Xu Zhu definitely should’ve made the list somewhere. that man was done dirty by koei despite his feats throughout history. Aside from Xiahou Yuan who I feel actually got more noticeable in the later dynasty warriors I definitely agree with this list. Poor Wei, everyone’s feats just gets handed to the one eyed man 🥲😂
One Eyed Man takes all! Nah I can see Xu Zhu got 100% shafted in this game, in every other three kingdoms iteration (total war, rotk) he actually looks respectable. I dont think he's underrated, I just think cause KT screwed him he will never be popular :(
Jia Xu suffers because of being in Wei during a time when the kingdom had a lot of great strategists Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xun You, Sima Yi... So it's difficult to stand out.. Man Chong also suffering from the same issue
Guan Ping should've been on the list. It would've made more sense for him to be playable in the battle of Lukou in the Shu hypothetical route in Dynasty Warriors 8 instead of either Guan Xing. Create some interesting interaction with Xing Cai. Guan Xing already had Fan Castle, Yi Ling, Chen Cang & Luo Yang. Guan Ping has been around way longer and he only has 1 level that can be missed to unlock if you didn't complete the star objective in the battle of Chang An. That was just done dirty to him.
I could see it, I just feel like Guan Ping's contribution was not as impactful as the ones on the list making him an average character imo! But I could see him being underrated a little
He is a good one, should've honorable mentioned him especially with what he did at hefei, but with the nunchucks I feel his popularity was up compared to someone like Huang Gai!
Ling Tong is kind of underrated compared to Gan Ning because he’s ultra popular but Ling Tong definitely isn’t underrated overall he’s a beloved Wu general
Great video as always! The only one I disagree is Huang Gai, I think the only noticeable thing he did was in the battle of Chi Bi, He always served Wu but never had a high ranking if I recall correctly. Also his betrayal in ChiBi worked so well because it was actually expected of a low ranking officer so it wasn’t suspicious.
True! But he is underrated in the sense that he not as popular despite contributing a lot and being one of the "original" characters of the series, if that makes sense. This list is for characters who are not very popular, dont get picked within the top 5 of their kingdom, but have done a lot and fly under the radar
I’m glad Deng Ai is here, because he’s the first one who came to mind. My own top pick is probably Meng Huo, believe it or not. I just think he’s super fun to play as if you can find ways around his weaknesses. But I know I’m in the minority on that view!!
And there's nothing wrong with that! I can see Meng Huo being underrated but because his historical contribution was so little compared to the list here, I didint include him
I like the comparison between his English Voice and Japanese Voice. English sounds like a gruff deep tough voice while Japanese sounds like very polite.
Cao Ren got the respect he deserved in the 2010 series, where he was Cao Cao's right hand man, even though he strangely dissappeared after Tong Pass, only appearing in Guan Yu's funeral after that.
I think all of these are underrated. First ones that come to mind are Xu Huang, Huang Gai, and Xu Zhu. They did a lot in history buti think they aren't popular in these game because fans don't like their appearances. If you notice, mostly all the popular one are the pretty boys like Zhao Yun, Cao Pi, Lu Xun, Zhu Ran, etc. Characters that are fat, older, or have rough facial features are not as popular, even tho they might be baddasses in history or have a cool moveset. This is just my theory
I never really like Cao Pi. I hate pretty much everything about him: appearance, personality , moveset etc. To me he is just an arrogant dick to both his enemy and ally. Not to mention historical Cao Pi is also a terrible person.
I agree with this theory! As you saw I didnt put any "pretty" boys or female characters because inherently they are more popular just based off how they look regardless of what they use in the game or history, which is not a bad thing, I just think other characters deserve more especially cause of what they did for their kingdoms and in history
Xu Huang definitely hasn’t been treated right by Koei. As a kid I found him uninteresting but as an adult I really began to appreciate his more honorable and humble personality compared to the darker and edgier characters in Wei. He’s like their white knight. I never understood why anyone doesn’t like Pang Tong, fun moveset and unique masked mysterious man look. Sure he died wayyy too early but what’s there to dislike? Wei Yan also is someone I’ve always liked but I think he needs some damn writing done. His moveset design and personality aren’t bad but he just has so little material, no backstory motivations and few notable relationships. They could easily add the common theory that Wei Yan is a southern triber like Meng Huo as his background.
