Dynasty Warriors: Origins takes place across five chapters. There’s technically a short prologue chapter too, but it’s only a single tutorial battle to get your feet wet with the combat. Every chapter is roughly equal in terms of length, though you may wind up spending the most time in Chapter Three for reasons I’ll explain below.

In the doldrums of winter, I’ve reached for comfort media — which, for me, means Chinese historical dramas. And while the elaborate costumes and overly sweet romances are enjoyable, sometimes a girl wants something with a little more teeth. Dynasty Warriors: Origins has given me exactly what I needed.

Origins is a classic Musou game through and through, featuring high-energy rock music, and legions of grunts to cut down as easily as blades of grass. That said, Origins is far from a by-the-books Dynasty Warriors game.

The Dynasty Warriors games are a blast to play alone as you slaughter hundreds of foes in you way, but can you team up in Dynasty Warriors: Origins or not?The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

Put simply, players will need to alter the fate of certain characters if they want to unlock all of the true endings in Dynasty Warriors: Origins, although this can sometimes end up being a lot easier said than done.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins may not have the huge amount of movesets that the previous games in the franchise did, but the nine weapons it does have are all incredibly fun and have a lot of depth. Not only does each weapon have fun combos and a unique gimmick, but each one also has several unique battle arts to cause pure chaos on the battlefield.

Origins evolves the long-running series, meshing its hack-and-slash core with an action-oriented slant that enhances its extravagant warfare.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is a far more successful attempt at reformating the series’ action-based gameplay, but it sacrifices much of its uniqueness in the process.