors 5 Special (Shin Sangoku Musou 4 Special)

Dynasty Warriors 5 Special (真・三國無双4 Special) Platforms: Xbox 360, PC Release dates: Japan: 22 December 2005 (Xbox 360)/22 June 2006 (PC) Taiwan: 16 June 2006 (Xbox 360)/22 June 2006 (PC)

So yeah, after Dynasty Warriors 4 Hyper was released worldwide on PC with only the vanilla content, Dynasty Warriors 5 Special combined half of Xtreme Legends into the vanilla game... and only released it in Japan and Taiwan on a console more popular in the West. Don't trust Wikipedia about this port being released to the West; the dates they quote are actually for 5 Empires.

The only content not available in this port includes the content involving edit characters, namely Edit Mode and Destiny Mode. It's clearly a ploy to gatekeep content exclusively to the PlayStation version, but are people really going to care about edit characters, for crying out loud? It's not a bad compromise when you think about it.

Speaking of which, I know multi-disc games are a thing, but is it possible to implement the "import" system on Xbox consoles? If so, then there was really no excuse to gatekeep Xtreme Legends to the PlayStation. Or even better, don't release the Xbox/PC ports until after Xtreme Legends has been released, then include the Xtreme Legends content on the Xbox and PC ports when you release them!

I didn't mention this when I covered 4 Hyper, but in the Chinese releases of both that game and this game, subtitles are included in the movies (not the event cutscenes that have subtitles by default). I'm honestly puzzled at why they didn't add subtitles for movies in the Japanese and English releases of those games particularly because I find stories easier to understand with them (ironic when we get to that point in the franchise, but that's not the point of the problem). I presume they didn't need subtitles in the Chinese release of 3 because it already has a Chinese dub.

The Pause menu also has a command to take you back to the main menu in case the Start/Back button combination doesn't work, making it more intuitive to do so unlike previous releases.

Like with 4 Hyper, the game has dual audio options. The Xbox 360 version also supports widescreen at 720p resolution with 5.1ch Dolby Digital sound (and upscaling to 1080p) whereas the original releases were at 480i/p in 4:3 display. The black bars are gone from event cutscenes, but the movies, which are pre-rendered, are zoomed and cropped into widescreen.

If you got either this game on PC or 4 Hyper, you will be unable to open it just by double-clicking on the file. The reason is because aside from it requiring an Asian-localised copy of Windows to run (that can be resolved using Locale Emulator), these games also use a driver known as SECDRV.sys, which is used for the Macrovision/SafeDisc/SecuROM DRM solutions. The driver is blocked in Windows 10 and later, rendering this game unable to be run. There are various solutions out there that can get the SECDRV service to work, but the solution that I used was from here - basically what I had to do was to install the Windows 10 SDK and use it to sign a copy of SECDRV.sys with a certificate before installing it into my drivers. PCGamingWiki recommends using SafeDiscShim now, but given what isn't included on 4 Hyper and 5 Special, you're better off just playing Xtreme Legends on an emulator.

Saikyou Data Discs

In Japan, there exists something called Saikyou Data (最強データ) discs for the classic series Warriors games. Typically, they were bundled with the Premium Box releases that bundled Xtreme Legends with Empires or the Super Premium Box releases that added the vanilla game onto it (because of course you need it for the "import"). The discs that had the data for DW3(XL) and SW1(XL) were released with the Treasure Box releases for DW4 and SW2, while SW2XL never had a Saikyou Data release. All these individual releases and boxes will blow your minds if you think about it for more than 30 seconds, so I'm just going to directly talk about the most comprehensive Saikyou Data collection there was.

In 2006, Koei released a series collection of all Dynasty Warriors games for the PS2. The first set, featuring DW2 to DW4XL, was released on 1 January while the second set, featuring DW4E to DW5E, was released on 26 October. The boxes feature the characters in their DW5 designs along with B3 size posters (and in the first set, a blessed money charm from the Zeniarai Benzaiten shrine in Kamakura blessing you with never being short of money).

Each of the Saikyou Data discs give you a 100% save file for each game to your memory card, containing all characters and items at maxed out stats along with all fourth, fifth and Level 11 weapons. The series collection also contains 100% saves for DW2 (which has never had an individual Saikyou Data release) and the two aforementioned Empires games (which hadn't been included on the Super Premium Box releases).

Koei haven't done this for any other games past the PS2 and I theorise that it may be because Sony upped the security of save files so that each game (physical or digital and for each region) can only save to its own save file, or because sites like GameFAQs exist. GameFAQs serves as the equivalent of Saikyou Data (particularly in the West) as it hosts save files provided by gamers. They may not be 100% perfect, but the effort put in to get the saves to that point is worth admiring and is also more natural than characters having the maximum 60,000 XP with zero KOs as shown in the saves provided by the Saikyou Data discs.

Rant: A very Musou childhood

Dynasty Warriors 5, along with the first PSP game, were the games that catapulted me into the Koei Warriors franchise. Those games made such a big impact on my childhood that they continue to influence my work today. And I said I was going to retire from writing after Kamen Rider Zi-O.

Aside from my recess and lunchtime games being influenced by Dynasty Warriors, Doctor Who and other things, a lot of my life began to revolve around it as well. Aside from the usual childhood thing of pretending to fight like the characters of the game, I got my friends (and cousins) into it as well by assigning them warrior names (from ancient Chinese warriors and warlords) and collecting them into a Dynasty Warriors Book next to their pictures. Fictional characters eventually got dragged into it as well and that was the root of my personal project as recounted in Kisekae Insights.

Later on in 2010, I implemented the Sengoku-era warriors and warlords of Japan into my warrior names as well, but because my understanding of the series came from Warriors Orochi, I didn't have the best understanding of that era. It was also around this time that I began creating "battle charts", which were lists of officers in my original battles modelled on the Unit Info sections of the games. I also made battle charts for three canon storylines; one of them was based on Sea Princesses (go figure).

I stopped publishing the Dynasty Warriors Books in 2012, but my spirit never stopped. When I started playing Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires in 2015, I was creating edit characters based off of friends and people from school, church, and other things along with their friends. When I began working on Three Kingdoms for the Moushouden Project later that year (the series premiered in 2017), my canon battle charts became part of my story arcs as they were refined, polished and completed into a 240-episode TV series. The Dynasty Warriors Books (and the renamed photo crops that were their predecessors) became an Excel spreadsheet that contained nearly 1,000 characters with warrior names, not counting minor or guest characters. I am a True Warrior of the Three Kingdoms.

I have encountered a few people who have heard or played these games over the years, and 2014 onwards was just another matter altogether with the Koei Warriors Rant Series. And then we come to today with the Koei Warriors Retrospective.

Dynasty Warriors 5 is a certified hood classic and the best game of the classic series, even if it didn't sell as much as DW4 did. It's a very accessible game for new fans while fans of older games will appreciate how far the series has come over the past 4-5 years. Even without the vanilla game, the Xtreme Legends expansion does have enough content to justify playing it as a standalone game.

Of course, we're not done with this game yet. Next time, we take a look at DW5's spinoffs, namely Empires, Vol. 2 for the PSP, Mahjong, DS: Fighter's Battle and Online.

