Dynasty Warriors: Origins Review (PS5) – A New Warrior of The Three Kingdoms
The infamy of Dynasty Warriors 9 has cast a long, long shadow over the series since its unceremonious release in 2018. For long time fans of the action series, the hope of redemption was as likely as Liu Bei’s pipe dream of ultimate utopia. Recognising the backlash to the direction the series had taken, developer Omega Force and publisher Koei Tecmo appear to have taken a drastic new course, hoping to reshape the feudal Chinese conflict of the Three Kingdoms period into an altogether new project. A soft reboot, if you will. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the spawn of this new ideal.
It’s a fairly large undertaking they’ve embarked on, so does this reimagining of the Musou series prove to be a masterstroke on a par with Zhuge Liang’s strategies, or crumble in the face of its own pride like Yuan Shao? Ready your armies to march, sharpen your spears and ready your button mashing thumbs, Dynasty Warriors is back.
Dare I Wander
Let’s answer the most obvious question first: does Origins have the “feel” of a Dynasty Warriors game? Without doubt, yes it does. It’s altogether familiar for returning fans, while being a more “modern” action game that can simultaneously welcome new entrants to the series. This is demonstrated through a bold decision to have a new protagonist be the player’s primary avatar, instead of one of the dozens of famous names and figures from the 3rd century.
Titled Wanderer, or whichever your chosen name is, you’ll embark on a journey throughout ancient China, entering at the budding conflict of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Immediately, veterans will feel at home, thanks to the presence of the famous figures such as Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Jian, with Guan Yu being the first big name you encounter. Wanderer, however, is a neutral slate in a world already rife in turmoil. To some extent, this works nicely for selling the fresh reset for the series, but it doesn’t come without some drawbacks.
The good is that Wanderer allows the player the opportunity to roam around, meeting all the various figurehead officers with freedom. Omega Force use this opportunity to give the player choices at junctures within the five chapter campaign, creating an organic means of selecting your preferred side. It’s a bit more immersive than just selecting a character or level from a menu, even if it probably boils down to the same thing ultimately.
Wanderer also has his own mysterious background and story. Shrouded in confusion, there are strange characters guiding his hand, while we’re dubbed a Guardian of Peace without much knowledge as to why… yet. It’s a decent bit of original storytelling to prevent only retreading the same history beats knowledgeable players will already be aware of inside-out. Is it phenomenal storytelling? No, but then the series never has been.
Bei of Sunshine
While the new thread of narrative adds an extra layer of intrigue, Dynasty Warriors: Origins’ retelling of the fall of the Han dynasty has some quirks for both newcomers and old heads. Firstly, everyone’s infatuation with Wanderer is absurd. Not even in a B-movie camp kind of way like the earlier entries, either. There are various “bonding events” you can activate with every officer throughout the campaign. Almost all of these descend into every character gushing over your player character, complimenting their apparently never ending skillset and fawning at his feet like he’s a recreation of God itself.
Even once you’ve thrown your allegiance in with one group over another, they still act as if you’re the greatest gift to humanity since… well, anything. While each officer does have their own quirks, their personalities are lost by the constant adoration they all universally dole out. Most of the officers themselves are the same caricatured figures carved out from earlier in the series, which is a nice return, but they all feel slightly neutered compared to the Zhong He’s and Chen Gong’s we remember.
Wanderer’s story is also somewhat predictable, going through typical amnesia tropes. However, there are some fun liberties Dynasty Warriors: Origins takes that then play out as the campaign progresses. While it’s not as intentionally hilarious as it used to be, and nowhere near the quality of story driven AAA games we’ve become accustomed to, Origins has a solid enough story structure that it feels like a natural fit into the series. Good thing too, as there’s a lot of dialogue to delve into if you’re so inclined.
A Plague Han Your Houses
As mentioned earlier, Dynasty Warriors: Origins does away with deluge of menus veterans will have been accustomed to. Instead, there’s now a core campaign, with an overworld map you travel across to interact with officers, find resources and discover battles to partake in. You’ll unlock more of the map as you go, including access to waypoints and castles that offer weapons to buy and sell, as well as consumable items. It’s a novel new approach for the series, and again adds to the more immersive approach Omega Force have taken with this entry.
