The Dynasty Warriors franchise still seems to be plugging along after about two decades of games. I recall my days during the PS2 era playing a lot of Dynasty Warriors 2 and Dynasty Warriors 3. I knew many more sequels followed but after playing those two games so much I felt like with each incoming installment, it didn’t bring much of anything very new to the table. I was very excited to review Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires to see if there was anything at all much different nowadays. Frankly, besides a few little new tricks and obvious graphical improvements, this is still a pretty similar experience.
Published by KOEI TEMCO America and developed by Omega Force, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is probably around the 37th game in the franchise. While it’s still the “9th” in the franchise, they come up with multiple expansions and spinoffs for each predecessor and sell them like a whole new game. Here is no exception. While I don’t necessarily consider this a bad strategy, I feel like giving the consumer an older game, but with a few extra things and still sell it as a full priced game doesn’t seem in the best interest for the consumer. Seeing as how this is an expansion to Dynasty Warriors 9, I immediately already question the value of it being full price.
I suppose I’m speaking very negatively, so I may as well get all my issues out of the way now. While this can be a really fun open world hack/slash experience, I couldn’t help but notice how much time I was forced to spend in the menus. Managing the logistics of all your troops and strategizing where some should go, while important to winning, I just wanted to hack some people up and not think about that sort of thing. If you’re into the strategy elements and don’t mind such tedious tasks, then this game will certainly jive with you more. In all seriousness, though, I think 10% or more of my experience playing this was in their menus. There is also a politics system, where an Officer’s character and trust can strengthen the country. The choices and the interactions between officers will determine the foundations of a force. Players are able to experience a variety of lifestyles, playing as Rulers, Generals, Unaffiliated officers, and so on.
There is something I do like that seems new. It may not be new to the Empires series, but for me, I haven’t played an installment that had stratagems. These are little playing cards in the bottom center of the screen and can be very helpful changing the trajectory of a fight. Making the hack/slash aspect a little less monotonous and more interesting. But yeah, besides that, this is still very much a Dynasty Warriors game through and through. It can be very wash/rinse repeat, but for me, there was enough nostalgia there to have a fairly good time. Hitting enemies and turning them into ragdolls may be something that never gets old. For me, I may sit on this franchise a bit longer and see if they do a bit more to grab my attention in the future.
7/10
Check Out the DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 Empires Trailer:
DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 Empires will launch in North America February 15, 2022, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo switch, and PC via Steam. The game will release for Google Stadia at a later date.
For more information, visit: https://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/dw9e/
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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