Romance of the Three Kingdoms Nes Review Mobygames

Content Warning: Descriptions of violence, inequitable treatment of women

Story

Not all characters are available in all scenarios. Births and deaths occur.

Step into 2nd century China, nigh the end of the Han Dynasty. The Yellow Turban Rebellion left the Han court in slaughter-house, a shadow of its former cocky. The 10 Eunuchs, a corrupt cabal of ministers had funneled all of the political influence of the emperor into themselves, effectively seizing power. Eventually, the Ten Eunuchs were eliminated. However, amid the chaos, a vicious human named Dong Zhuo forcibly took control of the capital letter, taking the emperor hostage, and ruling with an atomic number 26 fist. A phone call went out across the country for a coalition to depose the vile tyrant.

Take control of one of the ambitious warlords vying for command of the land. Manage your territory while keeping diplomatic, domestic, and military machine affairs in precarious balance. Recruit wandering or disgruntled officers to your cause and make them fight under your banner. Slowly take command of the land, ane state at a time, on your path to total conquest.

Fun Fact: The events depicted in this game are based on the historical novel, Romance of the Iii Kingdoms,attributed to 14th-century Chinese author Luo Guanzhong.

Gameplay

Health is really more important than you think.

When starting a new game, yous choose from 5 scenarios to play. Depending on which yous cull, different rulers are available, along with a specific set up of officers and territories. After choosing your ruler, you are taken to a character creation screen, where you roll (somewhat) random stats for your chosen ruler. So, you are asked to ready a view gameplay options, such as the AI mental attitude, and whether or not to view battles you're non participating in. After all of that, you're ready to brainstorm!

Every month, each of your states has an opportunity to perform tasks. Certain tasks are more than easily performed with more officers, or officers with a college stat in a specific surface area. You can search for vagabond officers, spy on neighboring states, buy weapons and food, train your troops, or bolster your economy. While managing this, you must also take into consideration the happiness of your people, the probability of floods occurring, and the machinations of your enemies.

Prepare to stare at this thing… a lot.

All of your tasks are executed using a list of commands. To the showtime thespian, it is not credible that there are really 5 morecommands, which can be accessed by pushing [right] on your command pad. It is hither that you can salve your progress.

When the time for war has finally come up upon yous, whether y'all're being invaded or have decided that it's high fourth dimension for a neighboring state to become part of your demesne, you decide how many troops to take, which officers should atomic number 82 them, and how much gold & rice to bring forth. Plan advisedly. Running out of rice spells disaster for any military campaign. Appointing commanders with low loyalty can also come back to haunt y'all, if they should find themselves swayed by the enemy in the center of battle.

You tin win the battle by decimating all of your opponent's troops, or by forcing them to flee the battle. Additionally, if y'all can capture of the enemy'southward castles, y'all automatically win. Finally, if you should happen to capture the enemy ruler at any point, you instantly execute them and win the day. However, you'll take no fourth dimension to rest on your laurels, for every bit the size of your domain increases, the more noticeable it becomes to the greedy eyes of your rivals, who have spent their fourth dimension building up their forces while you were expending resources in a long, agonizing fight.

If yous can successfully conquer without overextending yourself, go on your populace from rioting, ensure the loyalty of your retainers, and shrewdly build alliances that permit you to march using other ruler'southward troops, you only may survive the tumultuous era known as the Iii Kingdoms.

Fun Fact: Romance of the 3 Kingdoms can be considered the "Great Uncle" of the popular Dynasty Warriors serial of hack 'n' slash games, every bit they are based on the exact aforementioned story!

Graphics

You will regularly collect gilded & rice as taxation. You can requite some of it back to the people to improve popular support.

Visually, Romance of the 3 Kingdoms is non as impressive every bit some other popular NES titles, merely the game is more than focused on resource management and battle, and is largely menu-driven. If y'all are an aggressive warlord, you'll be spending a lot of time on maps similar the i above. Battles take place on a map that I tin can best describe as a grid of offset squares. The environments are well-drawn, and you don't take to guess what kind of terrain each square is. Each type of terrain costs a certain amount of mobility, and mountains are impassible.

The strategy map, which you'll become to stare at while waiting for your turn, is comprised of 58 states. Each ruler has a particular color associated with them. In several cases, i ruler's color scheme is but a flip-bomb of another ruler's. It is on this screen that you lot'll as well exist informed of events, that can happen depending on the flavor. There could be a overflowing, a disease outbreak, or a rebellion. Each consequence has its own little flick associated with information technology, which will pop up when it occurs.

On your orders screen, when confirming a number of actions, y'all volition get a little animation in the bottom-right of your screen, showing the order you've given being carried out. If you've instructed your officers to develop the land, y'all'll see a laborer chopping a tree. If you are spying on a neighboring state, you'll see a little man peer through some alpine grass and so popular dorsum inside. If you drill the troops, you'll go to see a couple of soldiers grooming with their falchions.

Music/Audio

Mountains are impassable. Utilise them to your reward!

The music in this game is more often than not enjoyable. There is 1 tune that is hands forgettable, just several others invoke a sense of meaning when heard. The game's main theme, played on the title screen and during scenario setup, is a masterpiece. I however retrieve the first time I heard it equally a lad of 10. It sent a shiver upwards and down my spine, and tin can but be described equally "hauntingly beautiful." A unlike version is played in-game, depending on who your governor is, and always when controlling your ruler'due south land.

The battle theme is as well very good. It sets the mood of battle perfectly, as you lot volition be placing your troops while listening to it. Information technology truly gives off a "boxing march" vibe, and gets you excited to fight, even if you lot're being invaded.

Both of these songs accept been remixed and included in not merely hereafter releases of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, simply Dynasty Warriors as well.

There are copious sound effects in this game. There are barely any actions or occurrences that practice non accept a sound upshot associated with them. Perusing your menus is i example. There's even a precipitous not bad sound when you curlicue your ruler'south stats. All of the command animations mentioned before take corresponding sound furnishings. You lot tin hear wood being chopped, grass rustling, and swords slicing. In a game that presents a few rough spots in the graphics department, the music and sounds practice much to selection up the slack.

Writing

The script for Romance of the Three Kingdoms is rather small. There is no introductory dialogue to speak of, or any description of how to proceed once you lot've finished tweaking your master and begin the game. This is i game where it's imperative to consult the education booklet beforehand, if you are unfamiliar with strategy games. In fact, the simply time your receive guidance is when you're nearly to consider a course of action that has a chance of failure. If yous have an officeholder with sufficient intelligence, he will automatically become your advisor, weighing in every time you're about to brand a conclusion. The veracity of their communication is based on their I.Q. score. So, it is incumbent upon you to enlist an advisor with as sharp an intellect as possible.

Piddling animations like this one follow virtually all your command executions.

Determination

Romance of the Iii Kingdoms tin be fun, but it requires extraordinary fourth dimension commitment, and is definitely a niche involvement. This game is not for anybody. People who adopt lots of activity will observe this game incredibly ho-hum. On the other paw, people who love micromanagement will find much to appreciate in this game.

Photo Credits: Kongming's Athenaeum & GameFAQs

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Source: https://geeksundergrace.com/gaming/ccg-retro-review-romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-nes/

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