14 DAY TRIAL // 
If you’re a long-time fan of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, there’s no doubt the release of Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is one of the biggest launches of the year.
Already available in Japan, this new title is scheduled to launch everywhere else on February 15, after an original 2021 debut pushed back to 2022 for obvious reasons.
If you’ve played Dynasty Warriors 9 before, there’s no doubt you’ll feel at home when launching the new Empires. However, there are several big changes that Koei hopes would allow the game to better match everybody’s expectations.
And the first of them is the open-world format that has been replaced by a rather semi-open approach that still allows players to do some exploration but is based on a classic stage format which somehow makes more sense.
The open-world side of the game still exists, but in many ways, this is where Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires disappoints. I hate to start this review with a bad thing, but the open world is large enough to get you bored unless you just want to do some exploration specifically to waste time. There’s not much to find, and you’ll almost certainly miss the thrilling quests, so for many fans out there, the open world is a place where you can basically do nothing.
Let’s talk a little bit about the graphics. I tried the PlayStation 5 version of the game, and honestly, I would have expected a smoother performance from one end to another. The cinematics leave a lot to be desired, and the attention to detail is minimal, to say the least. There are occasional slowdowns likely caused by the rendering engine, though these don’t happen at all during the gameplay.
Just as expected, Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is a highly complex game. If you’ve never played a title of the franchise before, there’s absolutely no doubt you’ll feel lost. If you've had, then you already know what to do, though if you ask me, the Empires keeps players in the menus for too long.
I get it, planning, making money, and everything else is an important component of the gameplay, but eventually, you end up doing the same things over and over again. So after playing for a few days, I noticed the whole thing gets a little bit redundant, and I honestly couldn’t wait any longer to jump directly into battles.
This is where Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires proves its legacy.
There are new characters in the game, including Cao Xiu, Man Chong, Xun You, Cheng Pu, Yuan Shu, and several others. The Rock-Paper-Scissors mechanic is making a comeback, but it takes a while to master it. More often than not, the AI officers you’re fighting with won’t wait for you to make a move, so taking full advantage of this combat mechanic eventually pays off.
The battles themselves are extremely challenging, and I don’t even want to know how the whole thing feels when playing on the highest difficulty level. The speed and the pace of the game are incredible, and it’s easy to get absorbed by the battle and not notice how time flies. A sprint button is no longer available, so your character uses auto-run enabled by default, and this also contributes to the overall fast-paced action.
Every little detail seems to matter when going into a battle, so make sure you take full advantage of the secret plans as well. The AI feels smarter, but the strategy system has been improved substantially, and this is one of the reasons you’ll spend more time in the menus.
Defeating an enemy isn’t easy, and it’ll definitely take a lot of time, especially if you’re an occasional player.
The character creation is another menu where you’ll likely spend a lot of time. It makes sense, after all, but I’ve seen plenty of people who played the Japanese version complaining that costumes and other options are missing. Obviously, this is something pretty important for diehard fans of the series, but I think the improvements that were made in Empires pay off at the end of the day.
In many ways, Koei has managed to live up to the expectations, though it’s pretty clear this doesn’t happen fully. There are many letdowns, and all of them are deal-breakers for fans of the franchise who’ve been waiting for years to get their hands on the new title.
On the other hand, those who are new to this genre will enjoy the adventure of exploring every little side of the game, even when playing as a free officer – though, honestly, this is one boring experience that the parent company has surprisingly failed to get right.
The Good
- Excellent combat system
- Plenty of planning before the battle
- Smarter AI that makes battles more challenging
The Bad
- Unpolished graphics
- Open world leaving a lot to be desired
- Some battles take a lot of time
Conclusion
On the other hand, it’s still an exciting release for an average player. The combat system is nice, though it takes time to get used to it, and the more time you spend on the little things, such as friendship with officers, finding a sword sibling, and things like that, the better the whole experience is getting.
Unfortunately, DW9E is clearly a title that’s first and foremost aimed at fans, and to them, it just feels like a half-baked release. Koei should have used the one extra year for further polishing, so be ready for an avalanche of negative reviews when the game launches tomorrow.
Review code provided by the publisher.