#dynasty warriors #dynasty warriors 5 #dynasty warriors 5 xtreme legends #koei tecmo #koei warriors #koei warriors retrospective

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cataloguedbymeticuloustags · 2 years ago

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#Wuxian Verse tag is for Mo Dao Zu Shu/The Untamed/etc.

#The Untamed tag for the live action version.

#MDZS Donghua tag for the animated version.

#Mo Dao Zu Shi tag for the novel version.

#Ghostly Path tag for Wuxian's cultivation/demonic cultivation.

AU Tags: Yiling Wei Sect AU,

Groups tag: Ghost Girls, Nie Sect, Su Sect, The Juniors,

Locations Tags: Yi City, Yiling Burial Mounds,

Other Tags: Sunshot Campaign,

Character Tag: A-Qing, Jiang Yanli, Jin Guangyao, Jin Ling, Luo Qingyang, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Mo Xuanyu, Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang, Wei Wuxian, Wen Chao, Wen Qing, Wen Ning, Xue Yang,

Blog Masterpost

This blog is purely for reblogging posts I like and arranging them in a manner easy to navigate.

For Tumblr posts I made go to https://briarruler.tumblr.com/

For Tumblr posts I have commented on or other people continuing my posts go to https://remark-reflect-reminisce.tumblr.com/

The tagging system of this blog is in this post's reblogs.

#Masterpost #Wuxian Verse #The Untamed #MDZS Donghua #Mo Dao Zu Shi

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midnighthue · 4 years ago

Audio

#Flashlight Girls #SDT Entertainment #cpop #cpop idols #mandopop #Shu Yiling #Li Man #Wang Xiyao #Zeng Shuyan #Zhang Xinyun #Produce Camp 2020 #Chuang 2020

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idolsgeneration · 5 years ago

Photo

#Shu Yiling #produce camp 2020 #cpop

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flashlightgirls · 4 years ago

Video

tumblr

#Flashlight Girls #Shu Yiling #Ylain Shu #cpop #cpop idols #mandopop #SDT Entertainment #Flashlight Girls cpop

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shu-kaku · 6 years ago

Photo

#mdzs #mdzsedit #mo dao zu shi #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #wei wuxian #wei ying #yiling laozu #myedit #official art #audio drama #mdzs edits #shu edits

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winepresswrath · 3 years ago

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Once again baffled by the idea that Jiang Cheng had any obligation to say nice things to Jin Ling about Wei Wuxian while he was dead. Aside from how there was a 0 percent chance Jiang Cheng was capable of revisiting those memories in a child appropriate way, how do you think it is going to go when Jin Ling comes back to Carp Town all "Xiao-shu! Juijui says the Yiling Patriarch was really great except for that time he killed my dad, your brother, the heir to the same Sect I am currently heir to" like that is a wonderful way to lose access and kick of a diplomatic incident.

#even if he wanted to! which he didn't!#it was not really an option available to him #I honestly don't think he particularly bad mouthed him either #like my personal take is that the entire subject was a giant wall of pain #and he mostly just displaced his feelings onto the topic of demonic cultivation more generally

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rosethornewrites · 2 years ago

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1/10-1/24 T & G reading

Moving after this so may be a gap.

Finished

Teen:

Funny How the Pages Turn, by sami (16th in a series)

A-Shu is coming over to cling to Jin Chan's sleeve and seems to be genuinely distraught. "You're suppose to marry me," she insists plaintively. "I'm the sect leader's daughter."

"You're my cousin and you're eight years old," he tells her helplessly.

"That doesn't matter!"

"A-Shu, I'm sorry you were given the impression that you were going to marry A-Chan," Madam Jin says gently. "But that simply isn't an option."

In Any Time, In All Times, by mooniedees

Wei Wuxian opened his eyes to see Lan Qiren’s challenging gaze trained on him, which wouldn’t be very unusual if it weren’t for the uneasy nausea Wei Wuxian was feeling. He felt jittery and on edge, as if he should be fighting but was still, and as if there should be adrenaline running through his veins but there was not.

He had long since gotten used to the Cloud Recesses, earned his place by Lan Wangji’s side as his husband and cultivation partner, so why did he feel so out of place standing in the Lanshi, apparently having a conversation with his uncle by marriage?

Flashes of a demon gone out of control, a power that dwarfed anything he had ever seen, decimating a village, hurtling towards him as he scrambled for something, anything, that would allow at least his husband to make it out alive.

Ah.

How cruel, Wei Wuxian thought, the demon must have killed me after all.

He fixed his eyes on the goatee that he thought he would never have to see again after Lan Qiren had finally shaved it off years ago.

And sent me to my own personal hell.

Alliance, by snowberryrose

in which Jiang Yanli becomes Madam Lan

Or: Jiang Yanli saves her brothers

In Walls of Glass, by Comfect (37 chapters)

Lán Qǐrén thinks about different Lan rules when Wei Wuxian brings up resentful cultivation in class.

Everything goes better from there.

Seriously, everything.

this long and winding road, by bluecottontail (VOlympianlove), VOlympianlove

The pain took him by surprise. He had been far too focused on the yao about to take a junior disciple’s head off to notice the other coming at him.

You've Begun to Feel Like Home, by danmei_whore

"It helped that Wei Wuxian didn’t look the same as before. He was in Mo Xuanyu’s body now. Similar, in some ways, especially to those who knew Wei Wuxian in his youth, but not the same. It kept some of that old fear from resurfacing. Most of the time. There were still whispers, of course. Hushed conversations from juniors who thought no one was around, the quiet mumblings of all the crimes the Yiling Patriarch had committed. Wei Wuxian pretended not to hear."

Wei Wuxian might be back, but the Yiling Patriarch is all but gone. That is, until a strange curse changes everything...

Alternatively:

Wei Wuxian misses his old body. A strange curse gives some convient side effects when broken.

D.C. al Fine, by westiec

For a moment Lan Wangji thinks he is dead, and he is wracked with such shocking, unexpected grief that he stops breathing.

Wei Wuxian gets a second chance, just when he is least ready for it.

To Have and To Hold, Either Way is to Love Him, by Bee_Li

Wei Wuxian goes into the temple eaten by trees inhabiting Mo Xuanyu's body. He steps out in a body that many had forgotten, but Lan Wangji never would.

The Sweetest Side Of Our Choices, by Preludian_Staves

Though wary of their guests on a mountain of death, rumors are ignored when the Yiling citizens have a different reaction to their arrival.

General:

Cabbages, by dreaming of your qin (sherleigh) (10 chapters)

In which Lan Qiren gains a son-in-law.

A Creature in Need, by madwriter223

Lan Qiren never would’ve guessed that helping one little creature would result in this.

AKA

Lan Qiren finds a cat. It spirals from there.

A Grand Immortal Made Me Soup, by s6115

One thing had become incredibly clear. Wei Ying was much sicker than he had thought he was, and as a result, was now hallucinating. There was no reality where a Grand Immortal had actually shown up in his apartment, yelled at him about his shit-hole residence, and fed him soup. Absolutely in no way was a Grand Immortal in his apartment, and shitting on him for not finding a place that banned pets.

