There are two reasons you should buy this game. Either:

1. You're a hard-core RTK fan, capable of self-immersion and self-imposed limitations to add challenge.
2. You're keen on the role-playing aspects of the game and are comfortable not necessarily playing it like a grand strategy game.

Anyhow, onto the finer details.

No incarnation of RTK has ever been perfect, dating all the way back to my first experience with RTK1 on the NES, and this one is no exception. This one, however, seems to ignore a lot of the lessons learned from previous failures while introducing a whole host of others that make no ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sense.

For one, the AI still can't figure out how to put up a decent fight. I don't think I've ever gotten to a point in the game where even the brightest and most capable enemy has put forth a fully-fleshed out elite unit consisting of 3 solid generals and maxed out weapons. And while they aren't nearly as mindless as they were in RTK 11, where the AI would just constantly throw units at you regardless of their likelihood of success, it still feels like it has no grip on reality.

The game is also riddled with text errors and dialogue mistakes that should've been fixed from day one. Not that huge of an issue for me, but it's just a sign of how lazy KOEI has gotten over the years, obviously coasting on brand loyalty rather than innovation to make sales.

The biggest problem with this game, in my opinion, is the pacing. Every grand strategy game hits a point where you know you've effectively "won", but you need to spend a few hours finishing the job. It's unavoidable without crappy cop-outs like alternative victory conditions and whatnot, but in RTK13, that imbalance tips particularly hard far too early in the game.

Even with a significant disadvantage, you basically win the game once you've gotten a single weapon type to Elite status in your main city, and can field a few top-tier generals with a high sustained morale and a 300+ attack and defense rating. Once that's done, the enemy just crumbles before you in auto-play combat, because the AI doesn't really bother with training until it's far too late.

As for the problem of not having top-tier generals, fear not. Simply switch your ruler to the Orator prestige, travel the map talking to Free Generals, and Refer them once you've got a rapport of 70 or better. In less than a year, in almost any scenario, you're going to have at least 4-5 guys you can group together to kick some serious beehive.

And despite the game being too easily winnable most of the time, there are some scenarios that are almost impossibly hard. Back in RTK11, the Red Cliff scenarios circa 208AD were winnable as Liu Bei. You could easily hold off the dumb AI long enough to build up a strong central base at Xinye, eventually cutting right into the heart of Wei territory and taking the big baddy down, even without southern subjugation. In RTK13, you won't have the same sort of success without cheating a bit by giving yourself a custom general or two. There's simply too much coming at you right from the first few weeks of the game, and without those Elite weapons ready to go, you just instantly lose a war of attrition versus an enemy that's 20x your size.

So in short, you either get yourself in a winning position WAY too soon to make it fun, or you don't get to win at all.

The nice thing about RTK13, is that you never really lose. Even if your force is wiped out, you can play on as a general in a force of your choosing, rising through the ranks to a position of prominence. In some cases, you can even work your way into the line of succession. So if you're particularly keen on the RP aspects of the game, it definitely gets easier to enjoy. Some of the other game modes, like playing as a merchant or a mercenary can be fun too, and will certainly insert another 50 hours of game time for you if it ends up being your thing.

But as a Grand Strategy game, it's just an unbalanced mess, and it's only good if you, like me, can limit yourself in some way. One thing I tend to do is execute every general that isn't a historical general associated with my force. So if I'm Liu Bei, for example, I'll take the heads of any prisoner that isn't a Shu general from history, in one way or another. So when I conquer Liu Zhang, Zhang Song gets to hang out with me, while Wang Lei gets to eat my axe.

Koei seems to go back to square one EVERY TIME they release an RTK game, leaving behind a lot of the funner aspects of their previous games. Why, exactly? Combat in RTK11 was WAY better and more involved than what you'll get in 13. What was the harm in building on an already great thing? They really need to stop that.

I've rambled long enough about a game I enjoy more than any sane person should. So unless you're like me and fit one of the above two criteria I laid out in my opening paragraph, move on to something else. Don't reward this half-hearted developer for being evidently lazy and indifferent.

