Dynasty Warriors 9 is the series’ first open-world title, and producer Akihiro Suzuki recently talked about making changes while keeping the Dynasty Warriors feel intact in an interview with 4Gamer.

4Gamer: Dynasty Warriors 9 is the series’ first open-world game, please tell us about the process of how it happened.

Akihiro Suzuki, Producer: The Dynasty Warriors series is based on the Records of the Three Kingdoms, and the numbered series has gone on with seven titles [Check here on why we’re ahead a volume in the series], so fans who’ve played several titles start knowing what to expect for the next development. Of course I believe there are those who enjoy the way we’ve been making them up until now, but we want to offer a new experience to the fans, and decided to take on a new challenge in order to break the routine.

What was the reason for changing the current stage system into an open-world one?

Suzuki: By making it an open-world title, we can further increase the degree of freedom in the game. With one battlefield it makes it possible for a variety of strategies other than charging in from the front, such as surprise attacks, diversions, infiltrating, and such.

When did the idea come about to make it an open-world game?

Suzuki: When development on the previous game Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends ended, it was one of the first plans when we began brainstorming for the next title.

With soaring mountains, giant canals, and such it feels like its large scale is becoming closer to that of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game series.

Suzuki: Dynasty Warriors 9’s stage has all of China on a single map. We’re using satellite data as its base, and I believe its topography is close to the real thing; however, simply using the actual data itself would make it exceedingly large, so we’ve arranged it to give it a scale that would fit the game.

On one hand you’re adding open-world elements to give a change to the Dynasty Warriors series, but I believe there are some parts you’re being careful to not change from conventional Musou games. What are the parts that you’re “trying to change” and what are the parts you’re “trying not to change”?

Suzuki: The pars we’re “trying not to change” are the character and world settings. Especially for the character settings’ warlord hearsay and such, we’re going with the original series’ characteristics. The relationship between characters is a strongly influential part of it all, so we’re being careful not to mess with that. As for “parts we’re trying to change,” there isn’t anything n particular. Rather than thinking “what should we change?” it is more about how can we offer players a new way to play.

Atsushi Miyauchi, Director: What we’re making isn’t an “open-world game based on Records of the Three Kingdoms,” but a “Dynasty Warriors with open-world elements,” so the exhilarating one-vs.-one thousand feeling won’t be changing. By making it an open-world game we can add all kinds of elements, but in the end we’ll be making careful adjustments to keep it a proper Dynasty Warriors.

Dynasty Warriors 9 is in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in the West. The game will release on PS4 in Japan.