Koei Tecmo and Omega Force have released a new major update for Dynasty Warriors Origins that adds Photo Mode. Players can now produce their own screenshots by adjusting the camera's angle, zoom, and other features like aperture.

Photo Mode has been widely used in the Dynasty Warriors series, as fans regularly use it to showcase their favorite characters. The feature appeared first in Dynasty Warriors 9 via a major update patch, and it also later appeared in Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires at launch. In Dynasty Warriors Origins, the player can access Photo Mode by pressing the touchpad for the PS5 DualSense controller while the pause menu is being displayed on the screen.

The same update also comes with a new outfit for the game's protagonist, Ziluan, which is named the Lion Dragon Armor. Koei Tecmo added that Omega Force made this outfit to celebrate the 1 million sales milestone for the game.

In addition, the update includes several bug fixes. One of them specifically addresses a bug on Steam Deck, where turning on AMD FSR3 on the handheld device would cause some graphical distortions.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is readily available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.

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Koei Tecmo announced that the roguelike Warriors: Abyss will get Reisalin Stout from Atelier Ryza as a playable character. She’ll arrive in a free update on March 28, 2025. 

Previously, Warriors: Abyss only consisted of characters from Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, so crossover characters from entries like Atelier Ryza weren’t available. She’ll be the first. She isn’t showing up in the character list or news section of the official site, however. We also only have the official splash art for her so far, which suggests she will be based on her appearance in the first game. No other details about the playable unit appeared yet.

Here’s the official art Koei Tecmo shared.

While that’s the big update later this week, there are also paid and free updates right now. People can pay $11.99 for a Jin Dynasty Classic Costume Set add-on. Also, if you update your game, you’ll find that Sima Shi, Sima Zhao, Wang Yuanji, Zhang Chunhua, and Zhong Hui are all available as playable characters for free.

Warriors: Abyss is available now on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and Atelier Ryza DLC will appear for free on March 28, 2025. 

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The Dynasty Warriors series, despite taking place in a historical period with numerous male heroes, has been known for also featuring many female figures who appeared in the same era. However, Koei Tecmo and Omega Force somehow opted to omit many of them in Dynasty Warriors Origins—including even those who are still relevant in the covered period. There are still several female characters appearing in Dynasty Warriors Origins, but their relevancies in the game's storyline and its connections to historical and folklore sources vary.

Out of the four recurring female characters who return in Dynasty Warriors Origins, Sun Shangxiang is arguably the one who has the most spotlight; partly because she is also the only female character available as a playable companion. Shangxiang also stands out as the heroine of the Sun Wu faction, as she helps encourage her brother Sun Quan and other officers in the faction following the historical deaths of Sun Jian and Sun Ce.

Those well-versed in the Chinese Three Kingdoms lore will know that Sun Shangxiang is destined to marry one of the two other major faction leaders. However, that event is still irrelevant for the timeframe covered in Dynasty Warriors Origins. As such, I find her approach toward the protagonist Ziluan in her bond events completely acceptable within the game's scope.

Yueying, or as I prefer to call her by her full name Huang Yueying, is the sole female character in Liu Bei's eventual Shu Han kingdom who appears in Dynasty Warriors Origins. She is also the only one whose husband—Zhuge Liang—is also present. But I just find it a bit perplexing why Omega Force hid their marriage status before their formal appearances, even when the player could visit both of them earlier via bond events.

In the Dynasty Warriors series, Yueying is also usually credited for inventing machines like the Juggernauts, which are better explained by their Japanese name: Tiger Tanks. However, such armaments are not relevant yet in Dynasty Warriors Origins' timeframe, as they would usually appear later after the Shu kingdom has been established.

Yueying's bond events in this game also describe her mechanical doll inventions, but we didn't actually see those in motion either, so I can't help but feel like her opportunity to stand out in the storyline does not appear as much.

