A genre that has always captivated me has been that of the musou. They are those types of games that from time to time I feel like playing because they are focused on pure and simple action and because of the satisfaction that comes from crushing hundreds of enemies simultaneously with spectacular combats, hence the saga. Dynasty Warriors He has dedicated hundreds of hours to his latest deliveries.
I have also tried other titles developed by Omega Force that have also opted for gameplay of this type and some have obtained a formidable result and others that have passed unnoticed, which is why I am so looking forward to the launch of Dynasty. Warriors: Origins and that it has been a privilege to have had the opportunity to try an extensive preview of the first hours of this chapter that aims quite high.
Although I was expecting another game very similar to the previous ones, as I progressed I realized that I couldn't be more wrong. On this occasion it was about develop something that goes much further than being a simple button masherbecause this time it presents a good challenge in which you have to be very clear about what you should press and what actions to carry out at the right time. But this is only a small part of everything it offers, which is not especially little.
An exciting story told from a new point of view
As usual, the plot is based entirely on Romance of the Three Kingdoms novelsalthough the difference is that this time it goes back to the past to tell everything from its beginnings. Furthermore, it is not about choosing one of the sides and their respective characters to make your way through a multitude of battles against thousands of enemy soldiers. Instead, the spotlight falls entirely on a totally new and anonymous character who has lost his memory.
He interacts little by little with the heroes that all fans of the franchise already know, hence most of the faces will be very familiar, but since it is told from the point of view of this very strange hero, there are events that are seen altered and are narrated in a different way. It is not at all a negative thing, but rather the opposite, because more weight than ever has been given to the argument with impressive cinematics and conversations that you have to pay close attention to so as not to lose the thread of events.
Being a story based on conflicts between kingdoms, this means that at a certain point in the adventure you have to make very drastic decisions that will affect the course of the events that will take place later, since you will have to choose which side you want to support. Of course, this also implies that we will have to make enemies with others, so this also leaves us with a deeper touch so that each one can live their own adventure based on the choices they make.
The artistic section is amazing, because the characters seem totally real because of how their appearances, their armor, their animations look, and also because of the atmosphere that the game constantly gives off. It makes you get full of this fierce war with a darker color palette than what we are used to seeing in the franchise, which gives it an extra point of seriousness and the truth is that it suits it wonderfully.
Of course the drama it transmits is constantbut I'm glad to know that so much emphasis has been placed on the story and knowing the personalities and motivations of the characters, whether from the strongest soldiers to the highest-ranking generals. That's a good sign that, no matter how much you bet on the action, the plot can be good enough to keep you hooked and keep moving forward.
Maybe, I have missed the possibility of customizing the protagonistas far as its appearance is concerned, since it is always the same and I would say that that is the only thing that has not completely convinced me. At the very least, you can equip him with pieces of equipment to boost his stats and abilities. However, to be the character that you will be controlling at all times, I would have liked someone a little more expressive or with whom I could empathize a little more. Maybe as the hours go by I love him more, but for now he has left me a little cold.
The most demanding and bestial fights in the saga
Moving on to talk in depth about its gameplay, we must recognize that Dynasty Warriors: Origins He hasn't invented the wheel. Like his predecessors, in each battle he must face against hundreds of enemies at the same time to annihilate them with brutal combos that make them bite the dust without stopping. However, this time they are not simple puppets who are there to make a fuss and waiting for you to spank them without any compassion.
I have the feeling that they are more violent, because even the simplest soldiers are capable of causing harm, even reaching a point where you better not get too confident so as not to have a hard time. Yes indeed, the ones that present a real challenge are the constant mini-bosses that are everywhere guarding areas or bases and that must be eliminated at all costs to take control of that place in question.
More than anything it's because they hit really hard and don't stop executing. very powerful attacks and other special ones that can reduce your life at high speed. To kill them it is necessary to destroy their blocking points in order to execute a type of most devastating finisher, although it is not as simple as it sounds. This is where it is shown that this game is not a button masher like the previous ones.