Over time, it becomes less interesting to move across, as there’s little to actually interact with that has any real meaning or depth. However, it does lend to the feeling that the series has “grown up” a little, creating a more immersive means of demonstrating the conflicts and locations. This is also where you can be given additional sub-objectives by officers for skill point rewards, and boy are you going to be needing them.
Personally, I like the shift in focus to something more modern. I can see that fans of earlier games may lament the quicker nature in which they could easily access their favourite battles with a strict menu system. Even so, the decision to include a traversable overworld feels in-keeping with the new approach taken for the reboot.
Our Arrows Will Blot Out The Sun
It’s about time I got to the real meat of any Dynasty Warriors game – the hacking, the slashing, the clashing and the mashing. Dynasty Warriors: Origins’ changes are most felt here, thanks to the fresh rework that was desperately needed after the poorly thought out open world approach in 9. Combat is now a much more personable affair, with a zoomed in camera, parry and evade mechanics and an emphasis on supporting your fellow officers in battle.
Don’t fret, the boast of 1 vs 1000 action is well and truly alive and kicking. One of Origins’ best aspects is triggering a grand strategy charge or ambush, unleashing hundreds of on screen soldiers into a chaotic scrum of swords and arrows. It’s a visual feast, as officers collide with huge blows, abilities send dozens careening off into the crowds, and you wreak utter devastation with every blow of your weapon. Modern hardware means the on screen action has been amplified to a massive degree, and the series has never captured the pure thrill of utter carnage quite like it has here.
Speaking truthfully, it’s some of the most fun I’ve had with Dynasty Warriors when it’s firing on all cylinders. Wanderer is given access to a pool of abilities named Battle Arts, of which four can be selected on-the-fly, as well as the newly introduced Tactics. Having access to your own battalion means you can trigger Tactics, such as a fire volley of arrows or a mounted charge, which can overwhelm and decimate enemy forces.
Moreover, both allied and opposing officers can trigger Grand Tactics, massive spectacle events. If allowed to happen, they’ll devastate the opposing side and swing the tide of a conflict. Preventing these is always satisfying, while successfully meeting the conditions to set one off rewards you with a nuclear warhead like explosion of force from you and your allied officers. It’s a spectacle of the highest proportions, meaning Dynasty Warriors: Origins fulfills that power fantasy of being a one person army brilliantly.
It’s Been A Liang Time
So, we can safely say that the Musou aspect of Dynasty Warriors: Origins is not only intact, but thriving. As you rack up your K.O count and overcome officers, you’ll build up Bravery (for special attacks) and your Musou gauge. Hitting circle will once again launch a special attack that hits with the impact of a tidal wave, while waiting until the bar is full gives you access to Rage Musou, an even more beefed up version where you’re invincible and have unlimited Bravery.
As expected, it’s wonderfully tuned to make you feel like a titan amongst peasants. Interestingly, the one-vs-one encounters feel improved too. Enemy officers have a mix of regular attacks (which can be evaded or parried), specials (only cancelled by your own special) and unblockable assaults. Momentum and Courage will impact their Fortitude, determining how many hits you need to land before you can deliver a coup de grace. Parrying is wonderfully cathartic thanks to a balanced timing window, while evading also feels just right.
In previous titles, I often found myself cheesing specials or Musou attacks, even on harder difficulties, which meant the closer encounters often felt disengaging. With Dynasty Warriors: Origins, I found that perspective flipped. The grander carving through hordes is still gratifying, but nailing a perfect parry and drop-kicking Xu Shu in the face? That’s some wish fulfillment, right there.
It’s not perfect, of course. Boss battles, while a thrilling change of pace, can be massive difficulty spikes. One in particular is pretty savage, it took me a dozen or so attempts to overcome, and I do think the balancing more off-kilter than Gan Ning’s brain cells. Stun locking is also still a thing here, and while it works about 70% of the time, it can be infuriating in encounters with multiple officers, as landing your own hit can be like trying to hit a target from 1000 meters away, while blindfolded, and being stabbed… 600 times.
Where Did All The Weapons Go?!