I already had some reservations when Koei Tecmo confirmed the appearance of Zhenji but without Cao Pi ing her. So I was instead expecting the team to delve deeper into her earlier life when she was married to Yuan Xi. That expectation unfortunately ended up going off-mark as well.

When you first meet Zhenji in the game's story, she was still living with her own family before she was then wedded to the Yuan clan. However, the game does not even cover her life in the latter clan outside of two encounters during battles, and she was not even accompanied by her then-husband on either occasion. Those factors ultimately made the encounter between Zhenji and Yuan Xi during Cao Cao's final battle against the Yuan clan very shallow.

The short point here is: If you only care about Zhenji as *your* waifu, you will undoubtedly enjoy her bond events, where your character gets to develop a relationship with her. But as someone who has invested deeply in the history of the Chinese Three Kingdoms period, I feel like Zhenji's appearance becomes way too detached from the game's overall lore.

I still stand by my initial wishlist where Cai Wenji would have fit much better as the female representative for the Cao Wei faction in Dynasty Warriors Origins' roster. Other than possible contributions towards stages that involved rescuing her from foreign tribes, Cai Wenji could have also complemented Cao Cao's ion for poetry as close friends.

I would say Diaochan has the most interesting depiction among the female characters appearing in Dynasty Warriors Origins. The appearance of her foster father Wang Yun as a semi-unique character does also help flesh out her personality further, but I'm particularly amazed that Omega Force opted to depict her as the true love interest for the game's protagonist Ziluan.

I've also noticed that the team has been toning down Diaochan's relationship with Lu Bu ever since it added his daughter Lu Lingqi in Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends. After all, Diaochan and Lu Lingqi are not related at all. But even when Lu Lingqi is completely absent from Dynasty Warriors Origins, Diaochan still preferring Ziluan over Lu Bu sounds like a very bold decision from the game's development team.

The interpretation of Diaochan in Dynasty Warriors Origins, however, is greatly hampered by omissions in the depiction of the successful assassination of Dong Zhuo which is more relevant to history books and novels. The game does not even give the player an option to side with Dong Zhuo in the Hulao Gate campaign. That means those who are newly learning about the historical period end up getting deprived of details on Wang Yun's ultimate mission for Diaochan to seduce both Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu to create a rift between the two, which was actually elaborated more in the series' prior mainline entries.

And of course, we do actually have a fifth female character with the new addition of Zhuhe. Just like the other people from the Guardian of Peace group, she is a completely fictional character made up for the original protagonist's background story. However, talking about Zhuhe's overall involvement in this game's storyline would constitute major spoilers.

So without touching that aspect, I would rather argue that Zhuhe could have been well-placed as an alternative playable female protagonist for Dynasty Warriors Origins. I could totally see her swapping positions with the game's established protagonist Ziluan in all cutscenes, including those involving their past.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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Koei Tecmo announced that it has sold over 1 million copies of Dynasty Warriors Origins on all of its intended platforms combined worldwide. The company also added that the demo version of the same game has also sured 2 million s.

These announcements add more entries to the game's achievements after Sony Interactive Entertainment revealed that Dynasty Warriors Origins became the most ed PS5 game in Japan in January 2025. The milestones also brought the series back to the general spotlight.

As of July 2024, Koei Tecmo had recorded over 22 million copies sold worldwide from all Dynasty Warriors entries released to date. With Dynasty Warriors Origins contributing a million more copies, the series' overall sales have also increased to 23 million.

The Dynasty Warriors series mostly had its heyday in the PlayStation 2 era. Dynasty Warriors 3, 4, and 5 were noted to have sured 1 million copies in Japan on their own. However, subsequent releases on the PS3 and later platforms could not reach the same levels. For example, the PS3 and Xbox 360 releases of Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires had over 430,000 units sold globally in 2009, while Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires—which appeared on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Switch, and PC in 2022—could only reach 280,000 copies sold worldwide as of March 2022.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is readily available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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Koei Tecmo and Omega Force announced another Musou entry will Dynasty Warriors Originsin 2025, and the new game is a roguelike called Warriors: Abyss. It is immediately available, as it ended up being a February 2025 State of Play shadowdrop.

