I’ve often wondered whether Dynasty Warriors 9 still sold okay in spite of the vitriol against it in the reviews and the hardcore fanbase, and now I guess we have our answer.

Koei Tecmo not only continues to support the game with frequent updates, they’re now selling a second season pass, with a third one to follow.

The first season pass was a decent deal. It was $25 and it had new characters, costumes, challenge mode stages, and weapons.

The second season pass is…$45. And it doesn’t have any new characters. It has new costumes and new story scenarios, and some new music. And uh. That’s kind of it.

It seems like a barely acceptable amount of content, in a vacuum. But compared to the cheaper first pass and its new characters, that also had their own storylines and endings…this seems like a rather poor deal.

But I’m still going to buy it eventually, because I suck and I love Dynasty Warriors 9. I can’t get enough of it. I come back to it and I play little bits of it every now and then, just like I used to do with Diablo 3. And I will eventually see all 94 endings. Some year.

I want to support the games I like, and I’m happy that this weird game I like is getting new content even if that new content seems questionable. I'm probably going to wait for a discount on this new content before diving in. The first season pass is on sale right now on PS4, and I have to imagine the second will receive similar discounts once the third one comes out.

That’s right. There’s also a third pack of content coming and we have no idea what it will contain. But I suspect it’ll be really big and interesting, given the amount of time they’ve had to work on it.

What’s also big and interesting is that DW9 is now also available in a free-to-play version. You can get a demo that lets you play a few characters in a time-limited fashion on PS4 and Windows right now, and Xbox in a couple of weeks. The demo also allows you to buy full characters for a couple of bucks each and experience the whole game.

It’d be a great way to try out the thing if you already know you like one of these characters. I’d recommend one of the series core lineup, because the side characters don’t have very long stories.

Between its recent co-op update, the free version, and these new season passes, Koei seems really committed to DW9 long-term even if a lot of the hardcore players loathed it. That means it must have sold acceptable numbers.

I’m not sure what that means for the future of the franchise. I honestly hope that they continue to develop its concepts. The open world gives the game a free wheeling character that none of the other games have, and its character models, lighting, and environmental effects can go toe-to-toe with any other big budget game even if the environment itself tends to look a little…awkward thanks to all the pop-in.

I’m happy that DW9 didn’t tank the company. I’m happy that Warriors Orochi 4 exists for die-hard fans that didn’t like the new direction. I can’t wait to see where they go from here, and if it takes some iffy new season passes to pave the way, then so be it, I guess. I won’t pay full price, and the new one should have been $25 again. But it’s a far better thing to see than the game just dying on the vine.