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[Creaking]

It looks like both Xu Sheng and Zhang Bao have a uh..."dual" chain mace, where there's a mace on both ends of the chain, and they swing the weapon by holding the middle of the chain. I didn't notice that detail with Dong Zhuo, who just has a regular chain mace that has a hilt.

That's new.

Yeah, Dong Zhuo is using the old flail weapon that was in 7 and 8. Sheng and Bao are using a new weapon called a meteor hammer.

 

[Creaking]

Website updated. Big image dump time:

Xingcai

Zhang Bao

Zhen Ji

Cao Pi

Xu Sheng

Sima Zhao

Wang Yuanji

New screenshots:

There's also a new section of the website that attempts to explain the new combat system a bit more.

http://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/dw9/system_action.html

I'm still pretty iffy on it. Sounds a bit too contextual and automated to me, but I don't think I'll fully understand it until I can get my hands on it, or until someone else can go in depth with it in comparison to previous games in the series.

There's also a part that shows some of the environment interactions the player can do.

Scale walls with a grappling hook

Swim across rivers (fun!?!)

Blow up oil barrels with fire arrows

Perform wall jumps (!)

Go fishing (!!)

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Interesting.

 

[TriForce Hero]

Can't Wait to hear about Fire Attacks from Wu >.<

 

[4Tran]

It's good to see Liu Bei with facial hair again; he was supposed to be the oldest of the three brothers. It's also good to see that Omega Force doesn't want to have their female characters look like little girls any more. This is most obvious with the Qiao sisters, but you can see it in Wang Yuanji's design as well.

I've never liked playing this series with the Japanese voices on. I suspect the only reason to do so for this release is going to be whenever they say Ogenki's name (as per usual).

 

[Creaking]

It's good to see Liu Bei with facial hair again; he was supposed to be the oldest of the three brothers. It's also good to see that Omega Force doesn't want to have their female characters look like little girls any more. This is most obvious with the Qiao sisters, but you can see it in Wang Yuanji's design as well.

I've never liked playing this series with the Japanese voices on. I suspect the only reason to do so for this release is going to be whenever they say Ogenki's name (as per usual).

Someone on the Koeiwarriors board was crying foul of Omega Force bowing to "SJWs" because Wang Yuanji no longer has a full boob window or visible cleavage.

All I can say is that I'm thankful for the character design direction of Dynasty Warriors 9.

 

[BLOODED_hands]

Contextual based moves and environmental based moves...... Not sure how I feel about that. It sounds decent upon reading it but I'm going to need to see how in-depth it is before I can fully judge it.

At least R1+O will be unique to each officer (per the website).

 

[shaowebb]

Okay the wall jumps have potential as do the fire arrow to exploding barrel thing. That swimming thing and climbing thing is just gonna be looooooong winded slow movement that gives the action a disjointed feel. The overworld worries me on this front as well. I aint here to explore shit because I aint collecting, and gathering. Its a musou title. Its got action and its now becoming disjointed for long walks, swims and climbs. I hope they figure this out and either add value to taking these breaks or make them much faster than they've appeared so far. Otherwise this is gonna be one start n stop herky jerky fucking pacing.

 

[TheSpoiler]

Okay the new system sounds dope. Originally you'd have your standardized attacks and generally speaking a handful of your moves would cover ALL bases. Like how grabs with aoe had too much utility due to their damage on singular foes and everyone around them on impact. So in short you'd just rush to do the best ones and not use all your tools.

If I get this right, it's a little like renbu but not shit. Your attacks can be switched up, with square becoming your combo move, triangle is now your break move, and I think you have a state altering move. So in theory you'd look at what your enemy is doing and react. Oh homeboy is guarding. Hit triangle to break, square to combo them. If square knocks them into the air and then follow up with triangle for a knock down. You can either knock them back up with the modifier move OR keep doing a combo if their hitbox is active. It sounds reliant on THEM but since they have modifiers as buttons you can control their state. I'm assuming each character has different attacks like grabs and shit so some launchers will go higher than others.

This has the potential to be neat because you could theoretically counter a sword strike and go into some sick ass combos assuming your timing is on the money.

In short this has the potential to have more variation game play wise due to how useless many moves were before and how the enemies react.

Tldr it's a pretty damn cool system if they do it right.

 

[Creaking]

I just hope it doesn't devolve into mindless mashing.

 

[Evilisk]

I didn't notice it before but Zhenji's outfit is pretty great

Shame about the flute though

Cao Pi's collar really reminds me of his DW6 design

 

[TreIII]

I'm still not overly fond of the weapon cloning, nor the more unique weapons being gone.

