Editor’s Note (1/16/26): This review was updated to clear up an unclear statement regarding the frame rate and Variable performance setting.
Exactly one year ago, I had the opportunity to try out Dynasty Warriors: Origins. It was a very pleasing experience on PlayStation 5, as it was a breath of fresh air for those who never played the mainline games, as I did, and provided series veterans with some new mechanics.
After the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 console, Koei Tecmo’s developers have gone on the record to say that they were very pleased with the increase in processing power. So now the question becomes: Can this game run well on the Nintendo Switch 2? Or is this an inferior port that is incredibly late to the party?
Rise, My Comrades! To War!
Our story in Dynasty Warriors: Origins begins in what I consider to be one of China’s most important periods, which is the War of the Three Kingdoms. Due to the great drought, people were unable to grow their crops, leading to a widespread famine. And what did the monarchy do to combat the situation? Absolutely nothing. In fact, they were only concerned with amassing even more power and raising taxes on everyone.
It is then that a group of rebels called the Yellow Turbans rise up against the corrupt officials, with their classic “The Azure Sky is already dead; the Yellow Sky will soon rise” slogan, which is even imprinted on their flag. But of course, the government wasn’t going to just let them trample around freely, and so various armies across the kingdoms have banded together.
The protagonist is a drifting wanderer who joins a volunteer army led by Liu Bei, and over the course of his journey, he gradually learns about his role as a Guardian of Peace. The story doesn’t just end at the Yellow Turbans either. Instead of multiple chapters, Dynasty Warriors: Origins features five chapters in total, with the Wanderer acting as a sort of neutral party at the beginning.
In the interest of keeping the review spoiler-free, all I can say is: You will require multiple playthroughs, as there are multiple endings, and I urge anyone to witness getting them all. You’d be surprised just how intricate the story can get, especially in the later parts, and the game does a good job at making it clear to the player when they reach a point of no return.
The Battlefield’s Rules
Battles in Dynasty Warriors: Origins can be divided into three categories. You have the main Battles, which are necessary to progress the main story, and two smaller-scale ones called Missions and Skirmishes. Before each major Battle, a War Council is held, where it will detail the conditions of the battlefield and who you must protect at all costs.
The Wanderer is capable of wielding a plethora of different weapons in combat, from swords to polearms and even some weird chakram weapons. The more you use a weapon, the more proficiency points you can accumulate, allowing you to level up your weapon skills. Doing so will also increase your Warrior Rank, unlocking skill trees that can grant buffs such as more HP and increased stats.
Furthermore, the game will also have constant Checkpoints throughout the Battles, and if you make a wrong turn and end up failing, you can rewind to a previous checkpoint and quickly change your tactics. As is typical of a musou game, your used buttons are the X and Y buttons to deal attack combos, the L Button, which allows you to guard against enemy hits, and even parry them with the proper timing.
On Nintendo Switch 2, I did have to get used to the controls in the Nintendo layout when playing in Handheld Mode, since it differs quite a bit from the PlayStation 5. Playing in TV Mode with a Pro Controller connected, however, was pretty easy to reorient myself. Dynasty Warriors: Origins remains a pretty accessible title, with lots of options for players to enable and assist their journey.
Nintendo Switch 2 Performance
Now let’s get to one of the most important parts, and that is the performance of the game on Nintendo Switch 2. Right off the bat, I should mention that the game is locked to 30 FPS and also provides a plethora of menu options that allow the game to run slightly better. For instance, you can set defeated soldiers to disappear entirely, and you can also have the game highlight officers to better distinguish them from the regular enemies, which is handy if you’re playing on the go.
For the most part, I played in Handheld Mode, and I didn’t have any noticeable lag or stuttering, even in areas with a lot of enemies. Perhaps the only minor gripe I had while playing in Handheld was that, much like with the PlayStation 5 version, the subtitles are very small and can be quite hard to read, even when you set the font size to Large. It’s also a shame that the game is locked to 30, with no stable 60 FPS mode and only a variable frame rate option available to obtain a higher frame rate. That said, the developers have stated that this would’ve required a worse experience overall, so I commend them for at least being transparent in that regard.
Now, the lack of Chinese voice acting is also present in the Nintendo Switch 2 version. Granted, this isn’t too big of a deal, but as someone fluent in Japanese, it can be slightly jarring that this is a story about the Chinese Three Kingdoms, yet the characters are speaking Japanese. It’s also a shame that we still don’t really have a Brazilian Portuguese translation, but that’s just a minor thing as well.
A Late, But Very Welcome Port
While it has taken a year before we finally got Dynasty Warriors: Origins on Nintendo Switch 2, the wait has been totally worth it. Koei Tecmo has done a great service in bringing the experience without compromising too much on its visual fidelity and performance. And this just makes me hopeful that their teams will gradually bring more experiences to the platform, thanks to the console’s increased power.
As for the game itself, well, I’ve said this before, but I still stand by what I said: This is the type of game that both series’ veterans and beginners can enjoy alike, and even though there were some minor issues that I encountered, once again, they were never the type to really diminish the experience, and patches can easily fix said issues.
If you haven’t given Dynasty Warriors: Origins a try, I can totally recommend getting this on Nintendo Switch 2. However, if you already own the title, then it’s not like this version has anything that the other versions don’t have, which does make it a hard choice to double-dip. Don’t get me wrong, the game is fantastic, but that is worth considering before purchasing it.
Disclaimer: Koei Tecmo provided a Nintendo Switch 2 copy of Dynasty Warriors: Origins for review purposes.
