DYNASTY Warriors is best known for starting its own genre, and now there are dozens of musou games for almost every popular IP.
While the original series made a misstep with Dynasty Warriors 9 back in 2018, it’s coming back swinging with a series prequel, Dynasty Warriors: Origins
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It almost feels like the most successful musou series have had an influence on Origins, and it makes sense when you see that developer Omega Force has had involvement in so many of them.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity allows you to use the Sheikah Slate’s abilities to counter enemy attacks and stay on the offensive.
Origins has similar counter moves that make enemies vulnerable to combos. The game is full of combo tweaks like this which feel inspired by other popular musou series.
This experimentation with new mechanics has allowed the series to feel fresher than it has in a decade.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is fully taking advantage of today’s more powerful hardware.
Omega Force claimed it wanted to show 10k enemies on screen at the same time, and when compared to other games in the series, you can definitely see – and feel – the increase in enemies.
It can feel claustrophobic as you can’t clip through enemies like you do in other games, but it feels incredible when you pull off attacks that knock back hundreds of enemies at once.
You can charge through crowds on horseback and watch the enemies fly away, and yet the boss fights still make the crowds feel like a challenge.
Officers can make standard soldiers intimidating as they bombard you with arrows or charge you with spears.
The tactics they call for are surprisingly effective and can cut your combos, really upping the difficulty.
However, you can also use these tactics by ordering your own soldiers, but if you want to take all of the fame for yourself, Origins is perfectly completable without taking advantage of this.
Allies help you out by independently taking bases and moving slowly towards your goal, but you will often have to jump in to help.
It’s your standard musou strategy where you constantly keep an eye on your mini-map to make sure you don’t miss anyone who needs your attention.
You can side with whichever faction you think will best help you keep the peace, and taking on the mercenary role will allow you to try them all out before you swear your allegiance.
Origins also has a fancy 3D overworld, where chibi characters travel between points, showing you where each battle takes place.
It also does a good job of showing you what’s to come as you get excited to battle at a mountain temple you see in the distance.
You can also take on optional battles while on the road and even take part in one-on-one duels against enemy officers.
They’re always short, but with simple rewards only hardcore fans will want to take part in them.
It does provide characterisation to some of the other unique warriors and lets you learn just a little bit more about the world.
The most important part of the gameplay loop is that you always feel like you’re progressing towards your main goal.
You’re always getting stronger, you’re able to take on stronger and stronger fights, and you always become a bigger threat to others.
The musou genre has always been tarnished by repetition as you take on the same style of battle over and over.
That’s no different with Dynasty Warriors: Origins, but at least the battles feel incredibly satisfying.
The popularisation of the genre has allowed more experimentation, making Origins a refreshing reboot for the Dynasty Warriors series.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins launches on January 17 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
If you want to read more gaming reviews, check out our Freedom Wars Remastered review.
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