For decades, the Dynasty Warriors series has stood as one of the best action games ever and popularized the “Musou” genre of battle games. Retelling the Chinese legend Romance of the Three Kingdoms, these games gave players the power fantasy of being a lone hero challenging entire armies of soldiers.
The series’ latest entry, Origins, continues the saga and has brought the series to a new level of popularity. Within a month, the latest Dynasty Warriors game reached one million sales.
Dynasty Warriors’ Sales Milestone
According to Tech Raptor, Dynasty Warriors: Origins recently broke a major sales record, with one million copies sold across PCs and consoles. The publisher, Koei Tecmo, announced this news in a press release. Additionally, the game’s demo saw twice as many downloads, meaning many are interested in this new title. For the occasion, the team released art of the amnesiac protagonist and the medic Yuanhua thanking players.
While this number may seem small relative to other giants like Nintendo or Fromsoft, it’s still a tremendous milestone for its series. For reference, the game launched exactly one month ago, highlighting how quickly it reached these numbers worldwide. Additionally, this individual number tops many other games in the series that never reached the number over their entire runs.
The Latest Entry
While Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors games have always evolved, Origins adds many new gameplay and story elements. Examples include adding a parry mechanic, giving players “Battle Arts” to use after building up bravery in battle, and adding a squad of bodyguards around the player with separate tactics. As its name implies, the story follows only the first half of the original Three Kingdoms novel. Additionally, the story uses an original amnesiac hero as its protagonist.
Origins had a long development story besides its gameplay and plot. After the poor reception to Dynasty Warriors 9’s attempted open world, the main series went quiet as the developer worked on collaborations with other franchises. As such, the team tried to shake up the formula and remind fans why the original series worked. Given this latest game’s strong reception and sales, the series has made a comeback.
The Musou Genre
Before Origins, critics and gamers considered the Dynasty Warriors series the best the hack-and-slash genre had to offer. Developed by Omega Force, the games took inspiration from the legendary Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a 14th-century retelling of its era’s wars. They featured many famous figures from the story, such as Cao Cao, Zhou Yu, and Lu Bu. Many players enjoy the game for the thrill of going in as a mighty hero, taking on an entire army singlehandedly.
Dynasty Warriors’ popularity inspired a genre known as “Musou,” which means “The Only One,” emphasizing these warriors’ abilities. Furthermore, many series, such as The Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem, and Persona 5, collaborated with them to create their takes on the genre. With a whole genre following behind it, Origins has proven that the love for this genre is alive and well.
Conclusion
While it’s been a long while since the last mainline Dynasty Warriors game, the many spinoffs and collaborations with other franchises show how much staying power the original series had. Given how quickly Origins reached such impressive sales numbers, it shows how strong its fanbase remained.
Because the game has only just been released, its story has only started. This success could open the door for more collaborations with major franchises, DLC, and a new era for the series, bringing these innovations to the forefront. Origins demonstrated the importance of a long-running series continually evolving to make it across generations.
