DYNASTY WARRIORS 9

58%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,069 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 Game Cover
Dynasty Warriors 9 has finally entered the next generation of gaming, bringing the series' tried and true 1-versus-1,000 fights into a massive open world while sticking true to its roots, for better or for worse.
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DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 offers an open-world experience in the franchise, featuring a vast map of ancient China and a day-night cycle. With over 80 playable characters, each with unique abilities and weapons, players engage in fierce battles set in a detailed narrative based on Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Exploration, emergent battles, and strategic objectives enhance the immersive Warriors experience.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

58%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,069 reviews
story70 positive mentions
optimization63 negative mentions
  • The graphics are stunning, with beautifully detailed environments and vibrant colors that create an immersive visual experience.
  • The gameplay is engaging and full of variety, offering a great challenge whether it's solving puzzles or battling enemies.
  • Character development is impressive, with each character having a unique backstory and abilities, adding depth to the overall experience.
  • The open world feels empty and lacks meaningful content, making exploration tedious.
  • The combat system has been simplified, leading to repetitive gameplay and a lack of unique movesets for characters.
  • The English voice acting is subpar, detracting from the overall immersion and experience of the game.
  • story674 mentions

    The story in Dynasty Warriors 9 is a blend of familiar historical narratives from the Three Kingdoms era, presented through the perspectives of over 90 characters, each with their own unique storylines. While the game attempts to deepen character development and narrative engagement through an open-world format, many players find the execution lacking, citing repetitive missions and a disjointed storytelling experience. Overall, the game offers a more expansive view of the lore compared to previous installments, but suffers from pacing issues and a lack of compelling cutscenes, leading to mixed reviews on its narrative quality.

    • “The character development is also impressive, with each character having a unique backstory and abilities, adding depth to the overall experience.”
    • “I was new to Dynasty Warriors and found it great that many of the characters have their unique point of view of the story through the cinematics throughout the chapters, of which the different characters have a different start and end.”
    • “The story is much the same as it usually is in a Dynasty Warriors game, I mean, it can't really change that since it is based off a book.”
    • “The game's storyline, which is based on the historical events of the Three Kingdoms period, fails to captivate and engage players.”
    • “The major flaws come in the form of the open world and the lack of content in it, as well as the outright disappointing way the story is told.”
    • “The story is very strict on who wins battles (most often Wei) and who ends up retreating (most often Shu), but when your character's story ends... the game gives vague statements about their motivation and how they succeed in the future.”
  • gameplay258 mentions

    The gameplay of the latest installment in the Dynasty Warriors series has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the engaging combat mechanics and open-world exploration, while others criticize it for being repetitive and plagued by bugs. Many appreciate the new combat system and variety of activities, but feel that the open-world design lacks depth and can feel empty. Overall, while some find the gameplay fun and innovative, others believe it falls short of the series' previous standards, leading to a divided player experience.

    • “The gameplay is engaging and full of variety; whether it's solving puzzles or battling enemies, it offers a great challenge and keeps you hooked.”
    • “Fantastic musou gameplay, engaging story, and pretty landscapes.”
    • “The gameplay is really addicting and there's loads to do.”
    • “Borderline unplayable - though to be fair, I only got 53 minutes into it, stopping every 0-2 seconds for the game to pause and flash up a tutorial dialog to explain some game mechanic, in a seemingly unending series of dialogs that were each quickly forgotten.”
    • “The shift to an open-world format, while ambitious, results in a lackluster and repetitive gameplay experience.”
    • “The gameplay is weak and pay-to-win is definitely a thing.”
  • graphics256 mentions

    The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the stunning environments and character models, while others criticize the poor optimization and performance issues. Some players note that the visuals can be breathtaking, especially in certain conditions, but many also report significant graphical glitches and frame rate drops, particularly on lower-end systems. Overall, while the graphics show improvement over previous titles in the series, they still fall short of current AAA standards, leading to a divided opinion among players.

    • “First of all, the graphics are stunning, with beautifully detailed environments and vibrant colors that create an immersive visual experience.”
    • “Graphics are amazing which makes it hard to go back to the older games.”
    • “The graphics are great, the music's good, the combat system is different than what we're used to, but still quite entertaining.”
    • “Outdated graphics, performance, quality of life, user experience, and user interface, with a major lack of optimization.”
    • “Numerous graphical issues are abound, with framerate drops, tons of pop-in, and textures not loading correctly or at all.”
    • “The game is bad in terms of graphics (what is this, 2005?), combat (which is sad), movement, cut scenes (again, this is not 2005, don't hurt my eyes with those please) and the 'open world' is open, lul, just have nothing in it (like the universe, empty, void).”
  • optimization211 mentions

    The optimization of the game has received widespread criticism, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including frequent frame rate drops, long loading times, and various glitches, even on systems that meet or exceed the recommended specifications. While some users have managed to achieve stable performance through extensive tweaking, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized, particularly for older hardware, and requires further patches to address these issues effectively. Despite some graphical moments being appreciated, the lack of consistent performance detracts from the overall experience.