True, definitely underrated characters, but the way the game designs them in comparison to the more popular characters I think that's what makes em less popular, which sucks but it is what it is
Hi. Nice list. I started re-playing DW5 on an emulator because of your videos, haha ... Anyway, my humble opinion on your list. Ermm ... the last DW I played is DW6 on a PS6, and much of my opinions would be more from a historical point, so ... bear with me. 🙏 First of all, Wei Yan and Fa Zheng and Lu Su should be in the top ten. Esp Wei Yan as a DW character. Stunned everyone when Liu Bei appointed him as 1st commander of Hanzhong instead of his own brother Zhang Fei. Just imagine that in your head. Hung around for decades until Fei Yi abused his powers much later to get rid of him. Speaking of which, Fa Zheng is the number one war advisor before Zhuge Liang, yes. - side-tracking a bit, but ... Zhuge Liang's rise to power is surprisingly ... political. That Jing province faction, yah? After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang gave Jing folks more power. It's the reason why he used Ma Su on that fateful battle. Gonna groom and blood a Jing upstart, yah? Just didnt expect Ma Su to flop so badly to such a twisted point. Sigh ... Shu Kingdom's 1st northern expedition was their best chance, and Zhuge Liang blew it because of personal reasons. (Never saw this coming, didnt you? Ah, real life history lessons. 😅 ) If I am not mistaken, Fei Yi is the same Jing gang ... - Lu Su is, like, damn. When I played RTK9 decades ago, I dont know why this Lu Su fellow has 90 Leadership and Intelligence AND Politics. Read much later ... He was the outstanding commander before the rest came up. Most talents in Wu died relatively young, weirdly. ... Ahem. OK, the list. 10. Pang Tong is underrated in the game, all right. Forgotten about his moves, but remembered having great fun playing him. Always playing with swords and spears is boring, no? In real life, cannot administrate at all (RTK pretended that he pretended he cannot run a county). But his brilliance seems to be as a war advisor. 09. Yu Jin. The auto-sub called him Eugene, ha. I think he is overrated. Made many common sense decisions as a commander when young, and Cao Cao promoted him slowly and surely. But Cao Cao in real life history was really disappointed when he surrendered to Guan Yu, while the newly recruit Pang De fought to the death. I guess many humans are like this - when you got rich over time and enjoyed fame and wealth, you would fear death more and more. 08. Xu Huang. Excuse my language, but ... FUCKING UNDERRATED~! This guy NEVER LOST in history, at most a strategic retreat. That's his strength. Before entering committing to a fight, he had all the plans considered. How to advance, how to attack, how to retreat if unsuccessful. Made so much sense while in the battlefield, advising a modification to strategies when needed just to ensure better success. When later Guan Yu heard even Xu Huang was advancing on him, the God of War finally got the hint - "I am fucked". That's the reputation of Xu Huang at that time. And, Guan Yu did know how good Xu Huang is. Perhaps its not the game that did him dirty though. Xu Huang is really a lowkey and humble man in history, it seems. (Like Zhao Yun in real life). So, maybe thats why. 07. Xiahou Yuan. Think I explained in a comment in another video. Xiahou Dun is likely Cao Cao's actual brother, "Cao" been his adopted surname. Xiahou Yuan is a distant cousin of a poorer family branch, and it showed. Think people advised caution when Xiahou Yuan was appointed commander of Hanzhong. Diligent and all, but actually lacked true commanding skillsets. And it showed when he even lost his life at Hanzhong, to ... 06. Mr Huang Zhong. He's not an old man in history, but, hey, RTK has paper men fighting in Yellow Turban. 😅 If anything, Huang Zhong's appointment as the 5 Tigers showed the lack of true depth. (Think Wei Yan was too unpopular among his peers. He literally had a bigger appointment than Zhang Fei at one time.) 05. Huang Gai, on the other hand, seems to be underrated, yes. Older than Huang Zhong, perhaps. Accompanied the Sun family for 3 "rulers". Fought A LOT of battles. Seems to be the one who suggested to Zhou Yu his self-sacrificing idea. At THAT age. Now, contrast it to 09. Yu Jin. ... Have to admit that he is hard(er) to use in DW, yes. But, again, not everyone should be carrying swords and spears, yah? 04. Ma Dai. Cousin of the legendary Ma Chao. That's all, actually. Did accompany Zhuge Liang on the later expeditions, yes. But apparently even sons of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were regarded "higher" than him. So, there. Not underrated at all. 03. Deng Ai. My god, SUPER UNDERRATED. A similar poor background to Xiahou Yuan, but a much more naturally talented commander like what you said in the video. If not for him actually pulling off his crazy shit, the Three Kingdoms era could last another 100 years. If you played RTK, try going around Hanzhong to attack capital Cheng Du. You would be bored shit crazy waiting for the pixels to cross the mountains. Now, imagine yourself crossing those same mountains in 2023 with all the modern mountain climbing high-tech gear. Most of us would go maybe a few hundred metres up, and then "Fuck this shit, I am going home~!" 😅 ... now, now, imagine it is AD 230+, 240 something? You lead troops through jungles and mountains, for months. When facing a cliff, you just wrap yourself up with your blankets, and, I dont know, maybe JUMPED DOWN. Until, I dont know, you reach the outskirt of Cheng Du uninvited? Batshit crazy, but Deng Ai really pulled it off. A appropriate use of the term OMG. 02. Another SUPER UNDERRATED genius, with GENIUS been an appropriate term here. Any side with him just dont lose if they listened to him. Dong Zhuo likes Li Ru, so he kept quiet (and his official appointment) there to hopefully help more commoners. Li Jue and Guo Si fought later, and he just continued trying to help commoners, while both look to him for counsel. Later followed Zhang Xiu, advised surrender to Cao Cao, successfully ambushed Cao Cao when Cao Cao really went too disrespectful. Helped held Wan city for maybe 1 year or two against Cao Cao, before advising surrender a 2nd time. Was apparently held in high regard throughout ... helped Cow Pee became Cow Cow's successor with just timely words to Cow Cow. Really, the takeaway here is this - If you are a man, be like Jia Xu. 01. OK, I wont put him as number 1, but yeah, Cao Ren is underrated too. Can go offense as well. Have wrote elsewhere about how Cao Chun and Niu Jin are the true fighters. Now, once Niu Jin was surrounded by the enemy for charging too deep in. Cao Ren was enraged when his men tried to stop him for saving Niu Jin, and charged right in, fought like hell and saved Niu Jin and company, DW style. If you have read so much, I thank you. Maybe a gift. The truly underrated character ... 0*. Liu Shan. Yes, "useless" son of Liu Bei. I will put it this way - If you are that useless, you cannot be an emperor for decades. Someone would have pulled you down ... Was apparently groomed by Liu Bei in everything since born. When the hypocrite Liu Bei died because of anger management and decision making issues, Zhuge Liang had slowly and successfully consolidated power in the Shu Han court (you think Liu Bei would tell Zhuge Liang to take the throne for fun in actual recorded history, hehe?) Liu Shan had to bide his time. Meantime, administrated Shu properly whenever Zhuge Liang went fighting. Was apparently personally good at diplomacy with Wu, if I remembered correctly. Finally, when Zhuge Liang passed away, he finally regained control of the courts. In his last days as Shu emperor, think he really let eunuchs influenced the court, unfortunately. But seems that he had to send Jiang Wei far away, when Jiang Wei is exhibiting Zhuge Liang-ish behaviour in trying to overriding him. And yes, i may need to check again, but ... pretended to smile and enjoy himself when Sima Zhao tested him. Not that stupid once you reflected upon his situation and his actions, wink wink
What an awesome comment, I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of it, going back to Deng Ai's comment I kinda wish the era lasted another 100 years just to make the game longer and more cool people to learn about haha 😁😁 An extremely insightful and thought provoking comment and I'm glad you are here! I think Ive those other comments you have been talking about and hope you will continue to comment further, love learning about these characters! And yes characters like Yu Jin and Ma Dai are underrated in the sense that I feel there contributions whether it be historically (Yu Jin) or adding more for the character in the games (Ma Dai) they are overlooked by most of the fan base in my opinion. You are a true warrior of the three kkingdoms my friend 😁😁
@@TheNightowlGaming hahaha ... Just thankful someone bothered reading through everything~! 😅🙏 Hope you dont mind me adding my unsolicited opinions around your videos here and there. Like you said, I am a fan of the era. If anything, thank you again for your videos. Re-playing DW5 is A LOT of fun, compared to the gachas in the modern era~!
