Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the latest entry in one of the most classically beloved franchises that became a core memory for the PS2 era of gamers. The series hit a historical low with the widely negative response to Dynasty Warriors 9 and its open-world take on the franchise. However, Dynasty Warriors: Origins aims to truly return to its origins and revitalize this IP. From the looks of it, they’ve achieved what they set out to do.
So, let’s get on with our spoiler-free review of Dynasty Warriors: Origins, where we discuss what’s changed, what works, what still needs tweaking, and, most importantly, whether it is as fun as the games you might remember from almost a decade ago.
A new gameplay structure
Instead of opting for the open map structure attempted in the previous entry, Dynasty Warrior: Origins opts for a return to level-based encounters but with the addition of the world map, which might be familiar to many returning players. The main character, a powerful warrior who has lost his memories, is free to roam the various provinces as they unlock, quelling rebellions and completing optional objectives in each region as he goes.

Combat scenarios have also been divided into three different kinds of encounters. Firstly, you have the lengthier story missions, which are full-scale battles, then you have the optional medium-sized encounters that can last anywhere from 10-20 minutes, and lastly, you have the repeating minor encounters that will last 5 minutes each.
As for the story, you can expect a more self-contained experience as Dynasty Warriors: Origins attempts to cover only the events leading up to the establishment of the three Kingdoms. You’ll see many familiar faces and actually spend a reasonable amount of time with characters as the more contained experience allows individuals to become fleshed out. There’s a dedicated companion affinity system, and most of the several dozen characters have strong personalities. Note that you can’t customize the actual main character in any way, which could be a turn-off for some.

Rejoice! It’s not broken on launch!
Unlike the recent trend of AAA titles that launch in a buggy and unoptimized state, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is actually fairly well-polished, and we did not experience major performance issues throughout the 20 or so hours of gameplay we had on an RTX 3070 setup playing at 2K.
Despite initial skepticism, especially with the game’s ambitious target of displaying over 10,000 enemies on screen at a time for the grand battles, Dynasty Warriors: Origins actually delivers a smooth and fluid experience. There’s the occasional jank and some minor bugs, but the majority of the experience is polished.
What makes this even more impressive is the fact Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a step up in terms of graphics compared to everything that has come before it. I won’t claim that the graphics are mind-blowing, but there’s a good amount of detail in the battlefields, enemy models, and visual effects that make the experience alive and immersive.

Another incredibly immersive aspect of the game is the well-designed soundtrack which deserves its laurels. From the more aggressive battle tunes to the calmer ones in other parts of the game, they really shine through in every part of the game and help give this tale its epic and grandiose feeling. The SFX design also deserves praise for how it’s made to tingle that specific part of your brain with every cool move you pull off.
The gameplay can be addictive
Now, let’s get into the actual meat of the subject. The core of any Dynasty Warriors game is the combat and whether it’s mind-numbing or genuinely engaging. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is actually a mixed bag on this front, but not in the way you might think. Basically, the combat is very fluid; every single action is designed to trigger your dopamine receptors, and it’s fairly well thought out overall.
However, the drawback of a 1v100-style game is that it can become way too easy and button-mashy, which really impacts the enjoyment you’ll derive from the combat after playing for a while. However, if you truly wish to enjoy this game, you should turn the game up to the highest difficulty for a much more engaging experience.

Turning up the difficulty forces you to engage with all of the game’s mechanics rather than, as fun as it is, tearing through thousands of soldiers with ease. Not only will you be required to actually master your weapons and learn the flow of combat against tough enemies and entire armies, but you’ll also have to think about each engagement strategically and in terms of resources.
Pay attention to the war councils, protect your leaders, counter enemy strategies, execute grand tactics, and think about where your presence is most needed around the map to master the art of war. While the options to command your forces are limited, there’s enough in here to make you approach battles like a powerful military general leading their armies and hunting down key enemy targets that keep getting stronger.

Speaking of weapons, there are ten different weapons, including swords, spears, gauntlets, wheels, and greatswords. Most of these weapons have simple but polished movesets with satisfying animations for parries, executes, skills, and combo attacks. Each weapon can be mastered and breathes its personality into the combat as you unlock and learn new combos and skills while progressing the weapon’s skill trees. The RPG elements let you get better weapons, swap skills, accessories, and even horses. In fact, you can change weapons during a battle to apply different tactics for different types of encounters.
You’ll also have your trusty companions who you can choose and briefly play as during several story quests. However, this feature isn’t fully fleshed out, and most of your time will be spent playing just the MC, which is a shame considering how cool many of the side characters are. On the other hand, most of the non-companion allies will probably give you a headache as you babysit them around the battlefield, but that is the only way to become a one-man army.

I haven’t spoken in-depth about the accessory mechanics, horse riding, and other systems. Not because they don’t matter, but the game has several ideas that it throws in there but doesn’t commit to fleshing out too much. There’s a certain lack of depth in many of these ideas, which takes away from the overall experience, but we’d say it’s all a step in the right direction.
Our Verdict
While I’ve only played the first three chapters of the game so far, it has been an extremely fun experience that hasn’t become cumbersome. With that being said, I still can’t give it a 100% go-ahead with the $70 for the average player. However, if you’re a fan of hack-and-slash action games or someone who likes the franchise, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a step up and revitalization for the franchise like none before it. However, if you’re still on the fence, it’s definitely worth considering if you can find it on sale!
It’s clear that the developers are trying to take the franchise in a different direction and testing the waters right now to see what works and what doesn’t. With a strong enough reception, we’ll probably see future Dynasty Warrior titles improve based on the feedback from Origins.

- Step up in graphics and performance
- Engaging and polished combat
- RPG and companion mechanics make progression meaningful
- Some systems aren’t fleshed out yet
- Too easy on the default difficulty due to repetition
- Not for anyone who doesn’t enjoy hack n slash-action RPGs
Published: Jan 13, 2025 06:00 am