And Fate Will Give Us a Safe Place to Land, by JaimeBlue (3rd/last in a series)

Years after sneakily arranging Nie Mingjue's marriage to Lan Xichen, and Lan Wangji's marriage to Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang vastly overestimates his matchmaking abilities as the Jianghu heals in the wake of the Sunshot Campaign and Wen Ruohan's defeat. In his efforts to bring romantic love into his loved ones' lives, he has neglected his own - at least until his family take matters into their own hands.

Flying in silver moonlight, by twigofwillow

Wei Ying disappeared thirteen years, ten months, and two weeks ago. At any moment Lan Wangji could pull this number into his mind with no difficulty whatsoever. They were nineteen at the time, freshmen in college. Not quite friends and certainly not anything else. But Wei Ying always had a brightness to him that lit every room and then one day it was gone and Lan Wangji has never quite been able to forget him.

Thirteen years later, he accidentally finds him again.

Brand, by Shenzuul

Lan Wangji dreams of the brand seared into Wei Wuxian’s chest, sees it still smoldering, glowing hot as embers.

// Set before Wei Wuxian's death.

In Quiet Moments Such As This, by Preludian_Staves

When the noise becomes irksome, she retreats to find a quiet place.

Unfinished

Teen:

Hand in Hand Together (All Your Life), by sami

He tells his sister, "There's a little boy in Yiling with no parents and he's in trouble. We have to go and find him."

His sister smiles and says, "This is a good story, A-Cheng. Tell me more."

"It's not a story," he says. He's frustrated by his own childish petulance, but he can't seem to stop it. "I'm from the future. I know."

His sister laughs, and he glares, and then she clears her throat and stops laughing, but still has a small, indulgent smile. "Of course, A-Cheng," she says. "And what's this little boy's name?"

"Wei Ying," he says, and his sister's smile freezes. "His name is Wei Ying, and his parents are Zangse Sanren and Wei Changze, and something bad has happened to them. Wei Ying is alone in Yiling and he needs help," he insists.

Jiang Cheng starts again from the beginning.

Talking is Better than Silence, by blackcatkuroi, KuroiWrites (blackcatkuroi)

"This path harms the body. Harms the nature of one's heart even more." Lan WangJi spoke those words upon first seeing Wei Wuxian alive after the Burial Mounds, unknowing of the truth.

Wei Wuxian, though, didn't need to be told, and he accepted that he'd lost whatever he might have once had with Lan WangJi. Several nights later, in a moment of drunken weakness under the melancholic light of a full moon, he tells Lan WangJi the Truth. He'd never needed Lan WangJi to spell out his fate for him - he'd known since he walked out of the Burial Mounds alive.

But one small bit of honesty can go a long way, and Talking is far better than Silence.

A Glimpse Into the Future, by SallySPT

When Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian help save a sacred shrine in the forest outside of Caiyi town during their time at Cloud Recesses, they are gifted with two glimpses into the future. Wei Wuxian asks to see the Twin Prides of Yunmeng leading Lotus Pier. Instead of the future they expect, the two see their future selves fighting at a Cultivation Conference in Lotus Pier. Discovering this, Jiang Cheng asks to see where their relationship went wrong. The two are then shown the aftermath of the burning of Lotus Pier. Horrified at their future, the two promise to work to change their fate.

Featuring Wei Wuxian having a gay awakening upon realizing he’s married to Lan Wangji in the future.

You Double-faced Entendre, by pink-lotus-pods (Almond_Adeptus)

"Wei Wuxian! You will be charged-"

“First of all, my name is Yuandao, and second of all, you aren't a judge, but you’re the one who’s got me tied up like a chicken! Let me go, damn it, I need to get back to my chickens and my farm!” Yuandao struggled violently, but the thin, golden ropes were a lot stronger than they looked.

The man in gold on the frankly, tastelessly ostentatious throne spluttered, turning the same colour as the cauliflower that he liked to put in his stews.

“Wow. You were right, he really doesn’t remember.” A man built like a mountain whistled, his face twisted into something that looked like amusement. “Either that, or he’s a world class actor.”

“For the last time, I’m just a farmer!”

Or, an amnesiac Wei Wuxian wakes up, gets himself a new family and is immediately roped into a political schism, EXACTLY in that order. He is very unhappy about having his cottagecore life uprooted.

Updates are sporadic, but I am trying to keep it to once every two weeks. They will be short, since I'm trying to prevent burnout.

The Hate and Love of family, by Moonlit_dewdrops

Wei Wuxian gets sent home after the fight with Jin Zixuan. Jiang Cheng is right to have worried.

A drop in the ocean, by ibuttermybagel

“How can you still stand on your legs after all you’ve done?” the voice had his head whip up. Eyes interlocking with those of the man he called his younger brother not too long ago. Angry eyes meeting those filled with nothing but sorry. “How can you still ask to be excused after bringing pain to so many?”

(Or: The ambush on Wei Wuxian is stopped by Jin Zixuan and instead he takes all Wens and WWX back home. Wen Ning has enough and lets everyone know what he learned in drunken talks with Wei Wuxian.)

Grand Master of Rogue Cultivation, by waterphoenix21

A Wei Wuxian raises A-Yuan fic!

After Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli die a mysterious death, Wen Qing and the rest of the Wen Clan are found guilty and Wei Wuxian speaks in their defense. This naturally leads to a rift between him and Jiang Cheng.

Then one night, the last surviving member of the Wen Clan is found asleep on top of Jiang Yanli's grave. Nobody knows how or why. But feeling as if he no longer belongs to any clan, Wei Wuxian decides to raise little Wen Yuan on his own, as he sets on a path to becoming a rogue cultivator, following in his mother's footsteps and seeking to find the mystical mountain of the legendary immortal, Baoshan Sanren.

Instead, by apathyinreverie (locked to ao3 accounts only)

Wei Ying is found by someone other than Wen Chao after the Core transfer.

Or, the one where Wei Ying is never thrown into the Burial Mounds, never invents demonic cultivation. He still manages to become the lynchpin of the Sunshot Campaign anyway.

The Return of Cangse Sanren, by milesofheart

The dark figure pointed with his flute. “There’s the road. Be on your way and don’t come back.” His tone dismissed them, a threat threaded between the words.

Cangse Sanren was not often afraid. She had been afraid as a child on the street, before she was found by Baoshan Sanren. She was afraid when the spider demon cornered them earlier that night, and she thought she would never see her baby boy again. She wondered vaguely if she should be afraid now.

But mostly she was just irritated.

She started to yell back at him, but lightning flashed, illuminating the people on horseback: elderly, bloody and bruised, in torn robes of sun and flames. As the lightning lit up all of their faces, the flutist’s cruel expression suddenly dropped, and his eyes went wide.

When he didn’t look so vicious, he was quite handsome. Maybe even vaguely familiar, somehow.

---

(Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze return from a near-lethal nighthunt in Yiling, eager to pick up their young son from the inn and be on their way to the next town. But when they run into a dark figure with a red-tasseled flute and glowing red eyes, it soon becomes apparent that something has gone terribly wrong.)

breathtaking, by wangxian_squash

Lan Wangji dies after Wei Wuxian’s defeat from a mix of his wounds and heartbreak. He is surprised when he finds out that that isn’t the end of his story, that he seemingly has been given another chance.