The most underrated female character is Cai Wenji. Though Yu Jin deserves more respect he was going against Guan Yu. The most formidable general from this time. The man was faced with a very tough choice. Surrendering was the best choice he could make considering the circumstances Yu Jin was placed in.
I could potentially see an argument for Cai Wenji, but because she didnt really do much in history whilst still being semi popular, I dont think she's as underrated as some of the other characters
I wouldn't say some of these characters are underrated because they do get their moments to shine in battles (cutscenes) in which they had the most importance! Huang Zhong - Mt.Ding jun Huang Gai - Chi Bi - Pan Tong - Chengdu Xiaohua Yuan and Jia Xu gets a lot of screen time in the early Wei campaigns. Ma Dai gets featured a lot during battles towards the end of the Shu Kingdom! Xu Huang however is definitely underrated! He needs that epic final battle with Guan Yu at Fan Castle as you said instead of Xiaohua Dun taking his spot! He also needs some cool/badass cutscenes to his name! I know this might be controversial idea but how about video where we remove the top 10 most useless characters and add in one worthy of that spot... Shu - Remove Bao Sanniang add Liao Hua Other - Remove Dong Bai add Gao Shun
Underrated in the sense that these characters are not really popular but contributed so much to their kingdoms or like Pang Tong had an awesome moveset but people wont flock to play him when you have characters like Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Guan Yu!
@@TheNightowlGaming Re-playing DW5 on an emulator nowadays because of your videos. Anyway, I remembered Pang Tong been really fun to use, yes. The Musou's bar's too long though, ha. ... But, let me unlock Lu Bu first. 😅😅😅 P.S. Will post a comment to your video here regarding my humble opinions on your list. These videos are my type, ha. 👍
Another good list here. Glad to see Deng Ai, Jia Xu, and Cao Ren as the top 3 and Yu Jin showing up. I might put Lu Su higher though. IMO he's a better strategist than Zhou Yu in terms of geopolitical vision and probably the last nail holding Wu in the first Sun-Liu alliance. Shame that the RoTK novel and DW painted him too-nice of a dude. A funny thing with Huang Zhong is that Guan Yu actually got mad for (sorta) the same reason that Huang was put on his rank, and almost traveled to Yi Zhou to duel with him xD. Ma Dai tho is a bit hard to like for me, the way he act and his JP voice is waaaay too light than I like, but I kinda like his brush, his ink mines (especially his EXs) feels quite unique if you can work past the slow nature of the moveset.
Xu Huang 100%, despite playing every game and reading the novels, I always forget he is in the game. As a kid I always loved the Wu kingdom and played them 90% of the time, but now I love Wei. Shu always feels overrated in the Koei games and the book when, in my opinion, Wei has such interesting characters! Though, you have made me want to go and play Ma Dai's story in DW9.
Underrated in the sense that Xiahou Yuan is nowhere near as popular as some of the other Wei characters, he definitely not a top 5, same with Huang Gai!
Funnily enough, Huang Zhong is my favorite character from Shu. I'm definitely a die-hard fan. I love his look, his brash personality and his bow in DW8 annihilates crowds and shreds officers' health. Hitting that storm rush after just a few shots is the best feeling on Earth. I also love his sword from the older games. He's 100% in my top 5. (Ma Dai is another one of my favorites from Shu but I don't know if he makes top 10 even, have to play as him a bit more)
Jia Xu and Xiahou Yuan are my favorite Wei characters and Pang Tong is probably my favorite Han character, or maybe second favorite. One thing I really like about Pang Tong is his personality. Unfortunately he doesn't last long enough historically to really get a chance to make many appearances, but he's always been a little bit sarcastic. Even though he's revered as a great strategist, he speaks in a very plain, jocular sort of way. His designs in the series have been kind of weird. One time he was a moth? For some reason. But he usually has some kind of reference to alcohol in his design, such as a gourd, and he usually has a mask, which are allusions to his appearance and behavior in the novel. Usually his musou attack is really fun to use and sometimes he gets flamethrower staves.
