It’s been a year since Dynasty Warriors: Origins stripped back the franchise’s bloat and refined the feeling of being one (overpowered) soldier in a massive army. It was a risky pivot, swapping the usual roster of 90+ playable demigods for a single, nameless protagonist, but it largely paid off. Now, we have Visions of Four Heroes, the first expansion that asks a simple, compelling question: What if the protagonist sided with the bad guys?
The DLC focuses on four figures whose ambitions were cut short in the base game: the zealot Zhang Jiao, the tyrant Dong Zhuo, the noble-but-vain Yuan Shao, and the chaotic Lu Bu. If you’ve played a Dynasty Warriors game before, you’re more than familiar with the motives and misguided actions of this bunch. Now here they are, the stars of new campaigns with the narratives flipped. And honestly? Helping them rewrite history is one of the best parts of this package.
What If…?
The storytelling here is surprisingly engaging, despite largely being told through the same rigid conversations. The base game stuck fairly close to a grounded interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Visions of Four Heroes throws that out the window in favor of hypothetical timelines that feel earned rather than silly. Take Zhang Jiao and his Yellow Turban Rebellion. In the main campaign, he’s a tragic, misguided leader doomed to fail. In this expansion, your protagonist, Ziluan, steps in as a Guardian of Peace to steer the Yellow Turbans away from self-destruction. It notably changes the flavor of the rebellion. You aren’t just fighting for chaos; you’re trying to legitimize a movement. Watching Dong Zhuo—a character usually depicted as a cartoonishly evil glutton—actually succeed because you were there to watch his back is a fun twist. It adds layers to characters that Omega Force has treated as caricatures for two decades. It’s genuinely fun to see these antagonists get their time in the sun without the narrative immediately judging them, thanks to the invaluable guidance provided by Ziluan.
However, here’s the thing that might annoy long-time fans: You are still Ziluan. Even in a DLC explicitly about Lu Bu or Yuan Shao, you are locked into playing the nameless protagonist, barring short bursts of Zhuhe when the appropriate gauge fills up. Sure, the DLC adds a new Strategic Battle mode where you command armies on a map, and you get new companions like the legendary archer Fei Wei or the returning favorite Diaochan. But you never truly inhabit the Four Heroes. You’re just their very capable employee and advisor.
The combat itself remains excellent, though. The expansion adds two new weapon types: the Bow and the Rope Dart. The Bow is functional, great for crowd control from a distance, but it feels a bit passive at times for a game about wading into the muck of battle. The Rope Dart, on the other hand, is fantastic. It’s a high-skill, high-reward weapon that lets you grapple enemies, pull yourself into crowds, and spin around like a human blender. It feels distinct from the swords and spears of the base game, offering a rhythm that’s less about mashing square and more about positioning and flow. If you enjoyed the parry-heavy, tactical combat of Origins, the Rope Dart gives you a new, more aggressive way to engage with it. Most importantly, you can take both of these new weapons back to the main game, a luxury not afforded to the new skill tree exclusively tied to Visions of Four Heroes content.
Partially Realized Vision
The new content is structured around Strategic Battles. Instead of just dropping you into a massive field, the game breaks conflicts down into turn-based map movements. You move platoons, initiate skirmishes, and whittle down enemy numbers before the big Decisive Battle. On paper, this sounds like a great way to merge the Empires spin-offs with Origins. In practice, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The skirmishes are often short and repetitive. You jump in, beat a sub-officer, and jump out. It disrupts the pacing in an expansion that otherwise attempts to minimize downtime between action. The massive 1 vs. 1,000 battles are still the highlight, and the strategic layer sometimes feels like busywork, given its basic implementation, standing in the way of the good stuff.
We also need to talk about the price. $35 is steep seeing as it’s more than half the price of the full game. For that money, you get four scenario arcs, two weapons, and a grindy Training Ground mode. The scenarios aren’t incredibly long—you can blast through the story content in roughly 10 hours. The replay value comes from the Training Ground and maxing out the new skill trees, but unless you are a die-hard fan, the content might feel a little thin for the asking price. If this were $20, it would be an easier recommendation. At its current price tag, it demands that you really, really love the core combat loop of Origins.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins Visions of Four Heroes Review Verdict
Dynasty Warriors: Origins Visions of Four Heroes: Visions of Four Heroes is a solid, safe expansion that gives the die-hard fans exactly what they want: more battles, more weapons, and a chance to save their favorite villains. The Rope Dart is a blast to use, and the alternate history storylines are written with a surprising amount of heart. But it’s held back by a high price point, some repetitive filler in the new strategic mode, and the stubborn refusal to let us play as anyone other than the protagonist. It’s a good time, but it quickly comes to a close and still omits the most-requested features for this re-envisioned Warriors experience. – Joshua
[Editor’s Note: Dynasty Warriors Origins Visions of Four Heroes was reviewed on PC, and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.]