The launch trailer primarily focused on gameplay. It shows how we will head into stages in the Inferno that seem inspired by maps and situations from past Musou titles. We’ll have six characters with us, which it seems we can switch between, that each have their own specialties. There also seems to be a cooldown system in place, which limits how long we can call upon certain allies from past games in the series to assist us.

Here’s the first trailer for the game, which also serves as both its launch trailer and a look at its gameplay. It doesn't offer any idea about how the story works, so we don't know why classic heroes are teaming up together to head into the Inferno.

Warriors: Abyss is available now for the PS4 and PS5, and it is the second new Musou game to appear in 2025 after Dynasty Warriors Origins appeared on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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Sony Interactive Entertainment shared the January 2025 rankings on the Japanese PlayStation.Blog. It revealed that Dynasty Warriors Origins was the most ed PS5 game in Japan during January 2025, the month it released.

The page also lists the rankings featuring combined results from the US and Canada, but Dynasty Warriors Origins only managed 11th place in the North American PS5 rankings. It also included rankings for other PlayStation platforms. In Japan throughout January 2025, Monster Hunter World won the PS4 rankings, while Wuthering Waves became the most ed free-to-play game. Beat Saber is the only title on the page to win in both Japan and North America on the PlayStation VR2.

The full Japanese top 20 PlayStation 5 list going over the most ed PS5 game ranking for January 2025 is as follows:

1. Dynasty Warriors Origins
2. Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
3. Synduality: Echo of Ada
4. Freedom Wars Remastered
5. Tales of Graces f Remastered
6. Palworld
7. Minecraft
8. Hogwarts Legacy
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
10. Monster Hunter Rise
11. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
12. Street Fighter 6
13. EA Sports FC 25
14. Raft
15. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven
16. Resident Evil 4 Remake
17. Stellar Blade
18. Phasmophobia
19. Grand Theft Auto V
20. Elden Ring

Dynasty Warriors Origins is also available on Xbox Series X and PC in addition to PlayStation 5. Koei Tecmo has also released a new optional DLC that adds Ichiran Noodles as a crossover item for all platforms and regions.

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Bandai Namco announced that it has recorded over 4 million units of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 sold worldwide. The company celebrates the milestone by revealing several new projects related to the game developed by Koei Tecmo's Omega Force that originally came out in 2020. One of them is a most wanted character poll, where the winners will appear as new DLC playable characters for One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4.

The company has also set up a survey page for the poll. However, it requires people to have a Bandai Namco ID ed before they can access the page. Once logged in, they will be able to choose 3 characters they want the most out of the 23 figures listed.

The 23 characters available in the poll are as follows. As a side note, Nefertari Vivi and her pet duck Karoo are counted in a single character slot.

• World Government and the Marines - Sengoku, Ryokugyu, Kaku, S-Hawk, or Sentomaru
• Female characters - Nefertari Vivi & Karoo, Koala, Baby 5, Monet, or Perona
• Wano Country - King, Queen, Ulti, Kyoshiro, or Scratchmen Apoo
• Movie characters - Shiki, Zephyr, Gild Tesoro, or Douglas Bullet
• Past adversaries - Enel, Gecko Moria, Magellan, or Foxy

The One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 most wanted character poll will close on Friday, February 28, 2025. After closing the poll, Bandai Namco will select several of the top-ranked winners for the new DLC set.

This poll also shows Bandai Namco's commitment to continuously add more content to One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 in a similar fashion to Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2. The game's was initially thought to have concluded with the Wano Country character Kozuki Oden in 2020. However, the company later revealed new DLC for the game and added characters like Gear 5 Luffy and Monkey D. Garp throughout 2023 and 2024.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Even though the PS4 and Xbox One versions are also readily playable on the PS5 and Xbox Series X via backward compatibility, Bandai Namco has also announced plans to release new native versions for the newer consoles.

