Combat Changes and State Combo System
3 Major Changes in Dynasty Warriors 9
Combat has been largely reworked in Dynasty Warriors 9 with the state combo system, ensuring for a smoother flow of combat through three type of attack types: trigger, flow, and reactive moves. Trigger attacks allow you to knock down, stun, or send enemies flying mid-air. Flow attacks are your traditional normal attack strings, but your move sets will now change accordingly based on the enemy’s state. Lastly, reactive attacks are interaction-based maneuvers such as dash attacks, counter attacks, smash, guard break, stealth knockdowns, and much more.
The state combo system focuses on making it feel more seamless to chain combos, allowing you to start your attack string with flow strikes, then using a trigger moves to launch enemies in the air before using a finishing strike to send enemies flying off in the distance. This is a big step up from previous games in the series where combos don’t feel natural due to the frequent gap in performing your attacks.
In previous games, the main focus on combat simply involved inputting various button combinations to unleash deadly attacks. With this, you can dominate matches by simply knowing two or three great attack combinations. This time around, positioning and being aware of your opponent’s state is crucial to maximizing your combos. While the combat system remains repetitive, Dynasty Warriors 9 requires more of your attention for maximizing combos. Similar to the earlier entries in the series, Dynasty Warriors 9 also allows you to perform Musou attacks mid-air, thus giving you more options in creating your combo patterns.
Sadly, the state combo system also comes at a cost. Charge attacks have been removed from Dynasty Warriors 9, which is something that series fans will miss. Nonetheless, change is arguably needed in a series that is notoriously formulaic.
Dynasty Warriors 9 is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
