REVIEW : DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 Empires Deluxe Edition (XBOX Series X)
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires contains a grand strategic campaign in addition to the dramatic hack-and-slash battles. Unfortunately, the game’s repetitive gameplay and poor execution let it down. The hack-and-slash gameplay is still as enjoyable as it has always been. Secret Plans are used to keep missions varied.
There is a lot of detail in the areas of strategy. Most likely, whoever said “war never changes” was a fan of the Dynasty Warriors. After decades of honing the gameplay over many spin-offs and expansions, Koei Tecmo’s iconic hack & slash series is still going strong. Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, our newest strategy-focused version, builds on the ninth entry. Empires retains the typical Dynasty Warriors action: you’ll march into battle against hundreds of opponents, sweeping your swords through the enemy hordes with each button press. Outside of combat, your goal is to unite the country under a single banner through diplomacy and siege wars. It’s up to you whether you want to build up your military, focus on domestic issues, or form international alliances. Empires is both different and exactly what you’d expect from Dynasty Warriors 9. If you aren’t a fan of the series, this new strategic layer is unlikely to convert you. However, if you are, there is plenty to enjoy, if not quite enough. Empires is based on the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as were its predecessors.Eight campaigns based on previous occurrences like the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Battle of Guandu are available in Conquest Mode. Characters can be mixed and matched. The goal of uniting China stays the same regardless of which timeline you choose. You can choose from a total of 90 officers between these conflicts, each of them is based on a historical individual and has varied ranks. We recommend starting with a Ruler because they are the only ones who can decide when you will invade other kingdoms, unlike generals and normal officers. If you’d rather create your own officer, there’s a character creator that’s not excessively customized but does the job. The first stage in your quest is to choose the aims of your kingdom. You’re up against a lot of opponents, and choosing who to fight next off the map isn’t easy. Your war council will make decisions on four topics: internal affairs, humanitarian relations, negotiation, and military affairs. Additional political goals, such as strengthening defense and increasing rations, can be included. You’ll get 6 months to bring your vision into practice once you’ve made your decisions. You then call a new meeting of your war council and set a new agenda.
It’s not easy to start a battle in Dynasty Warriors 9 Kingdoms. You can’t just march into your opponent’s area. If rations are in short supply, troops will not fight, and a lack of trust in area defenses will result in territory loss. You’ll need to manage economic and agricultural growth, recruitment drives, and potentially even form alliances to keep other kingdoms from attacking your country. While navigating through menus can be boring, Empires has a depth that you wouldn’t expect from a Musou game. You can also go for a walk about the open world, but it’s sparse in compared to the main game. Since the main event’s secondary objectives have been removed, your exploration is now solely utilised to acquire soldiers. At the conclusion of the six months, you could finally conquer. You have one last act of skullduggery to execute before the war begins. A ‘Secret Plan’ can be carried out by a police officer. This could include bringing in troops to fight beside you or arranging terrible weather to harm your opponents. These initiatives, if successful, have the potential to change the course of the conflict.
Empires’ fights are concentrated on castle sieges, which distinguishes it from Dynasty Warriors 9. To accomplish your goal, you must use siege weapons. You’ll fight the enemy leader once inside, and the conflict will end in mortal combat. The positions are inverted when defending, and you must repel the enemy attack. The primary hack and slash gameplay of Dynasty Warriors 9 is mostly intact. You are in charge of a nearly superhuman officer as they fight across a vast battlefield. While swinging your weapon indiscriminately can go you a long way, matching your armament to the adversary type can result in some serious damage. You’ll make mincemeat of your opponent if you command your infantry to attack cavalry, cavalry to charge archers, and archers to fire on infantry.Finally, you can execute a theatrical heavy attack to clear the area around you if you charge up your Musou Gauge with major attacks on your adversaries.
If you’ve won a battle, you can try to recruit individual officers from the opposing side by capturing them during the battle. Players can choose to release or execute them if they refuse. Once you’ve completed this, you’ll be able to level up your officer and acquire additional titles, which will grant you more secret plans and rare gems, the latter of which will increase your stats when equipped. It’s a nice technique that complements the officers’ versatility in Empires. When you’re done, you’ll return to managing political matters, and the cycle will begin again. Conquest Mode has a lot of positive aspects, but we wish there was more to the game. Apart from cutscenes and tutorials, these eight campaigns don’t differ much mechanically; there are no additional modes. We only have a gallery to choose from when it comes to cops and previously unlocked cutscenes. Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is aimed at a certain demographic, catering to people seeking a more strategic experience while slaying hundreds of opponents.
