DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS is the latest entry in the long-running series from Koei Tecmo America and Omega Force, now on PlayStation 5. Learn more about it in our DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS review!
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS is the latest entry in the long-running series from Koei Tecmo America and Omega Force, now on PlayStation 5. The game will transport you to a long-gone age in which China found itself in turmoil during the Three Kingdoms era. It’s year 6 of the Guanghe era, and after a drought and inclement weather resulted in a devastating famine, the people were starving, without enough water or food to survive. With corrupt officers selling food and other resources for profit, you jump into action when one of them is about to slash at a young boy from the village. You’re a nameless hero who will not stand on the sidelines while the people suffer. Are you ready to take on this reboot? It has, after all, been almost 7 years since the last main entry in the series!
You can play through the game in one of three difficulty settings: Historian, Wayfarer, or Hero. Historian is the easiest of the three, and it will allow you to experience the game’s action without feeling overwhelmed, as you get to enjoy the story at your own pace. Wayfarer offers the standard experience, with thrilling fights that will test your skills in combat. As for Hero, it’s a difficulty setting reserved for those who don’t mind taking on brutal battles in which any mistake can lead to defeat. If you’re confident about your mastery and you have lots of experience with other Musuo games, then Hero is the one you want to choose.
From there, you’ll be able to use the Advanced Settings menu to fully tailor your experience. You can switch battle assistance between helpful, simplified, or none, set whether meat buns will automatically be consumed when picked up if your health is below a certain threshold, switch vibration between full experience, basic functions, or none, set the vibration intensity, activate or deactivate auto lock-on, have the camera automatically center in battle, change the HUD mode between the default or an immersive version, if the minimap will rotate to match the direction of your character, if officers should be highlighted, switch the size for subtitles, switch if you want to Prioritize Performance or Prioritize Graphics, set the frame rate, activate HDR if your display supports it, and more.
Once you jump into action, you’ll control your character with the left analog stick, as you use the right analog stick to move the camera around as needed. Attack with the Square button, and use a strong attack with the Triangle button. Jump by pressing the X button. Lock-on by pressing in on the right analog stick, so that you can focus your attention on an enemy. Block by pressing the L1 button. The good news is that if you time it just right, you’ll be able to parry the attack, leaving your opponent open to a counterattack. Press the L1 button and the Triangle button for a special strong attack. You can’t block or parry all attacks, so for those with a special glow, you’ll have to press the R2 button to evade.
You can also use a strong attack while evading so that you can deal some damage while avoiding your enemies’ attacks. When possible, call your horse by pressing in on the left analog stick. You can zoom in on the minimap by pressing down on the D-Pad so that you can get a better view of your surroundings. Select a portable item by pressing left and right on the D-Pad, and use it by pressing up. Change between characters by pressing the Touchpad on the DualSense so that you can make the most of each of your ally’s skills.
Press the Circle button for a Musuo attack. This is a mighty strike that will deal considerable damage to your opponents over a wide area. You can also use Battle Arts by pressing the R1 button and the corresponding face button once you’ve filled up the meter below your character’s health. These are massive attacks that can certainly help to turn the tide of battle, especially when you’re outnumbered! And then we have the Musou Rage. This is a special state you can enter by pressing in on the left and right analog sticks, which will allow you to deal a ton of damage to enemies over a short period of time. Your final option for winning is using your Musou Ultimate, which is limited in use – as to balance things out – since it will strike all enemies around you for what is basically an instant K.O. for regular opponents.
The inn will act as a base during your travels. You’ll be able to read letters that arrive from time to time so that you can learn more about what is going on in the world. This will sometimes lead to being able to advance the story a bit further. You can also prepare for upcoming battles by reviewing your weapons and accessories. Weapons are your main mode for dealing damage to enemies. Accessories are useful items that can improve your stats, which can make a big difference in the long run. Having some extra health or being able to deal more damage is definitely appreciated! You should also save your progress at the inn.
