Dynasty Warriors 9

Dynasty Warriors 9 (真・三國無双8, Shin Sangoku Musou 8) is the ninth main entry of the Dynasty Warriors series. It was first teased by Kou Shibusawa at 2016 PlayStation Press Conference in Japan and formally revealed during Koei's web program Koei-Tecmo Greatest Ever Line Up Special on December 17, 2016.

Akihiro Suzuki returns as producer and Atsushi Miyauchi returns as director. Suzuki has stated that the theme for this title is "renewal", as the development team strove to refresh the one-man superhero experience from the ground up. The change to open world was done to "capture the atmosphere" of Ancient China, so he stresses that the maps may not be 100% historically accurate. One design element that seeks to appeal to the open world element was an increase in realism throughout the game. However, Suzuki remarked that real Chinese martial arts and fantasy have been carefully balanced with respect to weapon movesets; series' fans can still enjoy certain familiar and unorthodox attacks in each moveset. Suzuki remarked that the new "State Combo" attack system in this game was done to refresh the series's concept of "simple to execute yet deep action" while simultaneously trying to appeal to players who aren't experienced in action games.

A Mandarin dub is available for the Chinese port, as well as all home console versions of the game. Suzuki remarked that it was something he had always wanted to do, and it was only made possible recently. He is pleased to have personally seen the positive and boisterous response from Chinese audiences during his stage appearances.

Out of house character designs were done by Kiyohisa Kuroda, Shion Karakuri, Hitowa, Shikimi, Ebila, Shinobu Takayama, Kouto Betten, Toinana, AZ Pt, and himiko.

The Treasure Box edition includes an original soundtrack, a set of character clear cards, and an illustration book. The Omega Force 20th Anniversary Ikki Tousen box contains the aforementioned bonuses plus a set of weapon keychains. The Gamecity Set adds character karuta cards and eight character clear cards that are distinct from the boxed editions. Whoever gets the Digital Deluxe edition shall receive the season pass for all of the normally scheduled DLC, a bundled materials set, a set dedicated to hideouts with ten furniture and a scenario, and three weapons exclusive to this purchase. Select European and Taiwanese outlets are offering a steel box case with pre-orders. Taiwanese pre-orders also include two random cards that can be Guan Yinping, Diaochan, Wang Yuanji, or Lu Lingqi rendered in bathing outfits.

