Dynasty Warriors 2 - An OST Retrospective

Welcome to the next OST deep-dive, this time on Dynasty Warriors 2!
Firstly we'll look through the history of the game, it's gameplay mechanics, then check out some awesome music, that set the initial standard for open-world hack 'n' slash games! Make yourself a cup of tea, or grab yourself a beer, and settle in!
If you enjoyed this, be sure to like, comment ,and subscribe!
As i'll be looking to do these regularly (there's another 7 games to go) if you've got any feedback how to make it better, be sure to let me know, all feedback is appreciated!
A big thanks to GameplayCentral for allowing me to use his footage for this video! For long plays of some classic games, be sure to head over to their channel at: / @gameplaycentral-lp
All the best!
Paul
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#dynastywarriors #dynastywarriors2 #retrospective #OST
All images, tracks, and additional footage belong to their rightful owners. No profit is made from this production.

[@negatiff3411]

Man I gotta say, very decent and up-standing content you done here. Keep up good work, and I’m looking forward to more Dynasty Warrior’s retrospective videos!

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Much appreciated!

[@negatiff3411]

@@PaulFarrerMusic You’re welcome! (EDIT: and more appreciated for the pin :D)

[@iruleatgames]

I hope someday we'll see you get back to these. I really enjoyed what was here, as the Warriors series' music is slept on by most people.

[@PACKERMAN2077]

I had no idea you were going to do something like this wow I just subscribed for the music the information is icing on the sweet roll.

[@Tzukaikari]

AMAZING, can't wait for the DW3 retrospective! 🥰

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thanks for checking in dude! I've been getting some hours in to DW3 and have who whole heap of ideas for the video! Gonna be a good one!

[@ChrisGildart]

Another great video man! Awesome work.

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thank you muchly bro!

[@GameplayCentral-LP]

Awesome video man 👍 when you do Dynasty warriors 3 you know where to find more gameplay!! Can’t wait it is my first warriors game and my favorite in the series.

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thanks my man, glad you enjoyed it! Just got DW3 today and had a few hours playing it. 2 things. It's harder than I remember, and Holy balls are the archers just nightmarish! But otherwise its a whole heap of fun and I'm looking forward to a good few weeks of working my way through it back to front.

[@InSecretRising]

Really enjoy these reviews!

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thanks for checking in and watching! 😄

[@saltA-saurus]

Fantastic video, I thoroughly enjoyed the editing!

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thanks, been taking some influence from guys like Caddicarus, will hopefully up my game for the next one!

[@MichaelMusou]

Awesome video, and tribute to MASA. I like your top 6, not everyone appreciates Gravity (which is my favorite one in DW2). By the way, I'd like to hear a cover of DW2's CGI intro cutscene, I love the track of it as well, which didn't get a mention I think. Also, interesting fact about Power & Glory, it's different between PAL and NTSC version of the game, in one version woman says "Doctor Kravitz..." and in the other it's man saying something different.

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thanks for watching, MASA is definately underrated. I didn't know that about Power and Glory, good shout!

[@KHPandaZ]

Great video dude. I like 2 but it can be an absolute slog like you said. Played it a lot with a friend in uni. Great Times. That weird happy ending credits though is now something we regularly send each other to make us laugh as it seemed out of nowhere when we first got to it haha.

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Yeah, a bit of a tedious one with the lack of attacks, but it was good fun! That ending music tho 🤣

[@theminiaturemenace]

Great work as always Paul. You are a boon to the DW community. DW2 was my first, my uncle let me play it when I was six years old. I wasn't allowed to play very violent games as a young child and somehow this one got through, and boy did I fall in love with it. Like you I went back and played it the other week and I was surprised by how little I remember. Man is it rough around the edges but I appreciated the mild need for strategy the game asks of you to win. Back when the games had real difficulty to them. You could see how this was a prototype for 3 to build on, but as it is I will always have love for it. My favorite track has gotta be Jump into the Battlefield. The guitar wailing that comes in is so iconic for me. Crazy how strong a soundtrack this was, especially for 2000. I'm going on and on here. I don't always comment, but I always watch. You deserve way more views than this. Hope you keep going strong with this content, the community needs more channels like you.

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thanks for watching, and your nice comment, I really appreciate it! Yeah, it is a little rough, and it'd probably be far more replayable if there was more attacks, weapons, items etc, but as a base, it's a good foundation. I've just started DW3 andf it already feels 100x bigger in regards to what you can do. Jump into the Battlefield is a banger of a tune, especially the DW3 version which just seems clearer, but yeah, for an early 2000's game, it had a great soundtrack, MASA really did a great job!

