[Honey’s Anime Interview] Producer Akihiro Suzuki from Omega Force

2:30 PM January 24, 2018

Welcome to another special interview with Honey’s Anime! We were recently invited to check out 2 games from Koei Tecmo, where we also had the pleasure to interview Akihiro Suzuki-san, Omega Force Producer of the Dynasty Warriors series. Conducted at the beautiful Mystic Hotel in downtown San Francisco, we wanted to know a few things about the upcoming Dynasty Warriors 9 title, and also information regarding the new open world and the future of DW as a whole, but first, let’s get to know a little bit about Mr. Suzuki-san.

Akihiro Suzuki-san joined Koei (now KOEI TECMO) in 1992. He started working on the Dynasty Warriors franchise from the very birth of the series. Under his watchful eye, Dynasty Warriors has grown to a well-established global gaming brand, enjoying a large and loyal fan-base around the world.

Dynasty Warriors 9 is a new open world game being tackled by Mr. Suzuki-san, who was very kind to sit down with us as he answered some of our questions in the short time he had. The game launches February 13, 2018, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam, and takes place during the Han Dynasty and the rise of the Three Kingdom era. DW9 also will allow players to access a world map in a grand scale where the environment can be your friend or enemy so be sure to be aware of your surroundings when traveling from area-to-area in this open world experience of Dynasty Warriors 9!

We hope you all enjoy this new Honey’s Anime Interview with Akihiro Suzuki-san! Please read on to find out what Dynasty Warriors 9’s Producer has to say!

Honey-Chan

Akihiro Suzuki

Interview with Akihiro Suzuki

What inspired you to make the transition to an open world theme for Dynasty Warriors 9?

Since this is the 9th game in the series, we wanted to make a big change so we created an open world to create a more free feeling for the players and that is the reason why we changed.

Given the popularity of open world games, will this be something you'll continue to pursue in regards to future Dynasty Warrior titles?

For now, we cannot really comment on that.

In regards to mechanics and functionality, are there any major features that are newly implemented in DW9?

Besides the open world which is one of the bigger mechanics and is the entirety of China. Another is when you start playing, you have a goal to achieve but because of how large the game is, we want to give players the choice of whether or not to join a battle or complete a goal. Or, to make the fight easier, you can also work on different missions which can have you at an advantage of acquiring reinforcements to continue the main mission in the game. These different side missions will help you to work towards completing any main mission which you'll need help with.

In terms of how large this open world will be, will the entire map of China be available for gamers on launch?

Well, pretty much ALL of China during the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and as you play and complete/win battles, the regions will change based on accomplishments.

How are the regions affected in-game from accomplishments?

Geographically, the map is taken from NASA’s data based on historical events and will change based on battles won or loss. So, if you win in a battle in one region, it changes the territory accordingly when viewing the map. It is a pretty cool feature we have and we hope fan enjoy it!

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild implemented a wonderful DLC incentive where more story elements and quests were added. Is this something you plan to do with Dynasty Warriors 9 and If so, what can we expect?

We are working on a DLC right now which doesn't regard the Season Pass and will come in 3 separate segments which will include Weapons, Story, and one other thing.

Do you see a Nintendo Switch version down the line?

Currently, there are no plans for a Switch version.

We noticed in the gameplay footage that you were able to interact with animals and sadly, one of them attacked the player. Is there going to be a way in which the player can own an animal and use them in battle?

Actually, there are no plans for such a thing.

A question that is on our mind, is if the DW series will continue on its path to great storytelling?

We are definitely planning on continuing the Dynasty Warriors series and since the game is based on historical data, characters do die off and in turn, we're hoping to cover the era after those characters die off to see where the story takes us.

How many hours on average can gamers look forward to when playing Dynasty Warriors 9

There are about 90 characters in the game which you will need to complete the storyline for each character and with just that, they will be about 2 hours, more or less, to complete for each character. And if you are looking to complete and view all of the character endings in the game, it will definitely take you 100+ to get it all done. So there is a lot to expect for this open world game and we hope everyone enjoys it!

Final Thoughts

That’s it, folks! It was pretty short when we had the interview as there were many other outlets at the event as well. The event was hosted by Koei Tecmo and they were very generous with us while there, and we want to thank them deeply for inviting us over!

Make sure to check out and pre-order Dynasty Warriors 9 for $59.99 at retail stores, and get ready for some historical adventures like never before in the new open world game from Mr. Suzuki-san and Omega Force, Dynasty Warriors 9!

Take care!

Editor in Chief

Author: Alfonso "Fonzy" Ortiz

I'm a Geek, Nerd, Writer, and lover of all video games, anime, science, technology and the internet. I previously worked for STFUandPlay.com, a contributing writer as the Japanese Corespondent at TheKoalition.com and founded a website called Transcend-Gaming.com! I currently live in Japan as Editor in Chief of Honey's Anime and its very talented writers! I'm down for anything! What do you want to do?