Now, we need to discuss what’s likely going to be the most contentious aspect of Dynasty Warriors: Origins. The weapon and officer pool were one of the most defining features of the series. Dozens of officers, most with unique weapons and movesets, to the point it bordered on preposterous. Remember Dian Wei and his massive ball(s) on a chain he’d quite literally throw at you? Well sadly, Origins continues 9’s trend of watering down the variety.
In some ways, it’s understandable. Designing an entire armies’ worth of individual weapons and movesets here would have been a massive undertaking and one that potentially would have broken the effort to reinvigorate the tiring formula. However, it does mean Wanderer and the player are limited to 9 weapon types, with enemy officers only having a couple of other variations on top of this. I like the sandbox of choices, particularly the Lance, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss loading up a scenario with a different character and having an entirely different set of strikes to mess around with.
Obviously, other officers are present in your battles, and the majority of the time, you’ll be teaming up with one for each encounter. Once their Musou gauge is filled, you can temporarily take control of them, whipping out unbelievably overpowered specials and a Rage Musou move. It’s awesome trying out each variation, but it’s limited to a select handful, and it also teases what could have been. Or rather, what used to be.
Progression is also tied to levelling up proficiency of weapons, with skill points invested in a series of trees as they’re unlocked. It’s mostly linear in nature, with a mix of static stat improvements and the occasional new Battle Art (read: special) or unlocking an upgrade to your Musou, for example. It’s a lengthy system and the levelling does make a noticeable difference as you power up, which is welcome. After spending about 30 hours tearing through almost 100,000 enemies (trophy progress confirms this is indeed factual), I did start to miss having a wider pool of options though.
Oh, Dian It
All that said, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a big upgrade in terms of visuals from the last entry. Again, with modern hardware and almost seven years, you would hope so, but the improvement is substantial. While it’s not a looker in terms of raw graphical power, it’s the game’s ability to run at 120 frames-per-second with hundreds of soldiers on screen, dozens of officer AI working in tandem and maintaining a relatively decent fidelity that excels.
Cutscenes and bonding events still have that stilted charm veterans came to love over time, despite its obvious flaws. Wanderer often looks completely deadpan or emotes with the zeal of a cardboard cutout, but it’s weirdly charming in its own way. Many of the locations, castles and maps will look immediately familiar to long time players, but everything feels enhanced.
If you’re a newcomer, this likely won’t be winning you over in quite the same way. Objects are blocky, movement and hitboxes are enormous and generally, it still maintains that hint of jank. Not an issue for me at all, I feel it’s a staple of the series and it’d be wrong playing a Dynasty Warriors that didn’t have some semblance of this, so take my appreciation of it with a pinch of salt.
What’s not debatable however, is that Omega Force have pulled off some Zhang Jiao levels of sorcery to have so much battlefield carnage happening at once and the game be perfect performance and technical wise. When you’re unleashing waves of damage the length of buildings into thousands of peons, you’ll be hard pressed not be visually awed by it all.
A Dynasty Reborn
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for sticking with me. I appreciate I’m in a relative minority when it comes to my love for the Dynasty Warriors franchise, and I’m thrilled to be feeling this level of excitement about the series again. Unlike previously, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the first time I’d recommend the series to both established fans and new players alike.
Omega Force have rebuilt the combat to be an engaging action title, with often times intense 1-on-1 fights that are a test of skill. None of which has removed the core of the Musou experience, where shredding through an entire nation’s population feels gratifying and wildly entertaining. The caveats come with the approach to storytelling, which while decent, lacks the flair of the past and the quality threshold of other modern experiences.
But Dynasty Warriors has never been a typical video game series. It’s an anomaly, serving a niche of action fan who’d come to adore a wacky and wild series that was about mowing down troops like an ancient minigun. In Dynasty Warriors: Origins however, the series now feels fresh, reinvigorated and reborn. It’s the Dynasty Warriors we’ve always loved, but with more depth and on hardware that allows its ridiculous power fantasy to shine.
It’s been a long seven years, but what a joy it is to take up Zhou Yun’s spear once again and carve a path to victory in what’s a bombastic redemption for a beloved series.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is available January 17th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC via Steam.
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon.
Make sure to follow Finger Guns on our social channels –Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify or Apple Podcasts – to keep up to date on our news, reviews and features.