But at least the battle system sounds interesting. Hope it turns out as well as it sounds on paper.

 

[TheSpoiler]

I just hope it doesn't devolve into mindless mashing.

I think it would mean less mashing, since getting things like counter hits would theoretically take timing. Or getting optimal shit means you need to be looking at the 'state' of your attackers. If I want crowd control I won't just mash until I get the C4 attack. I'll have to position myself to get an attack that sweeps the area.

Again, this is all theory, but sounds better than when first introduced.

The other interactables kinda push this game more towards a beat'em up, which I like.

 

[Shanaynay]

More characters detailed, this time it's Wang Yi, Yu Jin, Zhang Liao, Huang Gai, Deng Ai, Guo Huai and Xiahou ba.
read here

Images:
Wang Yi

Yu Jin

Zhang Liao

Huang Gai

Deng Ai

Guo Huai

Xiahou Ba

Looks like more characters fell in the cloning machine. RIP Wang Yi's Trishula she now share weapon with Sun Shang Xiang and funny enough, Guo Huai share weapon with Jia Chong and they're in the same godamn army. |:

 

[cwistofu]

Wang Yi why

 

[Malrend]

Damn.
I'm going to miss Deng Ai's DW8 weapon, never figured out what it was, but it was still awesome.

 

[CommandThrower]

Oh. My. God. These weapon choices.

YOU ARE TEARING ME APART, TECMO/KOEI!

 

[BLOODED_hands]

Oof..... That's alot to take in...... Xiahou Ba at least gets his beast of a weapon back, but I really enjoyed his other weapon: the jet/cannon blade. Wang Yi's Trishulas were badass though. Not sure why they changed it. Such an odd decision. Yu Jin at least gets to keep a pole arm. Zhang Liao...... The Dual Halberds/Axes are cool, yes, but your cloned weapon of Guan Yu's was badass! Deng Ai..... DENG AI?!?!?!!! ;_; Why, why switch him to a pole axe? Then we get to Huang Gai...... Instead of his weapon pre-DW 6 we get a Xu Zhu clone...... Not that interested in Guo Huai, but his Arm Cannon was legit though.

I think it's safe to assume and say that cloned move sets will be in (for the hopeful folks out there like me who wanted to hold on to something that there won't be cloned move sets ;_ the full game. The explanation earlier already confirmed that each officer will have one unique move (not moveset), and it can be construed to mean cloned move sets. Time for another new/current generation shift and divisiveness among the Warriors fanbase.

 

[Mephala]

Wang Yi's Trishula's are gone? Xing Cai is sword and board? Boo this man, boo this!

Spoiler

I still need this in my veins

 

[Creaking]

Dang, that's our first triple clone with Guo Huai, Jia Chong, and Man Chong.

 

[TreIII]

Y'know, if they were going to take away Huang Gai's Boat/One-Armed Blade, they could have at LEAST give him back the bombs he hasn't had since DW5.

Ugh...

 

[Shanaynay]

Oof..... That's alot to take in...... Xiahou Ba at least gets his beast of a weapon back, but I really enjoyed his other weapon: the jet/cannon blade. Wang Yi's Trishulas were badass though. Not sure why they changed it. Such an odd decision. Yu Jin at least gets to keep a pole arm. Zhang Liao...... The Dual Halberds/Axes are cool, yes, but your cloned weapon of Guan Yu's was badass! Deng Ai..... DENG AI?!?!?!!! ;_; Why, why switch him to a pole axe? Then we get to Huang Gai...... Instead of his weapon pre-DW 6 we get a Xu Zhu clone...... Not that interested in Guo Huai, but his Arm Cannon was legit though.

I think it's safe to assume and say that cloned move sets will be in (for the hopeful folks out there like me who wanted to hold on to something that there won't be cloned move sets ;_ the full game. The explanation earlier already confirmed that each officer will have one unique move (not moveset), and it can be construed to mean cloned move sets. Time for another new/current generation shift and divisiveness among the Warriors fanbase.

Safe to assume Deng Ai will probably be a clone of Xu Huang, assuming he keeps his huge axe too.

 

[Legend of Aims]

Haven't played since DW5, does Yue Ying still live?

 

[dramatis]

Haven't played since DW5, does Yue Ying still live?

She does, though it's a question mark what her weapon will be for this iteration. Yue Ying did experience a weapon change for DW6, which changed back to her original weapon afterwards, but DW9 is shaking some stuff up.

