Dynasty Warriors: Origins Preview – Shaping Up To Be A Musou-Have For Newcomers

Key Takeaways

• I’ve always wanted to get into Dynasty Warriors, but felt like there was far too much I’d missed.
• Origins offers the perfect jumping-in point for a hopeful fan like me, as it retells the story from the perspective of an amnesiac protagonist.
• Gameplay additions like a parry and the refocus on strategy have me confident in Origins bringing the series back in a big way.

One of my greatest gaming shames (believe me, there are many) is that I’ve never properly got into Dynasty Warriors. I’ve spent a ton of time in the Zelda, Persona, and Fire Emblem spin-offs and dreamed of Kingdom Hearts receiving the same treatment, but the mainline series has always eluded me no matter how hard I tried to change that.

As much as I loved the surprisingly rhythmic and relaxing feeling of being an all-powerful warrior who can mow down dozens of peons in a single blow, the story drawing on historical fiction from the 14th century combined with how goodness knows many games I’ve missed since things began in 1997 has always put me off.

With those roadblocks in mind, Dynasty Warriors: Origins, which takes the Romance of the Three Kingdoms narrative back to the start and stars a mysterious new character suffering from classic anime amnesia, offers the perfect jumping-in point for potential fans like myself. Well, that’s what I hoped would be the case when I first jumped into Origins at a recent preview event, and I’m happy to report I was right on the money.

The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms At Its Most Approachable

For someone who has pretended history and historical fiction haven’t existed since finishing my A-levels, the most important hurdle for Dynasty Warriors: Origins to clear is its characters and story. I know next to nothing about Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms or the real history it’s based on, and have always felt woefully unprepared to sink into the series proper, even though the gameplay is what I’m most interested in.

That’s not a problem in Origins, though, as it’s a reboot designed with newcomers in mind and has you seeing its events through the eyes of an amnesiac warrior who is seemingly meeting everyone for the first time, too. While veterans will recognise everyone they come across without introduction, framing it this way opens the door for anyone else who is only vaguely aware of the might of Zhang Liao.

Even though I still had to take in a lot of names, places, and events during my three hours of playtime, this change in direction is one that suits newcomers perfectly and is enough to make the series’ massive legacy and wealth of beloved characters (Liu Bei is my favourite so far) feel far more approachable. It helps that they’re all very charming and likeable, even if the voice acting can be a little ropey.

Origins’ Smaller Roster Didn’t Bother Me As A Newcomer

This singular focus is a dual-edged sword that leads us to the elephant in the room – the roster size. Among other things, Dynasty Warriors is known for its huge number of playable characters, with the last game having a jaw-dropping total of 94 warriors to choose from. With one character (who can wield nine different weapons) being the main focus in Origins, that number has dropped to just nine officers, who all act more as powerful support heroes that can be temporarily taken control of before returning to the amnesiac star of the show.

While an amnesiac hero might seem like the perfect chance for a customisable protagonist, they’re a set character with their own history. You can choose their name, though.

As you might expect, this has been taken as a massive step back for series veterans who are used to having full control over every hero. While I can see why some fans aren’t happy, as someone less familiar with the series, I really didn’t mind a smaller selection, as it made each summonable officer feel like an epic moment. With Origins not being a mainline entry either and clearly putting more stock into the visuals, performance, and number of troops on screen at any given time, I don’t think it’s the death knell that it might initially seem to be.

The cut-down roster also became easier to accept when I actually started playing Dynasty Warriors: Origins, which quickly made it clear how much the gameplay has been improved across the board. The general setup is what you expect, with your officer slicing and bashing their way through a battlefield populated by a seemingly infinite number of peons and more powerful enemies to dispatch.

Strategy Is Just As Important As Action In Origins

While the minute-to-minute gameplay of cutting through hordes of screaming enemies with screen-clearing Musou attacks like a hot knife through halloumi is as satisfying as it’s ever been, Origins isn’t just a mindless power fantasy. Strategy plays just as much a role in victory here, as you have to decide which areas to take next, which allies to help out, and where your attention is most needed to increase morale and allow for powerful moves called tactics, which can turn the tide of battle on their own.

Alongside putting more emphasis on strategy than recent entries (looking at you, Dynasty Warriors 9), Origins’ combat simply feels a lot better to play. The main cause of this, at least to an action fan like myself, is the introduction of a parry mechanic, which lets you skillfully deflect hits and open stronger enemies up for deadly counterattacks.

The importance of the parry was especially noticeable during my favourite gameplay segments of the preview – the dynamic (and optional) one-on-one battles against other officers.

The satisfying balance of strategic decision-making and peon-destroying combat comes to a head during the final moments of a battle, which has your character leading their huge army into the enemy’s even more populated base. No matter how many times I took part in these cinematic sieges and saw the frankly mind-boggling number of enemies on screen, I couldn’t help but be impressed and feel Origins is laying the groundwork for all things Dynasty Warriors moving forward.

As much of a visual spectacle as those moments were, they initially made me a little concerned that Origins was going to be too easy. How stupid of me to assume that during the game’s first chapter, as that difficulty had a massive spike when I jumped ahead to Chapters 2 and 3. Beyond having more enemies on screen to deal with and tougher tactics and situations to consider, those later chapters also saw me getting absolutely wrecked by the force of nature that is Lu Bu.

Chapter 3 is also where things get exciting from a story standpoint, as the player gets to decide which of the three armies they want to support and follow in battle.

My disastrous loss to Lu Bu is sadly where my time with Dynasty Warriors: Origins came to an end, but its refreshingly friendly approach to a storied legacy, satisfying blend of destructive combat and strategic planning, and continuously impressive scale have been on my mind ever since. I’m not sure how long-term players are going to react to its changes, but I do know that it’s got this lapsed fan eagerly back on board.