Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a soft reboot of the iconic action series that feels just as fun as ever to play with its explosive combat and new mechanics. However, the plot doesn’t hold up to scrutiny and both the story and gameplay pacing can be repetitive.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Pros
- Exciting real-time combat and gameplay
- Great presentation, graphics, and music
- Lots of replayability
Cons
- The story doesn’t make much sense
- Pacing is sometimes repetitive
- Some RPG elements may alienate veteran fans
Dynasty Warriors: Origins At a Glance
Category | Our Rating (out of 10) | Comments |
---|---|---|
Graphics | 7 | The overworld map is beautiful, and the soundtrack is a treat to listen to, even if the visual presentation won’t blow you away. |
Gameplay | 10 | Origins has the best combat system the series has to date. It’s incredibly fun and exciting, with new gameplay mechanics and progression systems. |
Story | 5 | The story is underwhelming, and the side characters aren’t very notable. The narrative has never been this series’ strong suit, though. |
Replayability | 8 | There are three factions to pick from, each with its own storyline, which adds a wealth of replayability. |
Overall | 7.5 | Dynasty Warriors: Origins is an action-packed game held back by its disappointing story and less-than-stellar visuals. |
The Dynasty Warriors series has seen as many iterations as Call of Duty. It is synonymous with the “Musou” genre, a categorization of games that sees players face off against hordes of enemies. Developer Koei Tecmo has attempted to evolve the series while still trying to keep its identity. Dynasty Warriors Origins feels more like a single-player RPG than previous entries in the franchise, with streamlined gameplay progression features.
It looks just as gorgeous as ever, and there’s a surprisingly huge amount of content. The excellent combat itself remains largely unchanged but has gotten some new upgrades, which is great news for veteran fans. However, the transition to more single-player RPG mechanics might turn them away. Our Dynasty Warriors Origins review goes over why the game will please both old and new fans despite its nonsensical story.
Enlistment
The game takes place in ancient China and adapts the Three Kingdoms period. It follows an amnesiac young man called a Guardian of Peace who joins forces with a coalition militia group to drive the Yellow Turban bandit group out. The Dynasty Warriors: Origins story is much more engaging than in past entries, but there’s a big tonal disconnect.
Ironically, the protagonist is a Guardian of Peace but ruthlessly slaughters thousands of soldiers in Dynasty Warriors: Origins gameplay. Later in the story, there are tons of shifting alliances that attempt to make it interesting, but the plot ends up being a hot mess that you just kind of shove into the back of your head and ignore while you concentrate on the fun gameplay.
After a showdown with a strong foe, the coalition fragments into different factions due to conflicting ideals about how they want to change the world. After the second chapter, the protagonist can align with a different faction, leading to dramatically different storylines. This is similar to how Fire Emblem: Three Houses had players choose a group to join.
This adds much replayability as each campaign takes upwards of 30 hours or more to complete, and each route has an additional true ending. But this is a double-edged sword, as the game’s pacing can get really repetitive. Fighting story missions with similar enemy types repeatedly can wear players down. Only the most hardcore and dedicated Dynasty Warriors fans will attempt to see all of the story routes through.
Not many of the Dynasty Warriors: Origins characters stand out too much, aside from the commanders from the three factions. Sometimes, side characters will ask you to hang out, similarly to how Persona does it, but it’s hard to get invested in them. Most of them have very similar personalities, whether they’re hard-headed or sensitive, which makes it hard to keep track of who is who.
Switching between multiple characters was one of the most appealing features in past entries, so changing to a single protagonist in Origins may alienate longtime fans. There are a few compromises, though.
The protagonist can wield any kind of weapon, including swords, lances, wheels, and spears. You can also bring along a companion character, and when your Swap Gauge fills up, you can temporarily play as the companion to execute some incredibly powerful attacks. This mechanic turned the tide of battle very quickly, especially when I needed to defeat a mini-boss.
While you can’t freely switch between multiple characters whenever you want, these mechanics retain some semblance of variety without character switching. They’re satisfying substitutes.
Don’t Fix What Isn’t Broken
As for the Dynasty Warriors: Origins gameplay, it manages to keep the same kind of power fantasy as previous games; mowing down hundreds of enemy soldiers in real-time fashion never felt better. Essentially, most missions have you take down a boss commander at the end of the map while defeating foot soldiers along the way. There’s some variety in missions where sometimes you need to capture all bases or ensure that an ally escapes. It helps with the repetitive nature of the missions and combat.
Because you only have complete control over one protagonist, Origins feels like more of a single-player RPG than any of the other past entries like God of War Ragnarok. You can learn flashy Battle Arts that add a lot of flair to the combat, making it fun and gratifying to play.
What really makes the combat stand out is the introduction of some new mechanics. For example, the player gets an AI-controlled army that automatically fights alongside him and can give them orders. They can help set up to guard enemy bases against capture or charge forward at enemy troops, making it feel like you’re controlling a vast army rather than just being by yourself.
Although my favorite new game mechanic is the dueling system. During a mission, sometimes you can engage in a one-on-one fight with a commander or mini-boss. Both opposing armies stop fighting each other and start cheering like they’re in a coliseum. It’s a fun alternative to duke it out without any distractions.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins also has an incredible presentation. This gorgeous diorama-like pop-up shows the overworld map, like a cross between Unicorn Overlord and Fantasian’s maps. While players shouldn’t expect hyper-realistic visuals on the level of The Last of Us Part 2, the character models in Origins are bright and charming enough to give it a sense of realism.
I was also impressed by the English voice acting, which correctly pronounced the tones of the characters’ Chinese names. Dynasty Warriors: Origins’ soundtrack is impressive as well. It’s a balanced mix of blisteringly catchy guitars in its battle themes and traditional calming Chinese music in the overworld.
I also appreciate how straightforward the game’s progression system is. Weapon level involves increasing proficiency, so the more you use gauntlets, the more experience you gain in that weapon type and learn new Battle Arts. NPCs can also provide you with training objectives, such as defeating 200 enemies with a spear, which earns you skill points to invest in passive skills. It’s all very simple to understand, which makes progression feel natural.
The Bottom Line
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is an admirable attempt at a soft reboot of the franchise that mostly lands, thanks to the combat and gameplay mechanics. It also looks gorgeous and has plenty of content to last you dozens of hours. Its weakest aspects are its story and cast of characters. The pacing can be incredibly repetitive due to the sheer number of story missions and similar map objectives.
It’s a solid entry in the series that both newcomers and veteran fans can enjoy, even if the new silent protagonist departs from tradition. The Dynasty Warriors: Origins release date is January 17, 2025, for the standard edition retailing for $69.99. However, those with Digital Deluxe Edition pre-orders can play from January 14, 2025, for three days of early access at $89.99.