 

[Creaking]

What a bummer update. The designs look mostly good, but only one non clone (Yu Jin), and I'd bet my bottom dollar that he ends up sharing with Jiang Wei. I'm especially disappointed with Huang Gai. I was hoping that they'd harken back to his old look and/or weapon, but here he is, looking mostly the same as he has since 7, reverting to his worst clone moment.

Anyway, main page is updated, and here are their busts and twitter icons:

She does, though it's a question mark what her weapon will be for this iteration. Yue Ying did experience a weapon change for DW6, which changed back to her original weapon afterwards, but DW9 is shaking some stuff up.

Yue Ying has probably gone through more weapon changes than any other character in the series.

4-5: Dagger Axe
6: Bow
6 Special/Empires: Blade bow
7: Staff
7XL-8XL Dagger Axe
8 Empires: Blade bow

 

[BreezyLimbo]

It seems like they are going the DW6 route with cloned weapons for this one, and then maybe for 10 they'll bring back the unique weapons.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

I'm OK so far with the likelihood of shared move-sets because I think the weapons look cool and the character art so far is superb So, fewer new animations but more new and better art is an OK trade-off for me.

That said, none of my faves have been altered too much so I may be singing a different tune if Dong Zhuo was using a paintbrush or something lol.

 

[Evilisk]

Zhang Liao looks great

Wang Yi looks okay. Not as cool as her 7 outfit but it's a step up from her lame design from in 8. I kinda expected the trishulas to go but not for what seems to be Shangxiang's hoops. It doesn't suit her personality at all imo.

 

[TheSpoiler]

Tbf I'd wait and see how the novelist pan out. It could mean that the movesets are similar but I doubt it'll be 1:1 based on the weapons.

The unique attack meant the attack is special and not universal (zhao yun doing that jumping attack, etc) but other moves will fit within the scope of the the flow stuff

 

[cwistofu]

Zhang Liao looks great

Wang Yi looks okay. Not as cool as her 7 outfit but it's a step up from her lame design from in 8. I kinda expected the trishulas to go but not for what seems to be Shangxiang's hoops. It doesn't suit her personality at all imo.

They should just make Wang Yi's fantasy outfit her base design and build from there, tbf.

 

[Creaking]

I'm really glad they got rid of the little point in Zhang Liao's helmet that covered his eyebrows in DW8.

Made him look goofy.

And once again very impressed with the rendering improvements, especially when character CGs between DW7 and 8 were pretty much identical in that regard.

 

[Aizo]

Wang Yi is my favorite character. Kinda a major hype killer to see the weapon change. As long as she's still fun to use, I'll be happy. I don't get it, though.

 

[Creaking]

Wang Yi is my favorite character. Kinda a major hype killer to see the weapon change. As long as she's still fun to use, I'll be happy. I don't get it, though.

Big change to the combat system. Easier to adapt a fewer number of weapons, so... many get cut. I'd expect to see some return in a potential DW9 XL or DW 10, or even DW9 DLC.

I wonder if this game will have the greatest number of clones, if only by sheer character count.

 

[Malrend]

While I can understand the lack of a unique weapon for each character due to the overhaul in gameplay, I do sincerely hope that we'll see a larger amount of different weapons than we've seen so far.

We're up to what.. 25 unique weapons? Depending on how the various spears/polearms differ from one another.

 

[BLOODED_hands]

While I can understand the lack of a unique weapon for each character due to the overhaul in gameplay, I do sincerely hope that we'll see a larger amount of different weapons than we've seen so far.

We're up to what.. 25 unique weapons? Depending on how the various spears/polearms differ from one another.

I'm thinking the first 2 weapons for each character will have the cloned aesthetics like the older DWs. Then the 3-4-5 weapons will be different for each character. Cloned weapons, different looks.

One of the last ones that will probably make everybody scream...... Will be Zhou Tai. If he doesn't have his katana, then we are in the darkest timeline.

 

[Malrend]

I'm already decently salty about Ling Tong having a nunchaku rather than a sanjiegun

Zhou Tai without a katana would be borderline heresy.

 

[CommandThrower]

I'm already decently salty about Ling Tong having a nunchaku rather than a sanjiegun

Zhou Tai without a katana would be borderline heresy.

Prepare for heresy, then. I'm banking on him having SSX's chakram at this point.

 

[BLOODED_hands]

Prepare for heresy, then. I'm banking on him having SSX's chakram at this point.

It's going to be a pole arm or just a regular sword. Anything can happen now. ANYTHING!

