Hey guys, I am back once more to give you the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly of a game. This game is special and goes out to a specific core audience. I am talking about my fellow strategy game fans out there. This game has been missing for some time, but it’s back and well, I have missed it. Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIII hit store shelves and digital stores recently and I am here to give my impressions on it. It’s from Koei Tecmo and as always, they don’t really disappoint. Not me anyway. So let’s get into it.
Romance of The Three Kingdoms is really a thinking man’s game. Every choice you make can help or hurt your cause, and either help you through or hinder you in whatever your quest may be at that time. Certain steps may get you done in half the time; others well, you may be playing for quite awhile. The story of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the same as it’s always been, so not much new there. It’s the same stories as the Dynasty Warriors games. It’s just you play from a different perspective. While Dynasty Warriors puts you in the field on the front lines of battle where you aimlessly button mash your way to victory, Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIII puts you in complete control. You choose who to send where, what they should do, and who they should meet. Things of that nature.
When it’s time to battle, there are three types of interactive battles if you can call one of them that. One is the normal battle. You’re on a battlefield with your army and you choose where to move who and when. Think a bit like chess, without all the restraints of certain pieces only being able to move certain ways. No my friends, you have complete control over your army. Send them to take a town, or to confront an enemy head on. What you choose to do affects your and your enemies morale levels, which in turn can lead to your victory, or your defeat. You have to plan well and think hard before you move.
The second type of battle is, well… a battle of words. There is something that has been part of political arrangements for a long time. Yup, you have to debate with other leaders and or people under a position in power. This is truly where guessing your opponents move will come to be your key to victory. There are several choices. Each choice has an attack, a counter to that attack, and a scale of damage. Think rock, paper, scissors meets Pokemon. If you have more health at the end you win, as well as if you completely drain your opponents health you win, and it works the same for the opponent. It was hard learning this at first, but after a few debates none could compete with my intellect. The third type is what’s called a duel. It works in similar fashion to the debate. You have certain choices to pick as does your opponent. If you choose an attack and then choose one to counter it, you won’t do much damage, if any at all. So pick your moves wisely or you’ll lose, and that won’t bode well with whom you serve, if you’re not playing a Lord yourself.
There are two game modes to the game as well as a gallery, and a few other things including creating a custom officer to be used in one of the modes. You have Hero mode which follows the core story of the game, as well as acts as a bit of a tutorial; teaching you the ropes as you play. Then you have Main Mode, which is the same story but you can pick and choose who to play as; plus, you can add in your own custom characters. Try and change the course of history if you dare! Regardless of the fact, only two game modes exist within the game, and it has turned out to be everything I hoped for.
It is very much like I remember the SNES games to be, which is sadly the last time I got to play a Romance of The Three Kingdoms game. This game is, as I said, a strategy game at it’s core. So it won’t appeal to everyone. There are so many details to how everything works in this game. I honestly couldn’t include it all in this review or it would turn into a novel. Instead, I have decided to include a gallery of photos which you can find at the bottom of this review, detailing some of how the gameplay mechanics.
Now on to the part I dislike most about my reviews, the bad of a game. Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII is a rather small game. The hero mode can be completed in roughly 6-8 hours. If you are looking for a game with amazing graphics, you’ve come to the wrong place. The game is, for the most part, played in a sort of top-down perspective. When you do see the characters up close such as in a duel or debate, they look very last gen. Which, if you are a fan of these games, you’re not playing for the graphics anyways. I also noticed a couple of times small frame drops during duels. A minor gripe there for me, as I care about steady frames more than I do resolution.
There is also no multiplayer that I could find. You’d think with a game that has such depth to gameplay, that they would try something new and add an online vs mode of some sorts. But nope, nothing there. With the content provided I can’t really agree with the price point either. In my opinion the game is worth $45 at most, so if I were you I would probably wait until you can find it on sale somewhere. Unless you are a fan like me, then by all means go pick it up. This game is definitely worth playing. It all comes down to how much you feel comfortable paying to play it I suppose. All in all, the game was fun. I enjoyed both modes for as much as they had to offer. In my opinion Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII gets a 7/10. That’s all people, nothing else to see here. But why not check out some of the other articles while you are here at Hackinformer. Where we keep you up to date on all the things tech and more.
Until Next Time,
Stay Safe and Happy Gaming!