9Dragons

About

9Dragons is a multiplayer role playing game. It was developed by Joongwon Entertainment and was released on February 14, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

9Dragons is a free to play MMORPG with fluid martial arts combat, lush environments, and intense PvP. Immerse yourself in a mesmerizing world set in ancient China at the beginning of martial arts chivalry.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Skip User Reviews

63%

Audience ScoreBased on 383 reviews

story16 positive mentions

grinding32 negative mentions

Unique martial arts themed MMORPG with multiple clans and classes offering varied gameplay styles and character progression.
Strong nostalgic value for long-time players, with an immersive ancient Chinese atmosphere and engaging storyline.
Active community and social features such as guilds, master-disciple system, and events, supporting fun multiplayer experiences.

Heavily pay-to-win with expensive cash shop items, gambling mechanics, and item enhancement that gives significant competitive advantages to paying players.
Outdated graphics, clunky controls (point-and-click movement), and technical issues including frequent crashes and server connectivity problems.
Steep learning curve, overly grindy endgame, poor quest design, bugs, lack of new content, and questionable game management leading to a dwindling player base.

story
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
68%
5%
The story offers a deep, martial arts-themed lore centered around clan conflicts and character development, with a strong initial impact and immersive faction choices. However, it is often criticized for repetitive, grind-heavy, and fetch-quest filled gameplay with little variation between clans, and an unfinished main storyline that diminishes long-term engagement. Despite these flaws, many appreciate the setting, character arcs, and the integration of story within the questing experience.
- “During acclaim days, the tutorial was basically a small linear map that familiarized you with the game basics and had you save some girl NPCs and fight off some gang of bad guys. Then you were presented with your first choice in the game, which was your faction and clan choice. Once choosing your clan, you were thrown into the chosen clan's map as a neutral vagabond and you have to figure your way from there, discovering things slowly by doing quests in the clan map and figuring out how to join that clan while learning more of their lore and all that immersive jazz.”
- “Later the tutorial area was expanded to be a whole map, "Bamboo Village," where you start and level by doing a generic quest story line where you save Bamboo Village from a bandit overlord. It basically replaces the various clan maps where new players started their journey in the past and had different storylines, making the clan choice feel more impactful and immersive.”
- “Since I played this game back at release on different publishers and invested overall way more than 500 hours into this game, I can surely tell that the story behind Nine Dragons is great. It is quite fun to read the story behind each of the clans, why the game is actually called "Nine Dragons," and how the conflicts between the clans were created.”
- “5) This is the most important point to me -- the main story is still unfinished after all these years, and I don't think they've made progress in the last decade or at least not significant progress as far as I know judging from the announcements blog.”
- “Besides endless grinding, there are a bunch of fetch quests that don’t really give you much for your time.”
- “Made it 15 minutes into the game, and that’s because every single step of a quest requires you to click an NPC twice for each step.”
graphics
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
66%
16%
The game's graphics are widely regarded as outdated and dated, reflecting its early 2000s origins with little to no modern updates since 2006. While some users appreciate the nostalgic aesthetic and certain visual elements like water effects, most agree that the visuals lag behind contemporary standards and could greatly benefit from a graphical overhaul to attract new players. Despite this, the graphics do not significantly detract from the overall enjoyment for fans of the genre.
- “An updated release of this game with up to date graphics etc would do amazing right now with the huge lack of good open world RPGs.”
- “On the plus side, graphics are pretty, despite how dated the game is and the water effects are especially beautiful, music's fun, too.”
- “I just hope they will upgrade the graphics, add new cool content and pull some nice stunts to attract new players because to me it looks like it's reaching its end fast and that would be a damn shame since this game is unique!”
- “The maps themselves are small and the graphics are extremely dated.”
- “The graphics need quite a bit of updating in comparison to other games and they definitely need a more friendlier beginner tutorial if they want to bring in new players.”
- “The graphic is really aged and has not been graphically updated since 2006.”
grinding
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
Grinding in this game is extensive and often repetitive, especially at higher levels, requiring significant time investment that may feel tedious or pay-to-win influenced. While it appeals to fans of old-school, grind-heavy Asian MMORPGs with farming and questing, many players find the grind laborious and less rewarding compared to modern games. However, those who enjoy classic MMO mechanics, multiplayer cooperation, and a nostalgic challenge may find the grinding experience addictive and worthwhile.
- “This game is heavily pay to win, very, very grindy (meaning laborious process) and repetitive task to progress.”
- “After level ~150 the game is all about grinding for optimal gold/hr to buy cash shop items other players have bought with real money that are used in enhancement.”
- “Finally, later levels (around level 130 or roughly halfway up the progression tree) become amazingly grindy: kill 1000 enemies to go up one level.”
gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
56%
25%
The gameplay offers unique martial arts mechanics and an engaging leveling system that appeals to fans of traditional MMORPGs, though it is often criticized for being grind-heavy, clunky, and reliant on gear RNG and pay-to-win monetization. While some enjoy the social and combat aspects, many find it frustrating due to outdated mechanics, confusing explanations, and strong paywalls limiting progression without spending.
- “It had such an interesting mechanic to it, that just kept suckering me back in since its original release.”
