MASA (Guitarist/Sound Composer of KOEI)

This is just an article that has been wanting to be done for a distant time. As being a very big fan of the Dynasty Warriors original soundtracks since the start until presently still, the musical composer has partaken in very memorable pieces of work which reside on mainly hard heavy metal rock noises. So reflecting on the thought of the series music, MASA has brought alive and given a dimension as to how an energetic, lively, and historically important part of China's history needs to feel like.

With his attention on producing a quality professional atmosphere, MASA has recently still given his awareness to pleasing fans of KOEI's everlasting video game soundtracks. Of course a game's content would not be as full of emotions and inspiration without an OST (Original Soundtrack). And in this case apart from it all sounding very noticeable given the genre of music, there's influence of Eastern scores which is utmost vital to be told because of the setting based loosely off of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel by Luo Guanzhong.

MASA's work within the franchise tells stories with thanks to his creation with the guitar, both sad and joyful experiences. Along with it's Eastern vibe. The Shin Sangokumusou series as known in Japan, with it's oriental sound setting based in The Three Kingdoms period of China can be listened to in countless songs. This in presence can be heard in particular in this guitar-based work which tells the anguish of Liu Bei wanting revenge after his oath brother Guan Yu's death by the joint hands of Wei and Wu in Dynasty Warriors 4. It's entitled ''AVENGING BATTLE''.

Now for a selection of fascinating noise, I will give examples of how instrumental and appreciated the music he creates reveal.

From Shin Sangokumusou 2 (aka Dynasty Warriors 3), this theme plays on one of the last stages, the Siege of He Fei Castle. Known on the OST as ''BLAST FROM THE EAST'', Wu's own theme music for this level is a slow, catchy, techno tune which more so allows the listener to anticipate a climatic time of somewhat desperation. Different when compared to the equally as good other song on the OST called ''THE MEN OF INTELLIGENCE'', Wei's grand newly built historical fort's brilliance can be seen as a faster more positive upbeat mixture of guitar and drum, although the composition is by Kenji Nakajo.

Based on the later era stage the Battle of Wu Zhang Plains, the apparent challenge of it merits the uncomfortable appeal of the stage's situation. SACRED GROUND by MASA which starts and ends with gloom, basing at night, is a fan favourite.

RUN, RUN, RUN from Shin Sangokumusou 4 has an extremely fast tempo which resides on the thought of urgency. Using guitar and drum, when playing at the Escape from Chi Bi, a fleeing Cao Cao is hesitant on not losing his life.

This song, ''SLASH THE DEMON'' is a BGM which plays against the tyranny of Dong Zhuo at Hu Lao Gate.  Referring to the terror of Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo which can be addressed throughout the entirety, it is full of heavy disturbing, resonant noises.

GAIN MOMENTUM, certainly not lacking liveliness, from the Dynasty Warriors 6 Original Soundtrack is as energetic as most of his work. It's one of my personal favourites and is very distinguished with it's rock-esque sense of style. It plays in scenarios where you gain the advantage and as a whole is one promising mood-uplifting soundtrack.

Lastly for this update, this popular memory is titled ''THEME OF LU BU'' from Dynasty Warriors: Online. It offers a range of sections (including spurts of guitar riffs) which are all exciting to hear. It is truly heavy metal rock, extremely busy, MASA at his finest and most known for composing the thrilling staple themes of Lu Bu in each title.

On a closing note, there will be more updates on MASA's recordings in the future and my personal favourites, as well as posts on the other artists such as Kensuke Inage and Masato Koike.

That is it for this update. Thanks for reading!

Dynasty Warriors 7

Outside of Japan, Dynasty Warriors 7's first ever trailer was exclusively revealed first-hand at the London MCM Expo, October 2010 by TECMO KOEI Europe's presentation.


Shin Sangokumusou 6 is the latest KOEI title to be announced for the Dynasty Warriors series. For both the PS3 console and Xbox 360, Dynasty Warriors 7 will be ditching the tried and tested Renbu system from Dynasty Warriors 6 in place of using the old and adored engine of hack and slash.

For the first time ever, Dynasty Warriors 7 will be introducing a new kingdom, Jin. This time in history during the later troubled times of The Three Kingdoms era of China, initially part of the Wei kingdom, Jin's power grew and usurped Wei stepping towards eventually the creation of the Jin Dynasty which brought an end to the army of Wu and Shu, as well as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

KOEI TECMO through their website dedicated to this title has been sharing music that will be featuring. This piece is named ''Jin - Overture'' on the official TECMO KOEI EU site.

Hosted by the Sima clan, Jin's force in Dynasty Warriors 7 will be led by former Wei's strategist Sima Yi and is said to start after Wu Zhang Plains. And obviously with a new clan, you expect new characters, and Dynasty Warriors 7 does not displease here. Sima Yi's very own two sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao have been revealed as part of the unity. Amongst other faces like the popular requested Deng Ai, Wang Yuanji, and more.

With all of KOEI TECMO's promotion, we expect the Jin Dynasty to be a refreshing take on the series we have all grown to love after many titles which have attempted to bring an entertaining aspect to Luo Guanzhong's Chinese based novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms which bases loosely off of it.

Wei's Xiahou Dun has returned and continued tradition of being a popular character within the franchise.

But even though there's a new threat to be reckoned with, the powers of Shu, Wei and Wu will be returning amongst reoccurring and new persona. As for the 'Others' category which consists of favourites such as Lu Bu, it will sadly not be receiving a storyline, but those present will be seen in the confirmed stories and will be able to be used in the new mode entitled Chronicle Mode which will act in similar fashion to Dynasty Warriors: Online where you can buy equipment and wander around China joining factions. So having said all that, other than that category not having a quest it's just yet to be known how much focus each kingdom will be getting in this video game which is set to be released this year.

Worth noting and for a debut which you can see in action below in the footage is the promoted ''seemless play'' where the game will smoothly change from a cut scene to actually playing. For instance in this case you see Shu's hero Zhao Yun take part in a scene with Zhang Fei and proceed straight into combat, as if there was no difference between the two. Another instance having been shown elsewhere to reveal being mounted, charging straight into the battlefield.

Dynasty Warriors 7 is set to hit stores early this year worldwide in March, 2011. Stay tuned for further updates!

                                            
The latest PV of Shin Sangokumusou 6 has recently been put online by KOEI TECMO.


That is it for this update. Thanks for reading!

My history with KOEI Warriors!

Joining the community of KOEI Warriors 4 years back really does seem longer to me. Having been so active and indulgent towards it is probably why.

Oct 2006 I had went through the life decision of creating a nickname and finally became part of the forum discussion after a time beforehand browsing KOEI Warriors. During that time I was already a member at the official US KOEI forums and browsed that side of GameFAQs, and thought why not, I still wished to comment and read more from what appeals to me, and that's where it all began.

http://s13.zetaboards.com/koeiwarriors/profile/83328/

Being so enthusiastic and absorbed by playing Dynasty Warriors 2 and then seeing all the improvements in the third of the Shin Sangokumusou series (known in Japan), I had not been that inclined to a particular gaming series since my times with Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy; which are both still favourites of mine presently. Though Dynasty Warriors 3 and the sheer amount of hours is what probably sent me in this direction and eventually lead me to the community. It's my most preferred title at this point still. Maybe lots to do with the sense of nostalgia.

I have literally bought every main title and expansion of this series, and other KOEI titles like Samurai Warriors as well. This gave me sort of permission to go deeper in the message comments and quickly, fuelled by passion, gather a vast number of posts within KOEI Warriors and countless other related sites.

After time I became a staff member of the founder, Insp. Chin's website, a close friend who now has a blog:  http://inspchin.wordpress.com/, and moved up from there trying to be as organized and friendly as possible. But moving up in rank is really not something I would say happened promptly at all. As I've said it seems to me like I have been doing this for far longer.

Nowadays after being drawn to the members and days passing, even attending events throughout London with other friends whom I met with similar hobbies, I'm now an administrator alongside a great team of hard working helpful staff who work voluntary to help promote TECMO KOEI's video games.

For the future of KOEI Warriors, who knows how long it will be around and where I will be, but in the meantime I'm looking forward to doing what I do and furthermore intrigued by the latest news that the Japanese team KOEI TECMO reveal. Like the incoming Dynasty Warriors 7 which I am really eager to see. Which it, Shin Sangokumusou 6 as known in the East, I will be discussing in my next post.

That is it for this update. Thanks for reading!

My history with TECMO KOEI!

Well, it's time for my first real ever blogging experience. This post now will give you a brief analysis of how it started and where I am heading to.

Because the web address is as it is. Expect my posts to be more centralized around my biggest enthusiastic side, the Dynasty Warriors series.

It all started when I happened to stumble across randomly in the old store in England called Dixons. Which sold electronic goods. I happened to make a choice out of two PS2 releases (the PS2 had only recently been released at that point), a Dead or Alive game, and Dynasty Warriors 2. The difference being I knew more about Dead or Alive compared to Dynasty Warriors 2. So, ironically I grabbed and purchased DW2.

                                                    
                            London MCM Expo, Oct 2008

From that day I bought it, it became a part of my life which has lead me to where I am today. I would have never imagined even meeting many great new friends, and even visiting the European side of the company itself. To visit TECMO KOEI Europe's office was a brilliant experience, and that has been topped off further since when I met KOEI's CEO who has now regrettably quit, Kenji Matsubara. And of course special thanks to Will Curly, Vice President of TECMO KOEI Europe, and Chin Soon Sun, Community Manager, for giving me this chance.

                                        
          Team Ninja TECMO KOEI merger, June 2009

From 4 years ago I first joined the website KOEI Warriors, sharing my opinions as people do on forums, typing a heck of a lot and looking forward to the next releases. Nothing has changed at this point apart from wanting to help out the staff the best I can and taking more of a 'professional role' by being an administrator managing the community.

What I hope for the future is more of the same. Two of my dreams now would be to meet MASA who is the musical composer and guitarist of KOEI which I am a huge fan of. And to meet the founders of KOEI, Mr and Mrs Erikawa.

That is it for this update. Thanks for reading!

Welcome to LittleDragonZ's blog!

Hi all, welcome to my blog! My name is Joe, but my online alias that I like to go by is LittleDragonZ, most known as an administrator from the TECMO KOEI video game fan service site called KOEI Warriors.

http://www.koeiwarriors.co.uk/

Apart from being a member on various other forums including a moderator on the official TECMO KOEI Europe website, I have decided to attempt a blog in hope of sharing my favourite interests to people who have similar interests. And if you know me well enough you will know I'm a big fan of Tecmo Koei's Dynasty Warriors series. So if the above piques your attention, hopefully this can become a lovely blogging experience!

Interests of mine include forms of entertainment such as video gaming, film, music, exercise (typing takes a lot of my time!), writing, my pets, building, art, friends/community, Facebook, YouTube, and more! Expect a lot of updates to do with TECMO KOEI's latest titles, expoditions, and a bounty of film and game music favourites!

That is it for this update. Thanks for reading!