Dynasty Warriors 9 (2018)

While not quite an unmitigated disaster, Dynasty Warriors 9 is pretty bad. Even if you can live with the subpar presentation, the game quickly gets boring due to a lack of important or interesting things that can be done in the world. The combat is fine, but with fewer opportunities to use it, the button-mashing joy inherent in the series is nowhere to be found. If the franchise continues down this open-world path, then it'll need some massive improvements — or else fans will start calling for a return to the old formula.

Dynasty Warriors 9 is basically the $60 equivalent of a Steam Early Access title, and it’s a slap in the face and the reproductive organs, to fans of the series.

Dynasty Warriors deserved better than this, and I hope Omega Force gets another shot to do this franchise justice, because this is not how the tales of the Three Kingdoms should end.

I hope that Koei Tecmo learn from the justifiably negative press that the latest outing of the franchise has received almost across the board and abandon their production of endless sequels, tie-ins and spin-offs in order to reallocate appropriate talent and resources to make the next main entry in the series a game truly worthy of its own dynasty.

"Dynasty Warriors 9" presents series fans with tried and tested features and shines with some new game approaches. Even though the tactical battles go hand in hand with the crafting system, the simplified cloppings will cause boredom in the long run. Although the vast world scores with a wide variety of topics, many graphic errors make the overall picture appear uneven and significantly cloud the game feel. We hope that Omega Force will learn from these mistakes and continue to pamper friends of the series with promising titles.