Dynasty Warriors: Origins Review – An Appreciative Revival of the Series

Dynasty Warriors is one of the most adored hack-and-slash video game series, loved by millions of fans around the world. The fighting and combat maneuvers, combined with astonishing visual presentations that enhance the overall experience, are some of the many key factors of this series. This series has been in play for almost 30 years, and recently, the tenth installment of the game, Dynasty Warriors: Origins, came out. Since the beginning of this series, every game has been loved exceptionally by the fans, except Dynasty Warriors 9 which came out in 2018. Now, after seven years of hard work and provoking thoughts put into the new installment, Omega Force has revived the series with Dynasty Warriors: Origins and this is our review of Dynasty Warriors: Origins.

Story

Similar to the previous titles of Dynasty Warriors, Dynasty Warriors: Origins story is based on a Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The narrative goes much deeper into the story in this latest installment as you will start around the era of “The Yellow Turban Rebellion”. From here, you will get to witness all the major events all the way up to the “Battle of Chibi”.

In this new look of the narrative, the game grants you the control of a Nameless hero who has lost his memories. You will get to play the first half of the narrative of the game in a linear flow. Accomplishing victories and winning battles. Almost halfway through the game, you will get to choose between joining a faction from three legendary factions of heroes. Choosing one will let you pursue the story further. The decision to choose the faction on your own and alter the story as you desire is a crucial step in an RPG-style game.

However, one of the disappointing things that most fans will uncover is the inability to use other legendary heroes and soldiers like in the previous titles. The game does allow you to switch to certain heroes and soldiers, but only in combat and for a short time. But, if you play the game in an RPG sense more than hack-and-slash, then you will come over the fact of not using other heroes. Moreover, the design of the story greatly increases the replayability of the game which I enjoy. As you complete the game for the first time, you can visit the chapters of the game to select the alternate faction and pursue its quest line.

Gameplay

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a Tactical Action third-person video game. It mainly includes the original hack-and-slash combat with RPG elements for the story and narrative. Unlike Dynasty Warriors 9, Origins is not an open-world game where you can explore the historical world. Instead, you will find your character moving over the world map to interact with several locations that the world has to offer. The locations include main mission locations, battlefields, side quests, challenges, and more.

However, even with this linear approach to the narrative, investing time in side activities like quests and challenges will help you level up your character, master weapons for new skills, and more. Speaking of weapons, there are 9 different types of weapons that you can acquire and use in Dynasty Warriors: Origin. Each weapon type has its own advantages and weaknesses. At the initial levels of the weapons, you will deal overall low damage. To be frank, the whole damage output from early game to mid-game would feel low to you only if you are expecting to see big chunks of damage on each hit.

However, with the skills you unlock for each weapon type, you can turn every weapon into an overpowered weapon to eliminate hordes of enemies in a single blow. Due to the diversity in weapon choices, the game does an exceptional job of providing you with the freedom to switch between weapons during combat. You can easily switch your strategy for handling a fight against hordes of enemies or a legendary hero (boss). Moreover, the game offers different fighting styles which you can improve by spending points in the skill tree. Investing in a certain fighting style that enhances the power of certain weapon types will help you greatly in combat.

Combat

Now, let’s talk about the greatest aspect of Dynasty Warriors: Origin, combat. The combat is exceptional in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. The devs have certainly put a great effort into making the combat both satisfying and responsive. From the basic attacking patterns and maneuvers to special abilities, the combat system does an amazing job of giving a tutorial to understand all mechanics. It helps both new and returning players learn the original hack-and-slash system and the new combat systems.

The basic attack patterns of using weapon attacks and mixing them with charged attacks to make a combo are more satisfying. Moreover, the defensive system in Origins feels more responsive allowing you to dodge and parry easily. Dodging and Parrying not only let you catch your opponent off-guard or counterattack them, but it also plays an important role in filling up the Bravery. Bravery is a new system in the Origins that allows you to use Battle Arts and abilities of the weapon.

On every hit, dodge, and parry, it will accumulate Bravery. With enough Bravery resource at your disposal, use it to unleash powerful attacks that can knock out hundreds of enemies at once. Moreover, while facing a tough enemy or a boss, using certain Battle Arts will also help you interrupt your opponent’s attack. It is a great feature to utilize and strategize around.

In addition to using Battle Arts and abilities, you can also switch to legendary soldiers and heroes in your army. The soldiers and heroes have more powerful attacks that can change the outcome of the war. However, it is only for a short time. Furthermore, you can also command the army for different actions like Cavalry Charge, Fire Arrows, and more.

Sound and Visuals

The Sound and music design of Dynasty Warriors: Origin is elite and it always enhances your experience of fighting thousands of enemies on a battlefield. All the sound queues of attacks, Battle Arts, and special abilities are on point and immerse you in eliminating the hordes of enemies. Moreover, the visual effects of the attacks and the characters are exceptional, making the attacks look promising and punishing. The graphics and effects of the characters outside of combat also look great. However, if you are planning to play this game in English, as I did, you might feel the English dub is a bit off. There are various occasions where the English dialogue takes unexpected pauses.

Verdict – Score 9/10

Dynasty Warriors: Origins has literally set the bar high with a great start to this year by offering the original hack-and-slash experience that millions of fans love. There are some new mechanics and narrative options like the inability to switch to other characters might upset some fans, but it is understandable from the RPG point-of-view. I really did not mind at all playing with my Nameless Hero and smashing down hundreds of thousands of enemies throughout the story. We definitely recommend you guys try out the new Dynasty Warriors: Origins, especially if you were upset with the previous installment. It will revive your love for the Dynasty Warriors series.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is now available on PC, PlayStations 5, and XBOX Series X/S.

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