Romance of The Three Kingdoms VIII Remake - Review

Unending war, conquests of the heart and land alike. Romance of The Three Kingdoms VIII Remake is finally here, and it’s ready for you to explore the pseudo-historical play in all its glory. Are you ready for the greatest military drama?

Romance of the Three Kings VII (RotTK 8) Remake is finally here. After getting to go hands on with it a little under a month ago, I’ve had some more time with the game to further explore all it has to offer and see how it stands up in the modern day. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is essentially at its core a theatre of war and drama simulation strategy game, with light turn based tactical combat elements and an unbelievable number of varying scenarios to play through with an astounding roster of officers to play as.

The biggest allure of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games is the freedom that they give you in the way you approach the game. The original release had a roster of nearly 600, with this being expanded massively all the way to up 1000. Compound this with the fact that you can create almost 150 of your own officers, and the ability to upload your own custom images to use as the various portraits of the officers in the game, it cannot be understated how many different ways you can approach and change the game. Over hundreds of hours of playing, its likely you may never see the same army or units in the same orientation more than once, and each playthrough feels tremendously unique as a result.

This alongside the near 55 scenarios that are available in the game, with only 8 of them being locked behind certain unlock conditions, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake offers near limitless replay value. Outcomes of battles, different ways you interact with cities, and even the choices you make within the scenarios to either follow historical points of history or go down fictional paths to create a brand-new storyline, every single time you step into the game will feel unique and different from all previous and all future playthroughs. For a game that appears so simple and sedated on the surface, it is unbelievable just how much game is at your fingertips here.

As mentioned in the preview a Link Forged system was added with the remake that allows you to deepen relationships with other officers in unique ways. These relationships can result in sworn siblings, new spouses, the birth and raising of your own children (who in time will join your army), as well as swing into natural rivalries and antagonistic relationships. There is a certain luck to the deepening of relationships that may result in wildly different sworn siblings and marriages in each playthrough as well, which adds a further element of intrigue and differentiation between each time you step into the game.

Tales themselves are a new feature in the remake which aim to enrich the relationships between officers. There are unique conditions added to the tales and the different results affect how scenarios paly out. These can vary from tutorial like tales that help you understand the game, to history changing ones such as saving the life of Sun Ce, or never having Lu Bu kill Dong Zhuo. The conditions for historical or fictional outcomes give you a sense of purpose and something to work toward, particularly events with deadline dates for the pseudo-historical accuracy of them. Little cutscenes are added for all these tales and give you the ability to interact with the game on a deeper level.

I spoke previously about the debate and duel encounters, and there hasn’t been any active change to these since I first touched the game last month. This is unfortunate as they are somewhat bland to engage in, and despite some of the more well-known officers getting unique character models for the cutscenes, they aren’t all that enjoyable to watch. After doing them myself for a while, in situations where I had the higher STR or INT stat, I would simply let it auto complete as there never seems to be a risk in losing if you have the higher stat. Couple this with a combat system that feels maybe a little too hollow, and it does shine a light on what the focus for RotTK 8 remake really is. Engaging with other officers, playing the long game of politics, strategy and romance. Working toward the goals of the scenario, rather than brute force battling your way into total subjugation of the Three Kingdoms China. It’s fine because of the number of other things you can do, but it is frustrating that these features sort of fall by the wayside as a result.

What the game does a tremendous job of doing is guiding you along. There is a lot to take in and a lot to learn, but the game never feels too much. You are able to take everything at your own pace and learn the intricacies of the different systems and how you are able to more deeply control the overall actions of an army as a governor or ruler. As opposed to simply existing and attempting to influence control as a tactician or common officer. There are many ways to approach the game, and depending on your confidence there is always a pathway that matches up with the player’s ability and skill. Making what seems like a horrifically daunting and unapproachable experience the complete opposite.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake isn’t going to be for everyone. It fills a very specific niche for a specific type of gamer. However the game exceeds in doing exactly what players will want. A strong strategy game with nearly endless replay value, that allows players to explore and understand the drama that is the Romance of the Three Kingdoms era. The pseudo-historical approach with the ability to follow fictional what if storylines make for an incredibly poignant way of exploring this world. The additions make this a very strong remake that will grab fans of both the Dynasty Warriors Empires games, and more traditional Romance of the Three Kingdoms fans alike.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by Koei Tecmo

The Pros

Near limitless replay value

CG editor is fun to play around with

Cutscenes and Tales are enjoyable to experience

The Cons

Debate and Duel are the same minigame with a reskin

A lot of officers are the same model in 3D scenes

Combat feels unenjoyable