Dynasty Warriors Origins Is The Best In The Series – Review

While Dynasty Warriors 9 left a less-than-stellar impression, the new take and new main character found in Dynasty Warriors Origins could very well be the palate cleanser we all need.

Does Dynasty Warriors Origins take a step in the right direction, or is it back to the drawing board?

Dynasty Warriors Origins Review

Dynasty Warriors Origins takes place right before the start of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. During this time of turmoil, one will take center stage and witness the rise of the heroes from the Three Kingdoms.

Playing one known as a “Guardian of Peace,” players find themselves skilled in combat – albeit without memories.

Well, except for one’s muscle memory.

Unlike previous entries, Dynasty Warriors Origins lets players take control of the pre-created Ziluan, a man lost to history. This makes sense, as Dynasty Warriors Origins’ plot revolves around saving key figures and characters.

While we feel this is the right choice, being able to make one’s own character or even play as a female version would have helped. Regardless, after reading a summons for volunteers, Ziluan joins up with an army and heads off to face the Yellow Turbans.

As an outsider looking in, Dynasty Warriors Origins lets players see the game’s heroes rise from regional generals to lords of their own kingdoms. Joining up with Liu Bei and his brothers, Ziluan lets players set out to stop the Yellow Turban Rebellion and to bring peace back to the land.

From here, the stage is set for what will be the birth of a new empire, and Dynasty Warriors Origins provides front-row seat to the action.

Will you join up with the idealist Liu Bei? Ally yourself with the realistic Cao Cao? Or aid the heroic Sun family as they rise up from nothing? The choice is yours, but fans of the series should know it only goes up to the battle of Chi Bi, leaving the game wide open for a sequel or DLC.

One versus 1000 is the tagline for the time-honored Musou titles.

In Dynasty Warriors Origins, players are effectively a demon in the battle, and the only way to sate your appetite is to get that sweet, sweet dopamine hit of 1000 kills as the rest of your allies shudder in awe of your brilliance.

That’s how we view it, and that’s why we love these games.

Going in with the mindset, Dynasty Warriors Origins nearly killed on the first few missions. One is strong, but not Lu Bu strong; heck, one isn’t even first on the level of Haung Gai.

This shift is due to Dynasty Warriors Origins’ gameplay shift from spamming simple combos with Square and Triangle inputs to something more akin to tactical gameplay.

Parrying and dodging are at the forefront of Dynasty Warriors Origins, letting players stand toe to toe with the game’s mightiest generals. As a guy who is terrible at parrying in games, Dynasty Warriors Origins is VERY forgiving with the timing. Once mastered, Dynasty Warriors Origins becomes putty.

Dynasty Warriors Origins also features a new battle arts system, one that features tactical allies one can call in. Players will gain battle points in each of Dynasty Warriors Origins’ fights that allow for special skills. Said skills can devastate enemy armies and generals, but that energy is also needed to counter enemy skills.

Of course, busting their defense and killing them makes this moot.

Dynasty Warriors Origins’ other major addition comes in the ability to bring one’s own troops into battle. While available in older games with bodyguards, Dynasty Warriors Origins gives players tactical commands that can instantly change a fight.

For instance, firing from above causes more morale damage due to added damage. Having one’s own troops in the game in Dynasty Warriors Origins is immensely useful, destroying enemy officers if done correctly.

Another new addition to Dynasty Warriors Origins is the world map, letting players travel alongsise a small version of ancient China as they look for battles and loot.

While a small touch, we can already see how it will work in potential Dynasty Warriors Origins Empires and Xtreme Legends releases.

Battles in Dynasty Warriors Origins are still instanced, but we are okay with that. For those who do not want to travel around the map, one can fast travel to waypoints and make one’s life easier.

Do note that this approach could lead to missing out on side quests and cutscenes from some of your favorite characters – and you don’t want that.

Playing as an outsider in Dynasty Warriors Origins, players will build relationships as one fights alongside them. Get to know them better and they will start to confide in you, in turn letting the player see new sides to characters.

Honestly, the level of glazing from these key figures is borderline embarrassing. We got the god of war, Guan Yu, over here talking about etching my face into his memory. Meanwhile, we are just like “okay, dude, where’s the next fight?”

We’re not even gonna mention the things Lu Bu says, but let’s just say he’d end up in HR for sure. As long as you don’t take Dynasty Warriors Origins too seriously, it’s a fun time.

The upside to Dynasty Warriors Origins’ interactions comes in the form of quests, which lets players earn additional skill points.

Two leveling systems are found in Dynasty Warriors Origins, one of which is tied to a weapon. Each time you get a new level in a weapon, your character gets a level and gets a slight stat boost.

Get enough levels, and players will unlock new skill trees – do the math.

From there, players can go out, do the quests, kill hundreds of enemies, get skill points, and boom; fill up that tree.

Dynasty Warriors Origins’ leveling system is simple, but works well. A slow build-up at first, it eventually got to the point where we felt strong – and eventually powerful.

Unfortunately, since Dyansty Warriors Origins does end at Chi Bi, you don’t get a ton of main character deaths.

In turn, p[layers will fight the same enemies over and over again, even more so than you’d do in a typical Dynasty Warriors game.

There’s also a lot of stuff going on during Dynasty Warriors Origins’ missions, so sometimes you get spammed with alerts that pause the game. Despite this, there is a setting to make them less frequent or turn them off completely.

However, doing so leads to the risk of missing key moments that could cost you the level.

On the other hand, leaving Dynasty Warriors Origins’ alert system on light will stop players mid-combat – and sometimes even mid-combo. It only makes you want to scream slightly…until it happens 20 times.

Not sure what the solution is, but make it stop.

As a fan of the Dynasty Warrriors series since the PlayStation 2 era, I can confidently say that Dynasty Warriors Origins is the best mainline game in the series. Needless to say, I eagerly anticipate the release of a new Dynasty Warriors: Xtreme Legends.

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