Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platforms:Xbox Series X (Reviewed), PC, PlayStation 5
Release Date: January 17, 2025
Price: $69.99 USD – Available Here $109.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
Over the last few years the Dynasty Warriors series has struggled to find where it would actually go next. Sure, Omega Force’s other efforts such as Warriors Orochi and Fate/Samurai Remnant, and their other licensed Warriors style games have shown innovation and some unique stylings, their signature franchise has languished. After an incredibly solid Dynasty Warriors 8 back in 2013 that saw fans eager for what to expect in the next mainline entry, Dynasty Warriors 9 shifted completely in the other direction in 2018, taking on an open-world feel and robbing almost every character of their charm and style in an attempt to force more characters into the bloated and nonsensical story.
In an attempt to go completely back to the drawing board, Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have came back with a far more in-depth telling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms with a central character looking to both introduce newcomers to the franchise and return to the roots of what fans loved, the battle of one vs thousands in Dynasty Warriors: Origins.
Story
The Dynasty Warriors series usually requires at least some type of knowledge about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms to get the most out of it, but Origins is unlike any other game in the franchise in numerous ways. First of all, rather than sprint through the historical novel’s key battles, this entry takes things slow, secondly instead of dropping players into the story as one of the historic warriors or even a created character that serves as a background character to history, they take on a character bereft of their memory but not of their skills. A powerful warrior found venturing the edges of a simmering rebellion that is soon to ignite the lands in turmoil. Alongside famed warrior Guan Yu and the assistance of a charismatic yellow-clad leader, this unnamed warrior makes a name for themselves (literally as players choose their name here) in their first conflict against corrupt officials.

Yes, as per usual in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the first major conflict is the Yellow Turban Rebellion but unlike any game in the past, rather than blitz past the minutia and smaller conflicts, Dynasty Warriors: Origins takes a far closer look at how events played out, focusing on battles that were merely mentioned in passing before as players are given an in-depth look into some never before focused on elements of the rebellion and further events throughout the storyline. This includes a major focus on showing the fallout from the rebellion and the upheaval that ensued throughout the realm afterwards, culminating in eventually players needing to select one of the three kingdoms that they must align themselves with, Wu, Shu, or Wei. Aligning with one kingdom will inevitably pit the player against former allies and friends as well as showcase only story elements that are told from that kingdom’s perspective. For example, fighting as a Wu companion will mean seeing the events that unfold with the Sun family firsthand while Cao Cao’s actions and Liu Bei’s are told only through brief summaries.
Thankfully, once players complete the game in a… very strange stopping point for the storyline, they gain the ability to revisit not only any battle that they wish, but even the pinnacle choice of selecting which kingdom to fight for. This means that players do not need to play through the entire game three times simply to enjoy every element of the story, instead being able to take their trained fighter into each extra storyline and bonding with units from said faction as they wish once completing the game fully.

Now, not only is Dynasty Warriors: Origins’ storyline far more in-depth when it comes to the exact events that happened, it also features some wonderful bond storylines and interactions with the player character and the many famous generals and warriors from the era, be they villains, heroes, or something in-between. As for the original storyline featuring the main character, it is handled well enough and explains not only the reason for their unique abilities and skills on the battlefield but also why they are driven to enter the fray. It does take a bit too long to unfold unfortunately, with some of the most meaningful and actually worthwhile revelations happening in the final two chapters, but it is satisfying enough. What will be a bit confusing for many fans of the franchise is the game’s stopping point. Then again, given that the title is called Dynasty Warriors: Origins, it is a fitting one as it serves as the true formation of the three kingdoms at the culmination of this specific battle and, if Koei Tecmo is looking to develop sequels from this point on and continue this method of in-depth storytelling, it is off to a stellar start.
Gameplay
Dynasty Warriors: Origins takes a step away from the much derided open world aspect of the last entry in the franchise and instead opts for an overworld instead. In the overworld players will travel through the various provinces and visit towns that all have a weapon shop and item shop that sell various things as well as their own inn to rest at. They will also be able to interact and talk with the various famous fighters and characters, triggering “bond” moments or activating training missions with them, collect upgrade material, and take on various small scale conflicts that randomly generate. These small conflicts generally see players range from running in and taking down a few hundred soldiers, eliminating specific enemy officers, claiming bases, or even escorting a merchant or civilian unit. Completing these rewards players with money and increased “peace” for that province that will reward players with some bonuses when it reaches up to three different tiers for each province. It is also where players will find “missions” that are larger scale battles with useful rewards and of course the main objectives as well, that range from just talking with certain characters to entering a large-scale battle.

Once in battle players will find that Dynasty Warriors: Origins still plays and feels very much like a classic Dynasty Warriors game and none have captured the real feeling of the 1 vs 1,000 design philosophy quite like this entry. This is especially true due to a certain feature we’ll talk about in a moment. For now, the combat’s basic structure remains the same, players will use one of nine weapon fighting styles that they’ll slowly unlock through the campaign to deal out damage through a series of light combos and heavy combos, mixing together certain move-sets to take down hundreds of generic enemy soldiers. As players eliminate enemies they’ll gain “bravery” that can be used to trigger weapon skills that vary depending on the weapon type equipped and players can change these at any time. In fact, players can even change the weapon they are using if they so choose in the middle of battle, a very useful little feature and one that makes completing certain training missions much easier. For example, while twin axes are great at eliminating swarms of troops and clearing bases, taking down a pesky general’s endurance meter might see the player favoring the fast striking sword or hoops.

