Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires Reviews
Overall, Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires, while sporting enjoyable combat and lots of content, is unfortunately bogged down by a myriad of horrible technical issues and repetitive level designs.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires brings new gameplay features to the table, but remains the same Three Kingdoms era slaughter fest fans have been enjoying the past twenty years.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires gives the player a wide and deeper range of possibilities than its predecessors to lead a successful campaign conquering third-century China. However, despite its deeper management and its simple (indeed solid) one-versus-thousands formula, it fails to complete develope its growth from the past, also struggling with a graphic engine still overwhelmed with fatigue and technical issues. Give it a try (even with the demo) and then decide.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Whether it is the overall appearance or featured gameplay or added content, it is still far from completing the mission of making Dynasty Warriors great again.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Sometimes it feels like those who enjoy Musou games have very little options nowadays and this is a huge letdown. One negative that I forgot to mention was that this game, that at times can feel unfinished, has a Season Pass of content you can get. I feel like this is a little uncalled for since it is a game so far detached from itself that it should fix itself first and then worry about the extras later.
Alas, there's nothing to recommend Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires. DW9 is probably one of the lower points of the franchise, and what Empires does to improve on it is fairly minimal. There's absolutely no reason to buy it over the bucketload of better Warriors titles available on the PS5. Even if you're looking for something in the same setting, there are plenty of other Dynasty Warriors options. The most positive thing I can say is that it's a better game than the original, but it's an easy one to skip with so many other titles available.
The newest entry brings traditional gameplay with usual strategy elements, but the welcome additions are better graphics and faster loadings on next-gen consoles.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is not for all tastes and can't entertain everyone.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires does not give us faith that the series can be saved. Put simply, it might be best to put this series out to pasture and focus on other Warriors entries.
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires had imperial ambitions. I ended up with an identical game with additional option windows. Before we meet a thousand opponents, we will pretend to manage empires. And unfortunately, it will end with going. Production definitely not worth the price.
Review in Polish | Read full review
As a Dynasty Warriors 9 spin-off, Empires falls behind the market in terms of both visuals and gameplay standards, and even though many of its gameplay mechanisms show huge potential, the final package fails to impress as it feels rushed and unpolished, leaving its ties to Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel the only upside for the fans to cling to.
Review in Persian | Read full review
In numerous ways, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a clear improvement over its ill-received predecessor. Thanks to its shoddy presentation and numerous other issues, however, it’s still far away from being a must-have. All too often you feel like you’re just going through the motions between battles, going on strolls or enacting policies just to meet objectives without any real thought being put into it. And while the combat is somewhat fun, boring map design lets it down. This is one just for ardent fans, then.
Despite some good decisions in its unique elements, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a game quite limited by its basic structure, which becomes repetitive very quickly. It's easy to have fun with it, but there are better options available within the franchise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires improves on the original Dynasty Warriors 9 in some ways and in others it still feels like the same half-baked game. The Conquest mode is a lot to learn but you can spend a lot of time in it once you do. Making decisions, bringing in soldiers, defending your kingdom and so on can be a fun time waster but it won’t be for everyone. It’s also disappointing that the combat and visuals in some other recent Musou games were more enjoyable than what is in this one. If you’re a fan of the Empires games then you’ll probably enjoy this but just don’t expect some kind of big leap over what came before.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires can't make up for the shortcomings baked into the Dynasty Warriors 9 framework.
Even wandering your territory to build your relationships can be done entirely in menus, removing the need to engage with the openworld. Unfortunately you'll still need to take part in battles, which should not be a downside in a Warriors game. If you can laser focus on the strategy elements, and maybe favor diplomacy over direct conflict, there is a playable though still rough experience here. But if you're looking for satisfying Warriors combat, there are plenty of better options already on Switch.
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.
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires doesn't do anything that previous games in the series haven't already done. A lack of variety and graphical issues that should not be present in 2022 hold this back from being a must buy, even for die-hard fans.
Slightly more cerebral while also filled with the fast action that the series is known for, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires sits neatly as a midway point between the action of the "proper" Dynasty Warriors and the strategy of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series. There probably isn't all that much of an audience for this, but for fans that were disappointed with the open world experiment of Dynasty Warriors 9, Empires here will be redemption, and for those who have never let their enthusiasm for the series be dampened, this is an excellent opportunity to marry Sun Shangxiang and make many beautiful babies... or perhaps to unite China. Whatever your preference is, really.
Across the board, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is not really a bad game. It hits a certain niche and mixes in your typical Musou genre gameplay with strategic political choices. It’s not really a game for everyone and is quite repetitive, but then again the franchise is known for its repetition and has been around forever. It’s completely up to the player if they enjoy this type of rinse and repeat gameplay or not.