Dynasty Warriors: Origins review: a glorious, melodramatic and convincing illusion of tactical warfare
Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Finally, a game brave enough to ask: "what if everything cool that went down in Romance Of The Three Kingdoms was thanks to you, a magical, beautiful boy that no-one's ever heard of?".
It's a great premise, honestly. The slate wiped clean, what if you got to be mates with everyone from all sides in this grand ensemble tale of warring states? A battle might take eight minutes. The three consecutive bonding cutscenes before the next might take ten. Origins is just as much about fighting thousands at a time as it is about eating lunch with Zhang Fei or discussing the meaning of heroism with Zhou Yu. There's a parallel story about your character and his role in a magical order of destiny godlings I didn't find the least bit interesting, but the rest is thrilling because Romance is already thrilling. The parts that Origins bogs down with its wordier take on already wordy source material are enlivened again by anime vibrance, hijinks, and melodrama.