Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Had quite a backlog of games from last year including "DW Origins" and the timing is tight, especially with Dynasty Warriors 3 Remastered Complete Edition release on October 1st. DW3 Remastered was previously region-locked in my country, so hope that issue gets resolved for upcoming Koei titles like Atelier Karia, AOT3, Wo Long 2, and BR Quartet. Koei Tecmo finally came to their senses after the odd experiment that was DW9 this feels like a true Musou game, but with a modern touch. As a fan who has played the series since the PS2 era, DW Origins feels like a highly successful apology letter for 2025. They ditched the tedious open-world concept of the previous game and returned to the classic "One Man Army" identity. The massive enemy count is a major highlight of DWO, creating an incredible war atmosphere especially when combined with the cinematic troop tactics mechanics. The combat system isn't just mindless "Square-Square-Triangle" button-mashing anymore, there are now responsive parry and perfect dodge mechanics. Even though you play as the same protagonist"The One and Only Ziluan". The weapon proficiency system kept me constantly switching weapons. Each weapon has a unique vibe and "Battle Arts" that make leveling them up fun. The optimization for the Steam version is incredibly solid. It runs smoothly even on handheld UMPCs like the ROG Ally X and Steam Deck, with a dedicated "Steam Deck" medium setting available in the DWO in-game menu. One downside is that can't free switch between dozens of characters right from the start like in older games characters like Guan Yu, Cao Cao, Zhang Fei, etc. I’m very interested in trying the "Visions of Four Heroes" DLC in the future, but right now, the price is steep almost half the cost of the base game. Hopefully, I can pick it up during the Autumn or Winter Sale with a 50–60% discount! lol 😂

Best gameplay out of any DW game I've played. They did an amazing job. New protagonist is cool ok backstory and they did a good job sticking him in this setting in a way that makes sense. Would've liked for other characters and the world to be more reactive to you, you're hard carrying every battle and you get the occasional "I'd expect nothing less from you" etc. and the occasional nod in some cutscenes but it feels a little lackluster. Character bonding/cutscenes are nice it made me care more about other officers I never cared abt in the other games. Good step in the right direction but can improve on this still as many games do it better. Story's dope you're hooked the whole time and good replayability as you're able to go back mid game(while keeping all your individual progress/weapons) and choose to side with Wu/Shu/Wei as well as smaller branches within Wu/Shu/Wei to change how some things go in their base ending and end up w/ a different "True ending" Origins breathe life into the DW franchise, I'm very happy with it. 8.8/10

One of the best single player musou games of all times as for me. (Yes, there's no P2) Yet again You take on a historical period of Yellow Turban Rebellion and Three Kingdoms, however, this time You play as Guardian of Peace instead of selected/forced on Officer. The game starts on Yellow Turbans and ends on the battle of red cliffs (Chi Bi), so there's no so much content of "three kingdoms" itself. Instead of having tons of weapons with more or less similar mechanics, You get more refined handful of weapons to play with, each more unique. Instead of rock-paper-scissors weapon system like in DW8, enemy officers have guard shields that You need to break in order to stop them from using Musou or gain chance to deal extra damage. Pros: + A lot of fresh air + Weapons are more refined + Ultimate Warrior difficulty + Remix of Eve as opening was a banger + I feel like a kid playing DW4 again + Partner "System", where in most battles one of officers follow You and fight alongside + Fate Alters (Lore) + Guardians of Peace are really cool concept + Audio, Visuals, Lu Bu is scary again + Uber Zhang Jiao phantom?, Yuanhua addition to story Cons: - "Short" story (3 paths Wu, Shu, Wei, fate alters don't give much of extra content) - Gauntlets weapon - For some players: "black rain glitch" on screen - Dialogue options don't really matter - Ziluan poor wardrobe - Unused potential of the game (there's DLC now tho mixed reviews) - Training quests are good to learn other weapons, but I hate'em - Enemy with maximum, unbreakable morale can spam musou - Fate alters (can't compare to hypotheticals from previous installments) No regrets, this game is easly top position in musou genre, shame there's no option to play it with someone. Worth it price.