Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a refreshing tackle the legendary sequence

Within the doldrums of winter, I’ve reached for consolation media — which, for me, means Chinese language historic dramas. And whereas the flowery costumes and overly candy romances are gratifying, generally a woman needs one thing with a bit extra enamel. Dynasty Warriors: Origins has given me precisely what I wanted.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins, developed by Koei-Tecmo’s Omega Power, adapts the well-known Chinese language historic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms into knock down, drag out, 1 vs 100 model battles. That is the tenth sport within the sequence, coming at a time when the Dynasty Warriors franchise had gotten a popularity for being stale. In spite of everything, there’s solely so many instances you may retread the identical story with the identical characters and the identical basic gameplay with out getting one notice. Dynasty Warriors: Origins, nonetheless, is a welcome refreshment over its predecessors.

After releasing Dynasty Warriors 9 in 2018, Omega Power took a break from the sequence to work on licensed video games like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Persona 5 Strikers, and Fireplace Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. That detour via video games that I felt had been wonderful purposes of Omega Power’s model of hack-and-slash motion gave the studio the brand new perspective it wanted to come back again to its signature franchise and shake shit up.

In Origins, as a substitute of bouncing between totally different characters throughout sure battles as you had in earlier video games, you witness the story via a single character named the Wanderer. You haven’t any reminiscence of your self, and as you progress, you slowly regain your recollections and particular powers. The Wanderer can use any sort of weapon, which is one other welcome change from earlier video games that locked weapons to a sure character. Every weapon has skills you unlock via continued use, and the Wanderer himself has abilities and perks he unlocks through talent bushes.

Fight in Origins is easy to get the grasp of. You’ve got a lightweight assault and a heavy assault that may be modified through the use of your dodge or leap. There’s additionally a set of skills that devour a useful resource known as “bravery” that you simply earn by touchdown hits in your opponent. Lastly, there’s block and parry mechanics and an final capability known as “musou” used once you’re impossibly surrounded or must put additional harm on an enemy basic.

Whereas this all appears like your customary hack-and-slash sport, I used to be happy Origins made me work for my victories. Even on the usual problem and with years of expertise taking part in Warriors video games, I couldn’t simply blindly hack my method via enemies. Generals hit surprisingly onerous, and if I wasn’t utilizing my varied skills to mitigate or counter their assaults, they’d repeatedly generate shields I’d must preserve chewing via to take them down. Sadly, your allied generals, whose deaths can lead to an automated loss, are product of tissue paper, so the longer enemy generals are alive, the upper your likelihood is of dropping a battle.

Battles happen on giant, winding maps full of bases to take over and enemy generals to defeat. Although defeating the enemy chief whereas conserving your personal leaders alive is mostly the one win situation, I liked being a completionist. Once I obtained a panicked cry for assist from my allies, it was enjoyable speeding to their protection even when serving to didn’t make the battle finish sooner. It made me really feel like an enormous rattling hero. And isn’t that the entire level of a sport that permits you to battle alongside the legendary characters of Chinese language historical past?

Enjoying the hero is the very best half about Origins and what’s been sorely lacking from the franchise. Earlier video games had been burdened with pointless techniques just like the atrocious, poorly-paced open world of Dynasty Warriors 9 or the no-thoughts, head-empty button mashing of Dynasty Warriors 8. However in Origins, executing a particular capability pulled you into an elaborate cutscene with animations that appear like they had been ripped straight out of a wuxia movie. My decisions within the sport’s story moments let me construct relationships with characters I’ve liked a lot throughout so many various mediums.

I do perceive different critiques’ criticisms of the Wanderer. As a personality he has no persona to talk of, and his quest to regain his recollections isn’t compelling. However I can simply overlook that as a result of that is Dynasty Warriors. All I’m right here for, and what this sport has given me in spades, is to eat meat buns and pursue Lu Bu — and I’m all out of meat buns.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is out now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.