I'm worried for this Game.

[No' Name]

Hello all,

So I've been a fan of the Entire Musou franchise, and own every single game, (except DW 9, oddly enough I do own DW 9 Empires though, as it was somewhat fun), and just recently getting off of playing a session of Samurai Warriors 5, I'm worried the game might just be a flop, and not the huge success everyone is hoping for. Let me explain why.

First off I've played, and spent enough time with the Demo, of Dynasty Warriors Origins, that I've had fun enough, but honestly, the combat alone felt incredibly "Samey", even more so than all the other previous games. I know we were limited by weapon choices in the Demo, to the Sword, Naginata, and Rings, however, I've found the lack of weapon combo's, via Normal attack/Heavy attack just don't exist, it comes down to spamming one or the other, and relying heavily on skills, which by the way Samurai Warriors 5 uses, so it's not new, and in some ways the strategems in DW games act in a similar manner. Using the rings, there is a Delay combo move attack where you can throw your rings, have them turn red, and spin around your character, but that seems to be it. The Naginata from what I could tell had absolutely Zero combo's from what I could tell. I personally never tried the Sword, because it's too generic, and based on the Naginata gameplay, I would assume it's more of the same Spamming.

This game almost forces you into "Locking-On" to enemy officers in order to dodge, block, parry, and counter, and does not give you the freedom of camera movement much like the Other games in the series. You're essentially forced to have a 1 on 1 fight with enemy officers, provide you don't get swamped by them, and if you do, the Lock-On option is incredibly frustrating, swapping between targets during Mid-Combo's. From the Demo, we know that most if not ALL of the enemy officers are going to have a "Break Gauge", and you won't be able to do significant damage, or stun them until the meter is broken. So, we're basically just trying to break the enemy officers "Break Gauge", and spamming attacks, or one of the 4 skills that go on Cooldown, then before they get out of their "Break" status, spam triangle, or Y, or whatever your "heavy" attack button is. To me, this feels like the combat is going to fall flat, and become insanely boring within a few hours.

The Musou Franchise as a whole was meant to make me feel like a badass 1 VS 10,000, and was supposed to be done doing so with combo's from a mix of Normal, and Heavy attacks to pull off flashy moves that would obliterate the enemies in front of me. The Demo has not shown me that whatsoever, it's again, spamming your heavy, or Light attacks, because the weapons we have seen (except the rings) don't have any significant combo's, or there lack of any at all.

I don't mind having a Generic "Main Character", and choosing the location, and which team you're fighting for based on the characters you choose to follow you is an insanely good idea, and having them as a bonus perk for limited use while fighting does change things up for the better, given you're just one character with Limited Weaponry.

Weapons is another thing i'm worried about with this game. Only having 9 types of weapons (or so I've read) sounds like a scummy tactic to force feed DLC in the form of weapons down your throat within a month of release, which I'm guessing most, if not everyone already knows is going to happen, and they're going to nickel and dime players to get new weapons.

I would hope the weapons of the same type do have different moves, and or combo's, and maybe the one's in the Demo were just generic weapons and that's why they didn't have any real combo's. But judging by all the other Dynasty Warrior games, and other Musou type games, the same weapons just had slightly different attack patterns, and combo's.

Another Staple in Musou Games was their Couch Coop. I remember being a child, and playing these games with my siblings, and even after we've grown apart, the ability to even play online with one another was fun once in a while. Not that I would play this game if it had multiplayer anyways, I'm just staying it's been in every single Musou game. I suppose this makes sense to leave that portion out though, if they're scared they would just end up wasting resources in case the game does flop.

Anyways, these are just some of my worries for the game itself. I hope my worries aren't warranted, but after DW 9, and DW 9 Empires, I'm not going to hold my breath.

(I'm going to get the game regardless, can't stop my collection now, these are just some worries)

[⭕TheSodaman]

The camera in this demo is pretty horrific. I think if the target lock could keep the target consistently on the screen, I'd have less an issue - but it canI tend to disengage the target lock if there's more than one officer and turned off the auto lock. Even then, the camera gets yanked away.

The leadership ditching the playable roster and deciding to scrap multiplayer is also very disappointing.

