#Evaluate: Dynasty Warriors: Origins – Destructoid

After a hands-on preview of the primary three chapters of Dynasty Warriors: Origins again in November 2024, Origins grew to become one in every of my most anticipated releases of 2025. The primary three chapters obtained me hooked, and I not solely wished extra of the quick and easily fun-to-play fight I’d come to count on from the franchise, however I used to be genuinely trying ahead to persevering with the story.

Admittedly, this isn’t fairly one thing I had anticipated going right into a Dynasty Warriors sport, particularly as soon as once more telling the story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a story the sequence has already informed man,y many occasions. However I discovered the angle of putting the story and its route extra within the participant’s fingers an thrilling and pleasant approach to push the hack-and-slash sequence ahead when it comes to storytelling.

Fortunately, developer Omega Pressure doesn’t let its foot off the pedal after the primary three chapters, and in reality, issues solely get larger and higher as Dynasty Warriors: Origins progresses, each when it comes to battle dimension—arguably the franchise’s staple characteristic—and absolute scale.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins (PC, PS5[reviewed], Xbox Sequence X|S)
Developer: Omega Pressure
Writer: Koei Tecmo
Launched: January 17, 2025
MSRP: $69.99

Dynasty Warriors: Origins kicks off at first of the Yellow Turban Rebel, a interval of peasant revolt and rebellion in Chinese language historical past that’s basically the progenitor of the fabled Three Kingdoms interval. Gamers tackle the position of The Wanderer, a formidable warrior experiencing amnesia on the time the occasions of the sport kick off. Now, usually, I’d argue that an amnesiac predominant character is a bit bromidic in nature, nevertheless it matches what Omega Pressure is doing with the important reboot of the franchise with Origins.

Regardless that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga has been informed time and time once more on this franchise, utilizing an precise single participant character somewhat than having you play as varied historic leaders and troopers from the interval opens up distinctive narrative factors for Omega Pressure. All through the sport, you’ll make mates and enemies with characters from every dynasty and are sometimes given the selection of who to aspect with and be part of on the battlefield. It’s a much-welcomed and nice shock to play a Dynasty Warriors sport the place you get to make some decisions that truly really feel like they matter and have some weight behind them.

As somebody who’s all the time appreciated the historic interval during which the sequence takes place, that is the primary time I’ve felt an precise bond with the characters somewhat than simply assigning a “good man/dangerous man” label based mostly on whether or not they have been an ally or foe on the battlefield. Talking of bonds, there’s an precise Bond System at play that lets you develop your relationship with varied lords and officers from the Three Kingdoms period, unlocking distinctive story occasions with them in addition to distinctive rewards. Maxing out a bond with a personality results in a particular cutscene highlighting the bond between you and that character.

Whereas I do assume the distinctive player-created character being the MC was the appropriate transfer, it did, sadly, have an effect on the general connection I needed to the primary character in a damaging manner. All through a lot of the marketing campaign, your character is somewhat reserved and unemotional, largely as a consequence of the truth that he doesn’t even bear in mind precisely who he’s which is. As you progress by way of the story, your recollections return, however in the long run, I discovered myself extra within the connections I made with the varied different main characters somewhat than my very own character.

There are ten weapon sorts all through Dynasty Warriors: Origins, most of which unlock as you play by way of the marketing campaign, with the Halberd unlocking after finishing the marketing campaign. The weapon sort you utilize dictates your playstyle, Battle Arts (basically abilities in battle), in addition to the combos and assaults of each your Heavy and Mild assaults. Every time you utilize a weapon of a selected sort, you’ll construct up your proficiency with it, unlocking new assaults and combos with them. It additionally progresses your general Rank, rising your character’s Well being, Assault, and Protection, which means altering it up and making an attempt out new weapon sorts can nonetheless construct your character energy even when you find yourself not sticking with it.

I discovered myself drawn to the Twin Pikes weapon sort, large axe-like weapons that your character wields in every hand. I felt like a full-on berserker, cleaving by way of hordes of enemies with ease whereas sometimes leaping into the air to leap slam down on my opponents with the Twin Pikes. They deal a ton of harm—in my restricted testing, presumably essentially the most general exterior of the late-game unlocked Cresent Blade and the post-game unlocked Halberd—and include a ton of AoE assaults to actually mow by way of battles.

Every weapon sort additionally has some distinctive cadences you can study and execute to present you much more of an edge for dedicating the time to studying the weapon. For instance, with the Twin Pikes for those who maintain Guard after which provoke a Heavy Assault and proceed to spam the Heavy Assault button, you’ll spin round whirlwind fashion—like I stated, a berserker—constantly. Should you handle to time your ultimate Heavy Assault press proper because the assault lands, the ultimate assault is empowered, dealing extra injury and leading to a cool enhanced assault animation.

Considering again on my childhood experiences with the Dynasty Warrior franchise, it’s simple to recollect what made them stand out a lot: the large battles. With Origins, Omega Pressure redefines large battles, with some maps internet hosting as much as 10,000 troopers on the display at a time. As you progress by way of the marketing campaign, the battles not solely get larger however extra intense as properly. Alongside the best way your military will develop as properly, supplying you with entry to new Ways that may mean you can subject instructions to close by troopers in your military. The Ways you should use vary from issuing a cost to chop off an advancing military or launching a focused arrow strike to skinny out numbers.

This added gameplay component felt like a refined model of the system in Bladestorm, one other sequence by Omega Pressure and Koei Tecmo that options large battles, and it’s a welcome addition. There are additionally occasions when the Ways you subject are included with main improvement factors within the historic story of the battles you’re preventing in, leading to sweeping modifications to the battle and even the battlefield. The flexibility to so fantastically interweave the storytelling into warfare is spectacular and a giant step ahead for the narrative method of the sequence that till now has been somewhat missing. And, it’s all performed with out holding again the core energy of the franchise: its fast-paced hack-and-slash fight. If something, it amplifies it.

Finishing the Dynasty Warriors: Origins marketing campaign unlocks a New Sport Plus mode that lets you proceed constructing your character from the place you ended the marketing campaign whereas going again and exploring the varied alternative factors all through the sport and supplying you with the chance to see how issues differ based mostly in your alternative. You possibly can change which faction you be part of, to see how your complete story would have unfolded had you joined that faction as a substitute, all whereas persevering with to degree and energy up the identical character. On this sense, the NG+ mode feels extra just like the traditional replayable grind of the sequence and one which I really sit up for doing, which hasn’t been the case since Samurai Warriors 4 for me.

Every little thing that makes Dynasty Warriors nice has been constructed on and amplified in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. The fast-paced fight is extra fluid and satisfying than ever, and I feel the choice to permit gamers to construct up their very own character is the appropriate transfer for the franchise transferring ahead. I wasn’t certain how Omega Pressure may take a sequence arising on three a long time outdated and make it interesting to newcomers whereas appeasing long-time followers, however they discovered a manner. For me, that is the very best Dynasty Warriors but, and I’m excited to see what’s subsequent.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}