The post One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Most Wanted Character Poll Opens appeared first on Siliconera.

Koei Tecmo announced that it has released the Ichiran Noodles crossover DLC for Dynasty Warriors Origins. The optional DLC is available to worldwide via the respective digital storefronts for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.

Those who have ed and installed the DLC will get to spot the real-life brand noodles—which are also available in New York, USA—appearing as a purchasable and consumable item in Dynasty Warriors Origins' shop menu. This item will let the player recover half of the character's health, which is actually the same effect as the existing Vitality Pill. But while the original item costs 500 coins, the new crossover item is available at a cheaper price of 400 coins.

Ichiran is not the only ramen noodle brand to have a Dynasty Warriors Origins collaboration. Koei Tecmo had also announced another collaboration with Sanyo Foods' Sapporo Ichiban brand, which has since released Chengdu-style Tantanmen instant noodle cups branded with the same game. The cups have been available for sale in Japan since February 3, 2025.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC. The Ichiran Noodles crossover DLC for the game is also available to and install worldwide.

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Dynasty Warriors Origins has been largely regarded as having a generally positive reception, thanks to the properly rebooted action gameplay system. However, those who already have long-time attachments to the series, especially to the characters and historical events, would find a good number of gaping holes in the new game's storytelling due to the more-than-necessary cuts of recurring unique characters. One such character whose absence in Dynasty Warriors Origins is very noticeable is Lu Xun from the Sun Wu faction.

Lu Xun has been one of the popular mainstay characters of the Dynasty Warriors series ever since he appeared in the original PS1 fighting game. However, the historical figure was arguably best known for commanding the Wu army in launching a chain fire attack on the Shu camps at the Battle of Yiling in 222 AD.

Perhaps Omega Force referred to that feat as the primary reason for forgoing Lu Xun in Dynasty Warriors Origins, which only covered events up to the Battle of Chi Bi / Red Cliffs in 208 AD. Even though Lu Xun also had several campaigns against the unruly Shanyue tribe, which is also featured more prominently in the Sun clan's storyline in Origins, those skirmishes took place in the mid-210s. However, he historically started serving the Sun clan from around 203 AD, which is actually within the period covered in the new game.

In addition, as Omega Force claimed that Dynasty Warriors Origins has an extensive focus on the shorter period, it included several battles that were not covered in prior series entries. One of them just so happened to feature figures from the same clan as Lu Xun, which makes the latter's exclusion far more perplexing.

The battle in question is the Siege of Lujiang, which ran for two years and concluded in 195 AD. Even though this battle was barely mentioned in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, Sun Ce historically appeared and commanded the attacking side of the battle when he was still serving as a vassal of Yuan Shu. The leader of the defending side was none other than Lu Xun's granduncle Lu Kang, whose name in kanji/hanzi (陸康) is different from Lu Xun's future son (陸抗).

The historical relationship between the two key figures was not good either. When Sun Ce paid a visit to Lu Kang far before the siege, the latter disrespected him by not meeting him in person and sending a subordinate instead.

Lu Kang historically died roughly one month after the siege concluded, though not before he appointed Lu Xun as the new head of the clan. When Lu Xun eventually decided to serve under Sun Quan, the liege had him later marry one of Sun Ce's daughters as a measure to mend the relationship between the Sun and Lu clans.

When I previously published a list of period-relevant characters missing in Dynasty Warriors Origins' unique character roster, I initially assumed that Cao Ren would be the most jarring exclusion because he originally filled the enemy commander role in the Battle of Xinye. However, the game's producer Tomohiko Sho has since tweeted his defense of the decision, noting that he wants to depict Cao Ren closer to his deeds from historical sources rather than the fodder general persona as shown during the aforementioned battle in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel.