As a big fan of historical grand strategy (with hundreds of hours in Total War, Crusader Kings, CIv, this game's predecessors et al) I am happy to say this game, with the Fame and Strategy Expansion, is one of the most comprehensive games I have ever played. Apologies for the massive review. But it is a massive game.

First things first -

The dismally negative reviews are almost exclusively due to technical issues. The PUK expansion brings with it serious problems that may prevent you from playing. And KOEI is fixing them at a glacial speed. Fortunately, the two main issues I faced had easy workarounds. I will leave them here, just in case -

Crash at Launch - This was fixed by temporarily disabling "active threat control" in my antivirus settings. Your antivrius will have a similar module. Try disabling it if you have similar issues. Fixed after BitDefender update.

Unable to Open Prestige Screen - I was able to fix this by reducing the CGI settings to "low" in the game options. Game does not look any uglier as the beauty of the graphics lies in the gorgeous illustrations, which remain unaffected.

Other than those two I have not faced any game-breaking technical issues. Now to get to the good bits.

This is a character focussed strategy game. Everything revolves around the beautifully illustrated and dramatic (mostly) historical figures from the Three Kingdoms - their friendships and actions through events. You are also able to create custom characters and events, and insert them into the game.

You essentially play as a single character - who can be anything from a lowly wanderer to the ruler of a vast empire. The things you can do in this game as an individual are quite staggering -

• Take orders from your liege, and give orders to your subordinates. Based on your performance, receive dynamic rewards and merit.
  
• Based on merit, rise through the ranks from minor official to the governor of a city, be a minister and control part of the government, then a viceroy who rules over a province. Or forge your own path as an independent warlord.
  
• Engage in debates against other character to push your agenda.
  
• Engage in duels against other characters in battles or for training, or against bandits.
  
• Attend court of your liege. Make suggestions. Debate other advisors to make them see your point of view. As a governor, viceroy or sovereign, hold your own court. Listen to suggestions and set the governance goals for the season.
  
• Form relations with other characters and end up being friends, sworn siblings or spouse. Support them , and receive support from them, in battles or in administrative tasks. Hold banquets. Give gifts.
  
• Engage in quests for other characters, or your subjects to win reputation and rewards.
  
• Engage in administrative tasks, and order your subordinates to do the same. Build up commerce, farming and culture and enable your city / province to grow. Train your troops - cavalry, infantry and archers, from light troops to elite warriors. Patrol to keep the roads safe. Placate surrounding villages to bring them into the fold and boost your cities.
  
• Engage in warfare. Find your place in the feudal chain of command based on your rank - as sub-commander of a regiment, or as the commander of a vast army with hundreds of thousands of troops. Engage in sea, land or siege battles. Use unique tactics.
  
• Engage in skulduggery. Spy on enemies, coax enemy officers to switch sides, spread rumours.
  
• Deal with other forces. Negotiate alliances. Call in favours for reinforcements in war.
  
• Gain enough power and influence. Then rebel against your sovereign in civil war.

The expansion makes some significant additions -

• Maintain your own "house", with private armies, friends and family.
  
• Have children. Oversee their growth into officers.
  
• Maintain your own retinue of officers - poorly translated as "comrades". They can be your relations, or relations of your relations. They hang out at your house and stick with you through thick and thin.
  
• Train by yourself, or with others, to improve your stats. Discuss strategies and philosophies with other officers for mutual improvements.
  
• An RPG-esque "prestige system" that lets you choose your own path to fame, as a warrior, politician, merchant etc. Gain more prestige, become famous with new cognomens, get more abilities.
  
• Discuss battle tactics before a battle. I have not explored this yet.
  
• Build strongholds along the roads to slowdown invaders, as well as grant bonuses to defending armies.

