Why Dynasty Warriors makers scrapped sequel to reinvent series

It is rare that a video game series becomes so popular it inspires copycats - but it is rarer still that it's so unique it kicks off its own genre.

But that's what happened with Dynasty Warriors, a series which pioneered the so-called "1 vs 1,000" gameplay, in which the player defeats thousands of enemies in each level.

Throughout years of development - the series has been going since 1997 on the original PlayStation - hardware limitations meant at its best only a few hundred enemies could appear on-screen at any one time.

But all that is now changing, with the power of modern consoles enabling as many as 10,000 opponents on-screen at once.

In other words, the "1 vs 1,000" moniker is finally coming true.

The reason Dynasty Warriors: Origins seeks to break away from what came before is simple, Mr Sho said - it was a result of fan reaction to the last mainline game released in the series, 2018's Dynasty Warriors 9.

"Either you really liked it, or you didn't," he said.

The unreleased sequel was too similar to what came before, he said, but by the time development was in full swing, a change in the games industry ultimately halted production.

Within two days of each other in November 2020, Sony released the PlayStation 5 and Microsoft launched the Xbox Series X - consoles so powerful Mr Sho ceased development to focus on the new hardware.

"The current technology allows us to have many troops and army officers on the screen," he said.

"This is something I've been wanting to do since Dynasty Warriors 2 and 3."

Those two games, which released on PlayStation 2 back in 2000 and 2001, could at most manage twenty or thirty enemies on-screen at once.

The new hardware can manage a lot more - with PlayStation 5 Pro owners seeing an even bigger leap in performance.

"We're able to have many troops on-screen - not just thousands, but tens of thousands," Mr Sho said.

"With the current generation of consoles, we're able to do that."

But all that power comes with a cost - no multiplayer, which has been a staple of the series since its PlayStation 2 days.

"I am very aware that it is seen as an iconic part of the series," he said.

He felt multiplayer would result in a "performance loss", meaning fewer enemies on screen, so he decided against including it.

But he said that may change if the game were given a sequel.

"If everyone really enjoys the game, then for the next game in the series, we will definitely have multiplayer," he said.

In the interim years between the release of Dynasty Warriors 9 and Dynasty Warriors: Origins, the team has focussed on other things - namely spin-offs.

These are versions of the game, within the 1 vs 1,000 genre, outside of the main series that typically feature different characters - much like how the film franchise Puss in Boots was a spin-off of Shrek.

The company has found success in this area with games featuring characters from series such as Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda and Sega's Persona 5.

Mr Sho said Dynasty Warriors: Origins was a shift in direction as it focused on performance - while spin-offs were about being true to the franchises involved.

"When the teams were approaching development, they weren't thinking about the hardware," he said.

"But more, with Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors being on the Switch, how would we be able to do that best as a Warriors game?"

He said Dynasty Warriors' future was about "getting the most" out of current consoles - perhaps with even more enemies on screen.

Though he laughed off the suggestion that perhaps the studio should consider collaborating on the ultimate "spin-off" - a Sonic the Hedgehog game.

"I also actually like Sonic, just to let you know," he said.

And Mr Sho said if he could make any Dynasty Warriors spin-off, there are two series he's huge fans of - Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

"If there is a chance, I'd definitely love to take on the challenge," he said.