But I digress slightly. As the Dynasty Warriors series generally features a loose retelling of the Chinese Three Kingdoms-era history and folklore, Origins did also have some changes to the detailed relationships, especially since Omega Force portrayed Sun Ce in a better light as one of the game story's main characters.

With the Dynasty Warriors Origins rendition of Lu Kang noticing Sun Ce's difference from Yuan Shu when the former spared him, he may have conveyed the observation to Lu Xun when he was about to have the latter succeed him. However, Lu Xun ended up never appearing in the game when he should have as Sun Quan's reign starts in a later chapter.

I would consider this a missed opportunity even worse than Cao Ren's absence from the Battle of Xinye. It would have shown how Sun Ce's comion earned him respect from a clan he had defeated previously, especially amid the regional animosity that led to the battle that featured his historical death scene.

The latest mainline Dynasty Warriors entry that featured Lu Xun is Dynasty Warriors 9, which Koei Tecmo released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2018. The newer entry Dynasty Warriors Origins has been available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC since January 2025, but its unique character roster does not include Lu Xun.

The post Omitting Lu Xun in Dynasty Warriors Origins Is a Mistake appeared first on Siliconera.

Cao Cao's bodyguard Dian Wei historically sacrificed himself to give enough time for his liege to escape from Wan Castle when Zhang Xiu plotted to assassinate Cao Cao right there in 197 AD. However, some of the prior Dynasty Warriors entries like Dynasty Warriors 8 allowed players to rescue Dian Wei and retain his appearance in subsequent stages. Those who are playing Dynasty Warriors Origins will thus wonder whether they can also save Dian Wei from his historical death in the game.

The short answer here is: Yes, you can rescue Dian Wei in Dynasty Warriors Origins. However, be advised that the below guide will contain major spoilers for the stage's details.

In the early phases of the stage, you simply need to follow the general strategy by starting to clear enemies from the eastern base and move in a clockwise direction while beating any approaching enemies, including reinforcements from the seemingly empty entry points. Once you have reached the castle's western walls, though, you must pay close attention to what you will do next.

You will of course need to beat Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu for Cao Cao to be able to escape Wan Castle. But instead of escorting the leader to the escape point, you need to stay inside the castle complex if you want to rescue Dian Wei. However, the area where Dian Wei stays will be perpetually locked, and there is absolutely no way to open the gate.

You are instead tasked to quickly defeat any enemy officers still remaining in the explorable areas of Wan Castle. The two remaining officers are Huche'er and Zhang Quan, whom I have marked in the above image. They will take even more time to beat due to their high courage levels, but defeating them will be essential to rescuing Dian Wei in Dynasty Warriors Origins.

If you are not quick enough, Dian Wei's combat area will turn red, and that would mean you have failed the secret challenge and thus must restart all over again. You will know you have successfully secured Dian Wei from his historical death when you see a "Fate Altered" sign. You can afterward focus on helping Cao Cao reach the escape point to clear the whole stage.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Can You Rescue Dian Wei in Dynasty Warriors Origins? appeared first on Siliconera.

Sun Jian was historically killed in the middle of the battle against Liu Biao's army at Xiangyang in 191 AD. Details on his death vary by source, with causes ranging from arrow barrages to boulder drops. Some of the prior Dynasty Warriors entries like Dynasty Warriors 8 have had hypothetical routes where the player could alter such a historical event. Therefore, some may wonder whether it is possible to rescue Sun Jian in Dynasty Warriors Origins.

The short answer to this question is: Yes, you can save Sun Jian at the Battle of Xiangyang in Dynasty Warriors Origins. But while you can read the detailed methods to do the feat right below, be advised that this guide contains major spoilers for the stage.

When you start the stage from the eastern river bank, immediately head towards the southwest path and defeat any generals on the path to smoothen Sun Ce's army march. Do not even bother with the enemies camped around the northeast, although you may beat that one general Cai He who moves forward to pincer your allies.

