Few games let you smite hundreds of enemies with grandiose attacks as well as the long-running Dynasty Warriors series does, and so in a sense the latest one, Dynasty Warriors Origins, is competing with its past self. But with an enhanced combat system that rewards and incentivizes parrying and perfectly dodging enemy attacks and a more significant focus on telling the story of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms novels from a new perspective, it made a great first impression. These elements were all up my alley for a new Dynasty Warriors game, and playing it left me feeling a sense of wonder, intrigue, and a hunger for more.
Playing Origins was one of those odd phenomena where the images on the screen finally matched what my younger brain had seen when playing earlier games in the series. Bases were bigger, forests were lusher, and the screen was filled with more enemies for me to slash and punch on my way to victory than ever before. The spectacle and visuals of Origins are the best they’ve ever been, and sure, a lot of that is thanks to the power of modern hardware, but it’s also the quality of everything on display. Long gone are the barren lands and mostly identical trees of Dynasty Warriors 9’s open world, the repetitive textures on buildings, or the rockfaces surrounding most levels in games before that. Origins’ world and characters are full of life, and each one is detailed more than ever, from their armor to their weapons.
Furthermore, Dynasty Warriors Origins introduces a new overworld map mechanic to traverse between battles. This diorama-like map can be explored to find various towns or cities to purchase items, NPCs to converse with, and missions to undertake. I only got to view a small portion of the map, but I did catch a glimpse of a fast-travel button, meaning there are most likely at least enough of these areas to explore to warrant the need for such a system.
I did catch a glimpse of a fast-travel button, meaning there are most likely at least enough of these areas to explore to warrant the need for such a system.
Origins’ story is told from the perspective of a new original protagonist who will be interacting with important warriors such as Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Lu Bu. Yes, that Lu Bu. Origins’ story, as the title suggests, also occurs earlier than its predecessors, so the recognizable allies and enemies all have a new youthful vibrancy in and out of combat. And that combat, by the way, felt great. Every swing of my sword or staff was responsive, and perfect parries or dodges were accompanied by flashy animations, with perfect parries giving an even more considerable advantage in turning the tides on opponents. And combos feel better than ever when chained with special moves and other abilities meant to pre-empt enemy attacks and knock them off balance. Add that to the sounds of the yellow turban army shrieking in fear and death and the cheers of my allies as my KO counter rose into the hundreds, and it felt like the quintessential Dynasty Warriors experience I had been missing for years.
Some may be surprised or caught off guard when hearing about things like perfect parries or dodges in a Dynasty Warriors game. I’m happy to report that those who want to button-mash their combos through hordes of enemies will be able to do just that on the lower difficulties, just like in the older games, but for those wanting to push themselves and challenge the harder difficulties, they’ll need to make full use of these systems. Playing on Hero mode saw even regular enemies removing larger portions of my health bar, which typically only happens when facing off against named generals. I put this to the ultimate test against the man, the myth, the legend Lu Bu, who fought the entire battle atop his steed until breaking his guard. His introduction is nothing short of what veterans will expect from him; he entered the scene as if he were the game’s main character, instantly deleting entire squadrons of my allies and causing them to scream in terror. Now, I don’t know how he scales between all the difficulties, but on the hardest one available during my demo (Hero difficulty), I managed to trigger the second phase of his fight and reduce him to under 40% before running out of healing items against his onslaught of unblockable attacks that dented over half my health per hit. This battle alone has sold me on the combat of Dynasty Warriors Origins.
Those who want to button-mash their combos through hordes of enemies will be able to do just that on the lower difficulties, just like in the older games, but for those wanting to push themselves and challenge the harder difficulties, they’ll need to make full use of perfect parries and dodges.
The only immediate downside I found with Dynasty Warriors Origins so far is the inability to play in co-op, as this series has been a staple for those wanting to play co-op online or split screen with friends and siblings. While I’m not going to completely let the developers off the hook for this, there is at least a built-in compromise: during mission preparations, you can select an allied general to accompany you, and during the mission, you can take control of them for a short period of time. This helps turn the tide in battles, especially if you are low on health or want to destroy many enemies in a shorter period. These generals are much stronger than the protagonist in the game’s early hours, and while I only activated the ability twice, I learned two things. First, it was incredibly fun and gave me a great taste of other weapon types, and second, it was clear that this mechanic is meant to be one of those you activate when you need to go all-in on a fight.
You also gain access to various tactics along the way, like commanding a squadron of archers to rain arrows on enemies. These abilities are fine on their own, but if you use them at the right time or in the right conditions, they can have an even more powerful effect to devastate armies and lower opponents’ morale. Morale has always been another component of Dynasty Warriors, because whichever side has the higher morale gains bonuses in combat. In Origins, this is best exemplified by the red armor plates on enemy generals that reduce the damage you deal until they are all removed. Once all the yellow and red plates are removed, they become vulnerable to powerful assault attacks that make you untargetable while dealing out significant damage to both the enemy you’ve broken and any unlucky enemies nearby.
Meanwhile, the customization system is back, and throughout the story, the protagonist will gain access to a handful of weapon types and skills called arts. The more you use the various weapons and arts, the more proficiency you gain to unlock new arts or upgrades for your current arts. To complement your weapons and arts, there are also several skill trees that will unlock things such as extra item slots to carry into battle, or enable the new extreme musou attacks that allow you to combine with your allies for even larger, deadlier special moves that devastate crowds and stronger enemies. Starting out, I only had access to a single sword. Still, after defeating a general, I unlocked the ability to wield their twin pikes in future missions, which will be an incentive throughout the game to challenge all the generals in a mission, not just those set as mission objectives.
Dynasty Warriors Origins has the potential to be the crown jewel in the venerable series with its improved focus on combat, customization, and enhanced visuals. It’s been nearly 20 years since I found myself eagerly waiting to play the newest Dynasty Warriors, but with the updates and enhancements I’ve seen so far in Dynasty Warriors Origins, that streak is no more. I walked away from my two-hour demo session with a renewed interest in a series I once treasured and am eager to get more time with when it releases in January.