As for the weapons, I'm of the opposite opinion of the weapon flow and combos. Taking the Crescent Blade as an example, the normal attack string is shorter than other weapons, but also restarts sooner. And then having about seven strong attack inputs with a strong attack string. With three of those strong attacks having longer executions and gaining hyper armor depending on the upgrade level. Though I don't think the UI displays the upgrade level and you'll have to gauge based on the glow of your weapon (no glow vs. white vs. green).

Or the wheels having about five strong attack inputs, but the function altering with timing. Such as the normal attack string with strong attack tossing the wheel out in front of you, but if you normal attack string and catch the wheel with strong attack - you do a backflip over most horizontal attacks and toss out two enhanced wheels. Or the guard + strong attack sending out two wheels ahead that linger, but the catch guard + strong attack sends out two enhanced wheels that return at different intervals. And can be pretty chaotic once you start setting things up and get the animation canceling going.

For that 1v1000 experience in the demo, the bases and/or the charging ahead - eliminating Hua Xiong before he takes out all three of the allied officers, then wading through the large force would be one of the times to achieve that. More manageable on Historian since officers stagger to strong attacks. A lot scarier on Hero difficulty since it's easy to get swarmed, pelted with fire arrows, and lose sight of officers performing their deadlier attacks through the crowd. But also a way to score about 1000~3000 KOs (mileage may vary depending on targeting the large force vs. officers, how long you can stay there before death, and how quickly you can work through them before allies show up to claim glory), etc.

I digress, we'll see how the game does on sales across all its platforms in a month.

[Kylestyle]

So a bunch of characters from previous games are missing—not that you can even play as them? WTF are KOEI doing? One of the best parts of this franchise is getting to play all the different characters. Now some are gone, and almost all the rest aren't playable? Instead, you get this anime twink who just nods and goes "UHHH" every so often? WTF are they doing? They needed a win after DW9, and this is what they do? I ♥♥♥♥ all over this franchise when they released 9, especially because I didn’t think it could get worse, but oh boy, did it ever.

[Synth]

Originally posted by Kylestyle:

So a bunch of characters from previous games are missing—not that you can even play as them? WTF are KOEI doing? One of the best parts of this franchise is getting to play all the different characters. Now some are gone, and almost all the rest aren't playable? Instead, you get this anime twink who just nods and goes "UHHH" every so often? WTF are they doing? They needed a win after DW9, and this is what they do? I ♥♥♥♥ all over this franchise when they released 9, especially because I didn’t think it could get worse, but oh boy, did it ever.

anime twink? relax guy its not that serious. go outside.

[forumcrybaby]

Originally posted by Synth:

Originally posted by Kylestyle:

So a bunch of characters from previous games are missing—not that you can even play as them? WTF are KOEI doing? One of the best parts of this franchise is getting to play all the different characters. Now some are gone, and almost all the rest aren't playable? Instead, you get this anime twink who just nods and goes "UHHH" every so often? WTF are they doing? They needed a win after DW9, and this is what they do? I ♥♥♥♥ all over this franchise when they released 9, especially because I didn’t think it could get worse, but oh boy, did it ever.

anime twink? relax guy its not that serious. go outside.

you go outside. He nailed it. I want to play through Musou as Xiahou Dun, Zhou Tai, Gan Ning and Ma Chao. Not this anime femboy with a messy salad bowl haircut and TW3K Liu Biao sleepy robes

[klaud]

Originally posted by Kylestyle:

So a bunch of characters from previous games are missing—not that you can even play as them? WTF are KOEI doing? One of the best parts of this franchise is getting to play all the different characters. Now some are gone, and almost all the rest aren't playable? Instead, you get this anime twink who just nods and goes "UHHH" every so often? WTF are they doing? They needed a win after DW9, and this is what they do? I ♥♥♥♥ all over this franchise when they released 9, especially because I didn’t think it could get worse, but oh boy, did it ever.

Yea aside from combat gameplay this is definitely worse than dw9.

[arks]

I would imagine them adding free mode or something akin to (ability to choose any officer) that alongside the main mode for the (anonymous main character).

