DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS Visions of Four Heroes Review

Developed and published by KOEI TECHMO Visions of Four Heroes is the long awaited expansion to Dynasty Warriors Origins. It’s time to jump back in as Ziluan, one of the sacred guardians in this DLC that looks for answers to the questions: what if the bad guys were actually not bad guys? What if they were led by Ziluan to a more honest path?

So, what’s in the in the DLC?

• 4 New stories to play through with Zhang Jiao, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao and Lu Bu 

• 2 new weapons the Box and Rope Dart 

• A training ground for extra rewards 

• New battle arts for the older weapons and the new weapons 

• 3 new companions to join you in battle 

For those like me who have completed the original game through 1 or all 3 different storyline paths the DLC will already be open to you by visiting the Inn. For those starting fresh, you have to make some good progress before you can begin on the DLC content.  

Here are the conditions for the DLC:

• Zhang Jiaos story – Unlocked upon reaching Chapter 2 of the main story 

• Dong Zhuo – Reach Chapter 3 of main story and complete Zhang Jiao’s story 

• Yuan Shao – Reach chapter 5 Of main Story and complete Zhang Jiao’s story 

• Lu Bu – Reach chapter 5 Of main Story and complete Zhang Jiao’s story 

It’s important to specify when I reviewed the main game that I was impressed with the combat and the graphics especially with the numerous enemies on each level. Nothing is either lost or improved with the Visions of Four Heroes but the new cutscenes are as equally impressive as they were with the original game, my review of which can be found here.

From loading up my old save as a rank 61 officer having completed the Liu Bei path, I visited the nearest inn where I can see the Visions of Four Heroes content ready to be launched. This should be made clearer, but I took an educational guess and found it that way. You’re then entertained with a cut scene explaining the premise of what would happen if instead of Zhang Liao being defeated along with the yellow turbans, instead you defend him against Liu Bei and drive them back. You get dialogue between one of your companions Zhuhe and Zhang Jiao questioning why you are helping them and if this is the path the guarding should be taking.  

The idea is very cool to take those known as the villains of the stories and set them on the correct path, especially with names like Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu who are known as the biggest villains of the stories. The cutscenes showing these scenes play out are very interesting to watch and made me very keen to dive back in. But just to keep things a bit fresher they have changed the way the story plays out. Rather than using a large map with plenty of side action they have consolidated the map and made the story progress from the chosen Inn. 

By this I mean the Inn becomes the new hub where you can choose what you want to do. The usual Inn options stay the same by talking to the innkeeper where you can create gems, change clothing and read the letters. You can also back out of the DLC from here. Then from within the Inn you can visit the shop to buy/sell/reforge weapons or buy items for battle. Alos, rather than going to a main map for the battles you can exit through one side of the inn to visit the training ground. Or if you are going through the other exit, it will take you to a smaller version of the map where you can progress the story.  This feels a bit linear at times but keeping it separate and compact like this means you know you are experiencing purely the DLC. 

The battles themselves are much of the same goodness from the main game. Protecting someone, capturing bases and defeat the enemy generals. There is of course the additional dialogue and cutscenes to further the story, but it’s made easier to jump straight into the action.  

The 4 new stories themselves are very interesting, getting to see how their story plays out down a different path, and I enjoyed each of them individually. They all have a decent length to them but as the map is more linear it will feel short as there are no side quests to explore unless you dabble in the training ground. They do all end a bit abruptly and similar with some being better than others, but all of their arcs do conclude in a way that makes sense.  

The 3 companions are probably the least interesting out of the DLC in my opinion. You know one early on is Zhuhe who appears throughout the main game. The other is Diaochan but she is only usable in one of the stories. Lastly is a mysterious hunter who knows all the guardians of peace, but his identity is only revealed towards the end and once again he is only briefly available.  

The new weapons are a joy to play with and try out. The bow I was concerned about as ranged combat tends to go one way of the other with it either being too powerful or too weak and clunky. I think they have found some middle ground by allowing the bow to also be used as a melee weapon. It’s even encouraged as the more the bow is used as a melee weapon the more it charges a separate gauge which allows your ranged combat actions to be faster and more powerful. The battle arts of the bow are pretty cool and have some fun animation as you conquer your enemies.  

I wasn’t sure how the rope dart would work in game but I was pleasantly surprised. It is a wide arc, crowd clearing beast. There are already some crowd clearing weapons like the staff but the rope dart is the new sheriff in town, and I am very much warming to it as my favourite. They are both great additions as weapons to the game and the battle arts are also fun to master for them.  

The training ground is what the game was crying out for and should have been part of the main game. The only way to grind and level before was replaying the same missions over and over which got old very fast. The training ground gives you the means to gain specific weapons and to level up. There is also an option for Trials which is a boss mode rush style game mode, but it only unlocks at level 102, so you better complete all the DLC and keep grinding to get a chance at having a tasting the trials.  

The Visions of Four Heroes DLC is probably a bit too costly for the content you receive. Although it was enjoyable and an impressive addition to the game, charging the same as a full priced game for DLC never sits right with me.

Conclusion

Pricing aside Visions of Four Heroes is great content, and for those interested in this series it is a decent extension of the game with an interesting concept on the storylines.