Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires Reviews
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
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.
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.
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.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is tailor-made for super fans of the franchise. While players may feel like a lackey at the start of any new Conquest campaign run-through, rising up the ranks and having the Prime Minister agree with your suggestions can feel rewarding. If you enjoy making decisions about whether to increase ration development or to collect tribute on a monthly basis, or politicking in general whereby interacting with important people gets your heart racing, then by all means check out Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires. The rest of us will get by on regular Dynasty Warriors 9 just fine.
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is clearly aimed at the Musou fans who want more to experience more strategy, however, all of the strategic elements can become really convoluted and if not a tad repetitive. It feels like there is a lot of missed potential here with bland maps and an experience that feels pretty bare at times, it's still fun but it's defiantly not one of the best titles in the series.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a title that, if taken in small doses, is absolutely capable of pampering and entertaining admirers of the saga and the strategic drift undertaken by the Empires strand.
Review in Italian | 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
Even if you love this series with your whole heart, we still recommend you to skip Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires. The game simply doesn't worth it, even with a price cut.
Review in Russian | Read full review
As such, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires does feel like a step towards righting the problems with the original game. It still suffers from the structural issues that held back Dynasty Warriors 9, and fans of more straightforward musou titles have a wealth of other games on offer such as Samurai Warriors 5, but those who prefer the tactical edge of Empires will at least find some enjoyment here.
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
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.
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 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 struggles to find fresh footing or take advantage of the latest consoles’ abilities but still delivers solid combat and great kingdom building mechanics.
I had a lot of hopes in Dinasty Warriors 9 Empires, in fact, seeing that the game received a great patch day 1, I decided to delay the release of this analysis to give it another chance to see if it improved the poor technical section of the title, but I was wrong. Dinasty Warriors 9 Empires is a game that Musou fans will enjoy without a doubt, and the added touch of strategy suits it really well, giving the game much more variety and depth than simply killing thousands of enemies.
Review in Spanish | 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.
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
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