Dynasty Warriors: Origins Switch 2 Port Review

It has only been a year since Dynasty Warriors: Origins made its way to consoles and PC. I got the chance to get my hands on the Nintendo Switch 2 port of Dynasty Warriors: Origins to see how well it works on the handheld.

Game Name: Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 (Reviewed), PC
Developer(s): Omega Force
Publisher(s): Koei Tecmo
Release Date: January 22nd, 2026 (Switch 2 Port)
Price: $59.99

If you want to see the full in-depth review, you can look at the one already on the site. This review will mostly cover the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Dynasty Warriors: Origins. The game itself is the same. You are Ziluan, and your purpose is to choose a commander who will bring peace to the era of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China.

The Good

Dynasty Warriors: Origins does have some compromises it makes to run on the Nintendo Switch 2, but it still looks gorgeous. The art style looks great on handheld and when it gets blown up on the big screen. There are some hair physics and fabric physics that aren’t perfect, but overall, it looks great. I played it on the Steam Deck, and the visual fidelity was quite rough and unrefined. The Nintendo Switch 2 version is superior in both its appearance and feel.

The text on the screen is readable. The size may be smaller, but the HUD during combat and the menus transition well to a handheld screen. It also enlarges to 4K smoothly. One of my favorite things about the Nintendo Switch 2 is having a dock that can output to 4K. It makes it so nice to play games on the TV that way.

One thing I was worried about with this version of the game would be the scale of enemies. In Dynasty Warriors: Origin, the scale of the battlefield is large. Enemy and ally soldiers will take up so much space. On the Steam Deck, the enemies can just disappear on you, which makes it hard to fight and defeat them. Nintendo Switch 2 is far more consistent with the scale of the enemies you can see.

The Bad

Combat and the normal gameplay of Dynasty Warriors: Origins, though capped at 30 FPS, feels good to play. The same, however, is not true of the overworld. It has some dips and stutters, and it is noticeable as you are walking around the overworld. There is a variable frame rate and a 30 FPS frame cap, but using variable doesn’t seem to do a lot. It can make handheld mode feel a little more fluid, but the fluidity wasn’t that much of a problem.

I have played Dynasty Warriors: Origins on PlayStation 5 and PC. Nintendo Switch 2’s version is when I felt like I noticed the loading screen the most. It loads between cutscenes, levels, and the overworld. These loading screens exist on the other versions, but they don’t stick around for very long.

Visuals look great except for when dialogue events happen, and it zooms in on certain characters’ faces. The visuals and effects did a lot for the game on the high-definition consoles. Having it be compressed here makes certain characters… like Sun Jian look awkward.

The Verdict

Overall, I think Koei Tecmo did a solid job with porting Dynasty Warriors: Origins to the Nintendo Switch 2. I do think the stronger systems are the best way to play this title, but if you want a good way to play it on the go, the Nintendo Switch 2 is the best way to play it without too much compromise.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It will be available January 22nd, 2026, on Nintendo Switch 2.

Review Disclosure Statement: Dynasty Warriors: Origins was provided to us by Koei Tecmo for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.

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