- “I probably have had over a couple of thousands hours of gameplay on this game; the game made sure you grind and raid through the stages with a guild, which meant you never really got to play this alone - and that's what you have to value games like this for, as that's the bread-and-butter of MMOs - emphasis on having a social in-game circle.”
- “In its prime, 9dragons stood out from other free-to-play MMOs; I still find myself wanting its mechanics and character in MMOs like FFXIV and GW2 prevalent today.”
- “The mechanics in place are designed so that players are compelled to spend money in the item mall if they want to stand a chance against other players or even be strong enough to complete higher level content.”
- “This is even further enforced by the strong gambling mechanics built into the game.”
- “Combat stats are heavily focused on gear, which requires RNG crafting (including an item destruction failure mechanic) to improve.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The music in the game is widely praised for its authentic ancient Chinese tone and variety, significantly enhancing the immersive atmosphere and nostalgia. Multiple soundtracks complement the distinct clans and martial arts style, making the soundtrack a standout feature despite dated graphics and technical issues.
- “I still listen to some of the OST when I want to feel that nostalgia again.”
- “It really is a cult following, but it feels deserved, because the game itself is so unique feeling with its ancient Chinese atmosphere and traditional music.”
- “There are multiple different soundtracks that still sound real well in this ancient Asian tone, the effects of the game fit the kung-fu style, and the immersion while traveling the land and your clan is great since clans are totally different from each other.”
- “The game froze at least 5 times (your PC is crap and cannot run it properly, trust me!). If the game is opened you cannot browse anything as the game locks it down, and while playing all day and deciding to be a healer, the game froze again with music in the background and nothing can be done, Ctrl+Alt+Del nope!”
- “9d is a martial arts-focused MMORPG with a unique take on tab-targeting combat, a decent soundtrack, and an overall aesthetic and storyline that is pretty good.”
- “There are multiple different soundtracks that still sound real well in this ancient Asian tone, the effects of the game fit the kung-fu style of the game while the immersion while traveling the land and your clan is great since clans are totally different from each other.”
monetization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The monetization is widely criticized for being excessive and intrusive, turning the game into a pay-to-win experience with aggressive microtransactions and frequent ads. Many feel this approach detracts significantly from what was once a good game, making it feel dated and more like an advertising platform than a genuine gaming experience.
- “Whilst I appreciate that the new owners have kept this alive, the monetization is a bit over the top for what it is, an aged, dated game that hasn't made the transition to modern gaming very well.”
- “This was a very good game a long time ago until they killed the game with horrendous blinking banner ads.”
- “It's grown more and more into a microtransactions game, somewhat pay-to-win while also just trying to entice you into buying a ton of costumes you don't need.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is praised for its unique dark wuxia style, offering a refreshing contrast to typical bright and cheerful settings. It combines challenging gameplay with a beautiful, immersive ancient Chinese environment complemented by traditional music, creating a truly distinctive and captivating experience.
- “For starters, 9 Dragons' style, atmosphere, mobs, and vibes embody a dark wuxia, not the common bright and happy wuxia.”
- “If you want a challenge where you work for your skills a little (not too much) and enjoy a beautiful game and wonderful atmosphere, this is it.”
- “It really has a cult following, and deservedly so, because the game itself feels unique with its ancient Chinese atmosphere and traditional music.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is praised for its depth and complexity, featuring well-designed characters and a rich, engaging story. Players appreciate the progression, diverse gear, and skill options that enhance the overall experience.
- “Amazing game with an in-depth story for those who like a good tale, good game progression, and lots of depth in character development, gear diversity, and skilling.”
- “Good character designs.”
- “Really cool character design.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game currently suffers from numerous glitches, bugs, and connection issues, including frequent lags and disconnects, significantly impacting playability. Stability problems are persistent and have rendered the game largely unplayable for users.
- “The game suffers from several glitches and bugs, some long-standing and some new.”
- “After playing all day slowly to check quests and changes, I can say the game is so buggy that it cannot be played.”
- “Since launch, the servers have been closed intermittently, causing ongoing lags, bugs, disconnects, and general connection glitches.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Replayability is enhanced by the distinct clans, each offering unique maps, quests, skills, and lore, encouraging players to explore different styles and masteries. However, the varied experience is somewhat limited by a consistent, well-defined quest progression across all choices.
- “Each clan had its own big map with its own quests, music, lore, style, skills, clothes, weapons, and passives (known as masteries), which gave lots of variety and higher replay value to see what each clan has to offer.”
- “The replay value comes from trying out the different clans and their classes, offering diverse gameplay experiences.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is well-received, with users appreciating its refreshing and unexpected comedic moments that add a lighthearted touch, even when contrasted with more serious or modern gaming experiences.
- “To see that the 'refresh' of the game still had this made me laugh.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is mixed, with performance issues notably in specific areas like Hefei, and excessive loot causing clutter that can lead to lag or bag space problems. While not a major problem, these issues can be annoying during timed content and could be addressed to improve overall performance.