Gameplay

 * Following in the footsteps of Toukiden 2, this game will be the first open world entry for the series. Players will be able to explore the full scope of the battlefield and visit nearby cities or towns. The map has over ten unique cities where items and other services may be purchased. Traveling from one side of China to the other side takes about three hours.
 * "Interactive Actions" allow for quicker transportation across the terrain and interaction with the terrain. These actions include swimming, using grappling hooks to climb taller obstacles (R1), and riding boats for quicker travel. All characters can dodge-roll, double-jump, and wall jump. All three deplete stamina. Accessories are available that increase the number of jumps a character can do and when they can be performed.
 * While traveling between cities, players may come across hostile tribes, animals, or heavily-guarded supply units. Engaging them may grant numerous benefits. Formidable opponents can be randomly encountered while wandering. They can either be powerful human foes or various rare animals whom drop greater amounts of loot if they are defeated.
 * Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada-day and night cycle is implemented. Weather changes in real time during battles and may hamper the enemy's awareness. Weather can be chosen at random but there are some set weather effects during certain battles. Weather such as fog and rain also limits enemy awareness.
 * Tea shops can provide meals that may heal or provide various stat buffs to the player character, depending on the dish. Ingredients for the meals are dropped from enemies or collected from the field through hunting/fishing or completing requests for citizens and soldiers found around town or in the tea shop proper. Fishing includes special lures to improve the player's catch. Land animals can be caught through different grades of traps.
 * Series characters can be spotted in casual clothing in the cities within their respective regions. Via an update, these costumes can be unlocked for gameplay use in battles by completing a request for the character, such as bringing them a certain item they are looking for, or facing them one-on-one in combat training and besting them. (Some items won't be available to attain until much later in Story Mode, won't appear more often until a certain daily bonus is active, are only attainable through completing requests for people in various cities or camps, or can only be attained by defeating certain powerful bandit chiefs or bandit head chiefs during specific chapters in Story Mode, so they will have to be given to the character who requested it on another playthrough due to items carrying over between characters.) The player also has the option to set informal clothing and casual clothing as whatever costume they desire (i.e. a character can appear in their normal costumes in town, or any DLC costumes purchased or vice versa).
 * Players can purchase hideaways across China. Once purchased, player characters can invite friendly series characters to their hideaway. If they accept, unique conversations can be unlocked. DLC ordeals unlock unique furniture that can be added to the hideaways and the ability to change the hideaway's exterior appearance.
 * Furniture can be purchased at the trader or ancient coin collector in towns. Ancient coin collectors require a rare coins separate from standard gold. Selections at either store are randomized each visit.
 * Each piece of furniture can customize a hideout to be purely decorative or to serve specific functions. If the player so desires, hideouts can provide a place to cook meals, develop tools, change character outfits, listen to music, review artwork, and/or sleep to recover health and change in-game time. Some extra features, such as weather altar, or a horse stable can be unlocked by winning DLC ordeals.
 * Missions are categorized into three types: normal (white and yellow scrolls), critical (red scroll), request (sweat mark) and ordeals (fire). Completing any missions that are not essential to Story Mode rewards ingredients that are necessary for creating weapons. Completing scroll missions that are not the main mission will help lower the difficulty of the main mission, or possibly the difficulty of other missions as well. Mission difficulties can also be lowered by capturing bases that have supply lines to the mission locations. Ordeals are similar to Challenge Mode from past Dynasty Warriors games and the rewards are usually of high caliber, and are broken into three choices:
 * Castle Siege, where a player needs to besiege Yangren Castle and defeat the playable officer hiding within. Enemy troops will be heavy in numbers, and a player needs to protect their Engineer Captains and siege weapons to be able to get into the castle and defeat the target playable officer inside quickly for a larger reward.
 * Master Sniper, where a player needs to have a good archery skill to protect Fan Castle's north gate from attacking forces. Be careful, using Explosive Arrows and Explosive Dispersion Arrows can damage the gate and wipe out its health, losing the ordeal if not aimed properly. Surviving until Lu Bu appears and defeating him wins the ordeal. Various enemies, siege weapons, and even hostile animals will be the main threat to the gate. Even if the gate's health is not reduced to zero, the ordeal is failed prematurely if enemies manage to breach it.
 * The Arena, located in Nanzhong, where a player tests their mettle against other officers to survive as the last one standing. This ordeal awards the best gem crafting scrolls if completed with a high enough score, made better if certain conditions are set before starting the ordeal, multiplying the bonus at the end. Three options available at the Arena include Rampage, Time Attack, and Battle Streak.
 * Ordeals unlocked with the Hideaways DLC consists of five new missions:
 * Lightning Speed, where a player needs to rush through a town defeating all the target officers in quick succession. The town selected for the ordeal is Chang'an, and target officers are usually faction leaders like Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao joined by playable officers under their command based on the Story Mode chapter the ordeal is attempted on.
 * Standing Firm, where a player has to defend the Changban Bridge and stop enemy soldiers from crossing it. If at least 100 cross, the ordeal is over prematurely. Oil pots and barricades will help make things easier to funnel and wipe out troops, but using Explosive and Explosive Dispersion Arrows are the best option here due to their large blast radius.
 * The Summit of True Might, where a player has to defeat enemy soldiers without falling off the summit of Mt. Tai. Officers will shift back and forth between generic officers and randomly selected playable ones. Surviving up to facing and defeating the playable characters in a powered up state will complete the ordeal. Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and Ji Ling drop power-ups to give player characters a fighting chance if defeated as soon as they spawn.
 * The Indefatigable, where a player has to survive in the Nanzhong poison pools for as long as possible without being defeated. If their character's health reaches zero, the ordeal ends prematurely. Surviving 10 minutes is the best effort to complete this ordeal. New randomly selected playable officers that spawn will launch archer attacks that can severely deplete the player character's health if not dealt with quickly to end the archer assaults. Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang will also cause trouble throughout the ordeal with their Yellow Turban mages. Officers commonly encountered in the ordeal include Dong Zhuo and Dong Bai, Diaochan, Zhong Hui, Zhang Chunhua, Guo Huai, Guo Jia, Wang Yi, Jia Xu, Cao Pi, Zhenji, Lu Su, Lu Xun, Yueying, Zhuge Liang, Liu Shan, Fa Zheng, Xu Shu, Pang Tong, and Chen Gong. Friendly A.I.-controlled officers with the player's character will be made invincible during the ordeal to avoid being slain and failing the ordeal.
 * The True New Hefei Castle, only available from Chapter 11 of Story Mode onward, where a player must move quickly through the castle's narrow corridors and defeat target officers as quickly as possible while also avoiding traps and finding shortcuts to defeat the officers quickly. The target officer at the end is usually Zuo Ci, but many strategist officers like Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, Lu Meng, Lu Su, Zhang Jiao, Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, Sima Yi, and Sima Shi will need to be dealt with along with troops to open the gates to reach Zuo Ci quickly while being attacked with siege weapons and sorcery.
 * Characters are granted three stat points when they level up, which the player can then allocate to any of the character's stats. Changes are permanent. Stat points are not shared across characters, and are specific to each character.
 * Ranks are assigned to characters on top of their standard levels. Higher ranks affects the options available to a character at the blacksmith and the remuneration that they can receive from quests. Advanced ranked characters can earn recipes to create stronger weapons.
 * Charges have been replaced with a new system:
 * Flow Attacks : Basically this game's version of the normal attack string. Quick, normal attacks that can be performed without any special conditions. The Flow Attack string will change depending on an enemy's state: they are different for when enemies are standing, enemies are in the air, enemies are stunned, or when enemies are knocked down. This results in a total of 4 different Flow Attack strings per character.
 * Reactive Attacks (undefined): Situational attacks that rely on particular timing and positioning between player characters and enemies. A button prompt will appear above an enemy's head when a Reactive Attack can be performed.
 * Separating Attacks: When enemies are approaching, create a distance between you and the enemies. Will sometimes stun enemies.
 * Smash Attacks: Smash airborne enemies down to the ground.
 * Dash Attacks: Allows you to close in on faraway enemies. Also allows you to pursue enemy that have been sent flying.
 * Guard Break: Breaks an enemy's guard when they are blocking.
 * Counter Attacks: Counter an enemy's powerful attack. If successful, you will become temporarily invincible.
 * Assault Attacks: Deal massive amounts of damage to enemies that haven't noticed the player character sneaking up on them.
 * Finish Attacks: Deliver a finishing blow after reducing a large portion of an enemy's health, akin to how the Mighty Strike functions in Samurai Warriors 4.
 * Trigger Attacks: Powerful attacks that affect an enemy's state if successfully landed. Can lead into Flow Attack follow-ups.
 * R1 + : temporarily stuns enemies.
 * R1 + undefined: launches enemies into the air.
 * R1 + : knocks enemies down.
 * Special Attacks/Techniques (R1 + ): Powerful elemental attacks that are unique to each character. After performing one, the player cannot perform another one until the cooldown ends. The cooldown time can be reduced by landing consecutive attacks without taking damage or by successfully executing Counter Attacks or Finish Attacks. These may or may not be a majority of returning EX Attacks for a majority of characters.


