Is Dynasty Warriors: Origins Open World? Explained

Unlike recent entries in the Dynasty Warriors franchise that experimented with open worlds, Dynasty Warriors: Origins does not feature an open-world environment. This decision avoids the pitfalls seen in games like Dynasty Warriors 9, which suffered from a large, sparsely populated open world that detracted from the core gameplay experience.

Instead of an open world, Dynasty Warriors: Origins offers a condensed overworld map of ancient China. Players navigate this smaller map, visiting towns to acquire weapons and items, rest at inns, and interact with NPCs to initiate side quests or advance the storyline. While this overworld map is functionally simple and easily traversed (often in under a minute), it serves its purpose efficiently, providing a streamlined alternative to the unwieldy open world of its predecessor. Fast travel is available, but given the map's size, it's largely unnecessary. The focus remains on the core hack-and-slash combat, avoiding the dilution of gameplay that a large, empty open world can cause.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is currently available on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.