On the Verge of Lunacy

A slightly different Sou Sou (Cao Cao) comes to life in Souten Kouro. Based mostly on the Records of Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou and slightly on Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, the series is an ambitious portrayal of the most brilliant man in the chaos of the Three Kingdoms era in China. Cao Cao, foster son of Cao Teng, is an ambitious young man with the brains and prowess to back it up. His ideas are far ahead of his time and he never fails to astound everyone even his closest friends and relatives. Merciless, smart, and witty, not only did he distinguish himself in the field of battle but in governance and literature as well. The ladies loved him of course and his friends adored him. Consequently, he makes enemies along the way but nothing seems to faze him, even the glory of the emperor. This 26-episode series is fast-paced and covers barely half of what Cao Cao accomplished in his lifetime. It begins with a background of his childhood, his first...

This seventh installment of the Dynasty Warriors franchise has a lot of new things to offer. The game still follows the story of the three kingdoms period which succeeded the end of the Han dynasty. Wei, Wu, Shu emerged as the contenders for the unification of the land and hope to end the chaos. What happens to each faction is determined by battles (although the results are slightly altered in this game). What's New? Dynasty Warriors 7 features a new faction, Jin, led by the wily Sima Yi. It also includes the Conquest Mode where players can unlock different stages, characters, weapons, and others. Each character also has his/her own missions, called legendary stages, which consist of 2 to 3 stages.  Each character can now use two weapons in the battles. The weapon's effectiveness is based on its compatibility with the character. The player can also change the weapons at any time of the game. Various weapons can also be obtained from the merchant and blacksmith....

This version of the world's oldest military treatise is translated and annotated by Lionel Giles. Giles provided not only a translation but also included the different interpretations of various commentators in explaining the passages. This version begins with an introduction of Giles' work. Sun Tzu, the commentators of his work, and The Art of War's influences are also included. The comments from the translators may be a bit distracting but without them, some parts will probably not make sense to the modern readers. Moreover, the commentators also give their interpretations of Sun Tzu's maxims as well as cite examples of battles and historical figures. The Art of War is divided into thirteen chapters. In the introduction of the book, there is a mention of speculations on how many chapters the original manuscript was made up of. The following are the 13 chapters of The Art of War: I. Laying Plans II. Waging War III. Attack by Stratagem IV. Tactical Dispo...

Posted this drawing at my deviantArt:  http://fav.me/d4ibre0 Xiahou Dun from the Dynasty Warriors games.

Posted this on my deviantArt:  http://fav.me/d4i8lgv

The tale is inspired by the Three Kingdoms period, specifically taken from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The story, told from Cao Cao's point-of-view, are the events that took place during Guan Yu's stay with Wei and his crossing of the five gates on his way to rejoining Liu Bei. The first scene shows the preparations for Guan Yu's burial. The rest of the movie is a flashback of the events. Cao Cao is shown here on a more positive light. His conversations with Guan Yu showed his understanding of the concept of freedom, prosperity and peace. Guan Yu always opposed his ideas and sought to challenge every concept that Cao Cao puts forth. Cao Cao however is intent on bringing him to his side and would try to appease the famous warrior with gifts. Guan Yu has a love interest in this movie. He met Qilan in the distant past and fell in love with her. It was also shown that he killed several men who attempted to do her wrong. Qilan, now Liu Bei's concubine, ...

Publisher : KOEI Developer : Omega Force This sixth installment of the Dynasty Warriors (Shin Sangoku Musou) series has 41 playable characters and the new Renbu system and stage targets. It also features the Skill Tree where players can choose which skills to use when upgrading the characters. It tells the story of the Three Kingdoms period at the time when the Han Dynasty lost its power. It all started with the uprising of the Yellow Turbans. People who sought power saw this as an opportunity. Three states rose to quell the chaos in ancient China: Wei (or Cao Wei), Shu (or Shu Han) and Wu (or Dong Wu). The previous games also included the factions from Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, Meng Huo and Yuan Shao. Wei is led by Cao Cao, Shu by Liu Bei and Wu by Sun Jian. This period in China has been adapted in many forms including this video game series. I'm glad they included Sima Yi in Musou Mode because it tells how he was able to manipulate everyone in the end. Most of the characters' outf...