    • “You need to tweak the graphics options yourself if you wish to squeeze the most performance out of this game.”
    • “Despite all the negative reviews due to issues with performance and optimization, I would recommend this game.”
    • “There is still a lot to improve and work on for Koei, namely the performance, but even in its current state, it's very playable if you're smart enough to work with its given settings.”
    • “The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to frequent frame rate drops, long loading times, and various glitches and bugs.”
    • “Performance issues were my biggest complaint in this game: tweaked all settings and still got no more than 60fps on open areas and 30-45fps on cities and large scale battles.”
    • “The optimization for this game is pure crap, couldn't recommend it now.”
  • music67 mentions

    The music in the game has received largely positive feedback, with many reviewers praising its orchestral soundtrack and energetic battle themes that enhance the gameplay experience. While some noted a sense of familiarity and occasional recycling of tracks, the overall consensus is that the music remains a standout feature of the Dynasty Warriors series, providing both excitement during combat and a relaxing atmosphere during exploration. However, a few critiques mentioned issues with sound quality and a desire for more variety in the musical selection.

    • “Plus, the sound design and soundtrack are excellent, perfectly complementing the atmosphere.”
    • “Music has always been one of the best parts of the Dynasty Warriors series, and this game is no exception.”
    • “The music is incredible, very much the highlight of the game.”
    • “Terrible animations and voice acting, poorly designed quests, no sense of urgency during missions, annoying soundtrack, battle interactions made by a 10-year-old with lines that made me want to vomit.”
    • “Full of bugs, combat is the worst of the Dynasty Warriors series by far. Even on the hardest difficulty, there's no challenge or anything. The songs are crappy compared to others, and you can no longer choose your background music.”
    • “The music does seem a bit recycled as you play more, but I guess that's normal.”
  • stability46 mentions

    The stability of the game has improved significantly since its buggy launch, with many players noting that recent updates have addressed numerous issues, although minor glitches and graphical problems still persist. While some users report enjoying the gameplay despite these glitches, others express frustration over optimization issues, including frame rate drops and long loading times. Overall, the game is considered playable, but potential buyers are advised to be cautious and may want to wait for further patches to enhance stability.

    • “There's tons to do, the castle battles are great, and after disabling VSync, it runs smoothly.”
    • “So it runs great.”
    • “I have the exact recommended specs for the game, and it runs great.”
    • “The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to frequent frame rate drops, long loading times, and various glitches and bugs.”
    • “Textures refusing to load, horrible pop-ins, and other graphical glitches have plagued my game since day one and I have no idea when/if Koei is going to bother to fix them.”
    • “An empty, barren 'open world', a watered down combat system, barely any unique weapons, all characters feel the same, oh and it's a buggy mess to boot.”
  • grinding41 mentions

    Grinding in this game is widely regarded as tedious and time-consuming, with many players feeling that the open-world design exacerbates the issue by making traversal and side quests feel repetitive. While some appreciate the RPG elements and the ability to level up characters, the overall experience is marred by a lack of engaging content and excessive grinding for materials and experience. Despite some redeeming qualities, such as fast travel options, the grinding aspect remains a significant pain point for many players.

    • “Thanks to the fast travel mechanic, travel isn't too tedious either.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The RPG system kinda works, but you spend the entire early game grinding for experience before you get overpowered real fast.”
    • “The trek across the often barren landscape is so tedious that you'll find yourself ready to skip as much of it as possible.”
  • humor22 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding the English dub's poor quality amusing at first, but ultimately disappointing. Instances of unintentional comedy arise from awkward voice acting and buggy animations, leading to moments that are both funny and frustrating. While some characters and scenarios elicit genuine laughter, the overall humor often feels inconsistent, oscillating between charming and annoying.

    • “Watching Lu Bu with a fan is hilarious.”
    • “Be prepared to burst out laughing the first time Zhang Jiao speaks!”
    • “I like a lot of new costumes, I like the puddles after rain and especially taking Daqiao in her pretty dress, rolling in these puddles and seeing how it gets dirty... you think I'm joking, but no, I actually spent a good 15 minutes just rolling in the puddles and grinning like an idiot, because it looked funny.”
  • character development16 mentions

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the unique backstories and abilities that add depth, others criticize the narrative for being disjointed and lacking emotional engagement. The character designs are consistently praised for their quality, but many feel that the overall character development does not meet the expectations set by previous entries in the series.

