The idea of huge battles with armies clashing with the player swinging their sword through throngs of orc-like enemies has always been the big draw of Musou games, to me at least. Koei Tecmo has evolved the Dynasty Warriors series in recent years, as well as made key partnerships with big publishers for crossover Musou games. Their work on the Zelda series has attracted a whole new audience. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment combine some of the most addictive parts of both series, and the Musou experience has benefited from the crossover.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is an evolution of those games, with an intense story, highly evolved gameplay, and superb presentation. The question is — Is Dynasty Warriors: Origins the ultimate Musou game?
The Peak of the Franchise – Story
The Dynasty Warriors games are inspired by Chinese history and folklore, while the Samurai Warriors games are generally inspired by Japanese history and folklore. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is set during the Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga. This widely read ancient Chinese story, founded in history and truth, is from over a millennium ago, and many modern and retro video games take inspiration from it. In Origins, rather than choosing a historical hero as the protagonist, you play as a customizable fictional hero that is nifty on the battlefield. The story is told mainly through cutscenes where the player chooses responses to questions posed by other military figures.
The fact that you play as a fictional character placed in this scenario gives the story leeway to do its own thing. The story and choices are engaging and exciting, and the presentation in general is on another level compared to other, older Musou games. Then you explore a landscape-style map between battles to visit towns, fight bandits, collect rewards, and more. The map exploration reminds me a bit of Rome: Total War. It has that feeling of conquest and progression, and it totally works.
Fun Hack ‘n’ Slash Action – Gameplay
The meat and potatoes of any Musou game is the gameplay. Dynasty Warriors: Origins has all the bells and whistles of titles like Age of Calamity. B jumps, Y is a light attack, and X is a heavy attack, while R1 plus a button uses a battle art. Then you can do a number of combos and special moves. There are also a couple of meters that fill up, and when full, they allow you to let loose a very powerful move that kills everything around you. I’m not an expert in terms of terminology, but you don’t have to be with Musou games generally. Once you learn how to play, you remember the controls and how to win with or without knowing the terminology. There are three difficulty settings, and generally, the early battles are easy, and they get progressively more difficult, like other recent Musou games.
In terms of tactics, you need to keep aware of the map, where your generals are, and victory/defeat conditions. When you kill an enemy commander, the action goes in slow motion, and it is a cool effect. There are numerous enemy commanders in the big battles. The tactical aspect of the game is fun, but can be a little simplistic and easy. There are also new gameplay elements, such as what look like zombie or ghost soldiers that thrive on purple smoke. Destroying the source of the purple smoke converts the ghost soldiers into regular enemies and allows you to progress. Overall, the gameplay is certainly refined from other newer Musou games, and combined with the great presentation and graphics, it gives the title a premium feel.
Great visuals that can be a bit bland
Dynasty Warriors: Origins was first released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam on January 17, 2025. Then, around a year later, the title was released on Switch 2 on January 22, 2026. Here I’ve reviewed the title on Switch 2 and have had no previous experience with Origins. Being originally a PS5 game, the game undoubtedly suffered some tweaking to get it to run on Switch 2. However, it is one of the best-looking and best-running Switch 2 games that I’ve played yet. The game runs with a smooth frame rate even when hundreds of enemies are getting sliced and diced on screen.
On top of this, textures look incredibly detailed, and colors look rich and deep, specifically the dark colors like blacks and blues. The game definitely performs well on Switch 2. However, Dynasty Warriors: Origins can look quite generic, and if it wasn’t for the fact that it is a “next-gen” title, I sometimes doubt whether it looks that different compared to other games in the series. That is a problem of style and sometimes I think a more stylized approach would have added to the experience.
Summary
Overall, Dynasty Warriors: Origins on Switch 2 is a Musou game that is full of new moves and abilities just like the recent Musou crossover games, such as Age of Calamity/Age of Imprisonment, and Persona 5 Strikers. The title’s story follows the Romance of the Three Kingdoms legend, and this story is told to the player through slick cutscenes and an explorable map, where player choice is a big part in discovering the story. However, Origins is still a Musou title and this means that it is limited by the sometimes overly simplistic gameplay, mindless hacking and slashing, and often bland character designs.
Although the graphics could sometimes be described as bland, the game runs very well on Switch 2, and the visuals really “pop” which goes a long way to make up for a lack of style. For a “next-gen” Musou game, the title is certainly impressive. Is Dynasty Warriors: Origins the pinnacle of the Musou games? In a lot of ways, it is. However, I think it comes down to whether you prefer the crossover games, where emphasis is certainly on story (especially with the Zelda Musou games), or you want a super-charged Musou experience that maximises the core of what these games are. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a fun hack ‘n’ slash experience that is highly recommended if you enjoy the Musou sub-genre.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is out now on Nintendo Switch 2. It is also available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