 * Musou attacks can preformed on the ground or in the air. They are an amalgam of a character's previous Musou animations with traits from older titles, via the grounded version being a sequenced attack that can be held down to increase its duration at the cost of the current Musou gauge level, while the mid-air Musou Attacks remain the same.
 * Bow attacks return (down on the directional pad to initiate). Camera is now third-person, and arrows can be used to detonate oil cans from afar. Various types of arrows can also be collected. They also are effective at hunting animals from afar, who would otherwise deal huge damage to the player character if in close combat.
 * An update has also added tranquilizer arrows, so animals can be recruited as bodyguards for the player with various effects. Bigger and "colored" animals tend to have better stats than regular versions, but stats are randomized, even between the same sets of animals.
 * Traps can also be set to capture animals to either take into battle, or act as pets at the player's hideaways, but need to be baited in order to ensure an animal is captured. Capture bait and tranquilizer arrows can be purchased from the dilettante found at the tea houses in exchange for hunting points earned from defeating strong animals.
 * Weapons can be drawn or withdrawn at will in the field (L3). Combo-switching between weapons has been removed, and characters can only wield one weapon at a time. However, characters are still able to freely equip any weapon in the game through the pause menu.
 * Characters have unique Flow Attack finishers and a unique Trigger Attack, or "Unique Attacks", with their favorite weapon (starred weapon).
 * Weapon levels are simplified to three standard tiers: Lower, Middle, and Upper. They can be upgraded by assembling ingredients and visiting a city's blacksmith.
 * Gems can be equipped onto weapons to alter their effects. Aside from adding elemental effects and passive benefits to attacks, gems may add alternative stats and effects to a character's Trigger and React Attacks.
 * Stronger weapons can only be created at the blacksmith, and the player must search for the scrolls to craft them. Scrolls and materials for these stronger weapons all require completing specific conditions. Some materials are limited in that they can be found in large quantities in resource clusters scattered around the map while also having the chance to randomly spawn while traveling, especially the lumber required for all weapons, or be received as rewards for completing requests for residents of various cities, towns, and castles. Most weapon scrolls can be purchased from the coin collector found at the tea houses in exchange for the rare coins that can be found while defeating enemies on a certain day or through fishing in just the right spots.
 * Horses are now mostly much faster than before to compensate for the open-world design. Mounts can be purchased at city stables or earned by completing special events. Horses gain levels by running long distances or by knocking enemies over as they sprint; they have their own parameters available for customization. Red Hare, Hex Mark, and Shadow Runner can be unlocked by clearing Story Mode for certain characters, allowing the horses to be purchased from stables once available.
 * Some battles on particularly large fortifications have become sieges. Similar to Dynasty Warriors 6, this involves the allied army bringing in siege weapons to break down the gates of the fortification to send allied soldiers inside. Updates have improved these mechanics so now some of these sieges add in archer captains and engineer units.
 * Archer captains can be commanded to fire very powerful arrows on a zone the player selects, functioning similar to Bladestorm and the catapult from previous warriors games, while engineers build siege weapons and defensive fortifications. Both need to have a full circular gauge before activating their ability respectively and in some cases, the grappling hook is completely disabled with heavy enemy presence on the walls. Examples of this kind of battle include Sishui Gate and Baima.
 * Engineer Captains on the defending side will construct catapults and archer towers with Bow Captains in them to defend the castle gate they are guarding. The archer towers have to be destroyed along with the wooden abatis flanking them to allow the attacking force's rams and siege towers through.
 * Engineer Captains on the attacking side will construct rams, siege towers, and catapults to engage the castle defenses. Catapults will destroy the enemy defenses to allow the rams and siege towers through. Once a siege tower is deployed, friendly forces can climb it to engage the defenses on the castle walls and secure the corner towers to cut off reinforcements to the defenders. Rams have to be protected until they deliver enough damage to the locked gate to destroy the lock and clear the way into the castle proper.
 * Downloadable content includes scenarios, characters, costumes, and weapons, among other additions.
 * The game comes with a daily bonus that changes every 24 hours at 12 midnight UTC time, but it is usually the following cycle:
 * Sunday: Materials used for synthesis to add additional abilities on to accessories have a better chance of dropping from defeated enemies.
 * Monday: Gold earned from defeating enemies is multiplied by 5.
 * Tuesday: Experience earned from defeating enemies is multiplied by 5. (This also counts towards animal companions and horses while the bonus is active)
 * Wednesday: Materials used for crafting weapons, gems, and accessories have a better chance of dropping from defeated enemies. (This also includes salable items)
 * Thursday: Enemies drop the Book of Musou more frequently upon defeat.
 * Friday: Rare coins (Bubi, Daobi, Yibiqian, and Huanqian) are dropped more frequently from defeated enemies.
 * Saturday: Tranquilizer arrows are more effective when used to capture animals. (This works best when facing the Cursed Stone boss animals and wanting to capture them)