While the battles against general enemies and claiming bases mostly remain the same it is the fights against other named warriors and “Wise”, “Brave,” and “Mighty” generic generals that brings the most change. For the most part players will still battle it out using the same type of attacks, but enemy officers no longer sit there and take any punishment dealt to them. Instead every enemy officer will have a certain level of endurance indicated by shields above their head and can dish out combos and special attacks just like the player. This means players will need to either dodge, block, or preferably parry most incoming blows and take advantage of the opening to deplete the enemy’s gauge and leave them stunned. Officer’s in a stunned state can then be either taken down with one powerful move or sent into a flurry of blows depending on how much health they have left. This leads to some rather lengthy and occasionally quite challenging fights with opponents as enemy officer’s, especially with high morale, can deal out a lot of punishment. This includes late-game battles where foes can not only enter their own rage states and trigger “musou” attacks but even perform special maneuvers that can leave players reeling if caught unprepared. From time to time players can even be given the choice to accept a “duel” with an enemy officer, pitting the two in a one on one match with a timer that, should the player fully fill the duel gauge with their own meter, will instantly eliminate the officer.

It is also worth noting that Dynasty Warriors: Origins isn’t afraid to make sure that players are actively keeping an eye on the movement of battle either. Neglecting to pay attention to certain allies or the movement of enemy officers may lead to a failure in battle. Players can rush to a wounded officer’s side and their health will recover and for the most part allies can take care of themselves, but if the flow of battle is going downhill, then extra attention is needed. It is nice to note that should players either fall in combat or be forced to retreat due to the defeat of their commander, most battles feature checkpoints that can be reverted to instead of having to start the entire battle over again. This can mean that playing defensively as a soldier in the grander battle is just as effective as the more defensive nature of officer combat. A useful tool at the player’s hands is the main character’s unique “Eyes of the Sacred Bird” that not only displays the health status of ally and enemy officers and the placements of enemy soldiers but also through the fairly rare illusions or secrets that appear during specific fights.
Eventually, players will also gain access to their own personal “guard” that can open up strategies. These strategies run on cooldown and depend on if the player’s guards are still actually alive to perform them however. They vary from raining a volley of arrows onto a target, performing a cavalry charge, to straight up ordering them to defend an ally officer. Offensive strategies often have special effects if used in the right circumstances and can cripple an enemy officer’s morale, making them an easy target. It is also worth noting that alongside player triggered strategies the title will occasionally indicate enemy strategies as well, tasking players with either eliminating a certain number or type of foes to put a stop to it or assisting an ally to help theirs succeed, though these generally only happen during “large” battles.

These large encounters happen to be some of the most over-the-top and troop overload fights that the series has ever had and it is truly impressive to see happen, especially when leading the charge. Players will find that some battles will feature their allies setting up for a charge, be it either a head on charge into combat or ambush, and joining them will trigger the movement. This means that players can charge down on horseback or foot if they so choose alongside the massive force of their allies right into enemy infantry that looks right out of a Total War style game. Blocks of enemy infantry, shieldwalls, volleys of arrows fired from behind, catapults, the works. Charging headlong into this chaos and cutting a swathe through enemy forces feels and looks amazing. The 1 vs 1000 dynamic might not be true, as allies will be right there fighting too, but it has never felt more real and “knockout” counts of over three thousand in a single fight are far from absurd.
Now, it is a bit unfortunate to say that the game does start to feel a bit too repetitive over time, especially once players have unlocked every type of weapon and reached the highest available rank, with total weapon mastery ranks dictating the player’s current level. This is also because unlike other entries, players only occasionally have a chance to play as other historical officers and this is only when they accompany them into battle and fill a meter that lets players temporarily take control of that warrior instead of the main character and this isn’t offered in every battle. Alongside this, some may be disappointed that their favorite weapon type or fighting style hasn’t made the cut either as the fighting styles are far smaller compared to before as well even if they have been more refined as a result. It is also worth noting that a large portion of side characters have also not been included in the game in any form, meaning some fan favorites may also be missing even if they would only play a background role or at most a bond opportunity here.
Audio & Visuals
The Dynasty Warriors games have never been the best looking games, prioritizing troop size over detail, but it is clear that Omega Force has spent a lot of time revamping and detailing the officers in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Many characters will look just like fans remember but with far more detail while others have been given complete revamps, especially characters that were previously more caricature than anything else. These details look their best during cutscenes and in-game bonding moments while the battlefield sees them take a backseat to the chaotic action. Even when charging headlong into a large force with an allied large force the game runs completely smooth on the Xbox Series X, slamming into foes with a powerful Musou attack capable of taking down well over a hundred soldiers at once. The battlefields themselves are also nicely varied and change depending on where players are in the overworld, though it is worth noting that there is re-use in battlefields when it comes to side missions and skirmishes.

Koei Tecmo has offered both an original English dub as well as their own Japanese voice track for the game, giving players the choice to choose between them at any point. That being said, the subtitles are quite small so players may prefer English voices here, especially since the characters are portrayed quite well here. The soundtrack consists of many remixed tracks that fans of the franchise are familiar with as well as some original tracks that fit well during the game’s action and more poignant moments that happen throughout the story.
Overall
Dynasty Warriors: Origins proves that Dynasty Warriors is back and in a big way. While it may deviate from the standard formula in many different ways by focusing on an original non-customizable character with only a limited number of weapon types compared to the many on offer usually and wide cast of playable characters, it does manage to tell its familiar story in a brand new and incredibly interesting way, giving even veterans new looks at their favorite characters, if they made the cut that is. Dynasty Warriors: Origins brings the 1 vs 1,000 design philosophy to reality and those who love action games will find that this one has plenty to offer and then some, even if things might get a bit repetitive near the end.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.