Ah... A sheep in the DW herd that is even blacker than 6. I thought I would be content with just testing out the free version but, since I had a little extra money and time to spare, I bought the complete edition on the winter sale. Was it worth it?

Well, it was still a tough curve in getting used to the different open-world design and the extra features which IMO are superfluous, like the crafting aspects involving gathering and hunting. Being open-world and all, it's rather an interesting feature to see the flow of faction armies through a world map and track where your next goal lies. Only did I learn recently that each chapter have a few main missions with a set of optional sub-missions to improve the odds for the decisive battles. I find the fighting rather flat with continuing to do a series of quick attacks (on foot and on horse) and sometimes do finishing moves + musou attacks, but the formula stays like that by my book, unlike the other DW games.

The story is well familiar and shouldn't have trouble introducing new players to the plot, but most conversational scenes are dull and formulaic, save for some cutscenes that are more frequent in the later chapters.

I feel that Dynasty Warriors 9 tried to address the repetitiveness of the earlier entries of the franchise by trying to bring something new and bold with the open-world features. I actually appreciate how the land of China was rendered by the climate differences location-wise, from farms and forests to snowy mountains and open fields of the west. As much as city locations distinguish slightly and have people wandering about, the open world overall is lacking the richn life to fulfill the immersion value.

So, all in all, I could hardly wait to finish short stories of each factions and call it quits. DW9 is the biggest contender for acquired taste and should at most be tried out in free version before considering about getting it on a bargain sale. If I am to be an optimistic fan, that is hoping that DW10 (apart from Origins) would be a thoroughly polished entry for a proper headline comeback.