It’s been a long time since Dynasty Warriors 9 launched in 2018. Since then, Omega Force have spent time dabbling in Nintendo branded spin-offs with spectacular success. The Fire Emblem and Hyrule Warriors games have both brought new ideas and ingenuity to a tired musou formula that has since left Dynasty Warriors itself feeling uninspired and repetitious.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins feels like a response to the recent success that Omega Force has had with these experimental titles. It combines the best of Dynasty Warriors with a fresh new premise and some of the most successful ideas from those aforementioned spin-offs. All of this coupled with the power of current generation hardware makes Dynasty Warriors: Origins one of the best entries in the series.
Much like other entries in the series, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is heavily based upon Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The key difference, though, is that Origins is much more intimate and thorough with its adaptation of the 14th century historical novel. Its focus is squarely placed on the first half of the book, allowing for more time to be spent building up characters, motivations, and key events throughout the story.
It’ll feel instantly familiar to anyone who’s played Dynasty Warriors before, but being able to experience it as a purpose-built main character brings nuance and flavour to the story in ways I won’t spoil here. All I’ll say is that the decisions you make play an active role in the conflicts between the many different factions associated with the tail-end of the Han dynasty. Part of the reason this new character is so effective is their own origin.
Known only as the Wanderer, you step into the shoes of a warrior for hire, helping those in need of times of great turmoil and strife. It’s clear that there’s more to the Wanderer than what’s revealed at first glance. They struggle with hazy memories of who they are and where they came from. It makes for a engaging side story to explore as the core narrative progresses, and adds a degree of personality with stepping on the toes of the original works.
That stuff is all still here in peak form. Dynasty Warriors: Origins perfectly captures the enrapturing personalities of key figures like Cao Cao and Liu Bei, imbuing them with an immovable determination that can only end in a clash of ideals. The exploration of these ideals and what makes these characters tick is made even more in-depth by the constrained focus of Origins’ adaptation. It romanticises this period in history with a palpable fervour and passion that hasn’t been present in Dynasty Warriors for some time.
This infatuation with the time period and Dynasty Warriors as an idea also comes through in its gameplay. It feels stripped back in all the right ways – completely rid of any arbitrary systems and half-baked ideas in favour of a more cohesive and solidified gameplay loop. The core of it is the same as always; you’re one versus one thousand in a battle of raw power and strategy as you compete with enemy armies for control over land and outposts.
It’s the most satisfying it’s ever been due to the sheer number of enemies Omega Force have been able to fit on-screen at any given time. It’s honestly absurd when it’s firing on all cylinders, initiating a charge as the camera pulls back, the screen shakes, and all you can see is a wave of steel and arrows. It’s indescribably cathartic to throw yourself into a sea of infantry and just lay waste to the hordes as you rack up K.Os with cinematic flourishes and stylish combos.
While you’ll primarily control the Wanderer, much of the repetition is eased by the number of weapons you can unlock and use over the course of your journey. From standard swords and spears to more unconventional arms like circle blades and twin axes, Dynasty Warriors: Origins has a smorgasbord of distinct weapon options to progress and master over it’s 20 hour runtime.
Each one is different in ways that aren’t just cosmetic. Their combo flow, skills, and general gameplan all require a different approach to combat and timing. Efficient use of these weapons really shines in encounters with enemy officers, where perfectly timed parries and dodges leave them open to being staggered and vulnerable to a powerful assault. It all comes together with the screen clearing special attacks that send waves of enemies careening into their backlines.
The only downside to this is that the character roster is noticeably limited for a Warriors game. While it’s ultimately weapon types that define how characters play, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic for the excessive rosters of old. Perhaps more frustrating is that these characters are only briefly playable during battles which really doesn’t help to alleviate the already constrained feeling of the Origins’ roster.
Even though Origins returns to the bliss of Dynasty Warriors’ foundational simplicity in its combat, it does try to shake things up with it’s overall progression and gameplay elements outside of battle. There’s a small overworld map to explore, filled with smaller scale battles that you seamlessly transition in and out of thanks to near-instant load times. New towns and fast travel points are unlocked as you explore and there’s a good bit of side content to engage with.
Perhaps the most alluring part of Dynasty Warriors: Origins’ structural changes is in the way its narrative splits two thirds into the story. It adds a nice bit of replay value to keep new playthroughs feeling fresh and unexpected from both a gameplay and narrative standpoint. It also has some quite dynamic map and objective designs – especially in the second half of the game. I wish these had popped up more often given their challenge and unique encounters relative to the rest of the experience.
I think the place that Origins excels the most after Dynasty Warriors’ long hiatus, is in its technical feats. The scale of some of the battles you’ll tear through in Origins have to be seen to be believed. They can be staggeringly large in scale, often leaving my jaw on the floor as a hurtled into what can only be described as sheer chaos. To round it out, Origins is one slick looking package with fantastic performance to boot.
For a while, it felt like Dynasty Warriors was struggling to find its identity at a time when the industry was relentlessly chasing innovation. For Dynasty Warriors, that came at the cost of its core appeal and player fantasy that resonated with so many to begin with. Origins feels like a reaffirmation that Omega Force haven’t forgotten what made Dynasty Warriors successful to begin with and that we’ll be seeing more of this storied franchise in the future.