Dynasty Warriors 9

After the hack-and-slash success of Dynasty Warriors 8, the ninth game in the series was released in February 2018, and looked to build on the great experience delivered by its predecessor. So after the well received hit of DW 8, how does Dynasty Warriors 9 hold up?

Gameplay

The ninth game in the series is one which seems to be more pioneering. The game has shifted from the set battles to a more open-world environment, which gives players a lot more to explore, but also changes the pace at which players go through the campaign.

• There are over 70 playable characters in the game, which each belong to one of the four factions: Wei, Wu, Shu, and Jin. You’re also given the choice of three officers: Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and Liu Bei, at the start of the game.

• One thing Dynasty Warriors is no stranger to, is poor voice acting. DW 9 is no different.

• The developers are clearly trying to add more substance to the game however, with the ability to hunt animals and cook meat to gain power ups, or go fishing. While simple additions, the devs are at least attempting to add more appeal to the Dynasty Warriors games, and that’s something to be excited about, but they still have a long way to go.

In Comparison

The open world element is the most prevailing change to Dynasty Warriors 9. Building on all the other games, it’s a great direction for the series to take. Open world games are as popular as ever, and this also makes the game more appealing to new players. The story is also a lot better in DW 9, and with the change in pace as you move from one mission to the next in the open world, it adds the element of exploration to the game which takes players away from just doing mission after mission non-stop, which becomes incredibly tedious when its main focus previously was on repetitive combat.

Raiting

The only problem with the open world in DW 9, is that it’s quite flat. There’s some hunting and crafting that can be done along the way, but the 2 hour journeys from one end of the map to the other, doesn’t offer much in terms of spectacle. It’s fairly bland. However, the game has only just adopted the open-world approach, so we can only hope it will be built upon in future releases.

Pros

• Good story
• Open world is a great change
• Powerful combat
• Good costume design

Cons

• Issues with graphics
• Sometimes you have to play the same missions again
• Combat movements still need work

A good game in the series, and if you’re a fan, it's a game you should pick up, but it still has some problems that need to be ironed out.