Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires Reviews
In terms of the crazy and chaotic musou genre I'm still getting up to speed, but I'll admit that when the action gets into a groove I tend to find it to be a pretty good time...
Overall I enjoyed my experience with Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires on the Xbox Series X. Its shallow character creation system was disappointing and could dampen your time with the game. Unfortunately, the game did not take advantage of the new hardware, as its visual look dated, despite its solid animations. I feel after the indefinite delay the developers might have changed course a bit and that’s why we got what we did. Both the Domestic Affairs and Way of Life systems are welcomed additions. Especially if you decide to play as your child in a second playthrough. I can say that Dynasty Warrior vets and new players alike will have a lot to look forward to in the game, despite its glaring shortcomings.
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is a niche version of an already divisive game and provides very little innovation to the musou formula. It honestly feels like a half-baked game, as if developer Koei Temco felt the need to keep the Empires spinoff line of games going simply because it has done it in the past. There are better musou games out there and better strategy games out there, and I honestly can't recommend this game to fans of either type of game. Ultimately, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires won't hold your interest for any extended period of time unless you're already a fan of the franchise.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a title that will most likely only admirers of the particular combination of musou and management that has always distinguished this strand of the famous saga.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires struggles to find fresh footing or take advantage of the latest consoles’ abilities but still delivers solid combat and great kingdom building mechanics.
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is an excellent addition to the warriors series. The strategy aspect is fun to engage with and can get quite addicting as your game progresses. I found myself saying, “ok, just one more month of decisions to make; then I’ll save and quit.” only to do another round of strategic decisions. That same brand of fun and fast-paced Warriors combat kept things exciting during battles, and when you combine both gameplays, you can easily put away hours upon hours into it.
To wrap it up, I am disappointed with what should have only been DLC in my opinion. The lack of sustenance made it feel like the content that WAS on offer was a chore. Sadly because of this, I found little enjoyment after the tutorial stages, which in fairness were quite well done. The reputation of Dynasty Warriors 9 was left in tatters by gamers and press alike, and I was hoping Empires would be bold enough to pick up the pieces to make up for the main game’s misdeeds. I award Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
After a few evenings spent with Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires, there is no other way to approach this production than to try to erase the stain on the honor of Omega Force after the unsuccessful "nine" from a few years ago.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is somewhere between reenacting historically accurate events and pure fiction. The characters seem to have run straight out of legends but, according to tradition, really existed. The different scenarios that you can re-enact also have their basis in Chinese history. It is amazing how well the strategy and action work together and influence each other.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 Empires presented a gameplay that did not differ much from the previous games with simple additions here and there and many characters, but its technical issues kill the enjoyment of the game instantly
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The original Musou series needs to reinvent itself urgently. Following the usual path just highlights how pale it stands next to the colabs.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
An entertaining mix of genres, but a bit monotonous and relies on its players to be big fans of both styles of games.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires remains a title aimed only at those who want to participate in the chaotic combats that are a hallmark of the musou genre, and despite having this element, it's not as satisfying as its original version. The excessive repetitiveness and with little varied objectives in the combats, and the excess of information and situations that must be managed by the player are points that leave the general experience quite dull and uninteresting after a few hours.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is a solid action game, but it deserved more polish. I had fun playing it, but there are more interesting titles on the market and the Switch version is definitely not ideal. Even so, perhaps a newbie to the style like myself might consider it a good gateway to exploring other similar games.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires isn’t ground-breaking, but it is pretty dang fun. Obliterating hordes of foes is always a joy, and the strategic nation-building gameplay is a pleasant change of pace that gives you a bit of a power trip to boot. If you’re a fan of Musou games but want to mix it up a bit, Empires may be your game. Just know that it’s largely another Warriors game, and it may get old after a while.
While Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires didn’t blow us away by doing something fresh with the franchise, that’s never been the point with Musou titles. The game gives you more of what you want: colossal battles in which you regularly rack up thousands of kills and see epic rivalries between great leaders emerge and die before your eyes.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is an improvement on the last Dynasty Warriors game, but that has more to do with my love of strategy and management than anything else. Given the divisive reception to the last mainline game, I understand why they moved away from the open world, but it does leave this entertaining game with oodles of potential in something of an identity crisis as well. What’s here is fun, and I am always up for some Three Kingdoms strategy and combat, but I can’t help but look forward to the next iteration that is built specifically with the PS5 hardware in mind.
Despite missing a lot of features from the previous Empires game in the franchise, I quickly became addicted to the strategic and hack-and-slash gameplay within Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires. Once the management mechanics click, it’s easy to lose hours as you command your minions or follow your ruler’s orders. However, we can’t overlook the amount of content ‘missing’ when compared to DW8: Empires, various customisation menus, Free Play, Gameplay Modes, and co-operative options, all absent without any comparable or additional features. But, if you’re a fan of Musou games and aren’t too bothered about playing with a friend or having full control over customising everything and creating your own scenarios, then you’ll enjoy Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires.
Omega Force… what happened here?! You come from the excellent Samurai Warriors 5 and Pirate Warriors 4 and manage to completely ruin the once great Dynasty Warriors franchise. This is an unpolished, lazy and unworthy release. Dynasty Warriors 9 in 2018 was a reason for fans to get upset and now Empires is a new disappointing blow for the loyal fanbase.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a game that continues a cult saga with not very good direction. It has notable points at the level of strategy and to be able to live a bit of the history/legends of China, but on the contrary, it has many aspects to improve like combat gameplay and the graphic section.
Review in Spanish | Read full review