On this occasion, a very strong commitment has been made to two very basic and vital skills, such as blocking and dodging. It may seem very surprising for a musou, but you can be sure that they are two fundamental pillars that cannot be forgotten if you do not want to be watching the “game over” screen non-stop. In this sense, the game considerably rewards blockings that are executed perfectly, because you leave your opponents stunned and you can take advantage of them to reduce their protective barriers more quickly.
For its part, dodging is no nonsense either because the most powerful attacks of all cannot be blocked, so it is the only way to live to tell the tale. That does not mean that our protagonist is left behind, far from it, because he also has special skills, known as artswhich are recharged little by little by killing enemies, without leaving aside the musou attack, the most powerful of all, when its corresponding bar has been refilled.
The truth is that I was fascinated and found it something magnificent that the combat of this Dynasty Warriors It is not about hitting a series of buttons as if there were no tomorrow and other actions are rewarded as much, demonstrating the depth of the gameplay. Also, it's not like you're controlling the nameless protagonist 100% of the time, because at a certain point you can ask an ally to accompany you and which you can handle for a short period of time.
You can tell that these are heroes of this story, because when they unleash their full potential They hit harder than our main characterespecially when they execute their finishers by destroying absolutely everything that moves in a gigantic radius, so in a single blow they are capable of easily eliminating more than 200 or 300 enemies.
Apart from all this, you really feel like you are immersed in a real battle when you can't stop hearing the screams of all the soldiers everywhere, because of the way they fight and the pure and simple chaos that forms. at some moments. Also, something that surprised me is that in some levels you can encounter an army leader who challenges you to a one-on-one duel while his subordinates form a circle. As if it were a fighting gameeach one has their own life bar and the one who has received the least hits wins after a certain amount of time has passed.
A world where you will never be bored
Between battle and battle the game invites you to tour the map of the world, moving the protagonist around it, as if he were a giant and the rest of the elements that appear on the screen are smaller. In this way, you move to the different levels of the main story, to towns to acquire weapons, components and rest, but there are also objects that can be collected, fast travel stones and even points where skirmishes can be fought.
These are shorter than normal phases that In just a couple of minutes, at most, you have finished them. Precisely for this reason, with how short they last, it is what encourages you not to want to leave any unfinished, but also because it is necessary to increase the level of the weapons that you can equip the protagonist, among which there are nine different ones in the form of swords , spears, discs, axes, etc.
Why it is so relevant to enhance weapons is because let's say that the character does not have his own experience bar, but It is these utensils that go up a level. For each one that increases, more combos are unlocked, the protagonist's statistics are boosted and points are also earned to activate more game functions, including a skill tree with more special attacks and other passive statistics. At the same time, the way of playing with each weapon varies too much and they feel very different from each other.
In fact, something that has seemed curious to me, although I do not have confirmation, is that it has given me the feeling that skirmishes are completely different depending on the weapon that you are wielding. For example, since the sword is for short-range combat, in these battles the group of enemies I have encountered has been considerably smaller compared to those where I have used a spear, since it covers a greater space to hit. left and right.
On the other hand, the materials that you obtain in battles or while touring the stage are used to make gems. Here a section comes into play that I fear will generate a bit of controversy among the players, because it is a kind of gacha systemsince these are exchanged for stones with special powers that can be equipped. If luck smiles on you, you will create a new one and if not, it will enhance one of the existing ones, but since you cannot know which one it will be, you may increase one that you do not need, no matter how many materials you use in exchange.
I must also say that gems are useful, but not to the point of radically changing the promising and outstanding gameplay that the game offers. The first three or four hours that I have spent at the controls have seemed exceptional in general and have made me look forward more than ever to next year to continue fighting battles in Dynasty Warriors: Origins.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins Release Date
If everything goes as planned and there are no last-minute changes, the launch of Dynasty Warriors: Origins will take place on January 17, 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Additionally, those of you who don't want to wait until then can download a free demo to try a preview on your own.
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