Story Mode
Dynasty Warriors 9 is mainly mission-based,with thirteen chronological chapters that follow historical events and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Dynasty Warriors 4 mechanic of secondary objectives affecting the difficulty of the final confrontation is in effect. Players also regain the freedom of ignoring secondary missions and charging straight towards the primary objective(s) for ending a battle. Clearing this mode is necessary to unlock characters and upgrade existing features of the game.

Upon selecting a character, players will play through the majority of the character's life and major battles (where applicable), which differs from the Kingdom-based story modes of Dynasty Warriors 7 and 8. Upon completing a story, that character's unique ending will be unlocked.

Free Mode
Allows players to play as any of their unlocked characters in any time zone or faction that they have cleared in Story Mode. Individual characters' stories that emphasize the Dynasty Warriors characterizations are included in this mode. Not all of them will end with a character's historical death.

Continue
Continue from latest save point.

Gallery
Movies, character/item models, sounds, wallpapers.

Encyclopedia
Glossary for figures, events, and battles.

Options
Difficulty setting and sound options.

Playable
Newcomers are in bold.

Unique NPCs
Playable through DLC.
 * Xiahouji
 * Dong Bai
 * Hua Xiong
 * Yuan Shu

Differences between ports

 * Steam users can receive the first print costumes for free if they have purchased the game within the first two months of its release date. Graphic settings can be 4K compatible. Chinese and Japanese language settings initially caused the game to crash until a later update.