Pang Tong is definitely underrated, he's always had a fun moveset, never been a big fan of how he looks but I can respect it! And always loved his one liners and sense of humor, always saying something out of left field lol
15:11 i will be picking jia xu . My most play time with jia xu is in the warriors orochi games . Guo jia move set is alright . I enjoy using his scythe weapon and his movement speed is great
I like Cao Ren and I do believe he’s underrated but I think he used to be more popular by fans before DW8 because DW8 he looked like a gundum and 9 was ehh but I agree underrated for sure. My top pick for being underrated would’ve been Huang Zhong or Meng Huo but those are really unpopular picks
I agree with all of them but especially Huang Gai he was one of the main reason the fire attack at Chibi atleast was a huge success. The games really just dont give him any shine until that moment then after he again fades into obscurity. Edit: what is this bgm at the end of the video because its killing me 😂 so familiar but cant find the name in my head.
@@TheNightowlGaming i play both the romance games and dynasty warriors, one of my favorite characters is Li Yan. He's like Shu's Cao Ren, in the fact he's a great defender, and hasn't lost a defense other than the defense of Mianzhu where he was only lost us because he went up against Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Fa Zhang who betrayed him and told them the weak points of the fort
Wei Yan would be best. Historically he was wise enough to be right about thing Zhuge Liang didn’t even realize. Furthermore he was fearless and the only one who had the balls to keep marching north and attack Wei even after Zhuge Liang died.
I agree with this list. However, the Reason I never play Haung Gai. Is Simple. In every single game. He has the worst move set. In older games he could hit himself and allies with his bombs. The boat weapon sucked. And the hook was worthless. Truthfully, he is always the last played character for me. However, Cao Ren and Jia Xu are character I do play. Though I do play with over half the characters before getting to them. Why play either of those when you have Xiaohua Dun or Sima Yi.
Exactly! And that's what makes them underrated the way they're depicted in the game compared to others makes user run to other characters before these guys, which is not a bad thing!
I will always remember Cao Ren for being the general you HAVE to defeat during the battle of the eight gates formation (which DW8 had the best design for). Also, no love for Sima Zhao? or do you not consider him underrated?
Huang Zhong is terribly underrated, he rated bottom in a popularity poll a few years back. Yep, very bottom below some of the terrible characters introduced in 8. Bit weird considering how solid Huang Zhong's gameplay is, especially in Dynasty Warriors 5 and 8.
Personally, I do like Huang Zhong and Deng Ai. I dislike Deng Ai's weapon, but his character work is truly special. I know other people in the comments are going to dislike me for this, but I have never been a big Ma Chao fan because he just seems like a more justice infused version of Zhao Yun, which I dislike. I would take Huang Zhong over here every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Also, one name that I think is underrated out of the new group that was added in DW9 is Man Chong. He is awesome to play with and has a really good story.
@TheNightowlGaming , honestly, Cheng Pu further pushed Huang Gai down the list for me. He was the first new character I used in DW9 when it dropped. He was a great character and his dynamic with the younger officers was really well built.
I see you points and list is good but for me one of them dose not need to be on the list, it is personaly opinion but Xiahou Yuan is not underrated, he is what he is and that is side character, he is nothing special and in games I think he is represented really well, am not hating the character but I just think he dose not need anything more
Cao Ren was one of the generals i was most exited about being made playable after i read all the bios in dw3, i played so much dw3 it was probably unhealthy, but yeah i ended up reading every single bio in the game too and its what made me end up buying the book, its a hard read but worth it
Nice! A rare Huang Gai fan, and that's what makes him so underrated cause he dont have many fans when he did a lot! And same I played DW3 as much as I could as a kid
I skip most of these videos. Sorry I stopped after DW7 things got just bad. DW5 was the pinnacle of the series. I could still play DW5 empires and not care it’s amazing
Xu Zhu definitely should’ve made the list somewhere. that man was done dirty by koei despite his feats throughout history. Aside from Xiahou Yuan who I feel actually got more noticeable in the later dynasty warriors I definitely agree with this list. Poor Wei, everyone’s feats just gets handed to the one eyed man 🥲😂
True that. Xiahou Dun a little overrated for sure, all cuz he the producers favorite
One Eyed Man takes all! Nah I can see Xu Zhu got 100% shafted in this game, in every other three kingdoms iteration (total war, rotk) he actually looks respectable. I dont think he's underrated, I just think cause KT screwed him he will never be popular :(
I clicked on this so fast. I wholeheartedly agree with this list so much, on Yu Jin especially. He's one of my favorites. Great video!
you mean Yu Jin right? although Yue Jin is also definitely underrated...
@@bluelion6609 Oof, thanks for correcting me. I swear I put Yu but yeah, I really like him too and most of the Wei cast.
Appreciate the kind words very much!!
Jia Xu suffers because of being in Wei during a time when the kingdom had a lot of great strategists Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xun You, Sima Yi... So it's difficult to stand out.. Man Chong also suffering from the same issue
Yeah! I thought of Man Chong too, but Jia Xu 100% is underrated for what he did and smart he really was
Guan Ping should've been on the list. It would've made more sense for him to be playable in the battle of Lukou in the Shu hypothetical route in Dynasty Warriors 8 instead of either Guan Xing. Create some interesting interaction with Xing Cai. Guan Xing already had Fan Castle, Yi Ling, Chen Cang & Luo Yang. Guan Ping has been around way longer and he only has 1 level that can be missed to unlock if you didn't complete the star objective in the battle of Chang An. That was just done dirty to him.
I could see it, I just feel like Guan Ping's contribution was not as impactful as the ones on the list making him an average character imo! But I could see him being underrated a little
Ling Tong is definitely underrated he is overshadowed by Gan Ning, but have nice personality and fun moveset especially with nunchucks
He is a good one, should've honorable mentioned him especially with what he did at hefei, but with the nunchucks I feel his popularity was up compared to someone like Huang Gai!
