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Backed by a growing group of Western fans and a clever choice of franchise collaborations, a distinctly Japanese game series is slowly building itself a worldwide audience. Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors (or "Musou") franchise now boasts nearly 40 incarnations, including team-ups with names as well known as Nintendo.Originally a hack and slash series set on the front lines of feudal China, Dynasty Warriors has spread its wings and shared its formula of tactical battlefield domination to fit numerous other settings. But while collaborations with the Gundam or One Piece franchises may feed an already rabid Japanese fanbase, Dynasty Warriors is now making a play for serious global fame with last week's launch of the Legend of Zelda-themed Hyrule Warriors.
This latest Musou mash-up is a collaboration between Omega Force, Koei Tecmo's main Dynasty Warriors arm, and the top brains behind Nintendo's Zelda series, with Metroid: Other M studio Team Ninja helping on development duties. It's a love letter to the Zelda series but also a bright and colourful storefront for the Dynasty Warriors franchise itself, and overall a fine balance of the two series. "This is, if not the best Musou game yet, then certainly the most approachable and textured," Simon Parkin wrote in Eurogamer's recent Hyrule Warriors review. So how did this collaboration come about?
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