Expansions/Spin-Offs

 * Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires
 * Dynasty Warriors 9 Mobile
 * Shin Sangoku Musou Apuri

Related Media
This game was exhibited at China Festival 2017, an annual Japanese event held for celebrating Chinese culture, October 21 to 22, 2017. A similar promotion occurred at a Three Kingdoms-themed festival at Kobe on November 5, 2017. A playable ten-minute trial was presented at PlayStation Festival 2017 in Osaka. Ten characters are available for playing at the Jump Festa 2018 trial; attendees can purchase an original vinyl bags that is booth exclusive. A press conference to celebrate the game's finished development shall be livestreamed on January 31, 2018 (JST).

It is one of the titles scheduled to be featured in the Dengeki PS Premium Event 2018 Winter event. Kenji Nojima (Lu Xun) shall be present for the Dynasty Warriors 9 stage event. Voice actor Kanako Takatsuki will play this game for the Dengeki PlayStation Live channel on February 8.

Merchandise based on this game will be available at Comiket 93. The four-disc complete original soundtrack set can be purchased starting February 14, 2018.

Limited edition PlayStation 4 consoles that commemorate this game's release are up for pre-orders. This model includes original peripherals and an original theme.

The second volume of Ryuubi Tokuko wa Shizuka ni Kurashitai, a Three Kingdoms-themed comic serialized by LaLa Magazine, includes Suzuki's commentary for the comic's Guan Yu and the Dynasty Warriors Guan Yu in promotion of this game.

Social game Buki yo Saraba hosted a collaboration event with an original story. The collaboration's duration was December 18, 2017~January 8, 2018.

Xperia is selling phone case covers featuring Wang Yi, Daqiao, Xingcai, Wang Yuanji, and Lu Lingqi.

Tenkaippin, Japanese ramen chain, have Dynasty Warriors posters with a QR code on them for a Zhao Yun donburi bowl giveaway; 88 people living in Japan have a chance to receive it until February 28, 2018. Maruchan is printing Dynasty Warriors 9 characters onto select Red Kitsune or Green Tanuki covers until February 22, 2018. Retweet the Dynasty Warriors character tweets for the campaign for a chance to receive a collaboration sticker featuring both products.

Three quizzes are being held over the Japanese Pony Canyon and Dynasty Warriors Twitter accounts. Answer questions correctly for a chance to win God of War, Zhao Yun collaboration merchandise. Deadline for the final quiz is February 20, 2018.

Consumers of the Japanese version of this game receive an invite to the Omega Force 20th Anniversary Live rock concert with live performances by MASA and Hideki Sakamoto. The concert takes place one day before the similarly themed voice actor stage event, Omega Force 20th Anniversary Seiyuu Musou. Seiyuu Musou attendees can purchase either the Serioso or Lieto character song CD sets for this game before their public sales date. The Gamecity Deluxe Editions include five interchangeable covers and five clear cards. A Gamecity Shopping merchandise campaign features various Dynasty Warriors 9 merchandise until March 28.

Butai Shin Sangoku Musou Kanto no Tatakai, the second Dynasty Warriors Japanese stage play that is based on the Battle of Guandu, will be held at Tokyo's Zenrosai Hall/Space Zero April 26 to May 1 and May 5~6, 2018 at Osaka's Sankei Hall Breeze.

Lamigo Monkeys, a baseball team from Taiwan, had collaboration merchandise available to fans who pre-ordered tickets for their August 23~27, 2017 games. It is celebrated as the first Warriors sports promotion in Taiwan.

Suzuki demonstrated this game's Hulao Gate at China and Hong Kong in late July 2017. It was one of the PlayStation titles presented at Toy Soul 2017; Suzuki is scheduled to go on stage again at the 2018 Taipei Game Show on January 28, 2018.

Baha Game Crazy streamed the game live on February 5, 2018.

A popularity poll for overseas fans was held on Facebook from August 2 to September 8, 2017. Participants voted for three of their favorite characters per faction before the decisive winners were selected in the final rounds.
 * Wei Poll - From August 2~6.
 * Shu Poll - From August 7~10.
 * Wu Poll - From August 11~14.
 * Other Poll - From August 15~18.
 * Jin Poll - From August 21~24.
 * Semi-Final Poll - From August 31~September 4.
 * Final Poll - From September 7~8.

Due to the popularity of Photo Mode, Twitter users in Japan can win numerous prizes by sharing their screenshots under one of four different themes: scenery, battlefield, hideaway, and free. Prizes include autographed color papers per faction, B2 posters, and badges.

Image Songs

 * King Of The Street
 * Performed by B'z

Trivia

 * This is the last Dynasty Warriors game to be released on Heisei era.
 * This is the first Dynasty Warriors game to not feature multiple stages.