Ling Tong is kind of underrated compared to Gan Ning because he’s ultra popular but Ling Tong definitely isn’t underrated overall he’s a beloved Wu general
I like Pang Tong because his moveset breakdance is fun to play
so good!
Xu Huang and his gigantic axe is one of my VERY favorite characters!!
He's always been fun to play!
My favorite Wei character in DW4. The first one I played in DW6 Empires. The one I started my DW8 Ambition Mode with before settling on Sun Ce.
Yesssss Cao Ren!! Always overlooked, also bring back the spike shield plz
Yee bring it back!
Great video as always!
The only one I disagree is Huang Gai, I think the only noticeable thing he did was in the battle of Chi Bi, He always served Wu but never had a high ranking if I recall correctly. Also his betrayal in ChiBi worked so well because it was actually expected of a low ranking officer so it wasn’t suspicious.
True! But he is underrated in the sense that he not as popular despite contributing a lot and being one of the "original" characters of the series, if that makes sense. This list is for characters who are not very popular, dont get picked within the top 5 of their kingdom, but have done a lot and fly under the radar
@@TheNightowlGaming Huang Gai reminds me of Jinpachi Mishima from Tekken 5
I’m glad Deng Ai is here, because he’s the first one who came to mind. My own top pick is probably Meng Huo, believe it or not. I just think he’s super fun to play as if you can find ways around his weaknesses. But I know I’m in the minority on that view!!
And there's nothing wrong with that! I can see Meng Huo being underrated but because his historical contribution was so little compared to the list here, I didint include him
I like the comparison between his English Voice and Japanese Voice. English sounds like a gruff deep tough voice while Japanese sounds like very polite.
Cao Ren got the respect he deserved in the 2010 series, where he was Cao Cao's right hand man, even though he strangely dissappeared after Tong Pass, only appearing in Guan Yu's funeral after that.
Gotcha nice! I still need to watch that
I think all of these are underrated. First ones that come to mind are Xu Huang, Huang Gai, and Xu Zhu. They did a lot in history buti think they aren't popular in these game because fans don't like their appearances. If you notice, mostly all the popular one are the pretty boys like Zhao Yun, Cao Pi, Lu Xun, Zhu Ran, etc. Characters that are fat, older, or have rough facial features are not as popular, even tho they might be baddasses in history or have a cool moveset. This is just my theory
Zhu Ran is such a terrible character.. They need to add Zhuge Ke for the later Wu arc
@karabomafa5609 zhu ran is fine although I think he should be a bit less... obsessed with fire. I want to add Zhuge Jin and Lu Kang
I never really like Cao Pi. I hate pretty much everything about him: appearance, personality , moveset etc. To me he is just an arrogant dick to both his enemy and ally. Not to mention historical Cao Pi is also a terrible person.
I agree with this theory! As you saw I didnt put any "pretty" boys or female characters because inherently they are more popular just based off how they look regardless of what they use in the game or history, which is not a bad thing, I just think other characters deserve more especially cause of what they did for their kingdoms and in history
Xu Huang definitely hasn’t been treated right by Koei. As a kid I found him uninteresting but as an adult I really began to appreciate his more honorable and humble personality compared to the darker and edgier characters in Wei. He’s like their white knight.
I never understood why anyone doesn’t like Pang Tong, fun moveset and unique masked mysterious man look. Sure he died wayyy too early but what’s there to dislike?
Wei Yan also is someone I’ve always liked but I think he needs some damn writing done. His moveset design and personality aren’t bad but he just has so little material, no backstory motivations and few notable relationships. They could easily add the common theory that Wei Yan is a southern triber like Meng Huo as his background.
True, definitely underrated characters, but the way the game designs them in comparison to the more popular characters I think that's what makes em less popular, which sucks but it is what it is
Hi. Nice list. I started re-playing DW5 on an emulator because of your videos, haha ... Anyway, my humble opinion on your list. Ermm ... the last DW I played is DW6 on a PS6, and much of my opinions would be more from a historical point, so ... bear with me. 🙏
First of all, Wei Yan and Fa Zheng and Lu Su should be in the top ten. Esp Wei Yan as a DW character. Stunned everyone when Liu Bei appointed him as 1st commander of Hanzhong instead of his own brother Zhang Fei. Just imagine that in your head. Hung around for decades until Fei Yi abused his powers much later to get rid of him. Speaking of which, Fa Zheng is the number one war advisor before Zhuge Liang, yes.
- side-tracking a bit, but ... Zhuge Liang's rise to power is surprisingly ... political. That Jing province faction, yah? After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang gave Jing folks more power. It's the reason why he used Ma Su on that fateful battle. Gonna groom and blood a Jing upstart, yah? Just didnt expect Ma Su to flop so badly to such a twisted point. Sigh ... Shu Kingdom's 1st northern expedition was their best chance, and Zhuge Liang blew it because of personal reasons. (Never saw this coming, didnt you? Ah, real life history lessons. 😅 ) If I am not mistaken, Fei Yi is the same Jing gang ... -
Lu Su is, like, damn. When I played RTK9 decades ago, I dont know why this Lu Su fellow has 90 Leadership and Intelligence AND Politics. Read much later ... He was the outstanding commander before the rest came up. Most talents in Wu died relatively young, weirdly.
... Ahem. OK, the list.
10. Pang Tong is underrated in the game, all right. Forgotten about his moves, but remembered having great fun playing him. Always playing with swords and spears is boring, no? In real life, cannot administrate at all (RTK pretended that he pretended he cannot run a county). But his brilliance seems to be as a war advisor.
09. Yu Jin. The auto-sub called him Eugene, ha. I think he is overrated. Made many common sense decisions as a commander when young, and Cao Cao promoted him slowly and surely. But Cao Cao in real life history was really disappointed when he surrendered to Guan Yu, while the newly recruit Pang De fought to the death. I guess many humans are like this - when you got rich over time and enjoyed fame and wealth, you would fear death more and more.
08. Xu Huang. Excuse my language, but ... FUCKING UNDERRATED~! This guy NEVER LOST in history, at most a strategic retreat. That's his strength. Before entering committing to a fight, he had all the plans considered. How to advance, how to attack, how to retreat if unsuccessful. Made so much sense while in the battlefield, advising a modification to strategies when needed just to ensure better success. When later Guan Yu heard even Xu Huang was advancing on him, the God of War finally got the hint - "I am fucked". That's the reputation of Xu Huang at that time. And, Guan Yu did know how good Xu Huang is.
Perhaps its not the game that did him dirty though. Xu Huang is really a lowkey and humble man in history, it seems. (Like Zhao Yun in real life). So, maybe thats why.
07. Xiahou Yuan. Think I explained in a comment in another video. Xiahou Dun is likely Cao Cao's actual brother, "Cao" been his adopted surname. Xiahou Yuan is a distant cousin of a poorer family branch, and it showed. Think people advised caution when Xiahou Yuan was appointed commander of Hanzhong. Diligent and all, but actually lacked true commanding skillsets. And it showed when he even lost his life at Hanzhong, to ...
06. Mr Huang Zhong. He's not an old man in history, but, hey, RTK has paper men fighting in Yellow Turban. 😅 If anything, Huang Zhong's appointment as the 5 Tigers showed the lack of true depth. (Think Wei Yan was too unpopular among his peers. He literally had a bigger appointment than Zhang Fei at one time.)
05. Huang Gai, on the other hand, seems to be underrated, yes. Older than Huang Zhong, perhaps. Accompanied the Sun family for 3 "rulers". Fought A LOT of battles. Seems to be the one who suggested to Zhou Yu his self-sacrificing idea. At THAT age. Now, contrast it to 09. Yu Jin.
... Have to admit that he is hard(er) to use in DW, yes. But, again, not everyone should be carrying swords and spears, yah?
04. Ma Dai. Cousin of the legendary Ma Chao. That's all, actually. Did accompany Zhuge Liang on the later expeditions, yes. But apparently even sons of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were regarded "higher" than him. So, there. Not underrated at all.
03. Deng Ai. My god, SUPER UNDERRATED. A similar poor background to Xiahou Yuan, but a much more naturally talented commander like what you said in the video. If not for him actually pulling off his crazy shit, the Three Kingdoms era could last another 100 years.
If you played RTK, try going around Hanzhong to attack capital Cheng Du. You would be bored shit crazy waiting for the pixels to cross the mountains. Now, imagine yourself crossing those same mountains in 2023 with all the modern mountain climbing high-tech gear. Most of us would go maybe a few hundred metres up, and then "Fuck this shit, I am going home~!" 😅
... now, now, imagine it is AD 230+, 240 something? You lead troops through jungles and mountains, for months. When facing a cliff, you just wrap yourself up with your blankets, and, I dont know, maybe JUMPED DOWN. Until, I dont know, you reach the outskirt of Cheng Du uninvited? Batshit crazy, but Deng Ai really pulled it off. A appropriate use of the term OMG.
02. Another SUPER UNDERRATED genius, with GENIUS been an appropriate term here. Any side with him just dont lose if they listened to him. Dong Zhuo likes Li Ru, so he kept quiet (and his official appointment) there to hopefully help more commoners. Li Jue and Guo Si fought later, and he just continued trying to help commoners, while both look to him for counsel. Later followed Zhang Xiu, advised surrender to Cao Cao, successfully ambushed Cao Cao when Cao Cao really went too disrespectful. Helped held Wan city for maybe 1 year or two against Cao Cao, before advising surrender a 2nd time. Was apparently held in high regard throughout ... helped Cow Pee became Cow Cow's successor with just timely words to Cow Cow.
Really, the takeaway here is this - If you are a man, be like Jia Xu.
01. OK, I wont put him as number 1, but yeah, Cao Ren is underrated too. Can go offense as well. Have wrote elsewhere about how Cao Chun and Niu Jin are the true fighters. Now, once Niu Jin was surrounded by the enemy for charging too deep in. Cao Ren was enraged when his men tried to stop him for saving Niu Jin, and charged right in, fought like hell and saved Niu Jin and company, DW style.
If you have read so much, I thank you. Maybe a gift. The truly underrated character ...
0*. Liu Shan. Yes, "useless" son of Liu Bei. I will put it this way - If you are that useless, you cannot be an emperor for decades. Someone would have pulled you down ... Was apparently groomed by Liu Bei in everything since born. When the hypocrite Liu Bei died because of anger management and decision making issues, Zhuge Liang had slowly and successfully consolidated power in the Shu Han court (you think Liu Bei would tell Zhuge Liang to take the throne for fun in actual recorded history, hehe?) Liu Shan had to bide his time. Meantime, administrated Shu properly whenever Zhuge Liang went fighting. Was apparently personally good at diplomacy with Wu, if I remembered correctly. Finally, when Zhuge Liang passed away, he finally regained control of the courts. In his last days as Shu emperor, think he really let eunuchs influenced the court, unfortunately. But seems that he had to send Jiang Wei far away, when Jiang Wei is exhibiting Zhuge Liang-ish behaviour in trying to overriding him. And yes, i may need to check again, but ... pretended to smile and enjoy himself when Sima Zhao tested him. Not that stupid once you reflected upon his situation and his actions, wink wink
What an awesome comment, I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of it, going back to Deng Ai's comment I kinda wish the era lasted another 100 years just to make the game longer and more cool people to learn about haha 😁😁
An extremely insightful and thought provoking comment and I'm glad you are here! I think Ive those other comments you have been talking about and hope you will continue to comment further, love learning about these characters! And yes characters like Yu Jin and Ma Dai are underrated in the sense that I feel there contributions whether it be historically (Yu Jin) or adding more for the character in the games (Ma Dai) they are overlooked by most of the fan base in my opinion. You are a true warrior of the three kkingdoms my friend 😁😁
@@TheNightowlGaming hahaha ... Just thankful someone bothered reading through everything~! 😅🙏
Hope you dont mind me adding my unsolicited opinions around your videos here and there. Like you said, I am a fan of the era. If anything, thank you again for your videos. Re-playing DW5 is A LOT of fun, compared to the gachas in the modern era~!
The most underrated female character is Cai Wenji. Though Yu Jin deserves more respect he was going against Guan Yu. The most formidable general from this time. The man was faced with a very tough choice. Surrendering was the best choice he could make considering the circumstances Yu Jin was placed in.
I always really liked Cai Wenji.
I could potentially see an argument for Cai Wenji, but because she didnt really do much in history whilst still being semi popular, I dont think she's as underrated as some of the other characters
Wanna say not-nice things about Yu Jin, but ... your words are correct too.
Thank you.
Ya boi at number 10, I've seen what I need to see.
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I wouldn't say some of these characters are underrated because they do get their moments to shine in battles (cutscenes) in which they had the most importance!
Huang Zhong - Mt.Ding jun
Huang Gai - Chi Bi -
Pan Tong - Chengdu
Xiaohua Yuan and Jia Xu gets a lot of screen time in the early Wei campaigns.
Ma Dai gets featured a lot during battles towards the end of the Shu Kingdom!
Xu Huang however is definitely underrated! He needs that epic final battle with Guan Yu at Fan Castle as you said instead of Xiaohua Dun taking his spot! He also needs some cool/badass cutscenes to his name!
I know this might be controversial idea but how about video where we remove the top 10 most useless characters and add in one worthy of that spot...
Shu - Remove Bao Sanniang add Liao Hua
Other - Remove Dong Bai add Gao Shun
Underrated in the sense that these characters are not really popular but contributed so much to their kingdoms or like Pang Tong had an awesome moveset but people wont flock to play him when you have characters like Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Guan Yu!
@@TheNightowlGaming Re-playing DW5 on an emulator nowadays because of your videos. Anyway, I remembered Pang Tong been really fun to use, yes. The Musou's bar's too long though, ha.
... But, let me unlock Lu Bu first. 😅😅😅
P.S. Will post a comment to your video here regarding my humble opinions on your list. These videos are my type, ha. 👍
Haha thats awesome, Im glad you're enjoying them! Welcome to the community!@@Chengyuan79
Remove Bao Sanniang, then remove Guan Suo.
Glad to see Ma Dai made the list. I think his weapon in 8 is so unique and I really enjoy his play style
Ma Dai is great, hope they build him more
Old man Huang Zhong has a SUPER powerful move set, especially in the earlier games!! I have used him extensively.
Nice! Definitely in the minority with that one!
Another good list here. Glad to see Deng Ai, Jia Xu, and Cao Ren as the top 3 and Yu Jin showing up.
I might put Lu Su higher though. IMO he's a better strategist than Zhou Yu in terms of geopolitical vision and probably the last nail holding Wu in the first Sun-Liu alliance. Shame that the RoTK novel and DW painted him too-nice of a dude.
A funny thing with Huang Zhong is that Guan Yu actually got mad for (sorta) the same reason that Huang was put on his rank, and almost traveled to Yi Zhou to duel with him xD.
Ma Dai tho is a bit hard to like for me, the way he act and his JP voice is waaaay too light than I like, but I kinda like his brush, his ink mines (especially his EXs) feels quite unique if you can work past the slow nature of the moveset.
Yep absolutely, appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed the vid!
Xu Huang 100%, despite playing every game and reading the novels, I always forget he is in the game. As a kid I always loved the Wu kingdom and played them 90% of the time, but now I love Wei.
Shu always feels overrated in the Koei games and the book when, in my opinion, Wei has such interesting characters!
Though, you have made me want to go and play Ma Dai's story in DW9.
Haha nice! Same for me! I used to like Wu then switched to Wei Glad you enjoyed the video!
What a way to start the morning
The best way 😎
In the early games Xiahou Yuan wasn't underrated.. But In the later games he has become a bit underrated.. Would add Huang Gai to this as well
Underrated in the sense that Xiahou Yuan is nowhere near as popular as some of the other Wei characters, he definitely not a top 5, same with Huang Gai!
Funnily enough, Huang Zhong is my favorite character from Shu. I'm definitely a die-hard fan. I love his look, his brash personality and his bow in DW8 annihilates crowds and shreds officers' health. Hitting that storm rush after just a few shots is the best feeling on Earth. I also love his sword from the older games. He's 100% in my top 5. (Ma Dai is another one of my favorites from Shu but I don't know if he makes top 10 even, have to play as him a bit more)
Thats awesome man!
Jia Xu and Xiahou Yuan are my favorite Wei characters and Pang Tong is probably my favorite Han character, or maybe second favorite. One thing I really like about Pang Tong is his personality. Unfortunately he doesn't last long enough historically to really get a chance to make many appearances, but he's always been a little bit sarcastic. Even though he's revered as a great strategist, he speaks in a very plain, jocular sort of way. His designs in the series have been kind of weird. One time he was a moth? For some reason. But he usually has some kind of reference to alcohol in his design, such as a gourd, and he usually has a mask, which are allusions to his appearance and behavior in the novel. Usually his musou attack is really fun to use and sometimes he gets flamethrower staves.
Pang Tong is definitely underrated, he's always had a fun moveset, never been a big fan of how he looks but I can respect it! And always loved his one liners and sense of humor, always saying something out of left field lol
Keep up the great work! This was a great top 10!
Appreciate the kind words very much!
Great video! Any news on DW10?
Thanks! Nothing yet!!
new vid LESSSS GOOOOOO
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Cao ren is a beast . His mosus is great and a good character
Cao rens dope
15:11 i will be picking jia xu . My most play time with jia xu is in the warriors orochi games . Guo jia move set is alright . I enjoy using his scythe weapon and his movement speed is great
Jia xu is awesome Greta strategist
Huang gai is one of my favourite wu characters
Looks like i have a fondness for underdogs,my 3 favourite characters are all in this list
Niceee
speaking of underrated! 👀
AYEEE I see what you did there, I appreciate u 🔥
I like Cao Ren and I do believe he’s underrated but I think he used to be more popular by fans before DW8 because DW8 he looked like a gundum and 9 was ehh but I agree underrated for sure. My top pick for being underrated would’ve been Huang Zhong or Meng Huo but those are really unpopular picks
Definitely underrated for sure
@@TheNightowlGaming You might say he’s like the middle child in a sense compared to Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun
I agree with all of them but especially Huang Gai he was one of the main reason the fire attack at Chibi atleast was a huge success. The games really just dont give him any shine until that moment then after he again fades into obscurity.
Edit: what is this bgm at the end of the video because its killing me 😂 so familiar but cant find the name in my head.
The BGM is Verge of Despair from DW4 haha
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Who would you choose to replace Huang Zhong in the 5 tiger gens? If you would replace him at all.
That's a great question. Hmmm, there's no one I can think of honestly, the only one who might come close is Wei Yan, Liao Hua or Wang Ping
@@TheNightowlGaming i play both the romance games and dynasty warriors, one of my favorite characters is Li Yan. He's like Shu's Cao Ren, in the fact he's a great defender, and hasn't lost a defense other than the defense of Mianzhu where he was only lost us because he went up against Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Fa Zhang who betrayed him and told them the weak points of the fort
@@billybadass7483 Ohhh nice!
Wei Yan would be best. Historically he was wise enough to be right about thing Zhuge Liang didn’t even realize. Furthermore he was fearless and the only one who had the balls to keep marching north and attack Wei even after Zhuge Liang died.
I agree with this list. However, the Reason I never play Haung Gai. Is Simple. In every single game. He has the worst move set. In older games he could hit himself and allies with his bombs. The boat weapon sucked. And the hook was worthless. Truthfully, he is always the last played character for me. However, Cao Ren and Jia Xu are character I do play. Though I do play with over half the characters before getting to them. Why play either of those when you have Xiaohua Dun or Sima Yi.
Exactly! And that's what makes them underrated the way they're depicted in the game compared to others makes user run to other characters before these guys, which is not a bad thing!
I will always remember Cao Ren for being the general you HAVE to defeat during the battle of the eight gates formation (which DW8 had the best design for). Also, no love for Sima Zhao? or do you not consider him underrated?
Zhao is not underrated imo, gets a lot of focus since his intro, character got MC qualities
Huang Zhong is terribly underrated, he rated bottom in a popularity poll a few years back. Yep, very bottom below some of the terrible characters introduced in 8. Bit weird considering how solid Huang Zhong's gameplay is, especially in Dynasty Warriors 5 and 8.
Yeah he's a dope character, absolutely beast
Personally, I do like Huang Zhong and Deng Ai. I dislike Deng Ai's weapon, but his character work is truly special. I know other people in the comments are going to dislike me for this, but I have never been a big Ma Chao fan because he just seems like a more justice infused version of Zhao Yun, which I dislike. I would take Huang Zhong over here every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Also, one name that I think is underrated out of the new group that was added in DW9 is Man Chong. He is awesome to play with and has a really good story.
Man chong had a great start just behind Cheng pu who had the best start imo
@TheNightowlGaming , honestly, Cheng Pu further pushed Huang Gai down the list for me. He was the first new character I used in DW9 when it dropped. He was a great character and his dynamic with the younger officers was really well built.
These are the main guys I play as💀💀💀
LOL underrated king 👑👑
I see you points and list is good but for me one of them dose not need to be on the list, it is personaly opinion but Xiahou Yuan is not underrated, he is what he is and that is side character, he is nothing special and in games I think he is represented really well, am not hating the character but I just think he dose not need anything more
Right, I can see that, that makes sense and that's what I love about this game is the varying opinions, such a great game
Im one of the older DW fans, ive been playing since 2, Huang Gai was one i always loved, i hated when they made his weap a boat
Cao Ren was one of the generals i was most exited about being made playable after i read all the bios in dw3, i played so much dw3 it was probably unhealthy, but yeah i ended up reading every single bio in the game too and its what made me end up buying the book, its a hard read but worth it
Nice! A rare Huang Gai fan, and that's what makes him so underrated cause he dont have many fans when he did a lot! And same I played DW3 as much as I could as a kid
@@TheNightowlGaming Im actually shocked he is so underrated, i thought he was so cool but im not really part of any DW communities to get a read on it
I skip most of these videos. Sorry I stopped after DW7 things got just bad. DW5 was the pinnacle of the series. I could still play DW5 empires and not care it’s amazing
That's fair! Everyone's got their favorites!