Koei Tecmo has officially announced a release date for Dynasty Warriors: Origins. The upcoming reboot, which does away with the series’ traditional numbering, will take players back to ancient China next year on January 17, 2025.
The Japanese publisher has also given fans an in-depth look at Dynasty Warriors: Origins at TGS 2024, uploading a 23-minute gameplay preview with producer Tomohiko Sho that shows off a slew of exciting new features. You can watch in full here:
A quick look at Origins and you’ll realize that this isn’t a grand departure from the established Musou game template. “1 vs. 1,000” hack-and-slash combat is still its beating heart, though developer Omega Force is looking to revamp its outdated combat system with some welcome tweaks and additions.
Combat aims for a more cinematic feel, giving players more defensive and strategic options in between bouts of frenzied button bashing. As the unnamed protagonist of Origins, you can use your allies’ grunts and activate tactical abilities to give you the upper hand.
Of course, you’ll still spend most of your time traversing entire rows of enemy soldiers, watching their lifeless ragdoll bodies flung across the screen. By doing this you earn courage which you can then spend on unleashing Arts – special moves that change depending on the weapon you have equipped.
One change we are especially looking forward to is the increased threat from enemy officers. In Dynasty Warriors: Origins they look more terrifying, cloaked in a powerful aura that must be reduced before you can finish them off. Some battles trigger duels that prompt all nearby troops to form a makeshift arena around the player and their opponent. The introduction of a parry move should also add a much-needed layer of defense to the Musou fight.
The last main game in Koei’s flagship franchise didn’t do so well. 2018’s Dynasty Warriors 9 was intended to mark a radical change in direction, abandoning the conventional mission-based structure for a sprawling open world design. While it had some interesting ideas, the overall execution was poor and neglected a core part of Dynasty Warriors that needed improvement: the combat.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam.
Source: press release