Around the time you're working on the base at the end of the narrow path, events on the south side should have led Sun Jian into a struggle at the map's southwest corner. If you want to rescue the clan leader, you must make haste to the westmost gate and have your troops open it.

The rush will not be as easy as it seems, though, as the game will read your intention and thus generate a tough challenge on the way...

...That's right. For whatever reason, apparitions of Zhang Jiao and his Yellow Turban lackeys will appear to prevent you from rescuing Sun Jian and avoiding his historical death. They will also block the only path to reach Sun Jian, so you have no choice but to destroy Zhang Jiao's ghost. However, this task will not be easy even with souped-up gear, as the ghost has maximum courage and thus will take a lot of beating to defeat.

The absolute requirement to save Sun Jian is to reach him first before Huang Gai could. So once you have finally defeated Zhang Jiao's ghost, head south immediately. You may try to beat Huang Zu and other nearby officers on the way, but if it takes time and Huang Gai is also getting closer to the goal line, you really should prioritize reaching Sun Jian first.

The Battle of Xiangyang stage in Dynasty Warriors Origins will end with an alternate ending as soon as you have successfully rescued Sun Jian. Note that this also means you cannot simultaneously accomplish the Ultimate Warrior difficulty challenge to beat the enemy leader Liu Biao at the north end of the fortress. If you want to do the latter mission, I'd recommend replaying the stage via Free Mode.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Can You Save Sun Jian in Dynasty Warriors Origins? appeared first on Siliconera.

Most games in Koei Tecmo and Omega Force's Dynasty Warriors series have a difficulty level higher than Hard, which usually also has exclusive challenges that reward the strongest weapons. The difficulty level is usually known in English as "Chaos," and long-time players of the series will wonder whether Dynasty Warriors Origins also has one.

The short answer to this question is: Yes. However, the difficulty level has a different name from prior entries. In addition, be advised that the more detailed answer will include some post-game content spoilers.

When you are just starting Dynasty Warriors Origins, you can only choose from the Historian, Wayfarer, and Hero difficulty levels, which were originally known as Easy, Normal, and Hard. There will be no further difficulty level available... until you have reached an ending in your first story playthrough. One of the post-game content unlocks in Dynasty Warriors Origins will be the past series' equivalent of the Chaos difficulty level, which is now known as "Ultimate Warrior."

The Ultimate Warrior difficulty will be even more relentless than the initially available Hero difficulty. In addition to increasingly aggressive soldiers, the time frame to parries and perfect evasions will also become even shorter. However, players will also be able to enjoy drops of weapons with far better traits as a reward.

When you check the stage descriptions in the post-game playthrough, you can also notice new Challenge missions listed at the bottom right corner. Completing these challenges will let you unlock exclusive content that will also count toward the whole game's collection percentages. However, be advised that these Challenges must be done on the Ultimate Warrior difficulty for the rewards to be given.

The Challenge rewards also have another difference from prior series entries. Earlier Dynasty Warriors games would only have challenges on the Chaos difficulty level to let players obtain the strongest weapons. In Dynasty Warriors Origins, these rewards are not limited to just weapons.

Some of the Challenges will reward unique horses like the legendary Red Hare and Liu Bei's Hex Mark. Some others will come with exclusive Accessories and Battle Arts that the protagonist can equip. The reward list will also include additional troops to further enlarge the protagonist's bodyguard unit and Old Coins that must be collected to unlock the remaining rewards at the Shui Jing Retreat.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is readily available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Is There a Chaos Difficulty Level in Dynasty Warriors Origins? appeared first on Siliconera.

While Koei Tecmo's history-based Musou / Warriors games are known to have numerous unique characters officially known as Musou Officers, they also have many other warriors and tacticians portrayed with generic designs. However, in some of the entries, there are several characters whose designs have more distinctions than generic officers but not as much as the well-established unique characters. These semi-unique officers were most prominently seen in the Samurai Warriors 4 sub-series, but we have also spotted Koei Tecmo employing a similar approach in Dynasty Warriors Origins.

