Samurai Warriors (AKA Sengoku Musou) Date Masamune Character FAQ v. 2.00 Created by: Kresselack the Black Wolf, on the 20th day of May, 2004 My email address is: Aoskar@canada.com Copyright 2004 AD by B. A. Middleton Table of Contents: 1) Intro and Updates 2) Who was Date Masamune? 3) How can I play as Masamune? 4) Move Set and Tips on How to Play Date 5) Stage Walkthrough 6) Mission Descriptions 7) Weapons Guide 8) Titles, Stats, Skills, and Misc. Info 9) Quotes 10) FAQs 11) Credits and Thanks 12) Legal Information +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1) Intro and Updates +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Greetings, this FAQ is about one of my favorite people of the Sengoku period of Japan, Date Masamune. The stage walkthroughs are written from the perspective of Hard difficulty, so if you are playing on an easier difficulty and wonder why I said a part would be difficult when it was not, that is the reason. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Sites authorized to use this guide: GameFAQS, Super Cheats, Neoseeker, and Kongming's Archives. Updates: 5/24 - Added some more FAQs, filled in his missing titles, skill tree, more information on the stages, scripts to his movies, and costume descriptions 5/26 - Minor update, not much is missing, next big update will cover the missing missions and any other minor things I feel are needed. 7/5 - Added the rest of the mission descriptions, a story about the real Masamune, and a few minor additions here and there. Will be final update for a while, not too many things that aren't covered. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2) Who was Date Masamune? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date Masamune (pronounced Dah-tay Mah-sah-muu-nay) was the eldest son of Date Terumune, a powerful lord of the Rukuzen area of Mutsu. He was born in September of 1566 and first used the name Botenmaru. As a child he was struck with small pox and as a result his right eye became infected and he plucked it out himself. He was nicknamed the 'One-Eyed Dragon' because of this and his aggressive and unstable demeanor. In 1584 his father retired and Masamune became the head of the clan. The Date clan's rivals were the Hatakeyama, shortly after Masamune took control of the Date clan the Hatakeyama tried to make peace, but Masamune was young and hot-blooded and refused. Yoshitsugu, the lord of the Hatakeyama, tried to have Date Terumune mediate for them. It was a deception however, and the Hatakeyama kidnapped Terumune at sword point. When Masamune heard about his father being kidnapped, he gathered men and went in pursuit. When they caught up, Terumune shouted for him to open fire, but Masamune was hesitant and when the Hatakeyama were surrounded they killed Terumune. Masamune became enraged and had Yoshitsugu and his followers killed. A war broke out between the Date and the Hatakeyama, they mustered allies and had 30,000 troops versus the 7,000 of the Date. The Hatakeyama won many victories over the Date and it was almost certain the Date would perish, but the gods apparently favored the Date. The main enemy force left because their lands were being attacked, and the rest of the allied forces then left because they thought they wouldn't have enough troops to take Motomiya. Masamune defeated the Soma in 1589, and then went against the Ashina. The resulting battle was one of the more bloody and decisive battles of the Sengoku period to happen in the far north. By the battle's end Masamune could count around 2,300 enemy heads. This was Masamune's last expansionist adventure, and the next year he was ordered to assist Toyotomi Hideyoshi who had laid siege to the Hojo's Odawara castle. Masamune purposefully arrived late so his spies could determine the probably victor beforehand. After the siege Masamune was forced to give up his newly won holdings and recieve a much-reduced income instead. When war broke out between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari, Date readily joined Tokugawa, as one of his sons had been married to one of Ieyasu's daughters. After the war, his lands were enlarged and he built a new castle town called Aoba-jo at Sendai. He was Daimyo of Sendai until his death in 1636, Masamune is credited with turning Sendai it into a large and prosperous city and laying the ground work for what it is today. His somewhat unusual and at times controversial manner of doing things was best demonstrated by an incident that occurred during the 1615 siege in the Osaka Campaigns. Evidently, Masamune became frustrated at the lack of aggression on the part of friendly troops under Jinbo