About halfway through Dynasty Warriors: Origins, players will have to choose between one of the game’s three major factions: Cao Cao and the kingdom of Wei, the Sun family and the kingdom of Wu, or Liu Bei and the kingdom of Shu. These are the titular three kingdoms in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the classic work of Chinese literature on which the Dynasty Warriors series is loosely based. The decision between them affects how the rest of the game’s story plays out, which allies the player can call upon, and which endings are available to them.

Therefore, choosing between Ziluan’s three friends and allies is not a decision to be taken lightly. While there are subtle hints as to how each of their reigns will play out based on their actions and their ideals, it can be easy to make the wrong decision and wind up wreaking havoc on all of China. Plus, each decision takes the player through a different route in the latter half of the game that completely changes the missions they play and the story decisions available to them. Here’s what each faction choice affects in Dynasty Warriors: Origins.

What Happens If You Side With Cao Cao

The Wei Kingdom Route

Players can join one of three factions in Dynasty Warriors: Origins in Chapter Four by first making the required number of contributions (i.e., participating in one to three battles with that faction), then meeting its leader at its headquarters and eventually agreeing to stick with that faction. Before doing so, they’ll be warned if this choice will cause them to make enemies of another faction. In the Wei kingdom’s case, joining Cao Cao’s force will cause Liu Bei and Sun Ce to turn against Ziluan.

As far as the rest of the story, Cao Cao’s route is of average length, comprising six battles each in Chapter Four and Chapter Five. However, players will experience almost immediate consequences of joining his side. Cao Cao recruits bandit groups to his aid, and during their first battle together, some of the bandit groups will go rogue and attack local civilians. His opponents admonish him for his shortsightedness and cruelty, which is unfortunately a trend for Cao Cao.

Although the choice of faction is pretty much permanent the first time, after beating the main story, players can skip directly to the pivotal choice and play through all three routes without having to start over completely.

Unlike the other leaders, Cao Cao’s almost sole focus is on ruthless conquest. If he ever takes on a more idealistic worldview, it’s either by coincidence or for convenience. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he’s portrayed as a Machiavellian warlord, for whom power itself takes precedence over the means of seizing it or the consequences of wielding it. His Dynasty Warriors counterpart isn’t much different.

Almost as if to punish the player for their choice, Cao Cao’s route is one of the hardest. He almost immediately makes enemies of the two other main factions (who eventually unite to take him out), which means the odds are stacked against them. This route does, however, have a relatively easy final boss.

Besides that, it’s especially difficult to unlock Cao Cao’s true ending in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Players unlock each true ending by changing the course of history, altering events so that their chosen side can claim an early victory and secure a major advantage going into the endgame battles. This is especially difficult in the Cao Cao route, as players will need to change three conditions in order to mitigate (though not prevent) Cao Cao’s crushing defeat at Chibi. And it may not even be worth it; Cao Cao’s true ending, while certainly better than his normal one, is pretty foreboding and not terribly satisfying.

What Happens If You Side With Sun Ce/Sun Quan

The Wu Kingdom Route

If the player decides to side with the Sun family (specifically, Sun Ce) instead, they’ll immediately make an enemy of Cao Cao and Liu Bei. This route is of a length similar to Cao Cao’s, with six missions each in Chapters Four and Five. By comparison, the Wu kingdom route is a lot more pleasant than the Wei one. It begins with Sun Ce rising to fill the void left behind by the death of his father, Sun Jian. It later shifts focus to include Jian’s other children: his second son Quan and his daughter Shangxiang.

Just because Ziluan makes an enemy of an opposing faction once doesn’t mean they’ll never be able to ally with them again. Players will have further opportunities to cooperate with the other factions, regardless of the side they choose, but these will be brief alliances.

However, where both Cao Cao and Liu Bei’s storylines are grand and political in scope, the Sun family’s is much more scaled-down and personal. It mainly focuses on the succession crisis that follows Sun Jian’s death, and on his children’s anxieties as they attempt to take his place. It’s arguably the most emotional and evocative of the three potential routes.

As far as the true ending goes, the Wu route lands somewhere in the middle of the road. Players will have to change two events, ensuring the survival of Sun Jian and another important Wu leader. The true ending is undeniably positive, but like the rest of the storyline, it’s more about Sun Jian’s family than the wider implications for history.

What Happens If You Side With Liu Bei

The Shu Kingdom Route

Liu Bei’s route is a little longer than the other two, with seven missions in Chapter Four instead of six. Choosing this makes Ziluan an enemy of Cao Cao and Sun Ce. However, players will still have an opportunity to work with both sides at certain pivotal points in the story.

Difficulty-wise, the Shu route is similar to the other two; however, its true ending conditions are by far the easiest to satisfy. Because Liu Bei’s victory roughly follows the course of history, players will only need to change a single battle’s outcome in order to give him a significant advantage against Cao Cao at the battle of Chibi. The result is probably the most positive and satisfying ending possible in Dynasty Warriors: Origins, cementing a bright future for China – even if it’s on the far side of a lot of struggle.

You Should Side With Liu Bei

The Best Of All Possible Futures

Custom Image by Lee D’Amato

While most factions are alike in difficulty and length, and it’s technically possible to achieve a true ending with any of them, Liu Bei’s route results in the best possible ending. In Dynasty Warriors, as in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei is portrayed as the Confucian ideal of a ruler: fair and just, with greater care for the health and well-being of his subjects than for power, money, and succession. As a result, he could be considered the truest hero of Origins, and his ending is the most archetypically good.

However, players are better off basing their decisions on the kind of story they want to see, or whichever leader they like best. For a tale of war and conquest, choose Cao Cao; for a family drama, stick with Sun Ce; for a triumphant epic with clear-cut heroes and villains, stay loyal to Liu Bei. That’ll help bring the Dynasty Warriors: Origins experience closer to the exact kind of game the player wants.