Whereas enjoying Dynasty Warriors Origins on the Swap 2, I used to be keenly conscious of the quantity of debate surrounding the sport’s body fee on Nintendo’s console within the run-up to its launch.
Sure, it is not a really good 60fps like on different platforms. Sure, that is a disgrace. however! Anybody who desires of a little bit little bit of unequalled insanity however would not soar resulting from this reality is critically going to shoot (or reduce) themselves within the foot. That is as a result of it is a really nice collection refresh that appears and performs nice on Swap 2, each in docked and handheld mode.
I’ve already performed it on the PS5 Professional, which launched in January 2025, and all issues thought of, I’ve completely no hesitation in recommending this Swap 2 port as wholeheartedly as its 60fps model. How can this occur when the body girder is halved? Effectively, with the ability to play it transportable is a big promoting level for a recreation that is good to take a seat by means of, so I will doubtless stick to this recreation on the Swap, and the body fee drop actually would not make a lot of a distinction in the true world. That is a kind of 30fps conditions the place you spend 10 minutes recalibrating and all the things works superb. It all the time feels clean and responsive.
Certain, Koei Tecmo has launched a “variable” unlock body fee toggle for customers to govern, however actually, we advocate leaving this toggle off to take pleasure in a persistently clean and completely exhilarating journey with out the little jerky noises it creates right here and there. Once more, there is not any have to distract from the story or the “1 vs. 1000” battle. What Dynasty Warriors: Origins brings is an epic refocus on the standard Musou whims, making it a really thrilling and trendy reboot.
Now that we have solved essentially the most urgent drawback, and we all know there is not any horrible picture blurring or horrible chopping, we are able to be happy to begin praising the various issues that this product does so nicely.
Anybody who is aware of me is aware of that I like Musou. And fortunately, there have been some nice Belters not too long ago, with the wonderful Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment popping out not too long ago. Nonetheless, on this recreation, Romance of the Three Kingdoms core of the franchise Lastly Get some much-needed TLC.
Musou video games, even older ones, are sometimes criticized for being repetitive and simplistic in nature, however I by no means agree. I’ll all the time defend them for who they’re. And repeatedly whipping the enemies they create to the desk right into a trance is all the time a supply of non-public gaming consolation. Nonetheless, it required some tweaking. I can settle for that a lot. Dynasty Warriors Origins enamel It kicks ass. And it is a good one. It is precisely “Toe Poker”.
Right here, for the primary time within the collection, you play as a anonymous wanderer, an admittedly a bit bland and boring avatar general. However there is a motive for that. You see, the narrative strategy taken is to decelerate the entire thing and provides it a little bit of respiratory area amidst all of the occasions, character introductions, and storylines of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story. To do that, you not have to change between an enormous catalog of protagonists, as an alternative sticking to this one extremely upgradeable major avatar.
Sure, you’ll be able to fiddle with different characters in facet missions or at sure moments. And there is much more on the best way with the sport’s DLC, which might be launched alongside this Swap 2 port. However sticking to 1 character for the primary interval locks us into a set perspective, and the fixed introduction of necessary historic figures and political occasions makes it simpler to keep up footing. I by no means received misplaced alongside the best way. I considered those that got here again to struggle. This actually lends itself to the sport’s general narrative, which settles into elements of the complete Romance Saga, reasonably than making an attempt to blow an excessive amount of historical past directly prefer it has earlier than.
I will not spoil the plot or the surprises, however this refocusing works very nicely. That is positively my favourite recreation in the primary collection, each by way of the story and its barely darker and extra brutal ambiance. It additionally introduces some nice RPG points since there’s just one major character to fret about, giving it extra depth than ever earlier than. There are 10 completely different weapons to degree up and grasp, every unlocking new fight strikes and expertise as you progress. Because of this, the narrower scope and roster makes all the things really feel extra private, and the sense of progress stronger.
The largest draw to fight, at the least earlier than launch, was the sheer variety of enemies on display. The PS5 stunned me regardless that I am used to weaving my approach by means of unequalled crowds.
The Swap 2 would not scale back that wow issue one bit, particularly should you’re enjoying on a handheld. In truth, I actually really feel prefer it’s a brand new benchmark for transportable play that lets you see a variety of what is taking place on display with out being tied down by technical points. Enemies are in every single place, so that you’re fortunate to have a lot of cool new methods and expertise to defeat them, innit.
You will begin along with your trusty sword and rapidly transfer on to gauntlets, lances, and different weapons which can be nice in a wide range of eventualities. For instance, Lance is a cracker for eliminating massive crowds, whereas Gauntlet is my go-to for juggling boss idiots within the air like an actual clueless youngster.
Every weapon feels distinctive, and provided that the enemy AI right here is among the greatest I’ve seen within the collection, you will really want to make use of good dodges and parries. β You even have an opportunity to dig into all of them and check out them out to seek out out which one works greatest the place.
That is all earlier than you add the collection’ signature screen-shaking unequalled assaults to the equation. Sure, they’re as satisfying as ever to succeed, and watching tons of of little guys take to the skies en masse makes me really feel so a lot better about my life. that is actuality.
All through the primary marketing campaign’s 5 chapters, the story can also be well-paced and woven by means of quite a few facet skirmishes and missions unfold throughout the sport’s flimsy mini-world map (among the best maps to wander round), offering sufficient background to maintain gamers going. In the meantime, fight continues to drop a wholesome quantity of recent gear, new strikes, and new ways to maintain gamers engaged.
The drop-down menu additionally reveals numerous large-scale tactical choices that work with cooldown timers. These let you name in catapult barrages, volleys of flaming arrows, and tank prices, which might dramatically change the course of a battle (and enormously enhance general morale). There are additionally a number of factors alongside the best way the place the protagonist has to decide on an ally and run with a sure crew member. This not solely makes the second extra immersive, but in addition provides loads of replayability with a number of endings and a “true” ending to unlock.
To be trustworthy, because the story switches between the Romance Saga major story and the brand new hero’s amnesia issues (tacky, but it surely works), it should really feel much more complicated than you’d count on for this style. The fight is extraordinarily addictive, so replaying these alternate endings is sort of assured.
On the draw back, loading occasions are a little bit lengthy when beginning a mission, and cutscenes that finish battles and different moments as you stroll across the map can expertise a slight 30 fps stutter. It’s totally minimal and solely throughout cutscenes, but it surely’s current. Associated to this, I attempted all the things I might and could not use variable graphics modes in any respect. You may actually really feel it when the digicam strikes round, so let’s hope that improves sooner or later.
However apart from that, and the terrible English voice appearing, it’s a must to change to Japanese with English subtitles. instantly, Dynasty Warriors: Origins on Swap 2 is simply pretty much as good as it’s on some other platform, and that is definitely superb. Additionally, as somebody who has reviewed a ton of motion video games on each Swap consoles, I’ve to say that this seems like a little bit of a turning level. This recreation, particularly for a conveyable recreation, feels a little bit magical in how nice it appears to be like and feels whereas bringing big, extremely handsome fight to the palm of your hand.