If you found yourself thinking “Were musou games always so homoerotic?” or “Why does Lu Bu want to make me his?” while playing the franchise’s latest AAA entry Dynasty Warriors Origins – you’re probably not alone. In fact, even the game’s producer himself, Omega Force’s Sho Tomohiko, admits to being caught off guard by how fruity some of the lines in there ended up. He recently addressed the topic in an unusual three-way discussion with Denfaminicogamer and 4chan founder Hiroyuki Nishimura.
Dynasty Warriors has always been the go-to franchise if you’re into power trips – with gameplay practically designed to make you drunk off how badass you are. Origins doubles down on this narratively with the self-insert-y male protagonist Ziluan who captivates all the warlords with his insane talent for martial arts (and happens to look super pretty and androgynous).
But things escalate way past simple admiration in some of Dynasty Warriors Origins’ bond dialogues – there is no platonic explanation out there for generals talking about how they want to etch your face and voice into their memory, spend the night in the warmth of your room or find themselves “desiring” you. To be fair, it’s not only the male characters constantly hitting on you, as the female cast (though severely outnumbered) comes on quite strongly too, with Yueying threatening to make a life-size doll of the protagonist and all.
When asked about the “BL vibes” of Dynasty Warriors Origins (with BL referring to “boys love,” the Japanese term for homoerotic fiction), and whether this was a strategy to appeal to women, Omega Force’s leader reveals that it wasn’t something he was originally going for.
Sho: That BL vibe was… not something I intended at all. Honestly, I’d say, “Sorry, I wasn’t keeping a close enough eye on things.”
Hiroyuki:
So you’re saying that if you’re not watching carefully, things just naturally veer off into BL? (laughs)
Sho:
I’m not saying the team did anything wrong, of course, but honestly speaking – yeah, that’s kind of what happened. I came up with the core outline and worldbuilding for the game, and we were aligned on major points. However, I left the actual scenario to the writing team.
(via Denfaminicogamer)
Sho mentions having a “Wait, what? moment when playing Dynasty Warriors Origins voiced for the first time (after recording was completed), as the BL fanservice was “beyond his expectations.” However, he clarifies that Omega Force’s team didn’t make these choices on a whim, but after considering what longtime musou fans would like – and they were on the mark it seems, as Sho mentions that there were plenty of fans who loved it.
On the other hand, given that things went a bit overboard for his taste, Sho says that Origins’ potential sequel will tone down the gay undertones. “If we do a sequel, I think I’ll personally check all the text. Although the team will probably hate that (laughs).”
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is available for the PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
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