+ Chain of Command. You play as one person, and do only what he / she is capable of doing. You are not some abstract divine entity that needs to micromanage every city and army. You command, and not control. This makes the gameplay significantly more authentic than something like Total War, or Civ.

+ Realism. Realistic time scale, realistic marching / movement times, realistic feudal structure, realistic army sizes, realistic reinforcements, no arbitrary limits.

+ Character Focus. The stronger focus on characters, and more detailed interactions and personalities makes the game a lot more believable. Much better than Crusader Kings, where people are little more than a random portrait and some numbers.

+ Historicity. Closely aligned with historical events. Characters and forces try to follow their historical paths. This can be toggled on and off in the options.

+ Gorgeous Soundtrack. Orchestral epic, that shifts in tone based on where you are and what you are doing.

+ Lenient system requirements. Can run on a potato PC, at the cost of production values.

+ Custom Characters and Events. A fun bonus.

Tactical Battles are not as detailed as Total War. But at least they exist, unlike Crusader Kings. They can be considered appropriately detailed so as not to bog down the grand strategy part.

Endgame Yawns. Once your force controls most of China with only a couple of factions remaining, then winning the game becomes a matter of time. Personally, I do not mind this.

Micromanagement. As a viceroy, you can keep conquering cities. Eventually your province itself can become 90% of your ruler's kingdom - a massive micromanagement burden. In the PUK you now have the ability to give cities back to your sovereign if it becomes too much to manage.

Your sovereign can hog all the good officers in the main game, refusing your request to put them under your command. With the comrade system, you can form personal relations, and bring them over to your city / province.

Duels and Debates were simplistic luck based affairs in the base game. They are now a lot more tactical.

Shy AI officers would rarely bond in the base game. Now you can get them to befriend each other through letters.

- Poor Production Values. The 3d graphics and UI are not much to look at. The 2d art and music are great though.

- Weak Diplomacy. Diplomacy and foreign relation elements are barebones. You cannot bargain terms. Or form marriage ties, have tributaries etc.

- Lack of Internal Politics. There are no options or reasons to work against your fellow officers in the same force, like you can do in Crusader Kings.

- Lost in Translation. If you can only play the English version like me, you will have to figure out a lot of misleading terms in the UI. Read the manual. The steam community is very helpful as well.

- Technical Issues. The base game was very stable. But the PUK is causing lot of problems for many people, as mentioned in the beginning of the review.

I expected this game for over 4 years but just received this piece of disappointment. A few (out of many many) major drawbacks on the design:

1) The big map system is just a white elephant. Even though it's big, it's 3D, it has hundreds of towns, but you can only travel by the pre-fixed roads. No way to build anything anywhere on the map. How does it differ from a simple 2D map as in San12?

2) The economic system is basically spayed. No matter how many towns/talents a player has, he/she can only assign 2 (or up to 8) to work....

3) It imposes many unreasonable restrictions, like no troop transportation between towns, automatic troop regeneration, no way to recruit people in towns not neighboring to you....

4) I knew San13 is trying to find a balance between RPG and RTS (or SIM), but unfortunately it fails on both ends... The RPG system is so boring and repetitive... NO fun at all!

I really wish I can have my money back!!!

Advice: IF YOU HAVE NOT PURCHASED IT, PLEASE DON'T DO IT!

Let’s be clear: the game is not worth $90 (launch price)! At most, it’s worth $30 for this quality. Koei must be out of their mind right now.

Pros: Several new and interesting concepts have been introduced to the game.

Cons:

Insane AI – The AI is ridiculously dumb. You can form alliances or ceasefires with any clan, regardless of strength. Clans will keep fighting for their allies even when their own cities are under attack.
Stupid game mechanics – You only get one chance to make a diplomatic suggestion per rank (maximum of 9), unless you’re the clan lord or a military adviser. As I mentioned, diplomacy is broken and way overpowered.
Too fast-paced – The game is way too fast-paced, leaving you with very little time to focus on your personal goals. If the game slowed down, you’d find there’s nothing much to do anyway... the content is lacking.
Overall, it feels like just another cheaply designed and implemented Romance of the Three Kingdoms game from Koei.

