Romance Of The Three Kingdoms 10

Koei’s series of historical strategy games celebrates its 10th entry with the aptly named Romance of the Three Kingdoms X. This game, much like its predecessors, lets the player battle against some of China’s most legendary officers and generals, with the ultimate objective of unifying China under their flag. This complicated game is one that was designed with veteran players in mind, with some obscure mechanics that could prove daunting for novice players. That said, is this game an evolution of a formula that’s had nearly nine games worth of history?

Platonic relationship

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of China’s most popular stories. Equals part history and myth, this story relates the warring feudal lords and their retainers who fought for control over China at the very early stages of history (we’re talking 169 AD here.)

Koei has exploited this setting not only with games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms X: some other Koei games are set in this epic, like the popular Dynasty Warriors series. Unlike Dynasty Warriors, however, this title is a complex strategy game that demands lots of attention and has a steep learning curve. At the beginning of the game, players can choose a real-life officer or create their own. Similar to games like Crusader Kings II, players control their dynasty and their affairs in order to take unify the country under their banner.

Brains versus brawn

Not every officer has the same approach to conquest: some officers would rather negotiate, whereas others would prefer to rally their troops. Every officer is capable of basically the same actions, but some of them are a better fit for military approaches, and some others are better suited for players who wish to try a more diplomatic solution.

No matter which type of character you choose, the game plays pretty much the same for every approach. The open-ended nature of the game is also a great plus, with players being able to take a deep dive into the world of the Three Kingdoms before they begin working towards the ultimate objective of the game.

Plain presentation, repetitive tasks

If you’re looking for a nice-looking representation of China in the age of the Three Kingdoms, you won’t find it here. To say that graphics in Romance of the Three Kingdoms X are archaic would be an understatement. That could be excused if the game’s UI wasn’t also a clunky mess.

In a game like this, a clear interface is everything: tracking resources and navigating diplomacies is done in the most cumbersome way possible, severely hampering the enjoyment of any type of player.

Also worth mentioning is that most tasks in the game can feel repetitive. Pretty much every objective to increase your rank is a fetch quest of some sort, meaning that you’ll soon get bored of how little variety the game has to offer.

Pick your language

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga is massively popular in Japan and China, not so much in the West. Koei made the game available on both PC and PlayStation 2, but be aware that it only has an English translation on the PS2. Players with a grasp of Traditional Chinese or Japanese can still enjoy the game on PC.

Pros:

• A vast selection of officers to choose from
• The story is very well presented
• You can create your own officers

Cons:

• Severely outdated presentation
• Tedious missions
• Terrible audio mixing