Dynasty Warriors 9 is open world and it gets first screenshots
Dynasty Warriors is a popular series published by Koei Tecmo, which can be best explained as “hack and slash”. The games are actually spin-offs of Koei’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, loosely based on the Chinese historical text ‘Records of the Three Kingdoms’. Dynasty Warriors 9 is going for open world this time.
Take a look at the details:
A New Open World Warriors Game
For the first time in the series, the expansive land of China is shown on a single map with the introduction of an open world format for diverse progression through the game. The ‘one vs. thousands’ exhilarating action of the Warriors series and the beloved characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms tale are carried over, but the freedom through an open world stage provides a brand new Warriors experience.
Critical Missions unfold and progress the story of the player character, and are supplemented by numerous missions from various regions such as Regular Missions that affect the Critical Missions and requests from other characters. The situation will be ever changing depending on what missions are selected. In the many battles that occur on the map, players will find a variety of strategies and tactics open to them such as “attacking head on,” “launching a surprise attack from an elevated position” or “infiltrating at night”, for numerous ways to enjoy the expansive world of the Three Kingdoms.
The map is displayed with beautiful graphics and features many different regions of China such as snow plains, jungles and deserts which reflect the passage of time and changing climate. Key cities and checkpoints, such as Luoyang and Hulao Gate, and landmarks such as the Yelｌow River and Mt. Song, are replicated, allowing for deeper immersion into the game world.
While keeping the simple controls the Warriors series is known for in tact, Dynasty Warriors 9 has a new action called the “State Combo System” that lets players react differently depending on the situation. It is composed of three attacks: the “Trigger Attack” that starts the combo, the string of consecutive “Flow Attacks” that follow and change based on the enemy’s state, and the powerful “Finish Attack” that concludes the combo. Through this, you can experience the series’ highest level of ‘one vs. thousands exhilaration.’
Additionally, Dynasty Warriors 9 uses “Interactive Actions” that are possible based on the terrain and environment. You can of course climb mountains and swim across rivers, “climb walls using a grappling hook,” “explode an oil container with a bow and arrow to attack enemies,” and so on. Since you can choose from a variety of actions based on the situation, the breadth of strategy is expanded.
Currently, the game has been announced on Playstation 4 in Japan, while the American and Europe’s press release claim that “platforms, release timing, and more information on the game’s new features, characters, and narrative will be unveiled in the coming months”. The previous game did come out on all the platforms at the time, including PC, so that might be the case this time as well.
