The world of Dynasty Warriors is constantly growing. Each installment builds on the series’ history, while also offering new takes on actual historical events. The next entry up is Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, and Siliconera spoke with Series Producer Akihiro Suzuki about its development and changes.
Jenni Lada: When preparing Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, what did you most want to build on and change from the eighth installment?
Akihiro Suzuki: It was the castle siege battle system which we have updated from previous Empires games.
In Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, children inheritance lets you determine their gender and weapon, but the affinities and stats don’t change. How did you determine what would and wouldn’t be able to be altered by the player?
Suzuki: We decided that the individual characteristics for the children, such as affinity and abilities, could not be changed in part because it is a collection and replayability feature. Also, in the previous game not being able to change the appearance or gender was unpopular, so for this game they can be altered.
Ranks determine possible actions in Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires. What led to this decision and how do you feel it improves the game compared to past installments?
Suzuki: In order to increase the player’s immersion into the game, we took the approach of being able to feel their growth in-game by increasing what they can do based on their position, similar to the real world. In this game, executing the same political command as another allied officer will make it more effective, so players can feel the atmosphere of working together with other officers and contributing to their kingdom.
Castle sieges were added due to the map sizes and desire for improved battle pacing. What kind of work went into implementing them into the game?
Suzuki: We’ve revamped the traditional battles where players push forward the frontlines while connecting provisions between bases and capture the enemy’s main camp, and aimed to create more realistic castle sieges. We faced a lot of challenges in constructing a game system since we needed to figure out how to
get players to make tactical decisions when they have the freedom to move around the game. By implementing strategies such as secret plans and siege weapon bases, it gradually began to take shape.
With regards to sieges, are there any gameplay elements or changes you wanted to implement, but couldn’t fit in to Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires?
Suzuki: There were many gameplay elements that came up during the planning stage that were rejected, but there weren’t any elements that we planned to incorporate that we weren’t able to implement.
One of the add-ons allows people to lead a unit filled with animals as warriors, rather than people. What led to this DLC’s creation?
Suzuki: In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, there are kingdoms that use beasts during battle, so we came up with the idea to incorporate these into the DLC for something fun and different.
What kind of support will Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires get after launch, considering the support the original Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires received? Will people see updates to its open world to add things like requests?
Suzuki: We don’t have any definite plans at the moment.
With Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires, new games automatically carry over things already earned like weapons. What led to this decision? How did you determine what carries over?
Suzuki: Since the Empires series is one that is played several times through using different officers and being able to collect in-game events, we decided to incorporate the carry over feature to further enjoy the repeated playthroughs. In terms of content, it includes gems, gem artifacts and secret plans and other
things that can be changed as needed, but excludes “titles,” which automatically change according to the player’s playstyle.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires will come to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on February 15, 2022. It is available in Japan. A demo is available.
Published: Feb 3, 2022 09:01 am