[MystiKitten]

If you're a fan of Dynasty Warriors, you wouldn’t call the combat in Dynasty Warriors Origins "samey" that critique is more fitting for the earlier games. In Origins, you have to think and play differently depending on your weapon and the situation, whether it’s a one-on-one fight, one versus many, or a large force versus another large force. While the combat system isn’t entirely new, it’s not just about spamming attacks. Older Dynasty Warriors games offered a wide variety of combo options, but the AI was so simplistic that you could spam combos without much thought. And if you're using the Podao or Guandao, you won’t really understand how those weapons work unless you check the controls page, since it’s just a demo without a tutorial.



If you really love the concept of 1 vs 10,000 like in the older games, this video might change your mind and ease your worries.

https://youtu.be/frCehTQPZbk?si=WrL-MMFfoxfoAmXw

I’m not trying to defend anything. it all comes down to your personal taste.

[ObsidianButterfly]

Originally posted by get peach:

If you're a fan of Dynasty Warriors, you wouldn’t call the combat in Dynasty Warriors Origins "samey" that critique is more fitting for the earlier games. In Origins, you have to think and play differently depending on your weapon and the situation, whether it’s a one-on-one fight, one versus many, or a large force versus another large force. While the combat system isn’t entirely new, it’s not just about spamming attacks. Older Dynasty Warriors games offered a wide variety of combo options, but the AI was so simplistic that you could spam combos without much thought. And if you're using the Podao or Guandao, you won’t really understand how those weapons work unless you check the controls page, since it’s just a demo without a tutorial.



If you really love the concept of 1 vs 10,000 like in the older games, this video might change your mind and ease your worries.

https://youtu.be/frCehTQPZbk?si=WrL-MMFfoxfoAmXw

I’m not trying to defend anything. it all comes down to your personal taste.

What I want, as a DW fan and veteran since the PS2 era, is to play with the roster of characters I love with their unique weapons and move sets. The combat isn't the problem as that has always changed in some way with every game and can be adapted to.

It's the losing everything else that made the games great and unique that is the issue. You would have thought they would have learned their lessons from the colossal failures of DW6 and DW9.

[No' Name]

Originally posted by get peach:

If you're a fan of Dynasty Warriors, you wouldn’t call the combat in Dynasty Warriors Origins "samey" that critique is more fitting for the earlier games. In Origins, you have to think and play differently depending on your weapon and the situation, whether it’s a one-on-one fight, one versus many, or a large force versus another large force. While the combat system isn’t entirely new, it’s not just about spamming attacks. Older Dynasty Warriors games offered a wide variety of combo options, but the AI was so simplistic that you could spam combos without much thought. And if you're using the Podao or Guandao, you won’t really understand how those weapons work unless you check the controls page, since it’s just a demo without a tutorial.



If you really love the concept of 1 vs 10,000 like in the older games, this video might change your mind and ease your worries.

https://youtu.be/frCehTQPZbk?si=WrL-MMFfoxfoAmXw

I’m not trying to defend anything. it all comes down to your personal taste.

The combat looks flashy, way more flashy than what we had with the weapons in the Demo, but doesn't change the fact he's doing the same thing I stated. Spam skills/counters, until shield is broken, then spam heavy attack.

I'm fine with generals having a shield gauge, and the new mechanic, but looks like every single general/encounter is going to be the same thing. Flashy does not really equal fun mechanically speaking.

The reason why the other games can do the same old stuff over, and over without really changing the combat that much, is simply due to the massive roster/list of weapons, and combo's (even though they became pretty similar all across the board later down the road).

Zhao Yun's, and Zhang Fei's weapons look more of my style in Origins, but even I could tell he was doing the same two, or three things over, and over. Zhang Fei's weapon was even more noticeable with the counter, and charging it up to smash enemies away around him.

Again, I'll just have to figure it out myself. Seriously, they must've gave the Demo the worst selection of weapons, because none of them gave me any kind of hope combat wise. They should've given us Zhao Yun's Spear, considering he's basically the Staple Poster Child of the DW franchise (other than Lu Bu).

[MystiKitten]

Originally posted by No' Name:

Originally posted by get peach:

If you're a fan of Dynasty Warriors, you wouldn’t call the combat in Dynasty Warriors Origins "samey" that critique is more fitting for the earlier games. In Origins, you have to think and play differently depending on your weapon and the situation, whether it’s a one-on-one fight, one versus many, or a large force versus another large force. While the combat system isn’t entirely new, it’s not just about spamming attacks. Older Dynasty Warriors games offered a wide variety of combo options, but the AI was so simplistic that you could spam combos without much thought. And if you're using the Podao or Guandao, you won’t really understand how those weapons work unless you check the controls page, since it’s just a demo without a tutorial.



