The Dynasty Warriors franchise has been going strong for over 25 years, but in recent years, this action-packed series has admittedly faltered. The concept is simple: with your chosen hero, blaze a path across large battlefields with exciting hack ‘n slash action, complete with ridiculously overpowered special moves and weapons. While spin-offs like Hyrule Warriors and One Piece: Pirate Warriors remain engaging and fun, recent entries in the mainline series have grown somewhat repetitive and uninspired. Enter Dynasty Warriors: Origins, a reboot that looks to simplify the series formula while also maintaining its signature action, in an effort to reinvigorate interest for both franchise veterans and newcomers alike. Thankfully, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is not only a reboot worth playing, but one of the best Dynasty Warriors titles of the past decade.
The Guardian of Peace Goes to War
In an interesting turn, Dynasty Warriors: Origins makes a major change with its selection of playable characters, or more accurately, the lack thereof. Whereas most games in the franchise see players controlling dozens of various warriors, Origins puts you in control of a singular protagonist of prophecy, the Guardian of Peace. Stricken with amnesia, you are dropped in at the start of the Dynasty Warriors story, which is based on the classic Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and simply exist as a neutral party during a time of turmoil and war. As famine and class inequality cause an uprising in ancient China, various factions fight for supremacy, the Warrior of Peace is left stuck in the middle.
Compared to other Dynasty Warriors titles, Origins does its best to deliver a personal story with cinematic flair, but struggles due to its mostly silent protagonist. Though you are granted dialogue options from time to time, your input often makes no difference, leaving you feeling like a passive observer of the plot rather than an active participant. Even though the pre-rendered cutscenes and their overall visual design looks great, a good chunk of the story feels like a massive exposition dump with more characters than you’ll likely care to recall.
That said, at a certain point in the game’s story, you are granted the choice to side with one faction over the others, and this is when your decisions start to matter. Depending on who you buddy up with, the story takes radical turns, resulting in branching paths and multiple endings. Once you’ve beaten the game, you can return to certain points in the story to see alternate paths (and uncover some hidden ones too), opening up the narrative quite a bit. Although it’s a bit of a slog at the start, I found myself decently engaged with the plot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins, only skipping dialogue when it was definitely flavor text. Even if it’s less than perfect, this is still a respectable iteration of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms narrative and a good entry point for newcomers.
One Man Army
Having a sole playable protagonist instead of the usual extended character roster might seem like a complete 180 for Dynasty Warriors, but in practice, the gameplay experience remains on par with the rest of the franchise. Playing as the Guardian of Peace, you explore a small overworld map, jumping between story battles and side quests while visiting towns and chatting with characters. During battles, you earn a variety of experience points and leveling resources, which allow you to slowly improve your protagonist’s strength through stat increases and passive skills, tied into an RPG-lite system that is easy to grasp upfront.
The moment-to-moment combat gameplay is the same wild, hack ‘n slash power trip that the Dynasty Warriors franchise is so well-known for, delivering a ridiculous amount of action with sprinklings of strategy to boot. The Guardian of Peace is notably quick and dexterous, with the ability to dash around the battlefield or hop on a mount for increased movement speed. With thousands of opponents on screen at a given time, you’re free to slash through the masses with 10 different weapon types, ranging from swords and spears to throwable wheels and giant twin pikes. Each weapon type has a unique feel and emphasizes different playstyles, which are customizable through unique special abilities and unlockable combos. You’re also able to swap between weapons and alter your gear at any point in a battle, affording even more freedom to experiment during combat.
There’s a renewed emphasis on scale and ferocity in Dynasty Warriors: Origins, highlighted through the game’s focus on 1v1 officer battles amid massive large-scale battles. Singling out particularly powerful enemies and defeating them will boost the morale of your troops, making them a top priority in each fight. This leads to some truly epic impromptu boss fights that almost feel reminiscent of the souls-like genre, with lots of parrying, counter-attacks, and dodging. This is all backed by an irrefutable sense of scale and intensity, with the biggest battles resulting in a sea of foes, all waiting for a chance to cross blades.
The Bottom Line on Dynasty Warriors: Origins
In short, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the shot of adrenaline that the series has been sorely lacking, nicely presented in a reboot that should be satisfying for new players and musou veterans alike. Fresh ideas are presented in a way that doesn’t disrupt the familiar gameplay loop, but bolsters it to new levels of excitement. The RPG stylings are refreshing, the combat is fun, and there’s enough content to keep you occupied for multiple playthroughs. Despite a few gripes with the storytelling and some obtuse requirements for end-game accomplishments, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is an extremely fun action game and an admirable point of evolution for the franchise.
Score: 9/10
