What if Dynasty Warriors Remained a Fighting Game? This New PS5 Title Tries It

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What if Omega Force made a successor to its original PS1 Dynasty Warriors game, released in 1997?

Those familiar with the series will remember that the original game was a one-on-one fighting game focused on weapons, similar to Soul Blade, and starred well-known historical figures such as Lu Bu.

However, it was Dynasty Warriors 2 on the PlayStation 2 that really established the signature ‘musou’ style of gameplay we know today. It’s notable that the first game was quite different, making the series’ evolution all the more interesting.

I’m really excited about Kingdom Heroes: Arena – it’s coming to PS5 eventually, and it’s all about diving deep into that whole idea of being a true arena champion. They’re really focusing on what it means to fight for glory, and I can’t wait to try it out.

Taiwanese game developer UserJoy Technology is creating this game, and we had a chance to try it out last year at a Taipei event.

You can choose to play as famous characters from history, including figures like Xiahou Dun, Xun Yu, Guan Yu, Sun Shangxiang, Diao Chan, and the legendary Lu Bu.

Although the demonstration wasn’t very polished, we appreciated that each character had a distinct personality and a special weapon that made playing as them feel different.

Here are the key features the developer lists on its X (or Twitter) account:

Precise Offense & Defense
Every strike and block requires split-second decision-making. Timing is everything
Stances & Weaponry
Featuring diverse weapon combos and unique stances, ensuring every general offers a completely different tactical logic
3D Spatial Strategy
Master the 3D battlefield. Side-stepping and lateral movement are essential skills for those seeking to reach the top tier

So, the developers told us we’ll be able to play with people on any platform – PC, consoles, everything! That’s awesome. But they haven’t said anything yet about whether they’re planning to include rollback netcode, which would be huge for smooth online matches. I’m really hoping they add it!

You can try out a demo of the game on Steam now. However, there’s no confirmed release date yet. A PlayStation 5 version is likely a few years off, as the developer seems to be focusing on the PC version first.

We think this looks promising, and we had fun with the early version we played last year. We’re glad the developers are planning a release for the PlayStation 5.

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2026-04-30 10:06