(Or, when he time-travels back to their time in Xuanwu of Slaughter Cave, he is determined to make things right this time around)

General:

life in love's exchange, by stiltonbasket

“Do you think I don’t want to marry you?”

“You’re not in love with me,” Nie Mingjue says, pointing out the obvious. “Why would you want to?”

“You have been my dearest friend since before we both laid eyes on our little brothers,” Xichen smiles, leaning over to kiss his forehead. “There is no one closer in my heart, and that will never change; so if I must marry now, whom could it be but you?”

Jin Guangshan shows his hand too soon in the aftermath of the Sunshot Campaign.

Luckily for everyone else, Nie Huaisang plays to win.

Pulled Against the Grain, by youleeyeah

“We found him walking injured just outside the Jingshi. He said-” Sizhui paused for a moment and then lowered his voice before continuing, “he said it was Young Master Jin who did this.” The boy couldn't look into Lan Wangji’s eyes as he spoke and turned his head to the side.

“You know,” Wei Wuxian started again after the pain subsided a tiny amount, “if I had my old body, I could've had intestines falling out of my gut and I’d still be able to fight for a few more hours.”

Lan Wangji furrowed his brows.

He has heard this before.

-----

Wei Wuxian wakes up in Gusu with a fresh stab wound he claimed was caused by Jin Ling. Lan Wangji is confused because the last time that happened was three years ago. Something is wrong with Wei Wuxian.

Friendship Is A Saw Worth Keeping, by DevieKlutz

Lan Wangji has a quiet life full of routine and he is content with that until a loud, chaotic new neighbor starts borrowing his things, using power tools at inexplicable times, and doing all the things Lan Wangji always thought would annoy him. He IS annoyed. That's definitely why his heart rate always escalates when he sees his new neighbor. That's the only reason.

He is wrong of course.

Happy Ending, by pinkychan

After eloping with Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian is living his best life, because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true... excetp when it doesn't.

Don’t Think About the White Bear [your past life]

Contrapuntal, by WithBroomBefore

In which Wei Wuxian is cast back in time to the school at Cloud Recesses instead of falling to his death. Everyone is very confused and upset. Wen Qing fixes things.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #cql #chen qing ling #untamed fanfiction

3 notes · View notes

sneaselsawashiro-blog · 9 months ago

Text

As a bit of personal insight, I think it's safe to say that DW Fa Zheng doesn't fully understand himself as to why he serves Liu Bei other than his personal obligation to his home province of Yi.

But I think it's also to add to DW Liu Bei's character in that "hey, this murderous trickster obsessed about revenge and/or debts of any kind is somehow unnerved from this guy's charismatic kindness". The more I look at it especially with Fa Zheng's hypothetical DLC scenario (where Jiang Wei wasn't recruited in Tianshui which I find funny lol), the more I see Fa Zheng as a guy who owes far too much to Liu Bei always being so generous to him, being so off-put by his kindness and/or actually being a softie in reality (tsundere Fa Zheng lol).

But overall I'm all for at least making him a deeper-layered character regardless even if the novel whitewashed him a bit. At least in history, everyone in Shu acknowledged Fa Zheng's death to be a major setback whereas why tf did no one in the novel mourn his passing even IF it went out of its way to say he basically corrected some of his wrongdoings? That kind of inconsistency is another thing to get mad at the novel about that I'm glad DW goes out of its way to avert (e.g. Lu Su since DW8, amazing since sliced bread *chef's kiss*).

The one other aspect I like about Fa Zheng's character is that while he's a vindictive debt-repayer, he's not one to consider bad timings. He no doubt made it a point to Liu Bei in his DW9 DLC route where after the events of Yiling and defending Yangping Gate from another punitive Wei assault from the north, he already considered the "revenge against Wu to be served" and that "yeah, we already used resources against them in that regard, let's not go overkill for such things, and you need to remember you vision for virtue/benevolence you cared so much about since look on the bright side, Guan Yu is still alive".

And it also impresses me that he managed to have Liu Bei himself go down to Nanzhong to talk with Meng Huo himself. Even it had to involves some bs trickery on Wu's part (Lu Su would've no doubt stopped such bs and Lu Xun would've known better too), it was cool to see an alternate take on the Nanzhong Campaign and what if Liu Bei and Meng Huo met. It sounds bs just like with Zhuge Liang vs. Meng Huo, but alas. Nanman and Shu friendship always interested me.

Edit via 8/29/2024: I also noticed that Liu Bei too likes to actually make sure he can pay back his debts hence his times serving under Tao Qian and then Liu Biao, and I assume Fa Zheng also finds a bit of kinship towards Liu Bei on that (via their Warriors portrayals that is).

Dynasty Warriors: Who Is Fa Zheng?

In March of 2018 I wrote a very long article about Fa Zheng. I was going to write articles like that for everyone in DW9 but soon realized it was entirely unsustainable. This article was 6,000 words long with over 100 citations and footnotes. In other words, hopelessly long-winded. It does, however, let me know precisely what I was thinking at that time, which makes this much shorter article easier to write.

I didn’t really expect Fa Zheng to ever be added to Dynasty Warriors. The franchise has generally preferred to credit his achievements to others (particularly Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang) and the dark stuff in his personal life taints the image they try to project of the saintly Liu Bei and his Benevolent Buddies. Nevertheless, they included him in DW8:XL so he was grandfathered into DW9.

In Koei’s various strategy games (ROT3K and Dynasty Tactics) he usually enjoys extremely high intelligence and is skilled in whatever ability impacts domestic policy. He tends to struggle in other areas, but that’s to be expected of the “strategist” type characters. He was added to Total War with the Fates Divided DLC, where he gets a unique appearance and ability. It’s a lot of respect to put on him.

Of course, by their nature, none of those titles give the sort of personalized narrative that he has in DW9, so that’s what I have the most to talk about.

Through his story in DW9 Fa Zheng is depicted (accurately, in my opinion) as a cunning but thoroughly villainous man. He is quick to betray Liu Zhang and help arrange Liu Bei’s attack on Shu. During the campaign he mocks Liu Zhang for not surrendering sooner. Fa Zheng’s lack of moral fiber is a recurring theme, one that causes conflict with other officials. At the end of his story, though, the narrative has Zhuge Liang agree that Fa Zheng’s lack of morals is useful, which is not a position I expected the game to take with those characters. That gets it a few points from me.

Fa Zheng comes off as one of the most genuinely intelligent characters in the game. Throughout his brief story he correctly predicts many future problems, particularly in Jing province. Though these concerns are ignored by Zhuge Liang and his other colleagues, he is ultimately proven correct. I’ll give them credit, intelligent and immoral are certainly the two words I’d use to describe Fa Zheng, and those characteristics really come through.

On the negative side, Fa Zheng has kind of a one-note obsession with revenge, retribution, etc. that gets kind of grating but at least he has other things going on in addition to that (compared to his various colleagues shouting “Justice!” “Benevolence!” or, in Huang Zhong’s case, “AARP!”)

