Almost a year to the day of the release for the base game of Dynasty Warriors: Origins, a big DLC expansion called Visions of Four Heroes has arrived. What a fantastic expansion it is!
To access this DLC, you will need to have at least reached chapter 2 of the main game. It’s actually recommended to finish the main game to really get the most out of this DLC. What this DLC offers is an alternative “what if?” scenario story for factions you vanquished in the main game’s storyline. For example, one of the early uprisings in the original game you quell is the Yellow Turbans.
Here in the DLC, you, as a guardian of peace, go down that path of actually taking sides next to the leader of the Yellow Turbans as though they were the right faction to bring unity to the land. However, not only can you play the Yellow Turbans’ story with their leader, Zhang Jiao, but you can also play through the stories of Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao and Lu Bu.
Each alternative campaign is around 4 hours (on the easiest difficulty) and is chock full of cutscenes and epic 1 vs 2,000 battles as before. But it doesn’t end there. The DLC also has a new strategy interlude system. Instead of an open world to pick and choose extra fights to partake in, you have a very loosely controlled, linear direction over the course of a few battles. You’re basically locked into a small area of the map and have to choose which battles to fight before the main one.
As well as this, you have a training ground that has options for one-on-one battles with bosses or simple weapons training. Speaking of weapons, the DLC has 2 new varieties: a sword/bow and a rope dart.
When you start a campaign (you are locked to play the Yellow Turban Zhang Jiao route first), the game balances the difficulty based on your level at the time of the loaded save point (I hope you still have those saved games from before?). However, I have noticed, as I have seen others’ online comments, that the difficulty of the final boss fights are a little more challenging than before.
One of the issues I had with the game in my previous review was, at times, I’d fail a mission for something an NPC did or didn’t do. The same issue pops its ugly head up here. For example, in the Zhang Jiao campaign, I was tasked at one point to protect him from enemies. That’s not a problem. What is, though, is when the NPC you are to protect charges headlong right into the middle of the enemy’s camp of over 1,000 soldiers.
Even playing the game on the easiest mode, this was still quite challenging. Fortunately, the game has an excellent replay system, in that if you fail, you don’t have to restart the entire battle again, you simply go back to a recorded point and try again from that point onwards.
I guess myself and many others who play this DLC will be picking the game up cold, forgetting the controls and systems and diving headfirst into the DLC. Even though there are various methods of attacks, and now some new ones too, it didn’t take long to get back into the swing and rhythm of the gameplay. Utilising all the different abilities you have once again became second nature, and experimenting with new weapons, a new skill tree with vision points, new weapon challenges, and new weapon skills to unlock once again felt awesome to experiment with.
Playing the game again, I forgot just how much fun and epic these battles are. The DLC, like the main game, runs at a super smooth frame rate, has some outstanding visuals and plays so well. It’s so much fun juggling enemies to raise a combo with so much visual energy and flair. I became obsessed with mastering certain new weapon techniques but still can’t decide which weapon is the most fun to play with. I still stand by this as the best Omega Force game I have ever played. It reeks of high-quality production values and overall excellence combined with signature, exciting and highly entertaining gameplay. That, for me, is everything I ever want in a game.
All in all, there is at least 15 to 20 hours of new story content here to enjoy, if not more, which for £28.99 feels like a bargain. The DLC is of the same amazingly high standard as the base game but adds even more to the table. I’ve actually really enjoyed the training ground area more than I thought. Although simple on paper, it’s been an excellent new tool to hone your skills before battle AND get rewards in the process of practicing.
Summary
One of the best, most interesting DLC expansions I’ve ever played. So much content makes it feel like a whole new game. There is still the signature excellence of the base game details, but with new and interesting storylines, weapons, and features, it’s got me hooked to keep playing more of a game I thought I’d never be interested in touching again. If you enjoyed the base game, you’ll enjoy this DLC perhaps even a little more. Superb!
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platforms: PS5, Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release Date: 22nd January 2026
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Dynasty Warriors: Origins- Visions of Four Heroes DLC was provided by the publisher.
