Warriors Orochi
The game was released on March 21, 2007, in Japan, September 18 in North America, September 21 in Europe, September 27 in Australia and September 28 in New Zealand. The game came out for the Xbox 360 in Japan on September 13, and the European version came out on the same date as the PlayStation 2 version in the North America. The game was ported to the PlayStation Portable, released in Japan on February 2008, March 25 in North America, and March 28 in Europe. A PC version was released in North America on March 25, 2008. Plot . The fictional events of the game begin when the Serpent King Orochi created a rift in time and space. By creating a twisted new world and bringing together warriors from the Three Kingdoms era of China and the Warring States period of Japan (more than 1,300 years apart in history), Orochi wished to test the might of the warriors of these two eras. The story is told in four separate but related subplots. Each subplot starts the player with three characters. More characters are unlocked as the player progresses through the story or satisfies certain conditions in certain stages. Each  subplot is named after one of the Three Kingdoms, and one from the perspective of the Samurai Warriors characters. Characters from different factions band together in each subplot to confront Orochi. Because of the storyline, most of the characters have split from their respective factions in the original games and have been forced into other scenarios. However, the character selection screen still places all the characters in their original positions. Shu story. In the Shu Han story, the Shu forces were in shambles after their battle with Orochi. Many Shu officers were captured by Orochi, went missing, or joined other  forces. Zhao Yun was captured by Orochi's forces and held prisoner in Ueda Castle. He is later rescued by Zuo Ci, Yoshihiro Shimazu and Xing Cai. Zuo Ci revealed startling news to Zhao Yun, which led him to embark upon a quest with help from unexpected allies. Wei story. In the Kingdom of Wei story, Cao Cao had disappeared in his battle against Orochi's forces. His son, Cao Pi, took up leadership of the Wei clan and allied himself with Orochi, under the offer sent by his strategist, Da Ji. There were a few Wei officers who refused  to surrender, or ended up joining other forces opposing Orochi. Under the new alliance, Orochi orders Cao Pi to suppress all those who oppose him. Though Cao Pi obediently obeys Orochi's every command, he has an ulterior motive that he is planning as the story progresses. Wu story. In the Kingdom of Wu story, Orochi uses the captive Sun Jian and other Wu officers to blackmail the Sun family into servitude. Orochi demanded that rebel leaders and officers be turned over in exchange for the release of the captives. Sun Ce is the first to rebel against Orochi, under  the guidance of Sakon Shima, and much to the disapproval of his siblings, Quan and Shang Xiang. Samurai Warriors story. In this story, Nobunaga Oda, Shingen Takeda, and Kenshin Uesugi each maintained a resistance force against Orochi's army. Even in this most dire of circumstances, the three "daimyōs" refuse to work together against Orochi. Each of them were focused on assimilating smaller resistance forces spread throughout the land into their own forces. Orochi Army. The Orochi Army consists of pale-skinned troops that behave similarly to regular troops of the protagonist forces. Several major characters from both "Dynasty Warriors  and Samurai Warriors" either aligned themselves or were subverted by Orochi, fighting in his name. Orochi's main headquarters is at Koshi Castle, where the final confrontation takes place for all four stories in the game. In the original Japanese version, the Orochi officers are named after various legendary monsters (youkai) in both Chinese and Japanese folklores, while the English version has them named after various species of snakes (using their common names) as a pun to Orochi being the Serpent King. The Orochi officers all share the same character model, and are unplayable enemy characters. Characters. A total of  79 characters encompasses the roster of "Warriors Orochi": 48 from "Dynasty Warriors", 29 from "Samurai Warriors" (including Yoshimoto Imagawa, Kunoichi and Goemon Ishikawa from the first "Samurai Warriors", left out in its sequel), and two new characters: the titular character and primary villain, the Serpent King and the mythological beast of Yamato; and Da Ji (), the villainous concubine of King Zhou of Shang from "Fengshen Yanyi". Orochi wields a very large scythe, named "Eternal Agony", while Da Ji fights with two floating orbs, called "the Orbs of Ruin". There are many generic, non-playable officers who are also part of  the game, all taken from the "Samurai Warriors" and "Dynasty Warriors" games. There are also exclusive non-playable officers that are in Orochi's forces. "* Denotes new characters to the series" "Bold denotes default characters" Gameplay. The following are some new game play mechanics added exclusively to "Warriors Orochi": The core game play combines elements from "Dynasty Warriors 5" and "Samurai Warriors 2". Many of these elements have been revised for "Warriors Orochi": The following elements were not incorporated into "Warriors Orochi": Reception. "Warriors Orochi" was met with average to very mixed reception. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score  of 65% and 62 out of 100 for the PSP version; 57% and 53 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version; 54% and 55 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version; and 52% and 51 out of 100 for the PC version. As of May 21, 2008, the game sold over 1.5 million units worldwide.