Characters are unlocked by progressing through the story, and playing each faction offers a different story experience and perspective.
The longer a character lives in The Three Kingdoms story, the longer they are playable in the game. While players can rush towards the final objective, Suzuki says players will face a difficult battle as the main enemy warlord will be heavily protected. Alongside the main objectives, Dynasty Warriors 9 has various interconnected missions that make the final objective much easier. Speaking to Famitsu (translated by Kite Stenbuck) at ChinaJoy 2017, Producer Suzuki Akihiro said each era has a predetermined final objective, completion of which transitions the story to the next era. Koei Tecmo recently detailed how it will tackle Dynasty Warriors 9’s story, which spans 10 eras of The Three Kingdoms and features the entire roster of Dynasty Warriors 8 alongside a few new characters.
