Dynasty Warriors 7 - Shu, Go Away!

So this time in Chinese history is called the Three Kingdoms. So of course there are three different powers at play. The Three Kingdoms era really begins with the fall of the Han Dynasty. As the Emperor of the Han grew weaker in power, civil unrest rose. Eventually the people rebelled in what would be called the Yellow Turban rebellion. Things would then get worse before they got better.

But I'm not here to give a history lesson, I'm here to talk about a video game that happens to use history as its premise. I'll start with the kingdom of Shu.

SHU
Shu is formed by a man named Liu Bei. He and his two sworn (note: not actual) brothers by his side try to create a land of virtue. A land of benevolence. Let me just say that by the end of the game I was sick of the work benevolence.

Shu always seems to be given the "good guy" role in these games. Liu Bei is a hero of the people and he only wants what is best for them, or so it's claimed. But as the games have progressed they've gone from "we're the good guys" to "We had good intentions. We just got lost." It doesn't help that Liu Bei is a monstrous idiot in my mind. What kind of man could possibly leave his child behind? Yet that's exactly what Liu Bei did at one point. and poor Zhao Yun had to go risk his life to rescue the poor child. I'm not sure if this kid grows up to be Liu Shan or not, but it sure would explain a lot.

Shu's good intentions go right out the window after the death of Guan Yu. Shu had an alliance with the kingdom of Wu. Wu betrayed that alliance and because of that betrayal the might Guan Yu died in battle. Stricken with grief, Liu Bei goes out on a murderous "kill all of Wu" rampage. That attack fails and Liu Bei falls ill and dies.

I was really surprised by how many people just fell ill and died in this story. I know that illness was a very serious issue back then, but more people seemed to die from disease then from combat. Shu never recovers from Liu Bei's death. Mainly because his son is an idiot and he was not fit to rule. Anyone. Ever. You only briefly get to meet Liu Shan in the Shu story. I thought that with the kingdom of Jin in the game that each kingdoms story line would go further, but the game still stops at the battle of Wu Zhang Plains. This has always been Shu's big final battle. This meant that when the story ended I had roughly half of the cast unlocked.

What the hell?! I only used half of the characters during that story? I barely got to know many of the ones that I did use. Why? Why can't I have a full story mode back for every character? Is that really to much to ask?

Next time: Wu