Dynasty Warriors: Origins Visions of Four Heroes DLC review

A meaty DLC for the early 2025 release Dynasty Warriors: Origins was definitely not on my 2026 bingo card. Visions of Four Heroes is not just tacked on content for the base game, it’s a rare expansion that makes you rethink major characters you thought you knew. Don’t write this off as a throwaway DLC!

For a franchise that has retold the Romance of the Three Kingdoms more times than I can count, Visions of Four Heroes pulls off something I did not expect. It asks a simple question: what if the villains were just heroes who needed someone on their side?

Four "what if" scenarios make up the bulk of the expansion, spotlighting Zhang Jiao, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Lu Bu. These guys have played the villain role for so long that fighting alongside them almost feels wrong at first. Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Rebellion hits differently when you are on his side. His dream of a peaceful land free from corrupt officials starts making sense once you see the Coalition Forces bearing down on you instead of the other way around.

Each arc begins at a turning point where history went sideways, and your character steps in to change the outcome. The writing reinforces who these people are without making them unrecognizable. Dong Zhuo keeps his flaws, while Lu Bu stays the God of Battle. Omega Force walked a tightrope between redemption and whitewashing, and I’d say they landed it.

But the stories wrap up a little too fast. Campaigns clock in at around two to four hours, depending on your pace and difficulty, which left me wanting more given the grand ambitions these figures hold. Lu Bu's route is the shortest, which struck me as odd since he is probably the most popular of the four. His motivations just do not have the same depth as Zhang Jiao's ideological crusade.

New companions joining the roster: Zhuhe, Diaochan, and a mysterious archer named Fei Wei. They bring variety to battlefield partnerships, but none of them get enough screen time. Zhuhe's return will please fans who wanted her around permanently, though she still deserved a bigger spotlight.

My one real complaint is Ziluan, the protagonist character you play. He stays silent through a story that begs for emotional stakes. Watching him guide fallen heroes toward redemption would land harder if he showed any personality. Not being able to play as anyone else, even briefly, also sucks when the roster is stacked with fan favorites.

If you liked mowing down thousands of soldiers in the original, this expansion gives you more of that in a tighter package. Downtime between battles is minimal: you finish one fight, regroup at the inn, and head straight into the next.

Two new weapons show up: the bow and the rope dart. The bow plays unlike anything else in the game as you can strafe and fire multiple arrows while holding guard, which opens up hit-and-run tactics the original lacked. The rope dart takes more commitment since holding the Strong Attack button unlocks its real moveset, so expect a learning curve before it clicks. Every existing weapon also picks up a new Battle Art, which gave me reasons to revisit loadouts I had shelved months ago.

Combat itself is unchanged from the original, and that is fine. Parries, perfect dodges, and the skill plate system all carry over. Enemies attack with aggression, which makes battles feel like actual skirmishes instead of passive target practice. Encounters scale to your Rank Level, so even maxed-out saves cannot bulldoze through everything.

Visionary Skill Points are the new currency here, earned through side objectives and story missions. They unlock nodes on a separate Skill Panel built just for this DLC. Your existing progress carries over, so you are not starting from scratch, but you still have meaningful upgrades to chase. Levels, gear, and weapons from the original transfer in. Campaigns share progression, so there is no tedious re-grinding between routes.

The DLC also introduces Strategic Battles, a layer of turn-based planning that sits between the main story missions. You view a world map populated by allied and enemy army units, each with visible health bars and strength indicators. You spend turns engaging smaller enemy groups in skirmishes to chip away at the opposing force before the turn limit expires and the final battle begins. Victories generate a resource that powers abilities like stunning enemy units so they skip their turn. In practice, the system is shallow enough that it rarely demands meaningful decision-making.

Honestly, the Training Ground might be the best thing this DLC adds. Origins needed a practice arena badly, and its absence at launch stood out. Several activities fill out this mode, including sparring sessions with Zhuhe and Battle Tournaments that throw waves of enemies at you with escalating difficulty. Then there’s Weapon Training, which puts wooden versions of each weapon in your hands, and where defeating officers drops accessories and skill points.

Origins launched as one of the cleanest entries this franchise has seen, and that holds true here. Loading times stay quick, and transitions between the inn hub and battles never killed my momentum.

Visions of Four Heroes costs $34.99, which is quite pricey for DLC. But the content backs it up somewhat with four short campaigns running a few hours each, two new weapons, new Battle Arts, three companions, a dedicated skill tree, and a full training arena. You can access the DLC from Chapter 2, but I would finish the base game first. These alternate scenarios lean on your familiarity with these characters and factions.