It's rare for a video game series to become so popular that it inspires imitators, but it's even rarer for it to be so unique that it creates its own genre.
That's exactly what happened with Dynasty Warriors, a series that introduced the "1 vs 1,000" gameplay, where players defeat thousands of enemies in each level.
Over the years, since the series began in 1997 on the original PlayStation, hardware limitations meant that at most, only a few hundred enemies could appear on-screen at once.
But now, with the power of modern consoles, up to 10,000 opponents can appear on-screen simultaneously.
In other words, the "1 vs 1,000" concept is finally becoming a reality. With this new capability comes a new game—after seven years, publisher Koei Tecmo returns with Dynasty Warriors: Origins.
Despite selling 21 million copies over its history, the series has always sold much better in Japan than in the West.
"It's something we've been trying to get more people overseas to play," said Tomohiko Sho, head of developer Omega Force, to the BBC.
But things might be changing, as the release of Dynasty Warriors: Origins in January 2025 has shown promising sales.
In the UK, it broke into the top 10 of the retail sales charts, and online it was the best-selling game on PC retailer Steam, with nearly 70,000 people playing the game simultaneously at launch.
There have been nine main entries in the series since it started in 1997, leading up to 2018's Dynasty Warriors 9 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
However, with advances in hardware, Mr. Sho believes now is the right time for a sequel.
Although he didn't call it a reboot, the team has dropped the numbered titles and named the game Dynasty Warriors: Origins, possibly indicating that the studio sees this as a turning point for the franchise.
It was released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in January 2025, marking the first main entry in the series in seven years.
Mr. Sho told the BBC that the team had been working on a sequel, which would have been called Dynasty Warriors 10, but he felt it was too similar to previous games, which fans were "starting to get a bit bored of."
Instead, the long-awaited game was scrapped to take advantage of the new hardware.