Sure, a few PC-based grand strategy titles like Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis IV offer the kind of sophistication found in the Three Kingdoms series, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anything as intricate on console. Thirty-five years and fourteen iterations on, Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ only real historical/political rival is Koei Tecmo’s own Nobunaga’s Ambition. Only a handful of computer-based simulation dared to offer anything so complex. Three Kingdom’s turn-based strategy was like managing a dense spreadsheet of statistics, with players responsible for doing everything from recruiting troops to keeping enough rice to feed your soldiers. Even, Dragon Quest, widely considered a template for Japanese role-playing games, wouldn’t be released for another year. At the time, most console games centered around reflex-driven action. When Koei released the franchise’s inaugural entry in 1985, the NES game’s sophistication was unrivalled. Similarly, Koei’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, which simulated the re-unification of late Han dynasty China, often felt like a work from another time. Likely, a 120-chapter novel with nearly a thousand characters culled from the annals of history, legend, and myth would be pushing the boundaries of attention spans. Now, the term ‘epic’ is routinely used to describe a six-minute song. Most contemporary works are born into a mass mediated ecosystem where immeasurable amounts of video, audio, and print all compete for our attention.
Luo Guanzhong’s fourteenth-century novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, probably isn’t suited for most modern readers. Now there’s even more way to get yourself involved in three-way standoff, stalemates, and other tactical conundrums. While maintaining the game’s relative accessibility, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV’s Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack offers an inventory of new scenarios, strategic opens, and even a streamlined game mode. Price: $59.99 via Steam or the PlayStation Store
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Platform: PC (reviewed), Playstation 4, Switch Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV (with Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack)