Dynasty Warriors: Origins Review

Developed by Koei Tecmo Games and published by Koei Tecmo America, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the next massive hack’n’slash title in the Dynasty Warriors series. These games are known for their storylines which are loosely based on the novel the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is also known for the large-scale battles which are based on the actual battles that happened in the novel, where you can defeat 1000’s of enemies in under 10 minutes. Lasty its known for its easy to master controls and beautiful graphics.

                You play the game as an unknown warrior who you get to name. He has lost his memory and finds himself standing up for those who are being mistreated. He along with another warrior Guan Yu stand together to defeat he enemy soldiers who are tormenting the villagers who are suffering. Therein begins a journey of recapturing your memory as well as weaving yourself into the novel where you get to learn about the 3 main leaders Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Jian as they rise to positions of power.

                The previous titles in this series have always had wide open maps with conditions on how to win the battle and also what you need to do to prevent defeat. This is no different and has been touched up to a beautiful level. The visuals are impressive and sharp and yet still maintain that arcade feel. There is a sense of freedom on how you play the game as you are not restricted to just the linear story progression. You can progress the map of China which has been carved into the regions of the era and fight mini battles to practice with weapons and earn currency to buy better weapons and items. One impressive advancement over previous titles is the speed of loading into the action. If you choose to select a smaller battle you can jump into the action in seconds which is great as it keeps the adrenaline high. There are many cutscenes that introduce you to many of the key figures that appear in the novel and the parts they played in the formation of China at that time which I found quite interesting.

                The gameplay itself is extremely robust and it runs like a well-oiled machine. It seems with this series they keep all the features that everyone likes and just sharpens the blade and make keen refinements. You have your light strike and heavy strike attacks which can be negotiated into combos. You have a parry button and an evade button as two different defending options. Then you have your skills and your Musou attacks which are essentially special rage attacks. Then for variety there are around 10 different weapons each of which have their own skill attacks to master and combos to learn. Each skill costs bravery to use and you build your bravery by fighting and defeating enemies. Parrying and evading can build bravery quicker if you have good timing. As well as building bravery you also build your Musou gauge which provides a much-needed boost to bravery and sometimes your health which can be needed on tougher battles. As you progress you also collect soldiers of your own who allow you to deploy tactics in battle like raining down arrows on the enemy or defending a certain area or base but they are time limited so you can only use them once you are so far into a battle but if used to their highest potential, they can turn the tide of the battle.

                What differs from the other games in the series is that you are only able to play as the main protagonist. Whereas before you can play as any of the main officers it has been severely restricted here. There are some battles where you can have a companion with you and if you build enough bravery and Musou then eventually you can switch to your companion for a minute or two and use their skills to cause some devastation as them.

                To make sure you get the most out of the story you are encourage to speak to all available officers to build bonds with them and get the rewards. The officers have their stories to tell and often have challenges for you to earn more skill points. There are multiple bond levels with each of the officers which unlocks other cutscenes as they grow closer to you. These gave me mixed feelings as every officer at the highest bond level seems to fawn over your character like they are infatuated with you. I understand that many of the other officers see you as a brother and a strong friend they can trust but your character has barely any vocal dialogue and often in the cutscenes are just staring blankly with little emotion so it feels a little out of place. But with the challenges they set you they encourage you to try out all the features of the game like performing perfect evades or defeating enemies with skills whilst using a certain weapon.  The levelling up progression is channelled through the weaponry as you need to become more proficient with a weapon to level up your character. But trying out different weapons and levelling each of them up will help increase your characters level. If you just going to use a singular weapon and never change it you will easily get left behind and struggle with the game. Plus, it’s more fun mixing up the weaponry.

                There is also some shrewd replay value engineered in the game as you will be hit with a choice part way into the game where you have to tie your loyalty to one of the 3 main factions. So, you are encouraged to save often and once you have fully played through the story with one faction you can then reload an older save and see how the story plays out if you choose one of the other factions. If I had to think of a negative it would be playing for long spells at a time can lead to battle fatigue. Sometimes battle after battle can get repetitive and you need to take a break.

Conclusion

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a very impressive addition to this franchise, and would even be a great entry point for anyone new to series as you don’t need to have played any of the previous series to understand or follow the story. With the variety of weapons, skills and many hours of gameplay I would say this is great value for money and a great game to relieve some stress with.

This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox Series X/S (via a Game Pass Ultimate subscription). All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version.