Put your act together, Koei. Stop ruining this franchise!

Very bias review from a ROTK fan since ROTK 3. Played ROTK 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Played 180+ hrs on the original and 10+ hrs on the Power-up kit (PUK) before writing this review.

If you intend to buy this game, get the bundle. It is worth it. The PUK/expansion pack adds new dimension to the game play and improve some of the poorly made aspect of the original game.

The game may be difficult for new players of this series as it has a rare mix of tactical, strategy and rpg elements. Getting use to the name of the bases, cities and officers is a challenge even for a veteran player like me.

Battles are mostly simulation that are non controllable and unpredictable as there are many elements that can affect the outcome of battles. However player can choose to simulate or control battles that the player's hero unit are involve in.
Controlled battles are fun to play and are somehow similar to how Total War series battles are played with the main difference of able to use strategies (both officer unit's strategy / PUK battle strategies) to turn the tide of battles.

One of the best way to fight is the use of fire famous for this series. (especially in ROTK3 where an army of a few thousands abusing with fire and wind can hold off hundred of thousands.) It is absolutely satisfying to burn your enemies to their death while turning their armies into disarray and picking off the survivors.

Players with knowledge of the three kingdom story will have an advantage as when you choose the history trend, officers' relationship can affects the game play.

For all players, there is a tutorial story-like campaign mode in hero mode that is highly recommended especially for those who want to know more about the three kingdom story but can be confusing at times on some of the steps to take and the lack of warning of time remaining for each campaign. There is side hero mode that guide the original players on some of the changes to the PUK.

There is officer editor for those who love to create their own characters, you can create a OP character for yourself to play with and if you want more challenges, a weak character to start of with. You can also create your own family and friends in officer editor and then add them into the game and start a dynasty with it. Have a crush you like and want to make her your wife? you can do it in this game and with PUK you can even have children with him/her. Have many crushes you like? Have a wife and many other girlfriends in real life? Hack, you can have many wives in this game and have them follow you into battles and listen to their shout and calls. Sorry to those who like the same sex, unfortunately this game is from an Asian company and we asian are conservative af but you can still make him or her your best bud by sworn sibling. And unfortunately to those with opposite sex as best buddy, you cant make them your sworn sibling and have to marry them instead.

Those lazy out there who care less about making their own character can always pick one of the historical/fictional hero to use and yes there are ladies to choose from too including one of the legendary 4 beauties of ancient chinese.

There is an event editor which comes with the PUK which i have not tried but should be able to create your own story with it.

The original game itself after playing was lacklustre in some aspect of the game like the poorly made duel/debate system, poor AI, lack of battle dynamic once you get hold of AI habits, repetitive battle arena(field/cities), morale system, long distance march not affecting armies.

The duel/debate system of the original was downright boring, worst of the series, however was revamp for the PUK which is much better than before, more interesting and more difficult to win.

AI is bad, just bad. Have not played much into PUK to notice the difference so i guess it is still bad.

Battle strategy introduced in PUK add more flavors to the battle system. One of the battle strategy when use with fire officer strategy devastate the enemies. Lack of fog of war means you will always know your opponent position and can easily counter any battle strategy, however you can still use it effectively against the AI. But once, i fell for AI poison pit strategy because of lack of understanding of the icons as battle strategies can only be used on certain pre-determined areas/icon which is stupid as an ambush which can only be set up in a forest can only be set up in a small part of a forest with an icon and not other part of the forest even if the forest cover half the battle arena. (This is one part of the PUK that i hate but feel can be improve)

There are only a few battle arenas both for field and cities which is rotated for different battle can be boring after some time. PUK added new battle arenas but so far I have only seen a few more added in. I feel that there should be more unique battle arenas available and hopefully in the future, a battle arena editor is included which allow players to create and share new battle arena to be used.

