Platform: PS4 (reviewed)
Previously Released: PC
Developer: Koei Tecmo Games Co. Ltd.
MSRP: $59.99
Introduction:
Trying to pick up Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII is no small task for someone who has never played a single game in the franchise before. That’s in part because RotTK XIII is one of the deepest games you’ll find on the PS4, as well as the fact that the game doesn’t do a great job of guiding new players into its many facets.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII is a mouthful, both in its name as well as its many different buttons, mechanics, people, and styles of play. It’s because of this that I had a hard time even wanting to learn the game because I knew that it required a fairly heavy investment to learn. The game does have a “Tutorial Mode” which they refer to as “Hero Mode”, but it has a hard time presenting new players with enough context to show them the effect of what they are doing has on the game world.
The game’s large scale battles are easily the most rewarding aspect of the game, and not simply because of the fact that action is actually happening. The build up to these conflicts adds layers of meaning that other genres simply can’t provide without explicitly telling you “hey, this fight is important.” Romance of the Three Kingdoms never has to bore you down with a tired and cliched dialog telling you that a battle could turn the tide of an entire world because you already know that it is based on how much you’ve invested.
Which one is the button?
This is the big hurdle. Like no joke. Romance of the Three Kingdoms has so much going on at once that it is almost impossible not to feel lost and overwhelmed the first few times you boot it up. Converting a Strategy game to fit a simplistic control scheme is a tough task, and for the most part, Koei Tecmo has succeeded. But rest assured, there will be plenty of moments where you forget how to pause one of the game’s many large scale battles, remember the name of the officers that you have been making friends with, or which of your cities prospered in culture and which one was perfectly trained in archery.
As I mentioned before, the game does have a tutorial mode, but the strides you make in learning the game feel so minimal that you almost need to start a game on your own and just mess around with it. Which is exactly what I did. I ended beginning my own campaign as an immortal 15-year-old ruler (I turned off the feature that kills you from old age), and despite recommendations that I become an adviser to an established leader, I immediately staked my claim in a city far away from where I knew the war would be going on.
The world progresses in a compelling way without the player having anything to do with it.
While many games emphasize player involvement, Romance of the Three Kingdoms feels like it goes along on its own until you figure out what the hell you’re doing. And in a way, I really liked that because the game made me feel like I was witnessing current events within its own confines. There was a much bigger conflict going on than where I was, and part of me just wanted to see the rival factions kill each other as I built myself up.
This is where the game sucks you in.
You see, despite the fact that I had little to no experience with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise, the wheels of plotting my dominion over China by watching my rivals slowly destroy each other over the course of in-game years became greasier and greasier. As my slowly growing civilization (which laid its foundations through the basics of successful commerce, culture, farming and military training) quietly invaded smaller, less prosperous cities that were similar to my own, the hours just kept on ticking by. And before I knew it, it was the middle of the night, and I still had debts to collect and rival officers to coerce along with plenty of other tasks in mind to evolve the influence of my mini-empire.
Verdict:
The best way I can succinctly describe Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII is that in many ways, it does its best to make sure that its audience stays niche, for better and worse. It is a truly complex Simulation and Strategy game that will turn off only but the most committed newcomers due to its epic learning curve. Many times throughout the review process, I lamented the idea of even firing up the game due to how much I would have to remember to get myself back "into the groove" so to speak. The thing is, once I found that groove, it was easy to lose track of the many hours that had gone by.
To put it simply, if you like strategy games and are dying for one to play on the PlayStation 4, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII will more than scratch that itch. If it's the Strategy genre that you're intrigued by, there are far more newbie friendly options, albeit, on other platforms, that will teach you the ropes much more effectively. But if the PS4 is your only option, and you have the patience, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII will reward your investment with one of the deepest and engaging strategy games on console.