I was immediately tempted by games with classic stories like Kingdom Hearts, Neverwinter Nights, or any of the great RPGs. All of these are excellent, there is no doubt. But one game, or rather one series of games, blows them all away, because it is beyond classic. It's ancient.
The Dynasty Warriors series is a generally hack-and-slash sort of game where you control an officer in a great Chinese army. You slaughter hundreds of soldiers each level, each level being a key battle in the overall story. It's the story though, which makes this game so great, even more than the incredible variety of characters, weapons, and fighting styles.
The story from Dynasty Warriors is directly based upon the Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This is known as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, and thus one of the best pieces of Asian literature in history. This long tale of three kingdoms fighting over who would control China serves as the background for the various battles you fight through in the game.
Other games out there craft a beautiful or moving story, there's no doubt about that. But not even American McGee's Alice is the match for Dynasty Warriors for a representation of great literature. It's an old story, surviving for centuries, and Dynasty Warriors doesn't just let you witness cutscenes with the story, and in between you fight through random segments of level. Instead, every officer you slay, every objective you have to complete, and every event in the level, is based off of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
No other game out there can claim such historical heritage, or such highly rated literary background. Plus, its a great series of games. Love them to bits.
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