One can distinguish the semi-unique characters from generic officers in Dynasty Warriors Origins by noticing that they have proper face profiles in the list of officers and in-battle conversations, as opposed to the darkened eyes for generic general portraits. However, despite having unique faces, they still share the same outfit and headgear with other generic officers, albeit occasionally with different colors. We have identified ten figures who fit the bill in this title.

The first of the ten semi-unique characters we spotted in Dynasty Warriors Origins is Gongsun Zan. He developed a close friendship with Liu Bei as they studied under the same teacher, and Gongsun Zan would later become the governor of Beiping. He also frequently clashed with Yuan Shao, with the latter eventually coming out as the overall victor.

Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song are best known for their tenure as commanders in the Han imperial army during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Although the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel omitted both characters during the Dong Zhuo arc, they actually still had some roles mentioned during the period in historical records.

Zhu Jun ed the Anti-Dong Zhuo coalition with most other warlords. As for Huangfu Song, despite initially having a growing feud with Dong Zhuo, the two eventually came to good after Huangfu Song's son, who was close to Dong Zhuo, pleaded with the latter not to execute his father.

Wang Yun is a Han official who is best known for his plot to have Lu Bu betray and kill Dong Zhuo. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, he did it by having Diaochan—a fictional character depicted as his adopted daughter—seduce both Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu so that the two would fight over her.

Kong Rong is one of the descendants of Confucius. During his tenure as the Chancellor of Beihai, his territory was raided by Yellow Turban remnants. However, he was rescued by Taishi Ci, who wanted to thank him for treating his mother well. Kong Rong eventually went to serve the Han imperial court under Cao Cao's control after Yuan Shao's army conquered his lands.

Tao Qian is the governor of Xu Province who was put in the spotlight when his subordinate Zhang Kai, whom he tasked to escort Cao Cao's father Cao Song, killed the latter instead to loot his riches for Zhang Kai's own benefit. Cao Cao directed his anger towards Tao Qian nevertheless, which then sparked the former's relentless invasion of Xu Province.

Ji Ling is a general who serves the eventual self-proclaimed emperor Yuan Shu. He was also tasked to lead an invasion of Liu Bei's fief in Xiaopei, although it was cut short when Lu Bu appeared and brokered a ceasefire. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel described his weapon as a trident that looks exactly like Yu Jin's weapon of choice in the more recent Dynasty Warriors entries.

Liu Biao is a Han official best known for his tenure as the governor of Jing Province in the early years of the period covered in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. As he had also entered an alliance with Yuan Shao, the latter's relative and rival Yuan Shu ordered the Sun clan to invade his fief. Liu Biao would later shelter fellow relative Liu Bei when the latter was fleeing away from Cao Cao.

Huang Zu is a subordinate of Liu Biao who also has his own fief in the Jing Province. He gained enmity from the Sun clan for leading a plot that successfully killed the latter's leader Sun Jian during the Battle of Xiangyang.

And last but not least, we also have Ling Cao, Ling Tong's father who ed Sun Ce when the latter launched a campaign to conquer the Wu territories. He was ultimately killed by Gan Ning when Sun Quan tried to launch his first attack on the latter's liege Huang Zu.

As a side note, the semi-unique designs do not represent the characters' final designs until Koei Tecmo promotes them to full-fledged unique Musou Officers. Half of the characters in this list—Wang Yun, Ji Ling, Ling Cao, Liu Biao, and Huang Zu—had also received unique-like designs in the now-defunct mobile game Dynasty Warriors Blast. However, none of those are reflected in their semi-unique officer designs in Dynasty Warriors Origins.

These semi-unique characters appear in Dynasty Warriors Origins, available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Here Are Dynasty Warriors Origins’ Semi-Unique Officers appeared first on Siliconera.