As you defeat enemies with your weapons, you’ll gain proficiency for each one of them. And as your proficiency improves, you’ll gain access to new Battle Arts and combos. You’ll also gain a rank level whenever your proficiency increases, which will increase your character’s health, attack, and defense stats. Something else to keep in mind is that the gold that you obtain as a reward can be used to purchase stuff at the weapon shop. Add some new weapons to your arsenal and prepare for battle with different weapon types to hopefully outpower your enemies. There are also portable items for purchase. Get some Stamina Powder to restore your Bravery or a Fortitude Pill to boost your defense by 100% for a limited time!
Put them to good use as you take on the many skirmishes you can find around the map. These are smaller fights against enemy remnants and bandits that can still be useful for obtaining some rewards. You can also take on missions to aid the cause. Missions are medium-scale battles that will be a bit more demanding, but your rewards will exceed those of skirmishes. Along with additional Skill Points, you can also receive accessories that will help your odds of victory. Something else to work on is the different training opportunities that some officers will offer you. Completing the training will grant you more Skill Points while also deepening your relationship with each officer.
Reaching new ranks with your weapons will give you access to more skill panels, where you can spend the Skill Points you obtain. What will you get a chance to obtain at each of the skill panels? You can receive an attack amplifier to boost your attack strength, add a defense fortifier to boost your defense, add new special Battle Arts to your repertoire, boost your overall health, gain a very valuable Chain Evasion skill, which will allow you to evade repeatedly, or a handy Meat Bun Glutton skill that will make it possible for you to carry more health recovering meat buns. There are many ways for you to customize your character’s upgrades, so be sure to find the right path for your strategy and playing style!
By collecting pyroxene, you’ll be able to create gems, which are a special type of accessories. You can do this using the inn’s Create Gems menu option. One pyroxene can be used to create one gem. There are five possible gem types for you to create, and if you obtain a gem of the same type, then that gem will be upgraded! Due to their power, you can only equip one gem at a time. What can you get when you equip a gem? Some of the possibilities include having your attack range expanded, activating a 30% chance to automatically block an attack from an enemy officer, boosting damage dealt to enemies with parries by 10%, or increasing the damage dealt to enemies that have been launched up in the air.
And now, it’s trophy time! This PlayStation 5 game has a full trophy list with a shiny Platinum trophy for you to add to your collection. The list is split into 28 Bronze trophies, 12 Silver trophies, and 3 Gold trophies. Many of the trophies are of the hidden variety since they’re tied to the game’s story, so I won’t be spoiling them here. As for the rest of the trophies, some of the objectives to complete include completing all missions, requests, and training, fully upgrading a weapon, obtaining all weapons and accessories, collecting 100 pyroxene, obtaining all horses, leading a unit of 30 or more soldiers, defeating 200,00 enemies, winning 30 skirmishes, winning 10 duels, winning a battle with 9 different companions, using every battle art, and unlocking all stories and records, completely restoring peace to every region, to name some examples.
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS is the latest entry in the long-running series, and it will soon land on PlayStation 5. The game will transport you to a long-gone age in which China found itself in turmoil during the Three Kingdoms era. It’s year 6 of the Guanghe era, and after a drought and inclement weather resulted in a devastating famine, the people were starving, without enough water or food to survive. With corrupt officers selling food and other resources for profit, you jump into action when one of them is about to slash at a young boy from the village. You’re a nameless hero who will not stand on the sidelines while the people suffer.
Are you ready to take on this reboot? It has, after all, been almost 7 years since the last main entry in the series! The game makes good use of the PlayStation 5 hardware to push thousands of enemies at you for the larger battlefield areas with armies duking it out. It’s certainly the best-looking entry in the DYNASTY WARRIORS series, and it also implements haptic feedback thanks to the DualSense controller’s features. You’ll be spending dozens of hours playing this one, so you’ll definitely get a lot of bang for your buck.
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS launches on PlayStation 5 on January 17 with a $69.99 price tag. There’s also the DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS Digital Deluxe Edition for $89.99, which, along with the base game, includes:
– Protagonist’s costume “Nameless Warrior Garb”
– Early Works Soundtrack Collection (Digital Edition)
– Official Book (Digital, Japanese)
– Letters
Disclaimer
This DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Koei Tecmo America.
