Romance of the Three Kingdoms Xbox One Review
Our Verdict
An underwhelming strategic have on the Three Kingdoms, particularly compared to Full War.
PC Gamer Verdict
An underwhelming strategic take on the Three Kingdoms, especially compared to Full War.
Need to Know
What is information technology? A plough-based strategy game about acquisition ancient People's republic of china one hex at a time.
Await to pay: $60/£50
Developer: Koei Tecmo
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Reviewed On: Core i7 4770K, GeForce GTX 1070, 16 GB RAM, SSD
Multiplayer? None
Link: Official site
Koei Tecmo has been at the forefront of adapting the semi-historical classic of Chinese literature, Romance of the Iii Kingdoms, for decades. Only in the shadow of concluding year's superb Total War: Iii Kingdoms, the fiddly and underdeveloped Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14 gives united states of america a take on ane of People's republic of china's nearly well-known periods of historical tumult that really pales in comparing. In that location are a handful of interesting ideas kicking around, but sub-par English language localization and a largely tiresome battle system didn't hold my interest for long.
The action takes place on a hex-based map covering near of Communist china proper, with a starting scenario that can vary wildly based on which of the viii spaced-out get-go dates you choose. If yous want to experience as much of the conflict as possible, you can jump in at 184 CE, during the height of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but as the three legendary brothers, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei have taken their oath of loyalty in the peach garden. If you've heard that story before and want something significantly different, you can accept control in 227 when almost of the novel'southward initial power players are dead and the titular Three Kingdoms are locked in a tense struggle.
My favorite addition is a 'what if' scenario presenting a hypothetical succession struggle among the association of principal manipulator Cao Cao, which breaks up 1 of the most powerful factions. Some of the earlier starts felt a little underdeveloped, but overall I relished the adventure to pick up the thread of the story at key turning points such equally the formation of the coalition against big bad dude Dong Zhuo and the pivotal Battle of Guandu.
These scenarios never truly smoothen, though, because the battles just aren't that interesting.
The way each province is divided into small hexes that can be captured individually is kind of absurd. Y'all can, for case, cut off a foe's supply lines even within their own territory past sending a small, agile force to capture the hexes between their nearest city and their main army, leaving information technology starving and vulnerable. It's too possible to place minor structures like arrow towers and pit traps to create clever chokepoints and turn the tide of what would otherwise exist a dire struggle.
But the battles are largely boring. Y'all accept some command over what kinds of armies you field, picking from dozens of commanders, selecting formations and tactics, and how much of your limited pool of troops to commit. Just in one case armies run into on the field, everything is out of your hands and a chip hard to follow. Characters will use their special abilities automatically, which tin turn the tide—especially when you have 2 or more armies led by generals with a strong bond fighting together. Merely it wasn't very frequently that I felt like decisions I made ahead of time had a major impact on the fighting. Even one-on-one character duels basically involve watching a cutscene of two guys on horses whacking away at each other until i of them runs out of hitpoints.
Managing your kingdom isn't exactly thrilling, either. There are a number of national-level minster positions to fill that grant bonuses across the board, besides as local governors and recruiters who can boost how many troops you become each season and help passively capture hexes in areas where you already control the main settlement. I usually didn't feel like I was making interesting trade-offs in edifice my court, though. There is often a clear best candidate for each chore, and interesting decisions only arose when I didn't have enough officers to fill all of the offices and had to choose which locales to prioritize. The factions aren't even that well differentiated other than their spawn locations and starting pool of officers.
The menus are a bit of an annoyance, likewise—at to the lowest degree until you learn what everything means. The English language localization is fairly sloppy, which tin make sure essential options and information difficult to find. "Domestics" is non the section that sells blenders, but the submenu for appointing local governors. This trend carries across the unabridged UI, with many odd word choices leading to defoliation, where a clearer alternative was readily available. And the dialogue is similarly lightheaded. "And so getting stronger is a adept thing. Heh, I have to call up this," Liu Bei declares sagely in an early mission.
At least the storied heroes and villains are well-represented. The benefit of this franchise having been around so long is that dozens and dozens of characters, even pocket-size ones, have beautifully-animated 2D portraits, 3D models (which sadly simply show upwardly in duels), and hand-picked traits that fit their personalities and their roles in the novel. The art direction is stylish, readable, and exciting. The gang's all hither, and long-time Three Kingdoms fans won't be disappointed seeing erstwhile friends and enemies in all their bombastic, signature glory.
I wish I could say the same for the map, which is unmistakably dated. Mountains are boring, depression-poly lumps. Most textures await decidedly a generation or two past their prime. The lighting is very flat. The graphics options seem completely aware of this, giving yous the pick betwixt "Standard," "Depression," and "Lowest".
It's not a task to conquer Communist china in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14. It's just underwhelming. Especially when we've seen this era represented so much better by Artistic Assembly and so recently, I couldn't come up with a compelling reason why I'd play this instead. Merely dice-hard fans of the franchise who want to run across Koei's specific takes on these characters will exist likely to find much to get excited about hither. And given that this is the fourteenth entry in the series, I expected a lot more.
Romance Of The Three Kingdoms 14
An underwhelming strategic have on the Iii Kingdoms, especially compared to Full War.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-14-review/
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