One of the most asked questions from long-time Dynasty Warriors players whenever a new game comes out—including the most recent Dynasty Warriors Origins—is about the existence of a Free Mode. This mode lets the player access battles unlocked from the main Story Mode with any playable character—including those from unrelated factions and lifespans.

The short answer to this question is: Yes, Dynasty Warriors Origins does have some sort of a Free Mode. However, you will need to take quite a long time to make it available. Be advised that the more detailed answer below will contain some post-game content spoilers.

Somewhere at the middle point of the game's overall storyline, you will notice a new "Story" entry added to the Inn or Lodgings menu in any city. This sub-menu will list all of the main storyline's cutscenes and battles that you have seen. But while you can replay the available cutscenes right away, pressing the confirmation button on a battle entry will still do nothing yet when you just unlock the menu.

It turns out that you must first reach the ending in your story playthrough. The game will then have the so-called Free Mode unlocked as part of the post-game content. Only after that, you can finally access any battles that have been unlocked in the Story menu.

But as Dynasty Warriors Origins is more focused on making the original protagonist "Ziluan" the main playable character, the game's Free Mode will let you bring a companion character outside of the original faction. If you have unlocked a certain strongest warrior as an extra companion as part of the post-game content, you can also bring him to the battles. However, there are a couple of caveats to this feature.

The first caveat is that you cannot bring companion characters who already appear on the stage as enemies. For example, if you're playing a stage where you're fighting against Liu Bei's faction and both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei appear as enemies, you cannot bring them as your companions.

In addition, companions are only available when the stage does allow bringing one to begin with. That also means since Chapter 1 did not introduce you to the feature yet, none of the stages in the chapter have any companion access.

There are also some stages with other exceptions for the feature, such as the Battle of Changban on Liu Bei's side. This stage has different starting events and missions determined by your companion choice between Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, so the Free Mode version still restricts the choices to only those two.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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Pursuing Lu Bu, the strongest warrior of the Chinese Three Kingdoms era, has been a widely discussed topic in the Dynasty Warriors base. It originated from Yuan Shao's "Do not pursue Lu Bu!" quote in Dynasty Warriors 3, and many players have since tried to "defy" the order whenever they encounter the character in subsequent series entries. With the new game Dynasty Warriors Origins coming out, some players may wonder whether they can also pursue Lu Bu there.

The short answer to this question is: Yes. However, it is not really recommended to attempt the feat on your first playthrough. Even if you have the playing skills to beat Lu Bu, your character's low level and stats will make the feat take a long time to accomplish and it may even end up compromising the stage's main objectives.

For example, the very first stage you encounter Lu Bu will be "Assassination of Dong Zhuo," where you are primarily tasked to escort Cao Cao's escape. If you can whittle enough of Lu Bu's HP, he will leave the stage. But if you try to fight him right from the beginning of the stage, Cao Cao will try to escape on his own and end up getting overwhelmed by other enemy officers due to morale disadvantage, thus causing you to lose the stage.

If you want to successfully pursue Lu Bu without compromising the stage's primary objective in Dynasty Warriors Origins, you will have to determine the right time and conditions to make the pursuit.

You will encounter Lu Bu once again in Chapter 2 at the "Battle of Hulao Gate" stage. Your chance to pursue Lu Bu will appear when Liu Bei and his sworn brothers are holding him off. However, other allied officers will usually struggle to capture the remaining bases at the same time. If you want to mitigate ally losses as much as possible, I would suggest first to finish conquering the bases so you can focus on fighting Lu Bu afterward.

Actually defeating Lu Bu at the Battle of Hulao Gate will also be a key task for game content completion later on. Once you have unlocked a new harder difficulty level, its exclusive mission for the stage will challenge you to do the exact feat with a new powerful weapon as a reward.

Lu Bu is one of the characters appearing in Dynasty Warriors Origins, available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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