Dynasty Warriors: Origins Dev Team Was Instructed to “Go Kill The Player”

Dynasty Warriors: Origins delivers a significantly more challenging experience, thanks to a direct order from producer Tomohiko Sho to his development team: "Go and kill the player." This directive resulted in tougher, more aggressive enemies throughout the game.

Programmed to "Go and Kill the Player"

In an interview with PlayStation.Blog, Sho explained the reasoning behind the increased difficulty. The goal was to inject a greater sense of realism into the combat. The developers aimed to portray the battlefield not just as a playground for the player character, but as a truly dangerous environment where both sides face life-or-death struggles.

While significantly increasing the challenge, Sho emphasized a commitment to balanced difficulty. The intention wasn't to create an unnecessarily frustrating experience, but rather to provide satisfyingly challenging encounters that reward player skill and perseverance. He stated, "Even if you're not that good at action games, if you learn them in order, you can play comfortably and feel a sense of success." This reflects a conscious effort to balance the series' signature "musou" exhilaration with the heightened realism of a brutal war setting.

Returning to its "Origins"

A notable departure from tradition is the absence of a numbered title. Instead of Dynasty Warriors 10, the game is titled Dynasty Warriors: Origins, marking the first non-numbered entry in the franchise's history.

This title also reflects a focused narrative scope. Unlike previous installments which covered the entirety of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Origins concentrates solely on the first half of the novel, culminating in the pivotal Battle of Chibi (Battle of Red Cliffs). In a Tokyo Game Show 2024 interview with TheGamer, Sho explained this decision: "We really wanted to be thorough and intense in telling this story; it’s one of the epic points, so we’re only focusing on up until that point."

Seven years after its predecessor, Dynasty Warriors: Origins arrives as the latest mainline entry in the long-running franchise, based on the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The game features an original protagonist, the Nameless Hero, embarking on a journey through a war-torn China, navigating the conflicts between various warring factions.

Released on January 17th, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is now available on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Check out Game8's review of the game below!