The main narrative issue I have with his story is that they give him the stated goal of “saving Yi province.” This feels like a slapdash attempt to paint a nice gloss over actions that are otherwise just self-centered ambition. It doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense (he isn’t even from there!) but I guess they wanted a little complexity to an otherwise pretty simple character.

One final note about him in fiction: in Kessen II he is a loyal officer of Liu Zhang who only joins Liu Bei after his lord’s death. I’m confident that you wouldn’t even know who that character was supposed to be if they changed the name.

With all of that opinion given, then: who actually is Fa Zheng? Where did he come from and what was his deal? Let’s look at a brief rundown of his life.

Fa Zheng was from Youfufeng, near Chang’an, and his family was highly respected.[1] His grandfather Fa Zhen was noted as being an excellent judge of talent as well as a very accomplished scholar. He constantly refused court appointments and spent his whole life as a private scholar, dying in 188 at the age of 89.[2] Fa Zheng’s father Fa Yan pursued an official career and eventually served as an assistant to one of the Excellencies and to the Minister of Justice.[3] Not a spectacular career, but a respectable one that put Fa Zheng on the fringes of the upper crust.

Around 196, Fa Zheng and his friend Meng Da fled from Youfufeng to escape a local famine and the general destruction of the region. Together, they traveled to Yi province (which covered the geographical regions of Ba, Shu, and Nanzhong), where they took up service with the local governor Liu Zhang. For the next several years. Fa Zheng served as the head of a county in Guanghan. He was later transferred to Chengdu to serve as a military adviser of petty rank. Fa Zheng was always dissatisfied with these appointments. In addition to his low rank, other refugees from his home region spread word that he was an immoral man, and as a result Liu Zhang never put much trust in him. Despite his ambitions, Fa Zheng never rose high in Liu Zhang’s administration.[4]

In 208, Cao Cao received the surrender of Liu Zong/Cong, governor of Jing.[5] Concerned by Cao Cao’s growing strength, Liu Zhang sent an envoy named Yin Pu to meet with him. Cao Cao granted Liu Zhang and his brother titles as generals, effectively confirming their control over Yi province. Liu Zhang next sent his steward Zhang Su to Cao Cao with 300 soldiers as a tribute. Cao Cao rewarded this display by naming Zhang Su as executor of Guanghan canton.[6] Liu Zhang then sent Zhang Su’s younger brother Zhang Song with a third embassy.[7]

Fa Zheng’s biography describes Zhang Song as the steward of Yi, the same position his elder brother held.[8] Presumably, Zhang Song was promoted to this position after his brother received Guanghan. Zhang Su was noted for being handsome, while Zhang Song was short and unattractive. However, Zhang Song was the more intelligent of the brothers.[9]

When Zhang Song arrived, Cao Cao had settled Jing and was focused on pursuing Liu Bei and defeating Sun Quan. He largely ignored Zhang Song, much to the envoy’s chagrin.[10] Zhang Song did befriend one of Cao Cao’s secretaries, the scholar Yang Xiu. He showed Zhang Song Cao Cao’s commentary on Sunzi’s writings, and Zhang Song could recite it all after reading it only once.[11] This has been the source of various fictional anecdotes about Zhang Song’s intelligence. When Zhang Song returned to Yi, after witnessing Cao Cao’s defeat at Wulin, he did so with a firm hatred of Cao Cao and urged Liu Zhang to break off relations with him.[12]

Zhang Song was one of the few friends Fa Zheng made. In addition to Zhang Song’s enmity towards Cao Cao, he and Fa Zheng both detested Liu Zhang. On Zhang Song’s advice, Liu Zhang decided to sever ties with Cao Cao and ally with Liu Bei instead. Fa Zheng reluctantly served as his ambassador.[13] He and Meng Da were also ordered to bring a small body of soldiers to bolster Liu Bei’s forces as a token of goodwill.[14] Fa Zheng’s visit went well, and he was impressed by Liu Bei. He and Zhang Song conspired to replace Liu Zhang with Liu Bei at the first opportunity.[15]

For the details on how all of that shook out, you can read my article on Liu Bei's conquest of Yi province. Fa Zheng played a crucial role in orchestrating the campaign and it would be fair to regard him as the mastermind, along with Pang Tong.

Upon taking Yi, Liu Bei named Fa Zheng as executor of Shu canton, the capital of that province, as well as a general. In addition to governing Shu itself, he also served as Liu Bei’s chief military adviser. However, Fa Zheng proceeded to abuse his authority. While he rewarded anyone who had once shown him kindness, he also used his power to take revenge against anyone who he felt had slighted him. He even went so far as to murder several people, executing them without any authority or due process. Some asked Zhuge Liang to intercede and stop him, but Zhuge Liang refused due to Fa Zheng’s contributions to Liu Bei’s success.[16]

Let’s be honest, Fa Zheng has a pretty negative reputation and it’s easy to see why. His betrayal of Liu Zhang has met with mixed opinions over the years (what’s a little light treason between friends?) but it’s hard to get around the whole “killing people for personal vengeance” thing. Still, there was more to him than that, so there are a couple of other things to look at from his time in government.

One personnel issue that came up for Liu Bei was the subject of a man named Xu Jing. He was Fa Zheng’s predecessor as executor of Shu and was a highly respected scholar. However, he planned to desert Chengdu while it was under siege and because of this Liu Bei held him in low regard. (Pot, meet kettle.) Fa Zheng told Liu Bei that although Xu Jing was a man of empty reputation, he nevertheless had a great reputation. Since Liu Bei couldn’t go door-to-door explaining why he didn’t make use of Xu Jing, it would be better to employ him lest the people of Yi think Liu Bei did not value men of talent. Liu Bei followed his advice and treated Xu Jing well.[17] He was subsequently made Liu Bei’s adjutant.[18] His nephew Chen Zhi eventually became one of Shu’s leading officials.[19]

During this time, Fa Zheng also helped compose a new legal code for Shu, along with Zhuge Liang, Liu Ba, Li Yan, and Yi Ji.[20] The fifth-century commentator Pei Songzhi recounts a discussion between Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng regarding law. Fa Zheng argued for greater leniency and thought that since Liu Bei was new to the province, it was wisest for him to adopt the local customs and expectations before introducing new laws. Zhuge Liang believed it was best to begin with strict, even harsh rule so that any future leniency would have a greater impact.[21] Chen Shou, author of the Sanguo Zhi and a native of Shu, regarded these laws, and Zhuge Liang’s policies in particular, as strict but fair.[22] Of course, I can’t let the opportunity pass to note that while advocating for strict laws and harsh punishments, Zhuge Liang was content to let Fa Zheng commit outright murder. But laws never apply to those who make them.

After spending a couple years establishing LIu Bei’s government in Yi, Fa Zheng started advocating for war again in 217. Liu Bei accepted his arguments and launched his campaign for Hanzhong at the end of the year. You can read abut it here. Once again, Fa Zheng can be accurately described as the primary architect of the campaign. Although Liu Bei’s army suffered many setbacks throughout 217 and 218, the tide turned at the start of 219 and Liu Bei was ultimately able to claim the region.