Sukemochi, and ordered his own men to let off a few rifle volleys in their direction to goad them into action. Needless to say, this was not an act well looked upon by his fellow generals. When Ieyasu was on his deathbed in 1616, Masamune was one of the last of the great daimyo to see him, presenting his overlord with a piece of Zen poetry. Yet, while they were ostensibly on very good terms, Tokugawa (nor anyone else for that matter) never fully trusted the unfathomable lord of Sendai. A number of anecdotes have survived that paint the picture of a lord with an attitude both unreadable and outspoken. In addition, Masamune had a keen appreciation of the arts, despite his rustic background. When Masamune died (1636), he was succeeded by his son Tadamune (? -1658). Date Masamune was also known for his trademark crescent moon helmet crest. Here is an interesting story about Masamune. "Masamune aquired an expensive tea item, which he took to showing off to his retainers and visitors. On one occasion, when in attendance with some of his men, he fumbled the item and nearly dropped it - causing him to let out an exclamation. It is said Masamune frowned and then smashed the item to bits on the ground, remarking that a man who is ready to die on the battlefield shouldn't worry about something as trivial as a tea item." Many thanks go to the Samurai Archives (www.samurai-archives.com) for this information on Date's history and Kitsuno for the tea item story. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3) How can I play as Masamune? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You can unlock him for play quite simple actually. Complete any two Tales and he shall be unlocked. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4) Move Set and Tips on How to Use Date +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SSSS(SSSS): Alternating strikes, then he starts spinning, finally he knocks the enemies into the air and slams them away T(TT): Charges up and unleashes a dragon orb that goes forwards, hit T for more orbs ST(TT): Hits enemy into the air, combos them, then smashes them to the ground with a dragon orb SST(TT): Strikes with both weapons, moves forwards while attacking several times, ends with a sweeping attack to the front SSST(TT): Strikes with both weapons, knocks them into the air, then unleashes a dragon orb that circles him, but may also go straight for the enemy that just got knocked away Dash Attack: Rams forwards and attacks, ending with both weapons straight out to his sides Jump Attack: Attacks downwards once with each weapon Jump Charge: Slams both weapons into the ground Mounted Attacks: Quick attacks to the right with both weapons Mounted Charges: ST - charged strike to the right; SST - charged strike to the right; SSST - Date jumps up in the saddle and hits both sides with charged strikes Musou: Shoots lots of dragon orbs True Musou: Shoots lots of dragon orbs and does a slash combo at the end Full Deadlock Bar: Multiple strikes then he turns around and stabs backwards with both weapons Date's preferred element is Ice. Date tends to have lots of trouble early on if you get swarmed so try to take out group leaders quickly. His charge attacks also seem to get interrupted real easy too, so be careful if you are near lots of enemies and trying to use them, especially on the higher difficulties. I suggest getting the Reach skill as soon as you can, it will help a lot since he has very bad reach at the start. Masamune has a nice continuous combo built into his normal attacks. The 7th hit knocks the enemy into the air so you can pause after that and continue the assault, which makes it real easy to take down officers and white aura troops. The first 3 hits of his combo seem to do a lot of damage, I find doing three hits, pause, and repeat makes enemies go down really fast. Date's moveset is also nice in that some of his hits also strike slightly to his flanks so you can hit any troops lurking back there waiting to strike. Suggested Items: Power Bracer - Attack+ Himiko's Rune - Defense+ Solar Gem - Life+ Matsukaze or Arabian Saddle - Date has excellent mounted defense and okay attack For the fifth item, I like to use Musou Charge, Battle Drum, Horse Armor, Mounted Attack, or Element Rune, depending on the stage of course. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5) Stage Walkthrough +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Stage 1, Kawanakajima Campaign Story: Takeda Shingen, the 'Tiger of Kai' invaded the neighboring fief of Shinano in an effort to expand his power. The warlords in Shinano knew they were no match for the Takeda Army, and thus enlisted the aid of Uesugi Kenshin, the 'Dragon of Echigo.' Kenshin vowed to oppose Shingen, and led his massive army towards Kawanakajima in Shinano. Shingen mobilized his forces as well, and came face to face with the Uesugi Army, encamped atop Mount Saijyo. But another force was fast approaching Kawanakajima from the North - The Date Army of Oushuu. Time Limit: 60'00'00 Victory Condition: Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin are defeated. Defeat Condition: Date Masamune is defeated. This stage puts you up against the Takeda and Uesugi armies. You start in the upper left corner of the map and the Uesugi and Takeda are battling. You are given the choice of which to attack first. Once you choose a side and defeat one of their officers, you will be given a mission to defeat that forces commander before one of your officers gets killed. At some point, reinforcements will show up for the force you aren't attacking. If it is the Takeda reinforcements, you must stop them before they get to Shingen, if its Uesugi you have plenty of time since they just seem to wander around attacking your men. If you killed the commander when you were told to, all that is left now besides clean up on their officers and gates, is to take out the other commander, and officers if you want, and the stage is won. Stage 2, Okehazama Campaign Story: The Date Army defeated the Takeda and Uesugi forces in one fell swoop. Using this momentum, Masamune continued his march to the south and entered Owari. There, he would see Nobunaga fighting for his very survival against the massive Imagawa Army. Time Limit: 30'00'00 Victory Condition: Oda Nobunaga and Imagawa Yoshimoto are defeated. Defeat Condition: All allied officers except Date Masamune are defeated. This stage puts you up against the Oda and Imagawa armies. Just like in the last stage, you will be given two missions at the start to wipe out the enemy commanders. If you go after Nobunaga and defeat him first, you will be given a mission to defeat Oichi. If you go after Yoshimoto and defeat him first, you will be given a mission to stop Hideyoshi from joining with the main camp. If you do that, you will be given a mission to stop Tokugawa Ieyasu from fleeing the battlefield. You must be wary of your allies morale though since you lose if they all die. If you went for Nobunaga first and you approach Tokugawa after Nobunaga is down, you will recieve a mission to defeat Hattori Hanzo before he joins up with Tokugawa. Hanzo will be on the bottom of the map and start near the center, once you defeat him Tokugawa will retreat. Stage 3, Ise Campaign Story: Masamune has eliminated Yoshimoto and routed Nobunaga as well, effectively taking control of Mikawa and Owari. Seeking to finish off the Oda forces, Masamune then headed to Ise, where a battle had already begun between the Oda and the Ikko sect. Time Limit: 30'00'00 Victory Condition: Oda Nobunaga and Shoukei are defeated. Defeat Condition: Date Masamune or all allied officers are defeated. Similar to the first two stages, at the start you will be given two missions. If you go after the west fortress you will attack the Ikko first, if you take out Ujie Bokusan, you will attack the Oda. If you attack the Ikko first you will get a mission to defeat Shoukei. If you don't do it fast enough the Oda army will blitz the central fort where he is. This can make it really hectic since there will be so many enemies it will slowdown. Hideyoshi will also set fire to the fort while you are trying to fight the commander, you can defeat Hideyoshi to prevent this from happening. If you don't kill the commander fast enough Saika Magoichi will also show up and you will get a mission to kill him. At some point you will get a mission to destroy the Oda army, depending on how many allies you have left and how many Oda officers remain, you should be able to do this. If not, just try to kill Nobunaga before your allies die because you lose if they all perish. Stage 4, Nagashino Campaign Story: The Date Army once again defeated the Oda forces at Ise, but this had been Nobunaga's intention all along. While Masamune was busy occupying Ise, Nobunaga reclaimed his former territories in Owari. The Date Army was now isolated and forced to retreat to Mikawa. But there, Masamune would face an invasion by the mighty Takeda Army, and the Oda Army was also approaching the border, in an effort to thwart Shingen's conquest. Time Limit: 60'00'00 Victory Condition: Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen are defeated. Defeat Condition: Date Masamune is defeated or Main Camp is taken. Here you will be facing the Takeda and Oda