One of the worst game sense in the original was army travelling long distance does not suffer any penalty as you can send armies from one end to the other at full speed without stopping to rest and yet at optimal fighting condition. The PUK improve this system and marching long distance now affect morale greatly which in turn affect battles. Armies can stop by cities and bases to replenish the lost morale which is great for the game play.

One of the unique and best implemented feature of this game is the relationship system which is important and beneficial in some aspect of the game. Having bonds with fellow officers can strengthen battle abilities and boost officer's strategy in battle. Having good rapport with opponent officer makes it easier to recruit them and use them in diplomacy.

The PUK added another unique feature which is the prestige system and it adds a whole new dimension to play the game. It is basically like a class system with 6 different classes branching out to more sub-classes. Feel like playing a strategy game without commanding army but become an assassin going around dueling people? Well the PUK is for you. Want to be a merchant going around trading without a care for the chaotic world? or influencing and aiding certain forces you favor in the background? Well the PUK is for you. PUK also allows you to recruit and train a private army to aid you in your quest. So you can just be a free officer with some comrades lead your private army to disrupt the world flow.

Overall, although the original is playable with a rating of 6.5/10, it is highly recommended with a rating of 8.5/10 to get the PUK bundle which improve some poorly made feature in the original, increase the playing value with more exciting features added and replayability in the RPG element with the prestige class added. Game will start slowly but once you get a hang of it, it will become easier to handle. Do not expect great intensive graphic in modern games from the ROTK series.

For players who had played the previous series, 13 is definitely an upgrade of 12 which i feel is the most disappointing of the series. 13 is a combination of RPG game play in 10 and kept the battle arena format of battle used in most of the series and the stop-time strategy found in 12, bringing back naval battle lacked in 12. Bringing fort building used in 11, and improving the duel and debate system to nearly as good as in 11. As a fan of total war like battle system, turn based strategy and killing enemies with fire, this installment feels like one of the best if the AI and battle strategy can be improved.

To Koei, please bring english version of ROTK 8, 9, 10, 11 with puk to steam.

Before you continue reading i will warn you to buy ROTK 13 WITH!!!!!! Fame and Strategy expansion. DO NOT buy it seperate or you will hate the game and give it a negative review.


Bought this game first on xbox one to see how it was since i thought it would be like an rts style of empires. come to find out it is and more. now i put 60+ hrs into the game on here and more on xbox one so i really enjoy it.

Likes:
Grand strategy style of romance of the three kingdoms.

like empires you can choose your own path or follow someones in history.

character creation is pretty cool. you can give a person with max everything and still die in battle before your time (learned the hard way).

you can marry and have kids to continue on with your legacy

you can also have comrades which will follow you until you die and stuff. (must be in the same faction as you, no high rank than you so you cant be a regular dude and be comrades with the ruler. but you can vise versa. or you all must be free officers)

you can edit any and everything from creating your own officers to editing historic ones, so if you want a beast cao cao you can.

you can edit your own events to happen in history and also you can edit skills you use in battle.

there is a bunch of different senarios to do from the yellow turbans all the way to Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan controlling everything.

you can form bonds with people and become sworn siblings with who you want, you just have to put the time in.

you can creat a family if you want, you can set what year they was born so your character you play as can be old when the yellow turban rebellion starts or just becoming of age (15). they can live to be 100 too if they dont die in battle or be assassinated.

you can creat your own faction from all created characters if you want (max 1k created characters)

there is multiple ways of life you can take from being a loner patriot where you serve no one and stay as a free officer and becoming an assassin. ( if you get to be an assassin random officers will challenge you to a duel because you caused chaos in the land.

you can also be a merchant which i love so far where you can use money to move the battlefield.
example would be i can invest in Liu Bei when he comes to power so he can grow his troops and stuff and i can turn around and also invest in Cao Cao so he can do the same. if you max out the merchant you can use influence you gained from investing with a faction to either call a ceasefire, force an alliance or to even banish someone.

if you serve under someone you can move up the ranks starting at 9 all the way to rank 1, the higher you go the more privilege that ruler gives you. so you can become a minister (domestic, military, war) for the governor of that city, or the region for the ruler. you can also become a governor of a city and you can appoint officers as your ministers or you can do it yourself. and you can eventually become a viceroy which is basically the right hand man to the ruler and you control so many cities and such. so i became viceroy to Dong Zhuo and i basically helped take over China.