    • “The character development is also impressive, with each character having a unique backstory and abilities, adding depth to the overall experience.”
    • “By implementing the open world building design and character development aspect in the storyline, I think this has the best Dynasty Warriors story mode ever.”
    • “The good part are the character designs and how they go deep with the story, I loved that!”
    • “The narrative feels disjointed and poorly paced, lacking the depth and character development that fans of the series have come to expect.”
    • “Lack of depth in character development: the narrative fails to provide depth in character development, resulting in a sense of detachment from the unfolding events and a missed opportunity to engage players emotionally.”
    • “It had some semblance of character development.”
  • emotional10 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the beautiful design and immersive world, while others criticize the lack of depth in character development and emotional expression during cutscenes. Many feel detached from the narrative due to shallow relationships and a failure to explore significant connections between characters, leading to a sense of disappointment despite initial emotional engagement. Overall, while the game evokes some feelings, it ultimately falls short in delivering a compelling emotional experience.

    • “The open world approach made me feel in ancient China and for the first time I cared about almost everything, like characters, castles, events, and natural wonders.”
    • “Every time I see this game in my library I want to cry.”
    • “Crisp, energizing, epic, even beautiful/emotional at times.”
  • replayability9 mentions

    The game offers significant replayability due to its expansive open world, diverse characters, and multiple storylines, allowing players to experience different perspectives. However, some users noted that playing with characters from the same team can lead to repetitive content, which diminishes the overall replay value. Despite some performance issues and occasional blandness, the variety of gameplay elements, such as crafting and side missions, contributes positively to its replayability.

    • “This game is actually a lot of fun if you like Dynasty Warriors games. It's much larger than normal DW games, and the open world is a really cool idea. There’s a ton of replayability with so many different stories, though if you play two characters from the same team that have the same chapters, you're going to see a lot of repeat content.”
    • “Crafting, hideouts, and side missions add more to the game, enhancing its replayability.”
    • “We don't set expectations high, but we expect to enjoy it regardless because hack and slash with a multitude of weapons and characters gives immense replayability and depth to the core mechanic of combat.”
    • “This game is actually a lot of fun if you like Dynasty Warriors games. It's much larger than normal DW games, and the open world is a really cool idea. It can be kind of bland in some areas, but it's their first attempt at an open world game. With all the characters, there's a ton of replayability with so many different stories. However, if you play two characters from the same team that have the same chapters, you're going to see a lot of repeat content.”
    • “When replayed, the same level as another officer often has their model just added to dialogue-based cutscenes instead of telling the same story from a different perspective, which lowers the replayability factor very significantly.”
    • “Yes, there are performance issues (they can be fixed down the road with patches), but it's enjoyable to play. The open world is vast with a lot of stuff to do and get sidetracked on. It has a lot of replay value since each character will have different perspectives in the story, but even then, there are small differences in the story.”
  • monetization6 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized for being excessively focused on cash grabs, with players expressing frustration over the reliance on microtransactions and DLC purchases to unlock characters. Many feel that the game is misleadingly marketed as a full product when it functions more like a free trial, ultimately prioritizing profit over player experience.

    • “I appreciate that the monetization in this game feels fair and balanced, allowing players to enjoy the experience without feeling pressured to spend money.”
    • “The in-game purchases are optional and do not hinder gameplay, which makes the monetization model feel respectful to players.”
    • “I love how the game offers a variety of cosmetic items for purchase, allowing players to customize their experience without impacting the core gameplay.”
    • “I think the main complaint is the insane cash grabbing, which it totally is.”
    • “Do not get this game ever. You cannot buy the game; it is a free trial. The only way to unlock any characters is to buy them as DLC (this comes directly from Koei; I emailed them about this). It is pathetic that microtransactions are the only way they can run now.”
    • “I somewhat feel that this was just a cash grab for them.”
  • atmosphere4 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by excellent sound design and a compelling soundtrack, creating an immersive experience. While the graphics are deemed suitable and contribute to the overall ambiance, they fall short of high-end titles like Far Cry 5 or GTA V, and some users note a need for optimization. Overall, the gameplay is described as cool and atmospheric, despite graphical limitations.

    • “Plus, the sound design and soundtrack are excellent, perfectly complementing the atmosphere.”
    • “The music is great and atmospheric; the graphics are good enough, and the gameplay itself is fluent.”
    • “Graphics are suitable and atmospheric, but it's never going to be, say, Far Cry 5 or GTA V in the graphics department.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

60% average critic score

Buy DYNASTY WARRIORS 9

Play time

15hMedian play time
116hAverage play time
5-46hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 19 analyzed playthroughs

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