armies. Note, this is Date's branchpoint stage, so you will need to play it twice. To get the top stage, defeat Takeda Shingen and Oda Nobunaga after they try to retreat. To get the lower stage, let them retreat. You will know when it is happening because they will be glowing green blips on the map, which is how it shows you branching missions. Just like the other stages, you will be given two choices at the start. Either go to the X on the map to fight the Takeda Cavalry or defeat Honda Tadakatsu so you can launch a sneak attack on the Oda Musket brigade flank. Once you go to the X, all of the Takeda Cavalry forces charge at you. Once they all get to the X the Oda musket force will open fire. You will then be given a mission to obliterate the cavalry officers. If you choose to go after Honda Tadakatsu first, you will be given a mission to destroy all the Oda musket officers. If you fail the mission to destroy all of the cavalry or musket, Tokugawa Ieyasu will charge your main camp and you will be given a mission to stop him. Since you lose if the main camp falls, you should probably go and finish him off. Once all of the Oda musket officers or the Takeda cavalry officers are destroyed, their respective commander will retreat. Oda goes to the top left and Takeda to the top right. Once they arrive, they will wait for their remaining officers to escape, but this doesn't always happen. This stage can be very irritating because you will be swarmed by enemy troops. Especially during the first part where you need to destroy either the Takeda Cavalry or Oda muskets. At some point the man guarding the base will be sent out and the lose condition changes to Date being killed. Stage 5, top path, Attack on Honnouji Story: Masamune defeated the armies of the Oda and Takeda, after which he resumed his march west. As he approached the Capital, he saw that Nobunaga had arrived before him, and had settled inside Honnouji. But an act of betrayal by Oda vassal Akechi Mitsuhide was about to turn Honnouji into a fiery battlefield... Time Limit: 45'00'00 Victory Condition: Oda Nobunaga and Akechi Mitsuhide are defeated. Defeat Condition: Date Masamune or all allied officers are defeatd. The Akechi and Oda armies are having a showdown here. Note, this is where you will have to go to get Date's 5th weapon. See the Weapons section for more details. Warning, if you see Nobunaga saying he is retreating, get to him and kill him. You WILL lose if he escapes. This is going to be a tough battle, so be careful. You will need to fight many white aura defense captains to get into the main hall. The quickest method I have found is to do 6 or 7 hits to them, pause and repeat, because they have a LOT of defense. If you can get to the main hall before the Akechi forces it is a good thing. I believe Nobunaga only retreats if Akechi army beats you to him, so to avoid a hassle later on try to get there fast. Once one of you gets to the main hall, the Akechi elite officers will come with a misison to be destroyed, most if not all of them have the white aura. It can be a very tough battle if you have to face several at once, so try to lure one or two away from the others. Once they are all destroyed you will need to take out Mitsuhide, he of course is also white aura. You can take out Mitsuhide before the officers if you so desire, as long as you aren't going for the 5th. After Mitsuhide goes down, the Oda elite officer corps should come in and Nobunaga falls back to the lower left corner, or he did when I did it anyway. Destroy the Oda officers if you want/need to, or just charge to Nobunaga for a cut scene and the final fight. Stage 5, bottom path, Odawara Campaign Story: The Date Army emerged victorious at Nagashino, but troop fatigue was beginning to take its toll. Masamune decided to return at once to his home in Oushuu, but also sought to take Odawara castle on the way. Time Limit: 35'00'00 Victory Condition: Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen are defeated. Defeat Condition: Player is defeated. The Takeda and Uesugi are battling in this castle. Note, you can obtain an item here, a bell that shows you traps on the map, on the 3rd floor test all of the fake stairs. See Edward Chang's Item FAQ for a method on how to do this. Pretty much your basic castle stage except the enemies will fight each other and leave you alone for the most part. On the second floor you will get a mission to slay Uesugi Kagenobu. Be wary on the third floor because you will have to fight Sanada Yukimura and Kunoichi with musket support. If you kill Sanada Yukimura before killing Kunoichi, she will retreat. Your best bet is to lure them down the hallway after opening the door, then try to make sure to hit them both at once. Ice element will help you out a lot here if you can freeze them both. At the end of the 4th floor you must face Maeda Keiji. On the 5th floor you must fight Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. This is a fairly easy stage, with the only tough parts being the Sanada/Kunoichi battle, possibly Keiji, and the Uesugi/Nemesis duo. I'm not sure if Kenshin and Shingen will attack each other, I haven't seen it happen since they usually charge straight for me. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 6) Mission Descriptions +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here are names and descriptions for all of Date's missions, I will not be covering how to unlock them here since The Left Wings and EChang both have made guides that instruct you how to do it. Stage 1, Kawanakajima Campaign Prelude to the Hunt: Defeat the Takeda Army first! Old Tiger: Defeat the Takeda Army Commander Takeda Shingen! Tiger Hunt: Defeat the Takeda Army Commander Takeda Shingen! No Reinforcements!: Defeat Kagetsuna Noei's unit! The Expert Retreater: Defeat the Kosuta Army before it joins the main force! The Dragon Awaits: Defeat the Uesugi Army first! Dragon Hunt: Defeat the Uesugi Army Commander Uesugi Kenshin! Fake Pincer: Form a pincer with Yukimura and defeat Kenshin! Stage 2, Okehazama Campaign Get Yoshimoto: Eliminate Imagawa Yoshimoto! Get Nobunaga: Eliminate Oda Nobunaga! Ambition: Do not allow Hideyoshi to join with Nobunaga! Ieyasu Flees: Eliminate Tokugawa Ieyasu before he retreats! Surpass Nobunaga: Eliminate Oda Nobunaga! Sister: Eliminate Oichi! Whirlwind: Eliminate Ieyasu before he joins with Hattori Hanzo! Stage 3, Ise Campaign Ikko Fortress: Occupy the west fortress! Oda Army: Eliminate the Oda Army's Bokusan Ujie! Monks: Eliminate Shoukei! Magoichi's Arrival: Eliminate Saika Magoichi! Elimination!: Obliterate the Oda Army! Silence the Cannons: Eliminate Yoshitaka Kuki's cannon unit! Foil the Fire Attack: Eliminate Hashiba Hideyoshi's fire attack unit! Nobunaga Must Fall!: Eliminate Oda Nobunaga! Peasants Approaching: Eliminate Saika Magoichi! Stage 4, Nagashino Campaign Musket Unit: Defeat Honda Tadakatsu and assault the musket unit! Cavalry: Endure the enemy attack at Shitaragahara! Speed For Muskets: Obliterate the Oda musket unit! Power For Cavalry: Obliterate the Takeda Cavalry! The Rear Guardian: Do not let Oda Nobunaga get away! Old Soldier: Do not let Takeda Shingen get away! Foolish Badger: Stop the Tokugawa Army and defend the main camp! Stage 5, top path, Attack on Honnouji Endgame: Reach the main hall before the Akechi Army enters! Ambition or Justice: Defeat the enemy commander Akechi Mitsuhide! Nobunaga's Trap: Defeat the Oda Army's elite officers! Closure: Defeat the enemy commander Oda Nobunaga! Rebellion: Defeat the Akechi Army's elite officers! Wavering Blade: Defeat the enemy commander Akechi Mitsuhide! You Cannot Escape!: Do not allow Oda Nobunaga to escape! Stage 5, bottom path, Odawara Campaign Inconspicuos: Show Uesugi Kagenobu the full extent of your power! Love...?: Defeat Sanada Yukimura and Kunoichi! Personal Challenge: Clear the 4th Floor quickly! Battle Between Men: Defeat Maeda Keiji! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 7) Weapons Guide +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Oak Sword Attacks: x4 Base Attack: 13 Description: Swords carved out of fine oak. Mauler Blade Attacks: x6 Base Attack: 23 Description: Hard wooden swords that can shatter bones on impact. Divine Spruce Attacks: x8 Base Attack: 30 Description: Swords carved out of an ancient, mystical spruce. Bontenmaru Attacks: x8 Base Attack: 41 Description: Legendary swords made in the likeness of the dragon god. Mikaboshi Attacks: x8 Base Attack: 46 Stats: Ice Element Attack +45 Mounted Attack +35 Musou Charge +32 Attack Radius +39 Description: Said to be imbued with the power of the star god Mikaboshi. WARNING: You must not let ANY of your allies die! Battle drum is suggested. Method to obtain: You must have already completed his story mode at least once. Go to Date's Attack on Honnouji stage, set the difficulty to Hard, or Chaos if you are feeling lucky. You may want to save often, because the enemies will probably be hitting pretty hard. At the start head south and destroy the defense captain. Head inside the walls and head south to trigger an Oda ambush party, kill the white aura defense captain then head straight to the other side of the temple. This will trigger another ambush party, kill the white aura defense captain. Head all the way north to trigger yet another