Preview: Dynasty Warriors 9 Is A Whole New World

Dynasty Warriors, the granddaddy of all musou games has definitely come a long way as a series. It has made progressive improvements over the years to its brawler-style combat and has kept fans like myself playing its many incarnations. Like many Madden or COD fans, no one expects each new installment to reinvent the wheel, just hopefully get a little better. However, it appears Omega Force is ready to make some bold changes to a few key gameplay features for Dynasty Warriors 9.

I would never have expected the Dynasty Warriors series to go open world, especially considering the core goal of past iterations has always been to complete missions within a confined map. Still, last week at a Koei-Tecmo press event, I found myself exploring the massive, open-world map of Dynasty Warriors 9 complete with its own day/night cycle and weather effects.

Goals are now broken into missions that help make overcoming factions and conquering territories easier. For instance, there might be a mission to flood an area in order to lower the morale of an enemy army that will make taking down their leader easier.

Combat is still an arcade style, hack’n’slash, combo orgy as I’d hoped and expected, but has a few new tricks up its sleeve. One of the most prominent new features is the trigger attack system that allows players to hit enemies with an attack that stuns them, launched them into the air, knocks them down, or calls upon a character’s unique special move. Trigger attacks will need a cooldown period before being used again.

While I prefer the aggressive approach to combat, there’s now a stealth option for those who’d rather attempt sneak attacks or ambushes. I did find more personal appreciation for the new grappling hook feature since I never was a fan of waiting for doors to open before storming a castle.

If I’m being entirely honest, Dynasty Warriors has always been a zen-like experience of mindless brawling for me. If Dynasty Warriors 9 ends up providing me a massive, seemingly endless, sprawling map of bodies to fall before my might I will be a happy camper.

Dynasty Warriors 9 is set to release on February 13th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Blake Morse

Events Coordinator

Blake has been writing and making videos about pop-culture and games for over 10 years now. Although he'd probably prefer you thought of him as a musician and listened to his band, www.cartoonviolencemusic.com. If you see him on the street, buy him a taco or something. Follow him on twitter @ProfRobot