Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires

Over time you’ll notice little frustrations building up when playing DW9E. I think its focus on strategy and roleplaying is much more appealing to me this time around, even with some features being lost from prior Empires games (like quests and events from Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires). But despite some shortcomings, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires offers a unique strategy experience you’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is part of an endless release cycle. As far back as Dynasty Warriors 4, Koei Tecmo has followed one mainline installment with a strategically oriented spin-off. The “Empires” name represents a branching lineage where players participate in the empire-building aspect of the three kingdoms romance. In many cases, it’s hard to discern which genre is better, the linear character progression or the branching kingdoms. Usually, it falls on the choice with more content.

If Dynasty Warriors 9 was the volatile reboot the series desperately needed to endure, the Empires is proof the mixture isn’t quite settled yet. What Empires adds in terms of being an engrossing strategy sim, it loses in paring back its open world warfare to something that feels far too much like the series back at its worst. Persevere with its shortcomings, though, and Empires can bring you riches.

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.

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Dynasty Warriors Empires has always been for the die-hard fans. Those who enjoy the hack n’ slash combat and love adding their own tactical twist. Those wanting to direct custom campaigns and create their own musou legend. Even if DW9 left a sour taste, there’s some solace to be found here within its repurposed carcass, though redemption may still be lost.

Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is a game that I found extremely fun at times, but monotonous at others. Strategic tasks become mundane and repetitive very quickly, but the combat involved in the actual battles helps make up for it... There is fun to be had, just don't expect a grand strategy experience with a deep story or overly involved decisions and mechanics.

Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors series is one of the most polarizing gaming series still running today. Some love the power fantasy it lets players live, while others cannot stand the simplicity of the combat system and how iterative the entire franchise is.

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 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 is often fun, but it's no better than its predecessors — and, in some ways, it's worse.

Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires can't make up for the shortcomings baked into the Dynasty Warriors 9 framework.