Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake Review: Overthrowing the Han never felt so good
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake is a beautiful, challenging strategy game that takes me back to my early adult years. Though I’ve been playing the games inspired by the Sanguo yanyi since I was in Middle School, RTK8 is easily one of my favorites. Being able to play as just an officer instead of being forced to do all the tedious micromanagement required of being a lord? Yeah, I loved that part.
I previewed this game earlier in the month, and my feelings haven't changed appreciably since. I still adore Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake, though there are some things about this version I wish were updated from the original.
What exactly is Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake?
For those not familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake, it’s a modern take on the classic PlayStation 2-era turn-based strategy game. Set in the Late Han era of ancient China, it chronicles the events that ultimately led up to the unification of China, though it doesn’t necessarily have to go the way that the book or history dictated.
There are roughly 55 historic scenarios in the game—eight main scenarios, with several points in time to start throughout those scenarios. This gives you plenty of challenging starting points, to make the game as easy or difficult as you’d like it to be.
Once you’ve completed at least one historical campaign, you can then unlock and play the fictional scenarios! It even includes Gathering of Heroes, though under the new name The Heroes Assemble. It’s arguably the most popular fictional scenario the franchise has offered.
It brings together a ton of factions and leaders from across the game’s timeline—184 to 263 AD, and players have to conquer all of them. It’s intense, and it’s so fun. I wish it weren’t locked behind beating a scenario first, but that’s the least of my concerns.
You don’t have to play as a lord, though. Players in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake have a variety of roles to play, each with more power, and more responsibilities. You can either play a specific, historical character, or you make your own character. That’s my favorite part, frankly.
You can then insert that character into the historical fiction action, creating relationships and rivalries with other historic characters, much like any fanfic writer would. You set the stats, skills, everything, be as overpowered or weak as you’d like!
The ultimate goal is to claim Hegemony—complete dominion over the land. This is not a strategy game you’re going to complete in a few hours. It could easily take tens, or dozens of hours to complete a map, depending on how you approach it. You also have to take into account every other faction on the map; things can spiral out of control very quickly.
Sometimes, you may find that turns feel tedious, doing the same things, turn after turn. That doesn't bother me, though. Figuring out the things to improve on the civil side of the game is enjoyable. You want your cities to be prosperous, after all.
The trouble with seasonal combat in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake
I’m glad that you can send multiple groups of soldiers out each season, to try and claim multiple cities/provinces at once in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake. However, it doesn’t really solve the major issue of the game. When a kingdom begins picking up too much steam, it can feel impossible to stop or slow them down.
In earlier entries into the franchise, you could do battle every single month. It didn’t completely negate the power creep of some of the feudal lords, but it definitely helped. In my last scenario, for example, I watched Liu Biao carve up the entire Southlands and a good chunk of the Middle Kingdom. For no good reason, he had more cities than anyone—even Cao Cao, who controlled most of the northern part of the map.
When you get to a point when it’s just a few factions on the map total in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake, it can feel absolutely impossible to make any headway. This means you either have to play very aggressively or have allies who will help you crush another kingdom. Sometimes, you have to set up your own Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition. It’s really one of the game’s only weak points.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake is the most user-friendly game in the franchise
I cannot stress enough that you should keep the tutorial on for your first playthrough or two in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake. This isn’t just a simple 1:1 remake of RTK8 on the PS2/PC. It’s a brand-new game, for all intents and purposes. You’ll get guided around, and learn what each thing on the map does.
The game also has plenty of customizable difficulty settings, so you can make things as easy or hard as you want them to be. That’s not even the best part, though. My favorite part is found in the Tales tab. As you progress through the game, you can come back here to see historic events and push the storyline forward, but that’s not all.
You’ll also see lessons from Master Water Mirror (Sima Hui), who will also teach you the ins and outs of the game. He also gives you useful rewards to help you increase your friendships with other characters. You can play as anyone, or make your own character, and experience this strategy game in any way you see fit.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake lets you play your way
Whether you make your own faction in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake or are the lord of the biggest kingdom in China, it’s all up to you how you want to play. I won’t go into the details of the turn-to-turn content, but you can choose to do so much. You can help your own people and gain rewards/reputation, or you can be an evil villain, taking bribes, and keeping the peasants down.
You can get into duels, debates, lead troops into combat, or get married, and help build the infrastructure of your empire. It’s all up to you, and I love that. I haven’t been this obsessed with an RTK game in years. There are so many systems, functions, and features, that I can’t possibly talk about them all.
It’s just incredibly satisfying to play your character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake. You can befriend characters like Lu Bu or Xiahou Dun, and learn new skills from them, go hunting with them, or join them in battle, shredding the soldiers of the opposing force. You don’t even really have to join a force if you don’t want. You can claim a city and start your own faction if you aren’t happy with Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Yuan Shao, or the other lords.
Players who want to micromanage and control everything have the power, and people like me, who want to make a difference at a more base level can do that too. It all feels incredible, and before I knew it, hours had disappeared into Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8’s presentation is magnificent, but needs one change
From the character portraits, battlefields, and the towns themselves, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake is a beautiful game. I won’t take anything away from the art style. It all looks brilliant. However, there’s one thing I’d still change in the presentation.
The Japanese dub of this game is solid, don’t get me wrong. But it still feels weird to play a game set in ancient China, without a Chinese voice cast. I’d give a great deal to have the cast from the RTK series (2010) voice the game. I like the Japanese cast, but having the option for Chinese voices would really add to the immersion.
In conclusion
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 is so much fun to play. Even if combat can sometimes be incredibly frustrating once one or two kingdoms really control a majority of the map, I still love the game. It’s not perfect, but it’s so much more, so much better than the original RTK8. It’s more immersive, it’s prettier, and it’s friendlier.
One of the things that I think really holds the RTK franchise back is that the games can expect you to just know what to do. I do, because I've been playing them since the SNES era. But the tutorials aren’t always very good, but I feel like the new player/returning player experience is very strong this time around.
I was hoping the Fictional Scenarios would be more than the generic ones I’m used to, but I’ve heard that there will be more of those down the line, perhaps in DLC. My complaints are minor, but overall, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 is a masterpiece. It’s a wonderful trip through time back to the fall of the Han.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed On: PC (Code provided by Koei Tecmo)
Release Date: October 24, 2024
Developer: Koei Tecmo
Publisher: Koei Tecmo