Should you play previous Dynasty Warriors games before trying out Origins?

Dynasty Warriors Origins is the latest action RPG addition to this franchise of hack-and-slash games. Origins is an attempt by the series' mainstay publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Omega Force to bring the franchise's formula up to date. With the game set to release on January 17, 2025, people might be wondering whether they need to revisit the previous games to catch up with Origins.

While Dynasty Warriors Origins is a new entry in the franchise, you do not need to play the previous games to understand its story. As per tradition, Origins follows the same narrative that all the previous mainline games use for their standalone campaigns, but it adds its own unique flavor to the mix.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinion.

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Dynasty Warriors Origins story details

You can start Origins without playing any previous games from the franchise (Image via Koei Tecmo)

While Origins is a new mainline entry for the franchise, it also serves as a soft reboot of the same, eliminating the need for any prior knowledge needed to play the game.

The game adapts the first half of the famous Chinese novel by Luo Guanzhong — Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It will put you in the shoes of an amnesiac protagonist trying to aid the oppressed and eradicate the merciless injustice dispensed by the tyrannical leaders and their forces.

The campaign starts a year prior to the Yellow Turban Rebellion and will end with the Battle of Chibi. The protagonist teams up with various allies such as Zhang Jiao and Guan Yu along the way to fulfill his objective, while encountering some known antagonists, such as the series mainstay Lu Bu.

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Dynasty Warriors Origins, A New Direction

The game will only adapt the first-half of the novel (Image via Koei Tecmo)

The Three Warring Kingdoms — Wei, Shu-Han, and Wu — will be an important part of the story. Origins will also be much more focused on in-depth storytelling. This shift in direction is seen in other aspects of the game, such as the sole focus on a single playable character instead of the tens or hundreds seen in previous installments. While this does limit the previously wide roster Warriors games were known for, it helps the devs create a more fleshed-out combat system.

Dynasty Warriors Origins tries to bring the "1 vs. 1000" power fantasy to life. Harnessing modern computing power to display thousands of foes on screen at any particular time, ripe for the picking as the protagnist decimates them with his powerful melee weapons and the help of some allies.