[@DWFTW]

This is certainly a very nostalgic video to watch. It's only been a couple of years since I revisited it last myself, and I listen to the soundtrack a lot, but even so it's just one of the most iconic games of my childhood, certainly post-PS1. I honestly don't know how you'd manage to pick a top 6, but then again I've no idea on the actual musical theory, I just like the music. As repetitive as it could get gameplay wise, I still find the map and level designs some of the best in the series honestly. It's why I revisit it every few years. The progression through the levels is usually quite interesting, with how you link up with other parts of your force. Hu Lao Gate and Guan Du maybe the most unique on this front. Nothing mind blowing by any means, but I always liked how it did them, and 3, 4 and 5 had more hit or miss design as a whole (with very few maps they're all very strong in 2 I'd say). I don't know if I'd rank it top 6 or even honourable mention if I was doing some objective list, but I've always had a strong fondness for Against All Odds. I'll admit it mostly stems from DW3 though, but it does go for 2 as well. I'm actually really curious to hear what you say about 3 when you get round to that, because a decent chunk of 3s are obviously just remixes of 2s. Plenty of new good ones of course, along with what might be my favourite in the series in Arena, as well as likely my favourite "Superior" of the series as well. That said, then we'll get to 4 assuming you keep it up, which has some of the just best sounding tracks in the series, and I'm sure that'll be a treat to hear your take on.

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed! I was pleasantly surprised by how good it held up jumping back into it after so many years, but the limited combat variation and limitations really killed it for me. Agreed, the maps were quite good for a first attempt at the open-hack 'n' slash venture, but i'd say DW 4's maps are far more superior, but that's cause i'm a huge fan of the game, and i'm just starting to play through DW3, and some of it's maps are pretty good too! 3s soundtrack will be interesting to go through, cause as you say, a bulk of them are remixes, but i'm defo looking forward to the next retro, but in the meantime having a whole heap of fun playing through it. Although I thought that the archers were bad in DW2, in DW3 they actually test my patience. 😅

[@DWFTW]

@@PaulFarrerMusic Independently I could definitely see DW4s maps rating higher, they have some really good ones no doubt. Tthe way the Kingdom Musou mode worked as well as the repeated use of segments of the maps definitely hurt my impression of it looking back at it (though I did always think it was cool how they did them by region sometimes - like the Southern Jing regional lords and Yi Ling being mostly the same) Maybe I'm due a return to DW4, it's been a while, even if I last played Empires maybe a year ago Obviously DW2 wasn't any better for the musou mode part, but you don't see similar layouts in multiple maps, just when actually redoing them. And yeah man, the archers in DW3 are nightmares. The crossbowmen in He Fei Castle are still my go-to for most insane archer enemies throughout...well most games. If you play on Wu's side anyway.

[@DragoonEnRegalia]

@@DWFTW Having just played through DW2 (one run per kingdom) in the midst of trying out the PS2-era games, I think DW3 was already a big step up for stage/mission design in general. A couple maps in 2 like Guan Du & Yi Ling are surprisingly good & varied for just about any side/character (maybe I have a thing for supply depots & hazy mazes), and I like how simple & effective the Yellow Turban map is. But then you have noodly, clearly first-go-around stuff like Hu Lao Gate & Changban lowering the average. (The latter's arguably even worse in 3, but it's already a low bar to clear. Changban's much better in 4 & 5 thanks to an actual escape goal & fitting layout.) I think 2 holds up quite well for its age, especially if you choose characters with fun movesets like Dian Wei or Yuan Shao, but I've seen some funny notions about 2 having supposedly much better maps that (mostly) don't live up to the hype for me. 3 & 5 both avoid 4's reuse problem and have some iconic combos of layout, events, & enemy/ally comp that show growth over 2 (something I'd argue 4 does well too). WRT the music, this was a great video for highlighting MASA's strengths from the get-go. Sacred Ground easily clinches the top spot for me, and it's even better in 3 (sadly not so much 4...), but I would have put Power & Glory in the top 6-not too big a fan of Killing Time. It's annoying for us Westerners to hear MASA self-deprecating about his work & contribution to Omega Force, but that's a fairly common attitude for Japanese creators in less traditionally reputable industries. Maybe he doesn't want to come across arrogant about how great his output was, and for so long. Keep in mind, he suddenly found work at a big games company that used to regularly contract Yoko Kanno for orchestral-performed movie-style soundtracks. That's a lot to live up to, so I won't fault him for saying he could have done better. I think MASA was killing it from the start, even if more of my favorites start to arrive from 3 onward.

[@ryhankhanage]

Nice review. Will you ever do samurai warriors?

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

I never played the Samurai Warrior games, but I've wanted to play it and check out its soundtrack so will most likely do so after I've done all the DW games!

[@ryhankhanage]

@@PaulFarrerMusic you'll be in for a good time dude. Though the music is not really rock or metal oriented in SW, i'd argue the gameplay is even better than DW's which makes it such an amazing experience to play

[@strongcalves2357]

oh man I love this. Are you also watching the dynasty warriors retrospective series by Jay Plays?

[@PaulFarrerMusic]

They came up as recommended after I did my first OST retro, I checked put the DW 4 one, it was good!

[@GNF_cao]

Dynasty warriors awsome man

[@PACKERMAN2077]

I forgot there was There were such hard tracks in the 2nd game I mean 4 personally has always been considered the peak of the metal but I probably was biased because it was my favorite even though 2 and 3 were my 1st but I was too young to appreciate it. It feels like 4 has the highest concentration of true metal but Tracks like power and glory feel like right at home.

[@miguelguzman80]

Are you going to do one of these for every single dw or sw?