ambush party with white aura defense captain, kill the captain. Now you should be able to get to the blue X. You must do all this before the Akechi army breeches the walls. I suggest saving after doing the first mission, as the next part can be tough. Now Mitsuhide calls for a full scale assault, you are given a mission to destroy the Akechi elite officers. They will most likely rush you so try to lure one or two away from the squad if you can, then destroy them, but you don't have to to get the weapon. If Mitsuhide comes near you, you will get a mission to defeat Akechi Mitsuhide, take him out. Once Akechi goes down, the Oda elite officers come out and Nobunaga starts to fall back, but he shouldn't retreat. Kill the Oda elite officers, leave Maeda Keiji for last, because he should be near where the supply team arrives, which is near the center of the map at the temple. Kill the captain, snag the weapon box, and save. Go to where Nobunaga went and prepare for the final battle. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 9) Titles, Stats, Skills, and Misc. Info +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Rank 1 Young Lord Rank 2-4 Imp of Dewa Rank 5-7 Pride of Date Rank 8-10 Prodigy of Chaos Rank 11-13 Lesser Genji Rank 14-16 Eye of the North Rank 17-19 One-Eyed Dragon Rank 20 Overlord Default Costume: Dark green armor with Date crest on center, wearing trademark crescent moon crest on helm, has a black pirate style eyepatch, clawed feet guards, and a short olive drab cape Secondary Costume: Wearing a white tiger skin with similar style to Ranmaru's first costume, has a red sash style eyepatch like Xiahou Dun in DW 4 Starting Stats: Attack - 46 Defense - 54 Ranged Attack - 56 Ranged Defense - 52 Mounted Attack - 60 Mounted Defense - 76 Speed - 125 Jump - 160 Evade - 165 Max Stats: Attack - 152 Defense - 180 Ranged Attack - 186 Ranged Defense - 176 Mounted Attack - 158 Mounted Defense - 200 Speed - 195 Jump - 190 Evade - 195 Skill Tree: +++++++ +MIGHT+ +++++++ Rage - Guts Vitality - Frenzy - Resist Pressure - Precision Reach - Vigor +++++++++ +PROWESS+ +++++++++ Drive - Mastery Potence - Parry Rally - Pierce Cavalier - Acclaim +++++++ +GUARD+ +++++++ Celerity - Block Discern - Grace Counter - Fortitude - Resilience Focus - Fitness +++++++++ +ELEMENT+ +++++++++ Kesa-Gri Ward Element Shot Blast Torrent Dragon Shock Flurry Domino Domino Movies: To unlock Conquest, select Date for Story mode play, to unlock Ambition beat his 5th stage, top path, to unlock Victim of the Times beat his 5th stage, bottom path. Conquest: Starts out showing snow falling outside the Date clan HQ. Goes to inside the castle. Date clan advisor: Lord Date, congratulations on your unification of Oushuu. Date: This is just the beginning! Imbeciles! I will rule this land! Starts showing some of the playable characters in the game. Date: There are those that stand in the way... Shows Uesugi army and Kenshin. Date: First we take Echigo. Shows Takeda Shingen and army. Date: Then we proceed to take Kai and Shinano. Date clan advisor: Er, uh, Lord Date which side do we choose to ally? Date: Ally? Imbecile! We crush them both! Onward! The real battle shall begin now! Ambition: Back inside the Date clan HQ. Date clan advisor: Lord Date, congratulations on your unification of the land. Date: You think this is over? Imbecile! Shows advisor and the rest of the Date officers sitting up shocked. Cuts to a view of the ocean and a Date clan flagship. Date clan advisor: My lord, are we waging war on the entire world? (He doesn't seem to have his sea legs and is stumbling and stuttering) Shows Date looking through a telescope. Date: Imbecile! War and fighting isn't everything! If we can't get beyond that we are all doomed! There are always new ways, new possibilites! My goal is to prove that to the entire world! Victim of the Times: Chambers of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Masamune is carrying a cross over to where Hideyoshi is sitting. Hideyoshi: Masamune, you are truly one of a kind! I like your style! Masamune, I hereby forgive you for all past indescretions... Henceforth, you will be my servant. Date, under his breath: Imbecile! This is not meant for me! Date stands up more. Date: That's the extent of your pitiful vision, Hideyoshi! Date throws away the cross and stands all the way up to his 'impressive' 140cm. Date: This land is mine now! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 9) Quotes +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "Though the Heavens may cry and the Earth may crumble, if we eliminate our opponents we shall carve out a path of glory!" Defeat an officer: Victory! Forced to flee: Agh! You were lucky! Killed in Action: No.. I still.. have.. much to... Struggling: What? How can we be losing! Musou: "Yaaaa!" "Yield!" True Musou: "Imbeciles!" "Know your place!" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 10) FAQs +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Q. Why is Date Masamune so short? I keep getting lost in crowds because of it! A. I believe he is supposed to be around 13 years old, so of course he would be short. I have seen his height listed at 140 cm, which would make him around 4 and a half feet, which is the shortest character out of both Samurai Warriors and the Dynasty Warriors games. Q. Why does Date Masamune use sticks? Real men use swords! A. Masamune is using bokken, which are practice katana. Since he is supposed to be around 13, it is likely he is still training before being allowed to wield actual katana. Q. Is Date related in any way to the famous Masamune swordsmith? A. Not that I know of. They share the same first name and that is about it. I don't recall ever reading that Date owned a Masamune either. The famous swordsmith was Goro Nyudo who adopted the first name of Masamune at some point. He lived a couple hundred years before the Sengoku period and his swords are now considered national treasures of Japan. Q. Date is an arrogant, obnoxious, brat! A. Well that may be, but if you read the 'Who was Masamune?' part you will read that he was aggressive and unstable when he was young, which is what his game personality pretty much is. Q. Is Date really only 13? A. That is my guess, historically he should be 18 if he is head of the Date clan but he doesn't seem to act it in the game. I would say he might be older, but he would be a midget if so, seeing how he is shorter than all the lady characters. Further evidence of him being really young is that all the other characters refer to him as being a kid. MarshalN has also informed me that Date wasn't even born when most of the battles in this game happened. Q. What are the symbols that show up when doing his Musou attacks? A. The kanji that appears during normal Musou is Chaos, True Musou is Dragon. Q. Why aren't the campaigns Date has in the game mentioned in the history part? A. MarshalN has the answer: "Date Masamune wasn’t even born when the battle of Okehazama took place. That’s why Date looks so young in this game because most of the battles in this game took place when he was either not born, or a really small kid. By the time he took over as family head, Nobunaga was already dead (he died in 1582). By 1584, the situation in Japan was already settling down. If he lived 20 years earlier, he might’ve had a chance of actually achieving something." So, of all the battles he has in the game, I believe the only one he participated in was the siege of Odawara Castle, and he was there as support forces for Toyotomi Hideyoshi against the Hojo, not the Uesugi and Takeda. Q. If Masamune wasn't even born yet for most of the battles, why did Koei put him in this game? A. I believe he is incredibly well known in Japan, so it would be like excluding J.E.B Stuart as a playable character in a U.S. Civil War Cavalry game or Lu Bu from a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game. Not to mention Date was a competent commander and leader, although none of his actual battles are in the game. For the true reasoning however, you will have to ask Koei. Q. I thought Musashi was the one who dual wielded? Why does Date use two bokken in the game? A. Yes, Musashi is the person who most people recognize as wielding a katana and wakizashi at the same time. Date dual wields because they probably don't want another Dynasty Clone Wars where a good portion of the characters are almost identical because they share almost the same moveset. He did not use any dual wielding techniques historically as far as I know. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 11) Credits and Thanks +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Samurai Archives (www.samurai-archives.com) for the information on the historical Date Masamune. KOEI and Omega Force for making this excellent game and many others. GameFAQs, Neoseeker, Kongming's Archives and Super Cheats for hosting this FAQ. The inquisitive people on the message boards for supplying things for the FAQ section. Mike Mullen for information on Date's titles. MarshalN for the information on Date's age and battles. High Serpint Masta for mission information. Chrono Trigger for a question to address. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 12) Legal Information +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.