Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires

The newest entry brings traditional gameplay with usual strategy elements, but the welcome additions are better graphics and faster loadings on next-gen consoles.

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.

Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is a great representation of the Empires series with a few modern elements to entice seasoned players. Its strategic systems are addicting, with combat being delightfully simple, instilling the gratifying sense of mayhem the franchise is known for. It’s a moderately enjoyable time-sink, yet it lacks an identity that can make it difficult to recommend to casual series fans who want more out of their experience. At the very least, Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires isn’t an erroneous existence like the original Dynasty Warriors 9 since it provides genuine entertainment, even if not sincerely lasting.

Dynasty Warriors 9 Empire is a strategic rather bland, with fights in musou style just passable. The result is still a decent game, though clearly aimed only at fans of the genre.

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 doesn’t do anything that previous games in the series haven’t already done. A lack of variety and graphical issues that should not be present in 2022 hold this back from being a must buy, even for die-hard fans.

Alas, there's nothing to recommend Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires. DW9 is probably one of the lower points of the franchise, and what Empires does to improve on it is fairly minimal. There's absolutely no reason to buy it over the bucketload of better Warriors titles available on the PS5. Even if you're looking for something in the same setting, there are plenty of other Dynasty Warriors options. The most positive thing I can say is that it's a better game than the original, but it's an easy one to skip with so many other titles available.

Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is tailor-made for super fans of the franchise. While players may feel like a lackey at the start of any new Conquest campaign run-through, rising up the ranks and having the Prime Minister agree with your suggestions can feel rewarding. If you enjoy making decisions about whether to increase ration development or to collect tribute on a monthly basis, or politicking in general whereby interacting with important people gets your heart racing, then by all means check out Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires. The rest of us will get by on regular Dynasty Warriors 9 just fine.

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.

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 Empire mixes and matches most of the features from the previous games, improves the officers editor but fails to bring something really new to old and next-gen platforms.

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.

As a Dynasty Warriors 9 spin-off, Empires falls behind the market in terms of both visuals and gameplay standards, and even though many of its gameplay mechanisms show huge potential, the final package fails to impress as it feels rushed and unpolished, leaving its ties to Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel the only upside for the fans to cling to.

Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires has some interesting strategy elements, but the combat is so far behind other recent Musou games.

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 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 does feel like a step towards righting the problems with the original game. It still suffers from the structural issues that held back Dynasty Warriors 9, and fans of more straightforward musou titles have a wealth of other games on offer such as Samurai Warriors 5, but those who prefer the tactical edge of Empires will at least find some enjoyment here.

It's hard to get excited for Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, which has been built on a game that already looked very ugly and had an off-topic open world four years ago. If Omega Force has done well to drop the open world concept to return to a more classic structure, we note however that little has really changed and it's still boring playing this new game.

Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is the depressing follow up to the most disappointing entry in the whole Koei Tecmo hack’n’slash series. The strategic aspect that allegeldy distinguishes it from the predecessor is barely there while the action mechanics are basically the same, with castle sieges being the only real new offer of the whole package. Some clever ideas are noticeable, but most of them are reused from previous iterations. What Omega Force packed in the game at launch is not enough to build an entire experience on repetition.

Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is a definite improvement on its predecessor — but that's not saying much. The return of set maps and straightforward objectives is welcome, and in typical Empires fashion, there's so much potential for interesting player-driven storylines. There is an addictive hack-and-slash loop at work here, and it's tempered by some decent tactical tweaks. But to fully enjoy it, you've got to wade through a mire of shockingly ugly visuals and boring map design.