Shimazu Yoshihiro

Shimazu Yoshihiro (島津 義弘, August 21, 1535 – August 30, 1619) was the second son of Shimazu Takahisa and younger brother of Shimazu Yoshihisa. It had traditionally been believed that he became the seventeenth head of the Shimazu clan after Yoshihisa, but it is currently believed that he let Yoshihisa keep his position.

He was a skilled general during the Sengoku period, and the victory against Ito clan at the battle of Kizaki on 1572 is counted as one of his many victories. He contributed greatly to the unification of Kyūshū. On 1587, facing Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops that sought to pacify Kyūshū, Yoshihiro pressed for a war even after his brother and the head of clan Yoshihisa surrendered. After Yoshihisa repeatedly asked for the surrender, Yoshihiro finally did surrender. After Yoshihisa became a Buddhist monk, it had been believed that he became the head of the clan but the real power remained in Yoshihisa's hands.

He had been a willing and a skillful general for Hideyoshi. On both 1592 and 1597 of the Seven-Year War, Yoshihiro set his foot on the Korean peninsula and successfully carried out a series of battles. On 1597, working together with Tōdō Takatora, Katō Yoshiaki and Konishi Yukinaga, Yoshihiro defeated Won Kyun's navy. At the Battle of Sacheon (泗川) in 1598, facing Ming army counting 37,000, Yoshihiro defeated them with only 7,000 soldiers. Shimazu troops under Yoshihiro were called "Oni-Shimazu (literal translation-Shimazu demons or Shimazu ogres)" by Ming. On the final battle of the war, the Battle of Noryang, Yoshihiro's objective was to cross the Noryang Strait, link up with Konishi and retreat to Japan. The Korean admiral Yi Soon Shin that had obstructed Yoshiaki died in this battle. Afterwards, Yoshihiro rescued the Japanese commanders and returned to Japan.

Samurai Warriors

Samurai Warriors (戦国無双, Sengoku Musō, Sengoku Musou in Japan, lit. Unrivaled Warring States) is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based loosely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and it is a sister series of the Dynasty Warriors series, released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004. A port of this game called Samurai Warriors: State of War has been released for the PlayStation Portable, which includes additional multiplayer features.

Gameplay

In the basic gameplay of Samurai Warriors, the player takes the role of a single officer in battle and must fend off hordes of enemy soldiers and defeat the enemy commander. The player has at their disposal a range of combo attacks and crowd-clearing special moves known as Musou attacks. The variety of attacks available increase as the character increases in level and gains new weapons.

Musou attacks can only be performed when the character's Musou gauge has filled up, which does so gradually when the player inflicts or receives damage. Additionally, if the player is low on health or possess a special skill, they can use their special True Musou attack which causes elemental damage in addition to normal damage as well as adds on a trio of attacks that cleans up the final few enemies in the vicinity. One difference between Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors is the ability to perform free-style combo attacks during Musou attack mode, during which the game enters bullet-time; common soldiers move very slowly, however officers are unaffected. Other abilities that Samurai characters have over the Dynasty series include the ability to perform a roll to dodge attacks, and deflect incoming arrows with their weapon.

Sengoku Basara

Sengoku Basara (戦国BASARA) is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom, and a bigger media franchise based on it, including three anime series and an animated film. Its story is very loosely based on real events of the titular Sengoku era in the history of feudal Japan.

Games

Sengoku Basara (Devil Kings)

The original game in the series, released in 2005 only for the PS2 as a "crowd-fighting" action game in the vein of Koei's similarly themed Samurai Warriors series. Devil Kings, an English-language version of the game featured an altered gameplay and a completely different, supposedly more western audience-oriented fantasy story with original characters, which was however never used again due to the mostly negative response the localization received from critics as well as consumers.

Sengoku Basara 2

The 2004 sequel, also for the PS2. The game was also ported to the Wii.

Sengoku Basara X

A 2D fighting game by Arc System Works, creators of the Guilty Gear series, made in 2008 for the arcades and ported for the PS2 later the same year.

Samurai Warriors 2

Samurai Warriors 2 (戦国無双2, Sengoku Musō 2, Sengoku Musou 2 in Japan) is a sequel to the original Samurai Warriors, created by Koei and Omega Force. The game was released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, and ported to Microsoft Windows in 2008. Like the Dynasty Warriors series, an Empires expansion was released as well, and an Xtreme Legends expansion followed on August 23, 2007 in Japan. The game, alongside its two expansions, Xtreme Legends and Empires also receive a HD-enhanced port for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita under the name Sengoku Musou 2 with Moushouden & Empires HD Version.

Samurai Warriors 3, the sequel to SW2 and the third game in the series was released in December 2009 for the Wii.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Samurai Warriors 2 builds on the first Samurai Warriors by adding new characters and new features, such as the removal of the traditional range attacks in favor of the addition of two unique special abilities that differ from character to character. For example, Oichi can either summon new soldiers to the battlefield or improve the combat abilities of nearby allies, Yukimura Sanada can either whistle to call his mount to his side or perform a flaming charge, and Ginchiyo Tachibana can either increase the strength of her weapon or summon lightning to stun nearby enemy soldiers. In addition, characters movesets can evolve in a larger variety as they level up, elaborating on either their combo, charge or special attacks, with the progression of each character being different from the next. This leads to the characters having 1 of 3 different button combos.

Sengoku Basara 4

Sengoku Basara 4 (戦国BASARA４) is the fourth installment of the Sengoku Basara games, developed and published by Capcom for PlayStation 3. The game was released in Japan on January 23, 2014.

A high-definition version of the game for PlayStation 4 titled Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi was released in Japan on July 23, 2015.

Gameplay

Sengoku Basara 4 is a single player Hack and Slash game. At a glance, the game plays similarly to a Dynasty Warriors game or other Warrior Style games. Players choose characters from a diverse roster to face out against entire battlefields of enemies by themselves. The gameplay is accessible enough so that any player can jump in to the action, but rewards players for mixing up their combos by offering them more gold or power. This installment introduces new mechanics to the series while retaining older mechanics from previous games.

Universal mechanics

Every character moves with the analog stick. Tapping a direction twice will make the character enter a dashing state, which will last as long as you hold the direction and never return to neutral, use a move, or get hit. Jumping during this state, even if it's immediately after dashing, will make character go further and faster than a normal jump would take them.