Now for my Cons:

Luckily i bought the game with the expansion so i didnt have to worry about the cost of that DLC but the cost of it is stupid high but it is kinda worth it.

if you Alt Tab out and do something else like music or anything while you ar in the map, the map will turn white and you have to exit back to the main menu (save, duh) and load back in.

like all koei tecmo games price tag is high, game and dlcs.

only happend to me a couple times but the game did crash on me, but as long as your auto save is on i didnt much care.

if you are not a fan of managment or grand strategy games dont buy it. dont be that guy that gives it a bad review because you thought it was gonna be an action title.

I dodged this game, because critics have been so harsh about it. Even after hearing it was transfered to english, I avoided it because of the things people had said about it. But, I had been a dedicated fan of the series since the first one released for (ehem, yep I am gettin up there in years haha) nintendo. I have always loved this series, not because of Dynasty Warriors, like so many (although there is nothing wrong with that)....Or because of these games, but because I had read the stories of the era if the Han dynasty already. Yes, I am THAT big of a history nerd. How many of us actually read this stuff for entertainment. But I tell you now, its one of the most interesting collections of historical tales, with more larger then life heroes, then any 100 action movies combined! I loved them growing up! It had been a couple of years since I read them, when I was later settled down and married... At the time, video games were not really my thing, but my kids loved thier Mario games, and thier Nintedo.And so it was while shopping with my (ex) wife for Xmas gifts for my kids at Toys r Us one year, I saw this ROTK title sitting on the shelf (next to Gengis Khan at that...But this was better lol)....And grabbed it up shocked that they had made a game of Luo Guan Zongs amazing novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms!!!! And it lived up to the novel imo (back then we were impressed by nintendo, LOL wow how technology changes!!!)...from then on, I pre ordered every 3 Kingdoms game ever released as it came out, and became a devoted fan of Koei, and all of its spin offs.( With the surge of fantasy popularity where the hell is a new Gemfire? Had to ask lol)..The only ROTK that ever disapointed me was 11...And after hearing from several critics that this was a backslide from 11, I dodged it. But out of boredom, I looked up a lets play on Youtube...And man am I glad I did!! This is the follow up to 10 that 12 SHOULD have been, and strides forward, not backwards, from what had come before...Sure, its more of what the series has always offered, but this time, they unleashed all they had been holding back....It has awesome CG scenes, deep and complex mechanics, and for once, the game doesnt assume you are too stupid to handle complexity and a plethora of commands to remember. In other words, they didnt try to keep it simple, but they made a game within a game to teach you all you need in a fun and interesting way through its heros mode!!!

Your first steps will be playing Hero mode....Youll need this, but dont worry, its actually the best done tutorial-game mode introduction any series ever did in this genre! It will take you on a tour of the Three Kingdoms saga, playing through some of the most important events of the Era, which will be nostalgic for long time fans (or Dynasty Warriors fans) and will familiarize the main characters of the story for you new people to the series. Step by step you will learn all of the optons at your disposal for uniting china later. As you complete each chapter, you will unlock a ton of extras, from portraits to use in Character creation mode, to legendary characters among other things...

Speaking of Character generation, once again you may create 150 male or female officers of your own design. Setting everything from portrait to weapon style to personallity. It even has an auto-create feature for those of you who want tons of new characters but dont want to spend 20 hrs making them....Although some of us do just that, because with every character, you breath a bit more life into an already complex world of loyalty and hatred, ambition and revenge. You can set parents, husbands, wives, and children up, as well as likely friends or sworn brothers and sisters right from the start. Make your own rivals or your own bloodline for a Dynasty of your creation. No two people ever own the same game, thats for sure. It will even generate names for your characters, for those who dont want weird names but would rather keep the immersion solid with Chinese names ( but there is nothing wrong with weird names either lol, its your world after all)....

