Slightly more cerebral while also filled with the fast action that the series is known for, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires sits neatly as a midway point between the action of the "proper" Dynasty Warriors and the strategy of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series. There probably isn't all that much of an audience for this, but for fans that were disappointed with the open world experiment of Dynasty Warriors 9, Empires here will be redemption, and for those who have never let their enthusiasm for the series be dampened, this is an excellent opportunity to marry Sun Shangxiang and make many beautiful babies... or perhaps to unite China. Whatever your preference is, really.
Empires combines deep strategy with fast action in the best musou style we know so well from Omega Force. The new way you're charging the castle and try to break or hold the defense is refreshing while the interconnectivity between strategy and action is well executed.
Although there are some improvements over Dynasty Warriors 9, the cut content and some new features feeling a bit lacking make this Empires fall short compared to the previous two.
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.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires should’ve been a DLC expansion to the base game and not a full-priced standalone release with how little it offers to musou fans right now. It also doesn’t help that the PS5 version has a lot of annoying screen tearing during gameplay.
Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires tests even the most die-hard fans of the Musou genre with an even more limited and repetitive experience than usual, which suffers from the same problems as always and adds new ones to them.
Even for a series renowned for reusing material and rehashing a tired formula of mindless yet oddly satisfying gameplay, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a hollow package. If this is all the series has left to offer, it may be time to let the Three Kingdoms war themselves into oblivion. A bland, shallow title with little to offer even those who enjoy the repetition of Musou gameplay, Empires is as regurgitated as a game can be.
Absolutely refreshing since I kinda already put maybe 6k hours onto the entire empires series as with 10k+ into all dynasty warriors games. I'm looking forward to maybe more edit parts. Or more features for in combat
My conclusion about "Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires" is rather mixed. So I'm always happy when a new part of the series is released for the consoles. Since I always hope for new ideas and great graphics. But "Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires" doesn't have many new elements to offer. So I like the somewhat more tactical Empires mix of the series, but in principle I could have just put one of the predecessors in the drive. Of course, there are also new action and editing options in the game. From a technical point of view, the title looks rather weak for the new console generation. If you want to play the latest part "Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires" on your console or PC, you'll experience huge Far Eastern mass battles and the technology doesn't quite play along.
Please stop butchering the series. After what happened with DW 9 I was hoping they learned from their mistake and they going to improve the game but guess what? Its getting even worse!! I really missing the older games in the series.
Ok...I just want to mention two things that makes this score what it is. first thing, THERE IS NO ROBUST CUSTOM CHARACTER EDITING IN THIS GAME, for the critic reviews to mention that there is do not know DW8 E. The multiple options and variations that DW8 E had in comparison to this reskin is extremely notable. DW9 E's edit mode is purely bare bones with very few options for creating a unique officer. but don't worry; its just an additional $40.00 to download additional costumes/armor which is after a $60 price to pay for it from the start. Actions (weapons/move sets) are interesting, shame there isn't an option to test them out (like in DW8 E) or customize your kingdom or soldiers (Also in DW8 E). I am a huge fan of character creation and loved how it was done in DW8 E, so I had high expectations for this game to blow me away with an actual robust customizing system, but instead they took away more than they added.
Speaking of taking things away, this leads to the second reason for the score. NO MULTIPLAYER. Seriously, I did enjoy playing DW 8E solo, but I really enjoyed it when me and my bro can do a double Musou attack on a bunch of fodder. Removing this, made me remove the game. With all of the other known issues (a lot of menus, repetitive gameplay, unnecessary open world) I was willing to tolerate it all, but I couldn't do it without multiplayer.
In short this game took DW8 E and put a sticker on it titled "Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires", cut it in half and placed a $40 price tag to actually have any real uniqueness to custom characters, removed multiple options that made the game enjoyable, slightly updated graphics (and yet, not improved), managed to make combat gameplay mechanics even less interesting, and piled on menus for "strategy".
Cool idea though, maybe they'll figure it out in DW E10.
Ok this game is NOT a 8-10 let alone a 5-7. Anyone rating this a 5-10 are delusional. This is the worse Empires installment to date. Even worse than 6E which is saying something. Go look at youtube reviews as a large majority of them are negative reviews. Very depressing what has been happening with koei they are literally EA games...
SummaryEmpires, a unique "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" experience. Dramatic stories of officers on different sides. All 94 officers who have appeared in DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 are playable. In addition, players can control all 700 common officers. A major change from previous series titles, areas around castles become battlefields, evolving into...