Dynasty Warriors 9 Announced for the West
Koei Tecmo Europe have today announced (thankfully) that Dynasty Warriors 9 will be heading west, as expected. The news shortly follows the new information from Japan, so it’s nice to see this cleared up pretty timely! This is the big one for Warriors (AKA Musou), as it introduces the main series to… a proper open world.
Warriors fans will be all too familiar with the series’ traditional sequence of “corridors” that make up the maps in which the crazy, “one versus thousands”, hack and slash action takes place. But no longer. Dynasty Warriors 9 introduces an open world to the series in some form. It just sounds so… unprecedented!
Setting out to complete various objectives, players will utilise an unprecedented world map to navigate and traverse a variety of different landscapes ranging from vast plains to snow-covered peaks presented with dynamic day/night and weather cycles. Exploring these impressive environments is made more engaging through the ability to adapt to surroundings to gain an upper hand in battle, with players able to use equipment to circumvent obstacles or blend in to avoid conflict.
The environments look gorgeous right? There will also be a day/night cycle that will happen naturally as you play. But let’s take a look at some of the battle screenshots. Some new features take advantage of the more open world design, allowing you to attack from a distance, surprise attack from above, or even use the new grappling hook to infiltrate enemy bases by scaling walls. It’s still unclear quite how it will use the open world overall, but it’s an exciting prospect to say the least.
Beyond the new mechanics it still looks very Dynasty Warriors at heart. Take a look at these new screenshots of the game in action. It looks like Dynasty Warriors should look, right? But a little different? It’s so new looking. Which is refreshing. But also makes me a little nervous, though my apprehension is mostly just excitement.
Dynasty Warriors 9 will also be adding some new characters. Take a look at Cheng Pu! He’s a cool, older dude who has excellent dress sense and a mean spear.
The new open world for Dynasty Warriors 9 follows Dragon Quest Heroes 2 (developed by Omega Force), which has a open world of sorts, but that was more like a world map than what it seems this new Warriors is offering. It also comes after Toukiden 2 introduced open world elements to the series, as well as Atelier Firis pairing an open world with Atelier. That seems to be Koei Tecmo’s new thing, and so far it’s worked out pretty well.
It looks to be a true next step for the series, and that’s really exciting! Omega Force almost always have the goods to back up whatever they’re doing, so this is one to really get excited for if you’re already a Warriors fan, or someone who’s just looking to mow down hundreds of enemies in one go.
Koei Tecmo Europe has yet to announce a release date, platforms, or basically anything beyond the fact that Dynasty Warriors 9 is coming west — so keep an eye out for updates! We know we’ll be!