 

[ShogunDarius]

game has got a early 2018 worldwide release date

 

[Creaking]

game has got a early 2018 worldwide release date

Here's hoping they don't push that window as far as it goes.

Got a trailer too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et8peSkxY8A

Ridiculous editing, but there's some decent footage in there. Doesn't really help showcase the combat system beyond decimating crowds with big AoE attacks, but there's some cutscene footage and a bit of the pseudo parkour. Red Hare doesn't look ridiculous anymore either, so that's a plus in my book.

 

[bagandscalpel]

Got a trailer too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et8peSkxY8A

Ridiculous editing, but there's some decent footage in there.

Oof, those cuts were awful, and I'm not talking about the attacks.

Lu Bu's musou looks so underwhelming without the red and black waves to accompany it.

 

[Creaking]

Oof, those cuts were awful, and I'm not talking about the attacks.

Lu Bu's musou looks so underwhelming without the red and black waves to accompany it.

Looks like they made it more omnidirectional in this one. A wide shockwave rather than his one big forward-facing burp.

 

[ViciousDS]

Huang Gai......no return of the god tier rod



Also motherfucking Zhou Tai better have that damn katana still he legit has been my favorite character since he was put into the game. His move set with some reach modifiers was the most OP shit I've ever seen and I loved it

 

[massoluk]

My Want Yi is not wielding trisula, this is an outrage.

 

[Evilisk]

I just remembered, here's concept art of some of the DW9 designs from the official twitter accounts (I only remembered when I went to check if the poll results had already been released).

Lu Bu

Zhou Cang

Man Chong

Da Qiao

Cheng Pu

Yuan Shao

Other Designs
Xiahou Dun
Cao Cao
Dian Wei
Zhao Yun
Guan Yu
Lu Xun
Gan Ning
Sun Shangxiang (slightly NSFW)

 

[BLOODED_hands]

As usual, the weapon modifiers will make the combat better. Not too surprised we didn't get to see the weapon modifiers in the latest trailer.

Also (can't believe I didn't just do this earlier....) Here is one video from ChinaJoy 2017: 5 minutes of Gameplay (480p) with Guan Yu. Better link with multiple characters and a bit more in-depth gameplay -> 8 minutes of gameplay. It's a month old so more progress has probably been made.

Guan Yu always look slow without proper upgrades, lol. Fan of his tornado attack though. Not a fan of the weapon just appearing out of thin air. The ladder animation is..... Not great. Didn't know there was going to be a sneak function and I lost it at Cao Cao sneaking, lol. He still has his ice arrows though. Cheng Pu looks fast and deadly. Xiahou Dun looks cool. His shoulder bash is legit.

Notice how many arrows we can switch to, the context-based attacks menu, and another instance of the environmental-based attacks performed by Xiahou Dun. Also notice that we have multiple items to choose from and use (different tiers like the past entries but we can now collect them and use them like Blood Vials/Estus).

The Fantasy/Martial Arts/Kung Fu mysticism flashiness attacks looks like it's still there and that makes me happy. So long as they never get rid of that for all 3 Warriors series, I'm good.

 

[Creaking]

Late night Character updates, fresh from the website

Guo Jia, from billiards equipment to bo staff.

Zhou Tai
Sorry folks who were hoping he was keeping his old weapon. Looks like he's been given some weird Japanese-looking sheathed blade.

Spoiler

lol

Guan Yinping fitted with Pang De's (formerly Xiahou Dun's) big mace.

Sima Yi back to the ol' feather fan.

That's all for now. I'll update the front page posthaste.

53 of 88(+?) characters revealed

 

[Reknoc]

I knew it was coming, but the Guo Jia change still hurts me a lot.

 

[BLOODED_hands]

Yay at Zhou Tai! Guo Jia, I wasn't very fond of the Billiards move set, but it was cool to use from time to time. Guan Yinping, no opinion. Sima Yi, no opinion. They all look good though. I'm liking how Sima Yi looks and Zhou Tai gets to remain badass.

Who had the pole arm with a ball at each end? That move set was crazy OP with the right upgrades.

 

[Reknoc]

Yay at Zhou Tai! Guo Jia, I wasn't very fond of the Billiards move set, but it was cool to use from time to time. Guan Yinping, no opinion. Sima Yi, no opinion. They all look good though. I'm liking how Sima Yi looks and Zhou Tai gets to remain badass.

Who had the pole arm with a ball at each end? That move set was crazy OP with the right upgrades.

Guan Yinping lol