Dynasty Warriors 8 shows off three all-new characters

Dynasty Warriors 8 received its usual media blast in this week's issue of Famitsu, revealing three new roster additions.

Gematsu reports the three new characters are Guan Yinping, who uses a double-headed mace; Guan Xing, wielder of dual wing blades, and Zhang Bao, who carries a Muraji Thorn Blade.

KOEI Warriors has a number of scans showing off the new characters as well as new designs for several familiar faces.

This issue also described the game's elemental system, which differs markedly from earlier efforts. The three elemental powers, Heaven, Earth and Person are arranged in a rock-paper-scissors array of varying strengths. Confronting an enemy with an inferior weapon type will allow you to fill a spirit gauge and trigger a new kind of attack called Storm Rush.

Enemies with superior weapon types must be tackled with greater caution; you'll need to use a Variable Attack followed by a Variable Counter to overcome them.

KOEI has previously revealed three other roster additions to debut in this entry, namely Li Dian, Yue Jin and Lu Su. Dynasty Warriors 8 hits Japan in February 2013, and will likely be brought west shortly thereafter.