If you really love the concept of 1 vs 10,000 like in the older games, this video might change your mind and ease your worries.

https://youtu.be/frCehTQPZbk?si=WrL-MMFfoxfoAmXw

I’m not trying to defend anything. it all comes down to your personal taste.

The combat looks flashy, way more flashy than what we had with the weapons in the Demo, but doesn't change the fact he's doing the same thing I stated. Spam skills/counters, until shield is broken, then spam heavy attack.

I'm fine with generals having a shield gauge, and the new mechanic, but looks like every single general/encounter is going to be the same thing. Flashy does not really equal fun mechanically speaking.

The reason why the other games can do the same old stuff over, and over without really changing the combat that much, is simply due to the massive roster/list of weapons, and combo's (even though they became pretty similar all across the board later down the road).

Zhao Yun's, and Zhang Fei's weapons look more of my style in Origins, but even I could tell he was doing the same two, or three things over, and over. Zhang Fei's weapon was even more noticeable with the counter, and charging it up to smash enemies away around him.

Again, I'll just have to figure it out myself. Seriously, they must've gave the Demo the worst selection of weapons, because none of them gave me any kind of hope combat wise. They should've given us Zhao Yun's Spear, considering he's basically the Staple Poster Child of the DW franchise (other than Lu Bu).

I see where you're coming from, especially if you're focusing on damage output. If maximizing damage is your goal, you're right that the combat might boil down to repeating optimal actions. But if you're not entirely fixated on damage numbers, I think Origins offers more variety in moves and mechanics than previous DW games, especially per weapon (Come on! there are only 10 playable weapons confirmed) You can build combos with yourself, which adds more creativity to the combat than older game. Even with the default martial arts and the generic sword, you can chain moves like this: X/Square + Y/Triangle Then RB/R1 +A/X followed by XXXX/Square Square Square Square + YYYYYYY/Triangles.

I'm sorry to hear that the new mechanics didn't click with you, especially with the Guandao and Podao.
They are my personal fav weapons in the demo. Podao has four distinct charge heavy attacks, each with different uses, while Guandao has three unique types, like:

Standard hold Y/Triangle: Long-distance heavy attack.

RT/R2 + Y/Triangle: Heavy attack combo with invincibility.

L2/LB + Y/Triangle: A block-counter move that chains into flashy follow-ups.


Guandao also levels up its attack power as you fight, which adds an interesting risk-reward dynamic since using certain Martial Arts or charge attacks resets the level back. This mechanic adds strategy where you can choose to unleash powerful attacks or maintain your enhanced state for sustained damage.

Compared to older DW games, where spamming light and heavy combos was the norm, Origins feels more dynamic to me. The smaller weapon roster might seem like a downside, but each weapon feels much deeper in its gameplay.


I get that many parts of DWO might not appeal to everyone, and I’m not sure if it will succeed overall, but the demo left me with a good first impression.

[MystiKitten]

Originally posted by get peach:

Originally posted by No' Name:

The combat looks flashy, way more flashy than what we had with the weapons in the Demo, but doesn't change the fact he's doing the same thing I stated. Spam skills/counters, until shield is broken, then spam heavy attack.

I'm fine with generals having a shield gauge, and the new mechanic, but looks like every single general/encounter is going to be the same thing. Flashy does not really equal fun mechanically speaking.

The reason why the other games can do the same old stuff over, and over without really changing the combat that much, is simply due to the massive roster/list of weapons, and combo's (even though they became pretty similar all across the board later down the road).

Zhao Yun's, and Zhang Fei's weapons look more of my style in Origins, but even I could tell he was doing the same two, or three things over, and over. Zhang Fei's weapon was even more noticeable with the counter, and charging it up to smash enemies away around him.

Again, I'll just have to figure it out myself. Seriously, they must've gave the Demo the worst selection of weapons, because none of them gave me any kind of hope combat wise. They should've given us Zhao Yun's Spear, considering he's basically the Staple Poster Child of the DW franchise (other than Lu Bu).

