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What is Dynasty Warriors Origins?

Did you know that the Yellow Turbans were numbered in the 2 million while the good guys, all together, were 350,000 and still won? That's amazing. Dynasty Warriors Origins is a new rebirth point for the series with better graphics, an overhaul to its gameplay, and new insight into the origins of the story. The game is based on the novel The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, which is based on events that happened in real life. Learning history is cool again!
The game has kept the root of the gameplay intact with the "I am a one-man army" basis. Still, before in other entries your enemies were fools who never had a chance of beating you, now there has been an increase in difficulty as officers are more dangerous, move across the map fast, and employ different strategies to control the battlefield. These changes keep the excitement that I love about Dynasty Warriors but add a challenge to spice things up. Rather than the traditional bases, units will create points of fight where they meet on the map and your allies can be taken out if left to fend for themselves for too long. You can even duel officers in intense 1vs1 and command your battalion of soldiers with tactics!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3411968482
There are a few weapons to use, and while it is a far cry from the amount other games in the series offer, each of them comes with their particular ranks, movesets, and skills that make them feel complete and complex. I like the sword the most because making a shadow clone is cool and the moves are flashy but other options such as the powerful Podao can obliterate enemies with huge cost moves or the Twin Pikes that allow you to dash across the field!

My Experience With Origins

I had a lot of fun with the game, and also my fingers hurt a lot *blows on fingers* phew those officers wouldn't go down...my hands! Pains aside, I am surprised the team went to so much effort when it comes to map variety and objectives that keep things fresh in the long run. I joined Cao Cao (cause I love Wei) and there were battlefields where you have to control 10 bases at the same time to beat Lu Bu or distract enemies with maneuvers. The game also requires focus to the objectives which I found enjoyable, rather than beating up everyone since some enemies can respawn forever or your allies require you to do things right in the moment as they cannot wait on you to wipe everyone off.
I found the story to be a trade-off. Gone is the emotional flair of previous games in the series, instead replaced by a more grounded tale that follows the historical events better than any other Dynasty Warriors game. That can be good or bad depending on your preferences. I played the game in English dubs and I think that while some voice actors are better than others, everyone did a solid job. The game also seems to be inspired by the 2010 TV show to some degree, as in some cases the same phrasing is used such as when Guan Yu is convinced by Zhang Liao to join Cao Cao temporarily.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3411969548
You can view my specs on my Steam profile, but I run a 4070 RTX Super, I was able to play the game on 4K with everything maxed out and above 60 FPS with no stutters. However, when there were too many soldiers on screen it would dip a decent amount into the 40-45 (rarely, we are talking about rivers of soldiers, oceans!). Another thing is that very few maps like Bowangpo of Wei VS Shu ran horribly during the majority of the fight for some reason, hovering around 20-30 FPS. That being said it was that map and another one only. The more you progress through the game the worse performance you will get (by a little) as battles get bigger and more elaborated so keep that in mind!

The Price of Dynasty Warriors Origins And It's Worth

For 70 bucks (angry gamers at the 10 increase incoming!) is very worth it, the game took me 20 hours to beat my first playthrough and I was rushing to do the main story mostly (I enjoy the meat of the game more than the grease aka side content). Taking this into account, the two other sides can pretty much give another 20-40 hours depending on whenever one rushes through the main plot or indulges in all kinds of content. Mind you, I say rush but I didn't skip any cinematics or story, and barely touched the side content thought.
For newcomers, an interesting game for sure...if you are curious about the setting the story takes place and enjoy action games such as Wo Long then there is something to be enjoyed here. To me, Origins is the perfect introduction to the series as it focuses more on the formations of the Three Kingdoms rather than their resolution of the conflict. You choose a hero that you like and get to see their success, their failure, their ambitions, and vision for the land. All while also enjoying tense and intense combat that is challenging and satisfying. I played half the game in medium difficulty and half in Historian difficulty, and let me tell you some battles can be challenging even in Historian!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3411969346
For veterans...is a touchy subject. You will either be delighted at the game's reinvention and a new take on making the foundation of combat better than its predecessors, or you will lament as be like "Why do I have to play as John Dynasty? Why I cannot control the other 40 characters and merely can temporarily use 3 different ones per playthrough?" I enjoyed the game a lot and I am happy with the direction they took, but I understand the other side, as sometimes I would see a pretty lady officer or an epic warlord and be like "Yeah, I cannot play as them, sigh...". Still, if you can move past the lack of options, there is a wonderful game here to get in and explore a side of Dynasty Warriors that has never been seen before.

Conclusion

Phew, trying to do good reviews is hard. Anyway, I am a long-time fan of Dynasty Warriors and it is my humble opinion that this game is the best in the series to date! (Don't hurt me Dynasty Warriors 4 and 5 enjoyers!) I didn't like Ziluan aka Wanderer's story {notice I never mentioned him in the review until now?} but everything else was perfect. Intense gameplay that requires skill, careful thinking, and insight as to how battles will play out to come out victorious makes for a perfect recipe when combined with a fantastic story and characters. Whenever you are a newcomer or a veteran, if you are still on the fence I recommend you give Origins a try and see for yourself what an amazing game it is.
10/10 MASTERPIECE
"The highest recommendation. There's no such thing as a truly perfect game, but these titles come close to it. These games are the hope of gaming and a true example for other developers to follow and learn from."
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