Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 11:29 pm
Shit, I'm not really even sure why I'm offering up a review of this piece. Their recent forrays into mass melee first-person shooters aside, Koei has been a severe niche market since I first found them in 1988. If you aren't familair with the franchise, then you probably won't dump the 50 bucks into its eigth installment. If you ARE familiar then you've probably already ruled it out or you're gonna be buying it regardless of any reviews you read.
That all said, this is one series that honestly improves with each installment into the series. A damnably impressive feat, really, considering the acclaim (both economically and critically) that the first one recieved back around the same time that Mike Milken was making his fortune.
In a world where convenience is on the rise and initiative and collective brain power are both shrinking, Koei seems intent on asserting the stance that 'deeper is better.' And by deeper here, I refer to a level of micromanagement so intense that the entire MOO franchise look like a kindergarten primer.
There isn't a single aspect of this game that doesn't involve some degree of micromanagement. Whetehr you're playing a wandering bandit or the seneschel to the Prince of Heaven himself, you've got shit to manage and bucketloads of it. If that sort of thing is a turn-off to you, then you probably already know ot avoid this series like the proverbial plague.
If you already conquored your way through VI and VII, then you'll doubtless be more than ready to venture into this, the most exhaustive expansion in the series.
I have only one complaint about this game, but its a fucking doozy:
We got ABSOLUTELY, SOUL-WRENCHINGLY GYPED in the North American release. For all its unrivalled coolness in the field of empire-building TBS, the NA release doesn't even BEGIN to compare to the Japanese release. The entire dynastic aspect was cut in the port, as were many of the key events and several items. While it may sound like a small sacrifice, it was an absolutely senseless one. Which really brings me to another point about Koei and their enduring line of TBS empire-building grandeur.
Why in the name of all that is holy are they STILL releasing them domestically for console only!?!?!? The target audience just SCREAMS PC-user and an entry on a PC platform would make all the upgrades and expansions that the Japanese get a definate feasibility. ARGH.
Those peripheral gripes aside, this game still rocks the body that rocks the party. If you've got about ten solid days to kill and can look past the fact that you're playing ROTK Lite, then its a very solid investment.
That all said, this is one series that honestly improves with each installment into the series. A damnably impressive feat, really, considering the acclaim (both economically and critically) that the first one recieved back around the same time that Mike Milken was making his fortune.
In a world where convenience is on the rise and initiative and collective brain power are both shrinking, Koei seems intent on asserting the stance that 'deeper is better.' And by deeper here, I refer to a level of micromanagement so intense that the entire MOO franchise look like a kindergarten primer.
There isn't a single aspect of this game that doesn't involve some degree of micromanagement. Whetehr you're playing a wandering bandit or the seneschel to the Prince of Heaven himself, you've got shit to manage and bucketloads of it. If that sort of thing is a turn-off to you, then you probably already know ot avoid this series like the proverbial plague.
If you already conquored your way through VI and VII, then you'll doubtless be more than ready to venture into this, the most exhaustive expansion in the series.
I have only one complaint about this game, but its a fucking doozy:
We got ABSOLUTELY, SOUL-WRENCHINGLY GYPED in the North American release. For all its unrivalled coolness in the field of empire-building TBS, the NA release doesn't even BEGIN to compare to the Japanese release. The entire dynastic aspect was cut in the port, as were many of the key events and several items. While it may sound like a small sacrifice, it was an absolutely senseless one. Which really brings me to another point about Koei and their enduring line of TBS empire-building grandeur.
Why in the name of all that is holy are they STILL releasing them domestically for console only!?!?!? The target audience just SCREAMS PC-user and an entry on a PC platform would make all the upgrades and expansions that the Japanese get a definate feasibility. ARGH.
Those peripheral gripes aside, this game still rocks the body that rocks the party. If you've got about ten solid days to kill and can look past the fact that you're playing ROTK Lite, then its a very solid investment.