I see where you're coming from, especially if you're focusing on damage output. If maximizing damage is your goal, you're right that the combat might boil down to repeating optimal actions. But if you're not entirely fixated on damage numbers, I think Origins offers more variety in moves and mechanics than previous DW games, especially per weapon (Come on! there are only 10 playable weapons confirmed) You can build combos with yourself, which adds more creativity to the combat than older game. Even with the default martial arts and the generic sword, you can chain moves like this: X/Square + Y/Triangle Then RB/R1 +A/X followed by XXXX/Square Square Square Square + YYYYYYY/Triangles.

I'm sorry to hear that the new mechanics didn't click with you, especially with the Guandao and Podao.
They are my personal fav weapons in the demo. Podao has four distinct charge heavy attacks, each with different uses, while Guandao has three unique types, like:

Standard hold Y/Triangle: Long-distance heavy attack.

RT/R2 + Y/Triangle: Heavy attack combo with invincibility.

L2/LB + Y/Triangle: A block-counter move that chains into flashy follow-ups.


Guandao also levels up its attack power as you fight, which adds an interesting risk-reward dynamic since using certain Martial Arts or charge attacks resets the level back. This mechanic adds strategy where you can choose to unleash powerful attacks or maintain your enhanced state for sustained damage.

Compared to older DW games, where spamming light and heavy combos was the norm, Origins feels more dynamic to me. The smaller weapon roster might seem like a downside, but each weapon feels much deeper in its gameplay.


I get that many parts of DWO might not appeal to everyone, and I’m not sure if it will succeed overall, but the demo left me with a good first impression.

Then, I totally agree with what you said: the flashy mechanics are not necessarily fun mechanics. I personally dislike the shield gauge too. It feels a bit too Wo Long like.

[birdfoot]

I personally wouldn't be too worried for this game. Even if it isn't going to be a huge success, I think it certainly would be successful enough. Imo, the gameplay and performance is good enough to find its audience. I hated the camera though.

However, I'm more worried for the DW series moving forward, as it may evolve from free-form combat to something more quick time events (QTE) centric/heavy. I've recently bought and played SW4DX (my first SW title) and I'm pleasantly surprised at how well OmegaForce has expanded the DW formula there. For the most part, I wished the DW series had incorporated universal mechanics similarly to SW4's parry/evade/recover/guard-break/cancel in DW titles instead of what we had in DW8XL, where abilities were tied to weapon types. I'm surprised to find many of the action elements I've found lacking in DW to be in SW4. Also, an action to dash in to initiate combat would make it more visceral - hyper attacks in SW4 doesn't really cut it and doesn't work on officers.

Anyway, after trying out the demo, I unfortunately don't care for DWO - this should've been Wo Long because the latter doesn't need to exist as Nioh already exists. Hopefully, DWO's gameplay isn't going to be the direction that OmegaForce wishes to take in future mainline titles; if not, the series is as good as dead to me. I play musou games for their simplicity, flashiness and visceral combat - not for epic visuals. I appreciate how OmegaForce is trying to make the battles more epic, but I don't really like what they've been trying with DW9 and DWO in terms of combat. Right now, I'm just grabbing all the modern titles in DW (except 9) / SW / WO when they are on sale, since they might be the last of what I consider as Koei's musou games.

[No' Name]

Originally posted by birdfoot:

I personally wouldn't be too worried for this game. Even if it isn't going to be a huge success, I think it certainly would be successful enough. Imo, the gameplay and performance is good enough to find its audience. I hated the camera though.

However, I'm more worried for the DW series moving forward, as it may evolve from free-form combat to something more quick time events (QTE) centric/heavy. I've recently bought and played SW4DX (my first SW title) and I'm pleasantly surprised at how well OmegaForce has expanded the DW formula there. For the most part, I wished the DW series had incorporated universal mechanics similarly to SW4's parry/evade/recover/guard-break/cancel in DW titles instead of what we had in DW8XL, where abilities were tied to weapon types. I'm surprised to find many of the action elements I've found lacking in DW to be in SW4. Also, an action to dash in to initiate combat would make it more visceral - hyper attacks in SW4 doesn't really cut it and doesn't work on officers.

