Dynasty Warriors: Origins

1-vs-1,000 battles have never been more intense than in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have created a well-executed reboot of the action-strategy series. It was Koei Tecmo's second-strongest Steam launch to date.

Omega Force is known for its Musou games, hack-and-slash games with strategic/tactical elements in which one character faces hundreds or thousands of enemies at once. It all began in 1997 with Dynasty Warriors. To date, the franchise has sold over 21 million copies worldwide, and then there is Samurai Warriors, set in ancient Japan, which has sold over eight million copies. At the end of the last decade, these Warriors games were particularly successful in adapting the musou gameplay to other brands, most notably Hyrule Warriors, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Fire Emblem Warriors and later Persona 5 Strikers. The last entry in the main series, Dynasty Warriors 9 (2017), featured an open game world for the first time, as opposed to the usual structure of relatively large levels. However, this open world was not well received, so everything is back to the beginning.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is an interpretation of the traditional Three Kingdoms storyline, depicting ancient Chinese history - from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the Battle of Chibi. Through the eyes of a nameless hero, players must fight and make decisions to restore peace. The protagonist, who has lost his memories, throws himself into battle alongside the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, wiping out swarms of enemies. Players will also be able to fight alongside allied armies in tactical battles, and it feels like the enemies are a little more aggressive than in previous games.

In these 1 vs. 1,000 battles (a K.O. counter helps counting victories), players must master and alternate between quick and powerful attacks that can break an opponent's guard. Repeated attacks will increase the protagonist's "Bravery", allowing them to use powerful and unique attacks called "Arts", which are unique to each weapon. And then there are the mighty Mosou attacks, which will turn your character into an over-the-top one-man army. By blocking enemy attacks at the right moment, players can unleash a riposte that creates a gap in the enemy's defence. Some attacks cannot be blocked, so players will need to dodge them before countering. Overall, the combat system is very dynamic and powerful, even when you are not riding into battle on horseback. As well as using their own skills, players will need to charge forward with allies to clear the way.

To help players keep track of everything that's happening on the battlefield and not miss any strategically important action in the level, Dynasty Warriors: Origins has improved the way it communicates and displays what's happening, but a checkpoint system also ensures that you don't have to replay everything in the mission if a Game Over occurs. The bird's-eye view (Eyes of the Sacred Bird) also provides a handy overview, highlighting key elements for the battle. Another useful feature is the strategic briefing, which takes place before each mission and outlines the key Elements and choke points of a level. The developers promise that these are the largest armies in the history of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, but they are particularly keen to emphasise that "the overwhelming sense of realism of a battlefield where large armies of opposing sides meet, the exhilarating feeling of advancing with your allies and pushing up the battle line, and the thrill of striking down countless enemies."

The battles are linked by a well-designed world map where missions can be selected. Players can choose to quell rebellions or rescue government forces,  survive 'skirmishes' and visit various shops and locations where they can purchase weapons. Throughout their quest, players will also encounter a number of characters familiar from the franchise, such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei. Depending on the bond forged, these characters can become either travel companions or enemies. There are also numerous character progression and upgrade options, with ranks, weapon proficiency and skill trees, as well as various weapons, gems and accessories.

The game consists of five chapters. In the third, players must choose a kingdom (three options), after which the stories take different turns depending on the choice. Koei Tecmo estimates that a "quick" playthrough can take up to 30 hours, depending on the player's style. It may take up to 100 hours to complete the game if you want to see all the endings and complete all the side missions. There is a New Game + mode too.

"This is the most intense, most exhilarating gameplay in Dynasty Warriors franchise history. The sense of realism on the battlefield has never been greater!" - Tomohiko Sho, Dynasty Warriors: Origins producer and Head of Omega Force, Koei Tecmo Games

Dynasty Warriors: Origins was released on 17 January 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC via Steam. In Germany, publisher Koei Tecmo continues to rely on Plaion for the distribution of the physical console editions. The Steam launch was a huge success for Omega Force and Koei Tecmo. The game had over 10,000 concurrent players during the Advanced Access period and over 69,483 concurrent players (CCU) the weekend after launch. This is the second-best launch for Koei Tecmo after Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, which did better with nearly 76,000 CCU. This is quite impressive considering that the previous highest CCU for a Warriors game was under 4,000. However, the game's demo, which had over 10,000 CCU, may have also convinced many players. Unsurprisingly, the game is very popular in China, as can be seen from the user reviews, with almost 67.5% of all user reviews currently in Chinese. By the way, 0.58% of all user reviews are in German.

Conclusion

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a pleasant surprise and the best Musou game in a long time.

Features

• Intense, massive and dynamic battles
• Better game structure (than Dynasty Warriors 9) and a fairly large game scope
• Extensive character Progression