In autumn of 219, Liu Bei named himself King of Hanzhong. Leaving Wei Yan to guard the territory, he subsequently returned to Chengdu.[23] Fa Zheng was named Director of the Secretariat and General Who Protects the Army. However, Fa Zheng did not enjoy these honors for long. He passed away the next year, at the age of 44. He was posthumously awarded a marquisate, and Liu Bei personally wept for him.[24] In subsequent years, Zhuge Liang would continue to praise Fa Zheng’s abilities. When Liu Bei was defeated in Yidu in 222, Zhuge Liang lamented, “If Fa Xiaozhi were still here, then he would have been able to hold back our ruler, and have him not go east, but even if we had gone east, then it certainly would not have been this much of a disaster.”[25]

Holding the two of them up side-by-side, the DW9 Fa Zheng does have a lot of overlap with the real deal.

As always, most fictitious depictions of Fa Zheng can be traced back to SGYY and it’s various inspirations. He first appears in chapter 60, which tells a somewhat distorted but still recognizable version of Zhang Song’s embassy to Cao Cao and Fa Zheng’s mission to Liu Bei.[26] For the next several chapters, he and Pang Tong employ various plans to capture Yi province, an endeavor in which they are ultimately successful. In the novel, Pang Tong generally takes the senior role.[27]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the novel glosses over Fa Zheng’s misdeeds while in government. It describes him repaying favors and avenging past slights, though it doesn’t say he had people killed. It also says that he subsequently changed his ways and made amends.[28] That’s the sort of distortion I really hate in this book. Fa Zheng was a murderer. There is no evidence that he ever regretted it or reformed. But since he’s associated with the heroes of the story his crimes get painted over and watered down.

Fa Zheng next appears when Liu Bei is making plans to capture Hanzhong. Zhuge LIang sends him to supervise Huang Zhong and together they defeat Xiahou Yuan, earning a huge victory.[29] His subsequent appearances are brief. He is rewarded for his role in taking Hanzhong[30] and convinces LIu Bei to marry Wu Yi’s sister.[31] Strangely, Fa Zheng dies off-screen. Although his passing is later mentioned by Zhuge Liang[32] it doesn’t come up until after the fact.

I’ve already complained about the Yanyi glossing over Fa Zheng’s crimes inventing a redemption arc for him so I don’t need to repeat myself here. Aside from that, his appearance in the novel is actually reasonably accurate. The liberties the novel takes with him are rather small and easy to understand in the context of the story.

Endnotes

1. SGZ 37.2 2. Sānfǔ Juélù Zhù 三辅决录注; SGZ 37.2 3. PSZ; SGZ 37.2 4. SGZ 37.2 5. SGZ 1 6. SGZ 31.2 7. SGZ 31.2 8. SGZ 37.2 9. Yìbù Qíjiù Zhuàn 益部耆旧传; SGZ 31.2 10. SGZ 31.2 11. Yìbù Qíjiù Zhuàn 益部耆旧传; SGZ 31.2 12. SGZ 31.2 13. SGZ 37.2 14. SGZ 31.2 15. SGZ 37.2 16. SGZ 37.2 17. SGZ 37.2 18. SGZ 38.1 19. SGZ 39.5 20. SGZ 38.5 21. PSZ; SGZ 35 22. SGZ 35 23. SGZ 32 24. SGZ 37.2 25. SGZ 37.2 26. SGYY 60 27. SGYY 61–64 28. SGYY 65 29. SGYY 70–71 30. SGYY 73 31. SGYY 77 32. SGYY 81

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yeonchi · 8 months ago

Text

What if the new characters were in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate? (Redux)

I had an idea for a new instalment of Warriors Orochi. It would be a crossover between Dynasty Warriors Multi Raid 2, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Toukiden and Hyrule Warriors. They’d have to have a Kickstarter or something of the sort if they’d want to do that, ESPECIALLY if people want English dubs on it. Think of the cost!

But I’m not talking about this now and I don’t intend to in the future. For now, I’m going to explain to you how the new characters in DW8 (with XL) and SW4 would have fit in with Warriors Orochi 3. Take it as a break from all the usual ranting I do.

Originally, I was just going to stop it after the first two Warriors Orochi games, but I thought, what the heck! It doesn’t hurt!

Some stages mentioned may not have been in the actual Warriors Orochi 3 game. Please be aware of this.

Dynasty Warriors 8 new characters:

Wei:

Yue Jin 楽進: Unlocked in the Battle of Fan Castle (樊城の戦い), Chapter 3. Present with his lord at Fan Castle (replaces Yu Jin). He also assists his lord’s escape at Chengdu. He then works with Zhang Liao to rescue Li Dian at Bowangpo.

Li Dian 李典: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Xiakou (夏口の戦い), Chapter 3. When Zhang Liao and Yue Jin (Kaguya is the other recommended character) were there with Li Dian in the original timeline, Masamune’s army of horses and riflemen spotted them and decided to attack them. Li Dian sacrificed his life so that Zhang Liao and Yue Jin could escape. Now they are going back in time to rescue him.

Yu Jin 于禁: Unlocked in the Battle of Tong Gate (潼関の戦い), Chapter 3. He is present with Cao Pi and Sima Yi at Tong Gate.

Xun Yu 荀彧: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Puyang (濮陽の戦い), Chapter 4. Cao Cao receives a report that Demon Army troops and Mystic Army troops are fighting and so, he sets out with Guo Jia and Jia Xu to pacify the uprising. On one side of the castle, however, the demons and mystics don’t seem to be fighting each other – because they’re fighting Xun Yu, who is efficiently using strategy to confuse the enemy. Cao Cao and company meet up with Xun Yu and they manage to eliminate the enemy before he joins them.

Wu:

Lu Su 魯粛: Unlocked in the Battle of Odawara Castle (小田原城の戦い), Chapter 1. He fights with his Wu comrades and his allies the Hōjō to repel the Demon Army.

Han Dang 韓当: Unlocked in the Battle of Nagashino (長篠の戦い), Chapter 1. He works with Zhou Tai to repel the Date Army, assisted by Sun Wukong and Kiyomori’s servants.

Zhu Ran 朱然: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Hefei (合肥の戦い), Chapter 4. He joins the coalition along with Lu Xun after the battle and he appears in the true ending.

Shu:

Xu Shu 徐庶: Unlocked after clearing Battle of Yiling Redux (夷陵の戦い・改変後), Chapter 1. In the original timeline, he escaped with Ma Chao to Odawara Castle.

Guan Xing 関興: Unlocked in the Battle of Mt. Dingjun (定軍山の戦い), Chapter 2. He is alongside his father, working for Kiyomori until he is freed of his control. He then fights Zhang Bao at Yangping Gate.

Zhang Bao 張苞: Unlocked in the Battle of Yangping Gate (陽平関の戦い), Chapter 3. He appears alongside his father here.

Guan Yinping 関銀屏: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Qing Province (青州の戦い), Chapter 2. When the serpent army attacked, her father and her brothers helped her escape because they did not believe that she was strong enough to fight off an invasion of such proportions. She hid away in Changshan practising until an alliance featuring the likes of Yuan Shu and Zhang Xiu made base in the area. Believing this an opportunity to show her strength, she charged solo into the enemy. But what she didn’t know was that the alliance was led by Dong Zhuo and he would probably take her in as one of his harem. Luckily, Xu Shu, Guan Yu and Guan Xing were searching in the area and managed to find her just before Dong Zhuo arrived. Together, they fought off Dong Zhuo and Guan Yinping joined the coalition.