Anyway, after trying out the demo, I unfortunately don't care for DWO - this should've been Wo Long because the latter doesn't need to exist as Nioh already exists. Hopefully, DWO's gameplay isn't going to be the direction that OmegaForce wishes to take in future mainline titles; if not, the series is as good as dead to me. I play musou games for their simplicity, flashiness and visceral combat - not for epic visuals. I appreciate how OmegaForce is trying to make the battles more epic, but I don't really like what they've been trying with DW9 and DWO in terms of combat. Right now, I'm just grabbing all the modern titles in DW (except 9) / SW / WO when they are on sale, since they might be the last of what I consider as Koei's musou games.

You should try Samurai Warriors 5 then, where they've done a good amount of perfecting on their part. That's the direction Dynasty Warriors Origins should have evolved from.

[birdfoot]

Originally posted by No' Name:

Originally posted by birdfoot:

I personally wouldn't be too worried for this game. Even if it isn't going to be a huge success, I think it certainly would be successful enough. Imo, the gameplay and performance is good enough to find its audience. I hated the camera though.

However, I'm more worried for the DW series moving forward, as it may evolve from free-form combat to something more quick time events (QTE) centric/heavy. I've recently bought and played SW4DX (my first SW title) and I'm pleasantly surprised at how well OmegaForce has expanded the DW formula there. For the most part, I wished the DW series had incorporated universal mechanics similarly to SW4's parry/evade/recover/guard-break/cancel in DW titles instead of what we had in DW8XL, where abilities were tied to weapon types. I'm surprised to find many of the action elements I've found lacking in DW to be in SW4. Also, an action to dash in to initiate combat would make it more visceral - hyper attacks in SW4 doesn't really cut it and doesn't work on officers.

Anyway, after trying out the demo, I unfortunately don't care for DWO - this should've been Wo Long because the latter doesn't need to exist as Nioh already exists. Hopefully, DWO's gameplay isn't going to be the direction that OmegaForce wishes to take in future mainline titles; if not, the series is as good as dead to me. I play musou games for their simplicity, flashiness and visceral combat - not for epic visuals. I appreciate how OmegaForce is trying to make the battles more epic, but I don't really like what they've been trying with DW9 and DWO in terms of combat. Right now, I'm just grabbing all the modern titles in DW (except 9) / SW / WO when they are on sale, since they might be the last of what I consider as Koei's musou games.

You should try Samurai Warriors 5 then, where they've done a good amount of perfecting on their part. That's the direction Dynasty Warriors Origins should have evolved from.

Thanks for the recommendation. I do have the SW5 demo downloaded for quite some time now but SW4DX's been keeping me busy; and now that I've bought WO4UDE, it'd take awhile. ;) But I'm definitely looking forward to it, I heard they've changed hyper attacks.

If only OmegaForce would use that as the base for DWO's combat. I think they want SW and DW to at least be mechanically distinct, so DW series would likely have to evolve in its own way. But DW could really benefit from incorporating some of SW's mechanics as its own universal mechanics. I believe DWO was targeted at audiences that like epic spectacles, hence there's more emphasis on cinematic visuals without considering flow of combat. Personally, I find that DWO is very fun to watch, but just not fun to play it myself.

I get the feeling that OmegaForce seems very misguided when it comes to improving the combat given their recent track records. I don't think they "improved" the combat for players like me if they think that DW9 was an improvement relative to DW8. I'd honestly suggest they look at another game like SD Gundam Battle Alliance (SDGBA) for what I thought has a surprisingly good combo system in an action game. At least for me, engaging combat (in a simplistic game) needs some combo system that doesn't require a high skill ceiling to pull off; the fun comes in the form of discovering routes and having some dexterity to pull it off. That's what makes it satisfying for me, not merely for chaining an attack ad infinitum. Even if they wanted the combat to be more deliberate, SDGBA does a pretty good job too.

So it's pretty sad to see DW series nudging towards becoming a spectacle fighter.

[Vodka Slam]

I beat the game on all 3 factions on hard and Ultimate Warrior. Gotten almost everything maxed out. Haven't gotten this hooked in a Dynasty Warriors game Since 5 and 5 Empires. It's my Game of the Year for 2025 hands down. If you never play a DW game before then you would never respect and appreciate what we got here.