Dynasty Warriors: Origins – I’ve never seen battles this epic in a game before

Galloping on my faithful horse, I charge into battle. Hundreds of enemies armed with sabres, spears and deadly catapults are waiting ahead of me. Behind me, I hear shouts of encouragement and the loud trampling of my cavalry.

I use my horse to ram annoying enemies out of my way. After all, I want to get to the centre of the enemy force as efficiently as possible in order to «clean up» from there. When I reach the middle of the enemy troops, I leap off my horse with a somersault and slaughter my way through the endless flood of baddies with my Podao sword. I mow down dozens of enemies with one normal blow, and I can easily eliminate hundreds of soldiers at once with special attacks.

Situations like these occur on a regular basis in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. After eliminating entire armies almost single-handedly, I feel like an overpowered god of war.

A power struggle in ancient China

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is now the ninth mainline game in this long-running Japanese hack’n’slash series following the «one vs. a thousand» game principle. Numerous spin-offs (such as The Legend of Zelda or Persona) aren’t included in this figure.

According to developer Omega Force, Origins is intended to serve as both a new beginning for the series and an entry point for newcomers. The reboot retains the historical setting of its predecessors.

In the game, you take on the role of a nameless warrior with amnesia during the Chinese Three Kingdoms Period (circa 208 to 280 AD). Time and again, you’re drawn into conflicts between noble rulers, ruthless bandit gangs and revolutionary uprisings.

I quickly lose track of all the intrigue and power play across ancient China.

The characters, locations and battles depicted are based on true events, but are anything but historically accurate. I quickly lose track of all the intrigue and power play across this fictional ancient China. Alliances and rivalries change by the minute. In one battle I fight alongside the brilliant General Cao Cao, in the next mission I face him. Character motivations and their backgrounds are often only hinted at.

At least the story becomes a little more focused later on, since you have to choose one of three major alliances and fight exclusively alongside them from then on. Due to the unique missions each alliance has, the game also gains replay value.

The confusing story is told in short cutscenes between battles. Unfortunately, they often look less than spectacular with stiff animations and sound terrible.

The voice actors disappoint too with bland performances that often don’t match the drama of the scene. Still, Dynasty Warriors: Origins more than makes up for this shortcoming in presentation with its absolutely brutal battles.

Incredibly crazy massive battles

On the battlefield, you’re either on foot or on horseback. Before starting a battle, you can decide on a weapon that’ll stay with you throughout the fight. Unlike the other Dynasty Warriors games, you only control one character through the whole game. During your adventure, you can also unlock companions depending on the mission – note, you can only control them for a few seconds. Accordingly, there’s also no co-op mode. Pity.

You attack enemies with either normal or heavy attacks and combinations of both. Each weapon can perform four special attacks. You first have to charge them up by eliminating enemy soldiers, then you can bust them out. Still, there are some mini-bosses on the battlefield you can’t just clear away like so many mindless drones. For these stronger enemies, you have to concentrate and use perfectly timed blocks and counter-attacks.

The more baddies you eliminate, the higher your Musou bar rises. If it’s full, you can launch into crazy and completely devastating special attacks, using these to kill hundreds of enemies at once. Alternatively, you can activate Rage mode with a full bar, making you faster and stronger for a short time.

Slaughtering hordes of enemies is incredibly fun and feels truly satisfying. My highlights include situations like the one I described at the beginning of this article. Again and again, I encounter humongous (!) hordes of enemies spread across extensive areas. I get goosebumps when I look into the distance and see thousands of enemy soldiers, catapults and horses strategically positioned to guard a castle I’m tasked to take.

I’ve never seen such epic battles in a game.

In order to deal with this overwhelming horde of enemy soldiers, the game gives you the chance to launch coordinated attacks with your allies. Those moments when I gallop towards the enemy alongside my army while flaming arrows fly in our direction are breathtaking. I’ve never seen such epic battles in a game. Add to that a soundtrack with wild guitar riffs and my adrenaline really gets pumping. Wow, just wow.

Something I especially like: despite the huge number of enemy and allied soldiers, the game always runs smoothly on my PS5 Pro, even in moments like these.

A pinch of strategy within the chaos

Even if I control an overpowered super warrior on the battlefield, I can’t rely solely on my muscles. Time and again, the game forces me to slow down and take a strategic approach.

Before going into battle, you’re briefed about the initial situation by the warlords in charge in a «War Room». You receive information about the map, the objectives and the proposed strategy. In the War Room, you can also see where enemy bases are located. If you manage to take these, you’re rewarded with additional resources.

I usually take on the role of a jumper. During a battle, I’m also constantly informed about current events via the minimap. Time and again, I have to adapt my approach and rush to the aid of desperate allies in tricky situations under time pressure.

One wrong decision on my part can trigger a domino effect ending in defeat.

The more battles my army wins, the more motivated the troops become. If we lose bases and generals, motivation drops drastically. One wrong decision on my part can trigger a domino effect ending in defeat. In the aftermath of a lost battle, I can analyse its events in a replay. One cool feature: instead of having to restart failed missions from scratch, you can select checkpoints in the replay where you made the wrong decisions and start again.

As the game progresses, increasingly complex strategic challenges arise during battles, and you can tackle them with new, unlockable game mechanics. Over time, I become a general myself and command my own mini-army at the touch of a button. They support me with both offensive or defensive manoeuvres.

The quick game pace is really exciting

I generally like the fast pace at which Dynasty Warriors: Origins is played – especially at the start of my adventure. I’m constantly unlocking new items and gameplay elements. No sooner have I got used to one weapon than the next one follows. The best thing about this: all nine unlockable weapons are really cool – I can’t decide on a favourite. I played the Wheels the most – two razor-sharp, well, wheels I can shoot across the battlefield like boomerangs.

Progress and unlocking new abilities are tied to your weapon skills. The more enemies you kill with a weapon, the more new skill trees with unlockable abilities open up. This provides additional motivation to experiment with different weapon types and ensures variety in battles.

Short, relaxing breaks in the overworld are good for the flow of the game.

Between battles, the game gives you a little time to catch your breath in the cute miniature overworld. In this picturesque setting, you can visit towns, collect items and prepare for your next battle in weapon stores. You can also discover side missions with a few ultra-short battles and optionally talk with your allies in the overworld. These short, relaxing breaks in the overworld are good for the flow of the game.

Despite the variety provided by the many unlockable weapons and welcome breaks in the overworld, Dynasty Warriors: Origins sometimes feels tiring towards the end of the 25-hour campaign. Main mission battles get bigger, more complex and more spectacular – but their mission design hardly changes. Whether you have to take a castle, defeat three bosses or escort someone – at the end of the day, you always do the same thing: smash through thousands of enemies.

It feels like I’m just riding the same rollercoaster over and over again. It’s still fun after the twentieth time, but that «wow» feeling from the start wears off. In the last story chapter at the latest, I’d have liked to see a bit more creativity in the design for the main missions.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins will be available from 17 January for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The game was provided to me by Koei Tecmo for the PS5.