Fa Zheng 法正: Unlocked in the Battle of Yangping Gate, Chapter 3 (陽平関の戦い). He is the strategist in this stage. He also appears to help his lord escape at Chengdu.

Jin:

Jia Chong 賈充: Unlocked in the Battle of Ueda Castle (上田城の戦い), Chapter 1. He stayed with Zhuge Dan and the others when Sima Zhao went off to Odawara. He then joins Sima Zhao and Zhuge Dan at Hasedō.

Wen Yang 文鴦: Unlocked in the Battle of Nagashino (長篠の戦い), Chapter 1. Along with Guo Huai and the others, they were Kiyomori’s puppets until Hideyoshi, Ma Chao and the others beat them back to their senses.

Zhang Chunhua 張春華: Unlocked in the Battle of Hulao Gate (虎牢関の戦い), Chapter 3. She was alongside her husband at Tong Gate, but not at Shizugatake.

Other:

Chen Gong 陳宮 and Lu Lingqi 呂玲綺: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Xiapi Castle (下邳城の戦い), Chapter 2 (uses the DW8XL map). When Lu Bu left Xiapi with Diaochan, he entrusted Chen Gong and Lu Lingqi to defend the castle. When Nezha passes by with the Mystic Army, he thinks that Lu Bu will probably be waiting inside, so he decides to set various traps inside, including fire, flood, poison and explosive attacks. However, Nezha doesn’t know that Lu Bu isn’t even in the castle, so when he arrives, he chases Nezha in anger. Sent by a message of an attack on Xiapi, Guan Yinping and Lady Hayakawa (with Xu Huang as other recommended character) arrive to defuse the traps inside the castle, which were mostly caused by sorcery. They then chase down Nezha, who is fighting Lu Bu. Lu Bu tells them to get out of his way and turns on Chen Gong and the others. While Lu Bu is distracted with fighting the others, Nezha escapes. Lu Bu is defeated and he escapes too. Feeling abandoned by their lord, Chen Gong and Lu Lingqi join the coalition. Later, Chen Gong helps recruit Kasumi in Yan Province.

Samurai Warriors 4 new characters:

Takatora Tōdō 藤堂高虎: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Kanegasaki (金ヶ崎の戦い), Chapter 2. Guan Xing and Zhang Bao journey there (Zhang Bao, Xingcai and Bao Sanniang is the recommended team) to find a Demon Army patrol to defeat so that they can show off their skills against each other. During their competition, they come across Takatora who was forced to flee during the intial assault on his home. Together, they defeat the Demon Army and Takatora joins the Coalition.

Naotora Ii 井伊直虎 and Naomasa Ii 井伊直政: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Okehazama (桶狭間の戦い), Chapter 3. When the coalition from the future attacked Yangping Gate, Naotora took her foster son Naomasa and hid. Later, Ieyasu Tokugawa, accompanied by Tadakatsu Honda and Liu Bei, head to Okehazama to find Naotora and convince her to join the coalition. However, Naotora is scared that Ieyasu and company are working for the Demon Army, so she decides to fight them. In the end, Ieyasu manages to convince the mother and son that they are not the Demon Army.

Munenori Yagyū 柳生宗矩: Unlocked in the Battle of Odawara Castle Redux (小田原城の戦い・改変後), Chapter 1. In the original battle, he did not make it to help his friend Musashi Miyamoto because he and Shigekata Tōgō were surrounded by the Demon Army. Yoshihiro, Kai and Sun Shangxiang save them at Dongkou, which allows them to make it to Odawara Castle and save Musashi. After the battle, he joins the coalition along with Musashi.

Nobuyuki Sanada 真田信之: Unlocked in the side stage Rescue at Yiling (夷陵救出戦), Chapter 3. He is one of those held captive by the Demon Army and he is the first one Guo Jia, Guo Huai and Xingcai meet (he is in the Stone Sentinel Maze).

Yoshitsugu Ōtani 大谷吉継: Unlocked in the Battle of Tong Gate (潼関の戦い), Chapter 3. He follows Mitsunari in joining the coalition later.

Hisahide Matsunaga 松永久秀: Unlocked in the side stage Battle of Mt. Inaba Castle (稲葉山城の戦い), Chapter 4. In defiance of his fate, he hid away with some rogue officers (ie. the Miyoshi, Satake and others) and made a base at Kuzegawa. A treasure report leads Dong Zhuo and Jia Xu (with Magoichi Saika as other recommended character) to search there, but ends up finding tea leaves and kettles. After a conflict, Dong Zhuo takes Matsunaga back to the coalition.

Kojūrō Katakura 片倉小十郎: Unlocked in the Battle of Luoyang (洛陽の戦い), Chapter 2. He was with Masamune at Nagashino.

Kagekatsu Uesugi 上杉景勝: Unlocked in the Battle of Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳の戦い), Chapter 3. He joins the coalition together with Aya.

Takakage Kobayakawa 小早川隆景: Unlocked in the Battle of Sekigahara (関ヶ原の戦い), Chapter 2. He follows his father Motonari in working for Da Ji at Kyūshū and Nanzhong. However, when the coalition ends up saving Da Ji when she is chased by Nezha, Motonari, Achilles and Takakage join the coalition as well.

Koshōshō 小少将: Unlocked in the Battle of Xuchang Redux (許昌の戦い・改変後), Chapter 2. Instead of being a hostage, she works under Dong Zhuo. When the Demon Army soldiers spot Jiang Wei, Koshōshō finishes him off in the original timeline and retreats. However, after the timeline has been changed, she does not notice Jiang Wei that easily and she joins the coalition after her defeat.

Toyohisa Shimazu 島津豊久: Unlocked in the Battle of Odawara Castle (小田原城の戦い), Chapter 1. He follows his uncle Yoshihiro in working for the Demon Army. With the coalition, he works with Jia Xu and Ginchiyo in chasing Da Ji at Kyūshū.

Lady Hayakawa 早川殿: Unlocked in the Battle of Changban (長坂の戦い), Chapter 3. She appears as reinforcements alongside Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, Daqiao and Ujiyasu Hōjō.

#dynasty warriors #samurai warriors #warriors orochi #warriors orochi: the recollective redux #warriors orochi 3 #warriors orochi 3 ultimate

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idolsgeneration · 5 years ago

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#Shu Yiling #produce camp 2020 #cpop

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sifeng · 5 years ago

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Long Dramas for Your Quarantined Soul

Stuck at home with nothing to do? Watch a long, angsty drama and find yourself crying over fictional characters!

1. Goodbye My Princess (东宫)

Episodes: 52

Genres: Historical/Romance

A young prince striving for power decides to use the ninth princess of Xi Zhou as a pawn in his game, but he finds himself falling for her in the process. Thus sets forth a tragic romance that even forgotten memories cannot stop from spiraling into chaos. Add in some beautiful cinematography, gorgeous costumes and great actors and you get a fantastic drama!

This will be you after the finale (spoiler alert!)

2. The Untamed (陈情令)

Episodes: 50

Genres: Wuxia/Mystery

During his training, Wei WuXian of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect met Lan WangJi of the Gusu Lan Sect. Even though they are polar opposite, the two are suddenly tied together after discovering a plot by the land dominated Wen clan to acquire all the pieces of the Yin Iron. However, during a battle against Wei WuXian, now known as the infamous Yiling Patriarch, he is presumed dead after falling off a cliff due to Jiang Cheng, who was like a brother to him. Sixteen years later, Wei WuXian suddenly wakes up after a crazy cultivator called Mo XuanYu performed a ritual sacrificing his body in exchange for bringing back Wei WuXian to fulfill his revenge plan. To hide his real identity, Wei WuXian pretends to be Mo XuanYu. However, he is soon reunited with Lan WangJi and the pair then works together to solve a series of mysteries and expose the secret figure pulling the strings behind the evildoings now wreaking havoc in the land.

3. Ashes of Love (香蜜沉沉烬如霜)

Episodes: 63

Genres: Xianxia/Romance

A story of many lifetimes of romance between the flower deity and the fire deity. She might not be able to love, but he loves her with all his heart, and so does his brother. As secret identities are revealed, love begins to develop, and age old promises end up causing massive chaos and destruction. (sorry for the bad intro, but I wanted to include all the angst I could)

4. Eternal Love (三生三世十里桃花)

Episodes: 58

Genres: Xianxia/Romance

After a devastating war, the immortal tribe paid a heavy price to seal the demon lord. 70000 years later, in an attempt to re-seal the demon lord who broke free, Bai Qian was sent to the mortal realm. In the mortal world, she meets Ye Hua and falls in love with him after forgetting about her life as a goddess. Ye Hua gifts her the name of Su Su. Su Jin, who is jealous of Ye Hua's love for Bai Qian, intentionally creates a series of misunderstanding between them and causes Bai Qian to lose her eyes. Thinking that Ye Hua has betrayed her, the devastated Bai Qian jumps off from the Zhu Xian Terrace. At her request, all her memories have been erased and she forgets Ye Hua. 300 years later, the two meets again as deities. Another lifetime another world, Ye Hua recognizes Bai Qian but the latter remains indifferent. Three lives three worlds, her and him, are they fated to bear an entangling love?

5. The Rise of Phoenixes (天盛长歌)

Episodes: 70

Genres: Political/Romance

Feng Zhi Wei is the unfavored illegitimate daughter of the Qiu Family, who is then banished from the clan after being falsely accused of a crime. Zhi Wei cross-dresses as a man to attend the prestigious Qingming Academy and stuns the world with her talent and knowledge. She remains loyal and honest to the reigning Emperor during the princes’ fight for the throne, yet soon finds out she is the only surviving royalty of a fallen kingdom. Manipulated into thinking that the current dynasty was built upon the corpses of her loved ones, Zhi Wei ultimately decides to take revenge against her enemies, including her lover Ning Yi. Will they be able to put their vengeance behind them and live a life without hatred?

6. Nirvana in Fire (琅琊榜)

Episodes: 58

Genres: Wuxia/Political

In sixth-century China, during a war between Southern Liang and Northern Wei dynasties, General Lin Xie took his only child, the 17-year-old Lin Shu, to the battlefield to fight the Wei army. Unexpectedly, General Lin Xie was framed by a political rival, causing the unjust deaths of 7,000 army soldiers and the poisoning of his son. Lin Shu survived the war but to be cured of the poison, he underwent a treatment that changed his appearance completely and left him in a weakened state unable to perform martial arts again. Lin Shu change his name to Mei Chang Su and later became the chief of the pugilist world and established the Jiangzuo Alliance. Twelve years later, Lin Shu returned to the capital, Jinling, with a secret plan after being sought after by Prince Yu and Prince Xian during their fight for the throne. He then decides to covertly assist Prince Jing, the unfavoured son of Emperor Wu, and wisely rids the court of all scheming officials. (there might not be romance, but the genius of this show is more than enough to make up for it)

7. Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan (甄嬛传)

Episodes: 76

Genres: Historical/Political

A young woman born of Eight Banners family marries the Emperor. After surviving through many murderous scandals and betrayals, she prevails as the most powerful woman in the Emperor's harem, the Empress dowager. In the process, she transforms from a kind-hearted, clever girl to a power hungry, manipulative woman. (again no romance, but so genius!)

8. Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace (如懿传)

Episodes: 87

Genres: Historical/Romance

The road to becoming an empress is paved with treachery. Ruyi (Zhou Xun) is a consort who quickly learns to navigate the treacherous politics of the the royal court and move up the ranks. After becoming Empress, Ruyi still must survive the many conspiracies against her. Her relationship with Emperor Qianlong (Wallace Huo) becomes eroded even when Ruyi is able to overcome the challenges. Can Ruyi maintain her role as Empress under such difficult circumstances?

9. Eternal Love of Dream (三生三世枕上书)

Episodes: 56

Genres: Xianxia/Romance

Two thousand years of enduring love and obsession between the female monarch of Qing Qiu and the ancient god of the Heavenly Kingdom. When Feng Jiu was practising immortal cultivation alone in the wilderness, she was attacked by a beast and rescued by Dong Hua Di Jun of the Heavenly Kingdom. The encounter becomes deeply ingrained in Feng Jiu's heart and to repay her debts, she decides to follow Dong Hua into battle. She soon realizes that her good feelings towards him have evolved into love, but Dong Hua is a god who has forgotten what love means. In order to protect Feng Jiu, Dong Hua sends her to the human realm which results in the death of a friend. Feng Jiu enters the Winged Tribe Princess Ah Lan Ruo's dream sequence in search of a sacred fruit that can bring the dead back to life but gets trapped to relive Ah Lan Ruo's life for eternity. Dong Hua finds a way to save Feng Jiu and realizes that he already reciprocates her love for him, but another hurdle crosses their path.

10. Find Yourself (下一站是幸福)

Episodes: 41

Genres: Slice-of-Life/Romance

He Fan Xing's company is at risk of being acquired while her relationship with Yuan Song faces societal pressures due to their age difference. The consecutive blows in her work and love life push her to an emotional quagmire and it is during this time that Ye Lu Ming enters her life. Being older in age, he is mature, stable and knowledgeable. He becomes He Fan Xing's life coach and the source of conflict between the couple. For He Fan Xing, it's not merely a matter of choosing the man that she loves but considering the contradictions of adopting the traditional mindset on marriage.

If You’ve Already Watched Those: Royal Nirvana (60 eps; political/romance), Return of the Condor Heroes (41 eps; wuxia/romance), The Story of Yanxi Palace (70 eps; political/romance), Joy of Life (46 eps; wuxia/political), Love and Destiny (60 eps; xianxia/romance), Glory of the Tang Dynasty (60 eps; historical/romance), Siege in Fog (50 eps; historical/romance)

#Cdrama #Chinese Drama #the untamed #find yourself #Ashes Of Love #have fun!#eternal love #wuxia #Xianxia

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