The artwork is very themed towards Chinese culture of the first century AD, and is done beautifully, and now the portraits show the head in menus, but the whole body on character sheets, and the character portrait art has never been better. Almost all portraits are new, and not rehashed copys as 11 and 10 had....

The English transaltion seems very solid, as all the text and menus are easily understandable, although the voices themselves remain untranslated, but this works well with keeping the immersion going too!

Once you complete hero mode, the gloves come off, and you then set towards your rise to power, either as a ruler or an officer or a wandering nobody bent on claiming the imperial throne from nothing. You have your work cut out for you, but once you have a grasp of all the various game mechanics (and its deep) you'll rise to power through diplomacy, conquest, loyalty, or treachery.....

As you can tell, I REALLY love this title, and I wish I had come sooner but better late then never...So am I recommending this to you? Well, some of you, yes.

These are niche games. You will either love Three kingdoms titles or you will hate them. The names are the first barrier any fan of the series come too. Names like Cao Cao, or Xiahou Dun will seem foriegn, and hard to remember or relate to. But this passes within a few weeks of playing, this I promise.

Another thing you will need is patience, and a mind for slower paced strategy games. If you loved earlier 3 kingdoms games, youll love this one even more. If you loved civilization or 4X games like fallen enchantress, you will probably like this as well (although this isnt fantasy, the over-the-top heroes and villians kind of feels like a fantasy game lol).

Battles are real time with pause. Each character has skills that can be used on the battlefield. Castle seiges and land and naval battles are all here. And even though its real time-pause, I would have prefered they kept it turn based as it used to be. While real time is ok, some games work better with turn based, and these battles are the only thing that falls short in my opinion. Luckily, the rest of the game IS good enough to give this a pass. Its acceptable, but it could have been much better.

Duels and Debates are also back, in which 2 characters compete, using special commands in turn based fasion, only now you need only go 5 rounds, with whomever having the most health winning at the end of it. These are done in 3d, and look fantastic. Dynasty Warriors fans will love these (even though they are turn based) as they are very cinematic confrontations.

Koei has always know these games wont make them rich. They do these for the fans, not the profits. But to keep up with costs, they are ussually expensive titles. But thats ok. Because 3 kingdoms games are not your average cut-paste 4X strategy games. They are alive with around 1000 characters whom all have thier own personalities, strenghts, and weaknesses. Think Game of thrones story on steroids and youll get the idea haha! For what they pour into these games, they deserve what they ask for to us dedicated to the series. Thats the thing about serious strategy game fans though, We may be few, but we are devoted. These games are easy to jump into if you have previous RTK experiance, but for those who dont, skipping the tutorial is not wise
I'm glad Koei didnt give up on this, its flag ship series, and I am more then glad that they remembered us English speaking fans. My way of thanking them, is by telling you, who are pondering this title, the truth about what youll be getting into....A superior chapter in the 3 kingdoms series. If your a former fan, or looking for an epic, menu driven strategy game will RPG elements such as leveling your characters, and conquering a country....Get this. Its very worthy of the series!

Worst RTK to date

Quick Review:
Poor implementation of systems.
It has nothing to offer to new player to the series.
Even hardcore RTK fans will have problems with this game.
No Updates or fixes. It is nolonger supported by Koei .
Spent your money on another game.

Review:

First of all, I am a big fan of the RTK series from Koei. I have been playing the seires for more than 20 years. I started playing RTK IV when I was a child. I have owned every RTK game since. I usually scan the japanese websites for upcoming RTK games; even though I cannot read Japanese. I have loved some and dislike some over the years, but I have not been irritated within any until this title.

