Dynasty Warriors Origins Review

Release Date
January 17, 2025
Developed By:
Koei Tecmo Games, Omega Force
Published By:
Koei Tecmo
Genre
Hack and slash, Fighting, Beat 'em up, Action role-playing
Consoles:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Our Score
3.5

Dynasty Warriors Origins is the first entry in the series for this generation of consoles, making the graphics leaps and bounds better than Dynasty Warriors 9, released in 2018.  Incorporating several positive things from its predecessor, like the open-world feature, Origins infinitely improved on them. This legendary Musou series takes the players back to Feudal China as always. However, this time, Origins introduces the back stories of your memorable characters, friendships, enemies, and more, leading to the franchise’s story ultimately beginning.  It has HD graphics, a banging soundtrack, and voice acting (I’ll admit that I played through the game with the Japanese voice actors. I tried the English version but wasn’t feeling it). Dynasty Warriors Origins shine as we learn the how and why of the future conflicts in the series.

The story, by far, was the highlight of Origins.  The developer created a new character, which you can name but is also called Jiluan. Their story is intertwined with the factions that ultimately set in motion the events of the previous Dynasty Warriors.  Disappointment set in, knowing a few characters are playable outside the main character. In previous Dynasty Warriors, players had the option to play as different officers or even create their character. Although it feels like a downgrade, it was necessary to tell our main character’s story. Dynasty Warriors Origins excels by humanizing the cast of characters throughout the story, causing the main character to make difficult choices as to who to support.  Friends become enemies and vice versa as the story progresses through its chapters. It was peculiar to Ally with Lu Bu at one point.  He’s been my sworn enemy since jumping off the Dynasty Warriors franchise!  Don’t worry. Lu Bu does what Lu Bu does, and I can say with certainty that eventually, fighting him will be the most brutal fight in the game!  It took a couple of hours of me banging my head on the desk before I finally prevailed!  As the story advances, the battles become more and more intense. Omega Force did a fantastic job of creating epic battles, and they do not disappoint!  The story consists of five chapters, each with many cutscenes, side, and main missions.  At one point in time, your character Jiluan, is faced with a difficult decision on who to support which then pushes the story in the direction you chose until the end.  There are three different people you can choose from and other choices along the way that shape how your story ends.  Origins gives a ton of context to the previous Dynasty Warriors games and the motivations of each faction and leader we’ve learned.  In total, it took me about 60 hours to complete one storyline. However, I played it casually and did a lot of side missions.  If you were aggressive, you could probably finish in half the time.

Like its predecessor, Dynasty Warriors Origins is an “open-world” game.  A major complaint from the community was that it took too long to get to places.  If you have ever played Dynasty Warriors 9, you know the pain of riding your horse for 30 minutes to get to your next mission. Omega Force once again improved on this by creating fast travel points and making the traversal akin to Tiny Tina’s Wonderland.  Your character can quickly reach points of interest, resources, and people with whom you can interact. Your character can walk on foot or speed things up by hopping on their horse. I appreciated the “open-world” feel of the game, but it’s not an actual open-world game…  and I’m ok with that. Massive open-world games become too overwhelming for me, and most of the time, I never finish the game.  Esthetically, the world is gorgeous, with different biomes for each region and a vibrant landscape. Dynasty Warriors Origins did a fantastic job of depicting China in that period.

Origins has successfully pivoted to the new standard of graphical fidelity.  The characters and costume designs were spot-on for the characters and factions of the previous Dynasty Warriors. The style is beautifully designed to fit the Origins Universe.  The music and sound design are again iconic from the moment the title screen dissolves, with newly designed callbacks to theme songs for our heroes and villains.  The soundtrack contains music from many Dynasty Warriors games of the past. You’ll hear some old favorites if you’ve played other games.

The combat is what one would expect from the Dynasty Warriors series.  With the changes in technology, the battles in Origins are incredible!  From large-scale battles with thousands of troops, utilizing strategies to gain the upper hand in a conflict to one-on-one duels, Origins stands out from its predecessors. The mechanics of Dynasty Warriors Origins are similar to previous entries in the series. The simplistic button layout makes the game easy to pick up and play. The combos consist of regular and heavy attacks, making them easy to execute.  Coupled with the flashy Musou  attacks, it made for a buttery smooth experience.  There are a variety of weapons that your character picks up along the way.

As your character fights, the weapons earn XP and level up, allowing for more powerful weapons to be acquired.  Notably, some weapons from previous games were not playable, leaving me dissatisfied.  The main character also possesses an almost third-sight ability to pinpoint magic, see pots containing meat buns, officer information from across the vast maps, and see hidden passages.  It came in clutch trying to navigate the battlefields using that ability.  Leveling up your weapons unlocks new skills and continues beyond the endgame.  Speaking of the end game, once you’ve completed the story, many post-game content opens up.  You can restart the game from specific points and replay any battle you’ve already completed.  Your weapon proficiency can be raised even more with additional ranks opening up.  A new Ultimate Warrior difficulty opens up, which contains challenges for the battles that reward you with powerful weapons, horses, and other rewards.  Being on a deadline, I couldn’t try the mode before finishing this review.  Another addition to the post-game content is making Lu Bu a playable companion when replaying story battles.  I can’t wait to cut people down with Lu Bu!

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room… the camera controls.  Although there is still a bit of clunkiness, the auto-lock feature makes things a bit easier to navigate.  However, there were still times when the camera would go nuts!  Unlike Dynasty Warriors 9, the RPG elements were significantly dumbed down or entirely removed.  Origins play more like an action-adventure hack-n-slash than the hack-n-slash RPG-heavy 9.  With the in-depth story of Origins, leaning further into the RPG genre would’ve been a lot of fun to play! 

Dynasty Warriors is a beautifully crafted hack-n-slash that takes you back to the Origins of Feudal China.  The story and environments were rich, filled with twists and turns that pit friends against friends and turned enemies into allies. Origins gives much-needed context to the franchise while engrossing players with all the different personalities.  Like most Dynasty Warriors, the combat becomes somewhat monotonous, but discovering new weapons and abilities and engaging stories made it hard to put down.  Dynasty Warriors Origins is a great entry point for newcomers, pulling on the nostalgic string of veterans—a solid entry in the Dynasty Warriors franchise.

Dynasty Warriors Origins Review
Pros
Cons
3.5
Good