Dynasty Warriors: Origins - A Soft Reset Of The Franchise

By https://wccftech.com/dynasty-warriors-origins-preview/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78449045

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the latest entry in the Dynasty Warriors video game franchise, and this was a game I alluded to in my Dynasty Warriors tribute post as wanting to play. I am glad Koei Tecmo did not release a Dynasty Warriors 10 because the franchise was getting stale. To me, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a representation of a soft reset of the franchise, like what the God of War franchise went through in 2018. I wanted to know if Dynasty Warriors: Origins was the reinvention that the franchise sorely needed.

In previous mainline Dynasty Warriors games, the entirety of the Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms was the basis of those games, but Dynasty Warriors: Origins does things differently. DW: Origins only cover the first half of the novel, but the game makes up for this by offering a deeper, enriching, and more thorough story within the game. There are a ridiculous number of cut-scenes in this game, and even if the cinematography can get a bit stale, all the characters from the Wei, Shu, Wu, and other factions get their profile and shine in this game.
 
You play as a mysterious, mostly-silent protagonist as you play through the story and ultimately must choose between the three main factions to support going forward. The biggest flaw in Dynasty Warriors: Origins is how bland the protagonist is. This is a game that would benefit so much from customizing your own protagonist instead of forcing a cookie-cutter, personality-less protagonist for us to play with. Also, give the protagonist some voice lines in the cut-scenes to go along with the dialogue choices just to give him some personality.
 
The combat in Dynasty Warriors: Origins feels just as satisfying as previous Dynasty Warriors games with the hack-and-slash gameplay, but there some deeper combat and customization mechanics in this game that I appreciate. You have a solid list of weapons that you can use on the battlefield, each with their own basic, strong, and special attacks that you can use. When you fight an enemy officer, you simply cannot mash the attack button, because they can easily counter you. You must implement guarding, parrying, and dodging in your arsenal to be successful, so there is an element of much-needed strategy. There are many things you can customize to set up your character in battle as well, such as which weapon to choose, which special attacks to use, as well as power-ups, consumables, and squad tactics. One thing I thought was cool is in many of the battles, you can get a prompt to rush against the enemy with your forces like you are in a grand war.

The graphics in Dynasty Warriors: Origins look good on the PS5 hardware, but I would not call it best-in-class by any stretch. One thing I was also concerned with is the frame rate. Having hundreds of soldiers on you screen fighting each other can be demanding on your console or PC. I will say that my PS5 performed admirably, though there were some slowdowns on the frame rate when fighting truly large forces. I have a special mention of the music, which are a mix of original songs and remixes of classic DW songs with the familiar hard-rock sound.
 
Overall, it is safe to say that Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the best game in the Dynasty Warriors franchise, and it represents a fresh new direction that the franchise can take. The presentation of the story and the deep combat mechanics are strong highlights of the game, but I would have liked to see a much more engaged protagonist. Sure, this game is repetitive, but when you can mow down many soldiers with the swing of your weapon, this feels like the best kind of repetitive. This was a delight to play, and I am excited for the next installment.