“That which is long divided must be unified; that which is long unified must be divided…” So begins the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, the epic tale of the fall of the Han Dynasty in ancient China and the source of Dynasty Warriors, the equally epic Japanese hack-and-slash series. Complex, bloody power struggles have buoyed the addictive action of this series for an incredible eight instalments (if you ask the exacting geniuses of developer Omega Force—they only started counting at Dynasty Warriors 2, and took a hiatus after 2018’s Dynasty Warriors 9). Dynasty Warriors producer Tomohiko Sho—who has been with the series as long as any fan, starting as a designer on Dynasty Warriors 2—came by Intel Gaming Access to deliver a history lesson and a glimpse into an exhilarating future.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins marks a return and a reset. Sho has spoken of Omega Force’s decision, when they reached Warriors 9, to pause their trajectory. Staying ahead of the curve means knowing when to take a moment, and come roaring back. “As is often the case in the production of a series, I think that the developers themselves tend to get too caught up in the past,” Sho explains. “Or they focus too much on the opinions of a certain segment of fans of the series, and this tends to cause the game to fall into a rut or not evolve.”
Dynasty Warriors 9 featured 90 characters, which has to represent a peak, but Omega Force and Sho had no desire to go beyond this. They feared the story could become watered down with so many characters. Enter the “Unnamed Hero”, an amnesiac drifter—and hard-as-nails martial artist, of course—whom players experience the story through. “The player takes on the role,” Sho says, “and aims to survive through the chaotic period ancient China from the ‘Yellow Turban Rebellion’, which marked the beginning of the Three Kingdoms, to the ‘Battle of Chibi’, the most climactic battle in the first half of the Three Kingdoms story. Players can experience an overwhelming number of soldiers clashing in a realistic battlefield, and to lead their allies to victory through 1 vs. 1,000 action. This is a one-of-a-kind game experience.”
One-of-a-kind is often promised, so what makes this unique? “Since this is a tactical action genre game,” Sho says, “it makes it unique and different from other games. I hope that players will enjoy the various elements that can only be experienced in a video game, such as the experience of winning battles alongside allies, the tactical aspects of those battles, the tension distinctive to battlefields, and the exhilaration of 1 vs. 1,000 action. I also believe that this game is unique in that anyone will be able to enjoy the fascinating lore of the Three Kingdoms, which is both a historical account and a story of China.”
“The story branches and has multiple endings,” Sho continues. “The protagonist of this game is a nameless hero with amnesia, and when he reaches the middle of the game, he must decide which of three forces (Wei, Wu, Shu) he will belong to in order to survive. We hope that the players will enjoy struggling with this choice, and if possible, take the time to experience the stories and battles of all three forces.” And that’s not all there is. “The branching story is not limited to only three endings,” Sho adds, “and the game also includes growth elements such as action and equipment collection, interaction between heroes, and various challenges in every single battle, and much, much more. I believe that players will be very satisfied with the amount of content in the game!”
It’s a fair bet. Spectacular battles made the franchise, and make Origins what it is. The sheer volume of bodies on the battlefield, the spectacle of costumes, banners, and blood, has to be seen to be believed. Origins brings the highest number of massive forces to the Dynasty Warriors screen, and deeper immersion. It was no small challenge, as Sho recalls. “It was a heavy challenge, but I believe that we were able to keep everyone moving toward a single goal by listening to diverse opinions and carefully explaining the theme we were aiming for in this work to those within and outside of the team.” The ambition was there, but what about the power? Thousands of warriors laying siege, a tsunami of bodies in full armor… this kind of immersive experience needs something more, yes?
“Given the nature of this game, the higher the machine power, the better the experience tends to be,” Sho affirms. “Therefore, PC performance is very important, and the higher the performance, the better and more comfortable the experience will be. With a high-performance CPU, graphics board, and an ultra-wide monitor, there’s nothing more you could ask for.” Where history, strategy and warfare meet, you’ll find Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Where performance matters, you’ll always find us. “During development,” Sho recalls, “we had Intel’s team review it to check the integration of Intel® Xe Super Sampling (XeSS), and the performance report we received was extremely helpful. We referenced it in our optimization efforts, especially since this game features a large number of characters appearing on-screen simultaneously, which would cause CPU bottlenecks. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you again.”
Well, we love to do what we do, and of course the real pleasure is in the playing. Sho has said that Origins is something that can only be made in this day and age, and we think it deserves to be played like it, too. But what happens after release? “To be honest, we have no plans at this time,” Sho admits. “If we have the opportunity to make a sequel, we would like to use the knowledge gained from this game to bring players an even more evolved [game] that can be enjoyed at that time. I might be jumping ahead of myself, but I believe it will happen, and I am thinking about the concept of a sequel every day.” Watch this space, gamers.
Purchase Dynasty Warriors: Origins on Steam