RTK are very niche games marketed to a very specific strategy audience. It tells the fictional or semihistorical story of ancient china during the last days of the Han's Dynasty. It is the same underling story of Koei's Dynasty Warrior but in a strategic format. All RTK games tells the same story. Each entry differs by how the gameplays, graphics, and implementation of systems.

RTK 13 tooks the basic menu and list of past games and stream line it. In the process, IT FAIL TO DELIVER THE BASIC RTK EXPERIENCE. The gameplays feel and play at a faster pace but fail to allow player interaction and immersion. For examples, the game allow you to easily move resources from the different city, but the management of troops is not there. So you ended up having troops in city you do not need and little or no troop in the city you do need. The recruiting of troops is hidden and poorly implemented. In a strategy war game, this is a major failure. It also takes away individual city commands and replace it with a restricted court systems which becomes a major hassle once your forces expand. Further more, the basic movement of soldiers during military march is oddly implemented. It is easy to march troops, but you cannot fortify the city you just attack with those troops and offciers. Instead, you have to dissolve and wait until your character get back to the orignal city before you can give other commands. The game also does not offer much else from other RTK games except for more frustrations. In additions, the game is full of typo and errors in the English text which does not help that Koei no longer support the game or updates.

In conclusion, RTK 13 fails on fundamental gameplay mechanics, creating problems and frustrations for long time fans and offers a disapointment for newcomers. Koei is more focus else where like releasing the mobile version than fixing a main entry of the fan loved RTK.

I bought this game and hope that it will create a new era for three kingdom, but I was wrong.

The RPG part is totally a **** because you can only visit several places without tasks, and there's nothing to do if you have join any country. Compared with 10, I prefer to play 10 one hundred times than play 13 for only 2 hours.

The war part is just a simplified version of 12 and you do not need to do anything to win a war. The only thing you can do is to use your ability once, then wait for the animation until you have enough points, needless to say the two dual mode. They're just same and boring.

In general, I do not think KOEI is a company that can provide good games anymore. I think they only know how to take the money and build "web-free-to-play" game. I would definitely not buy any KOEI games anymore, or just enjoy the free version of the games.

100CAD is just the money I send to you and go to grave, KOEI. 愿你早死早超生。

SUMMARY: An excellent addition to the franchise, in the opinion of this particular series veteran.


Can't spare a lot of time right now, but it needs to be known that all the terrible reviews aren't NECESSARILY founded. There are some mechanical differences that might take a little coming around to, but it's not nearly so bad as many claim, and there are practical reasons for each change that feel right after about an hour of play.

If you enjoy playing as an officer, this might be the best RoTK yet; at the very least, it stacks up to any other iteration of its type. The roleplaying element feels stronger than ever, with more meaningful speech and popups that make your city feel alive and interactive. Additionally, with each city having an objective for the year that coordinates with your kingdom's overall goals, you feel like you're contributing to a whole even while you sit on the lowest rungs. Your city has an objective to meet and big rewards to gain if it does, and your governor will require the help of every officer in the city to make it happen.

Another big plus for roleplaying is the relationship web, which makes accessing networks of contacts and companions easier and more visually accessible than ever. Relationships are deeper and more complex than simply a 1 to 100 number in RoTK13, and especially within your own city or region, you really get the feeling of being a colleague of the other officers around you. (Not to mention, when you work your way into your liege's inner circle, you feel a great sense of accomplishment!)

It feels amazing to go from a small talent few know about, to a peer within your city's complement of officers, to an indespensible hand for your governor, to a figure whispered in the court of your liege, to a minister for the liege himself. And that's not even the highest you can climb.

I've yet to find an aspect of the game I outright dislike, but above all, if you enjoy the roleplaying aspects of this franchise, RoTK 13 won't disappoint. As someone who enjoys that element myself, I highly reccommend this game.

(NOTE: Make sure you click the play button at the TOP of the launcher and not the bottom! That bottom one runs a complementary copy of one of the first RoTK games. Possibly the very first.)