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PS2's first TRUE strategy/sim game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 33 / 36
Date: June 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by KOEI Corporation, is an 8-installment franchise. The United States has seen 6 out of these 8 so far, with part 5 being the only one not released.
The flagship of KOEI, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on a period of China's history known as the Han. A lot was going at the time, but at the crux of all the events, three kingdoms clashed for total ownership of the land. In this game, you take full control. You can be a ruler and vie for the title of Emperor, or be an Officer and serve who you wish for as long as you wish. RTTK gives you complete control over your facilities; thereby making for almost infinite replay value. For strategy buffs, this is the game for you. If you prefer fast paced action games and don't care about WHY you're playing the game, then this probably won't suit you. This game requires thought...a lot of it, and you have to pay attention to a lot of different things at once. With patience, you can learn to love this game. Guaranteed.

Another great entry for this great series...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 23
Date: July 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First, let me just say that I'm glad there are other reviewers/players out there that are enjoying this game.
Secondly, I didn't know there was a multiplayer option so I thank all those that have clued us in on that.
Thirdly, my impressions on the game. I bought this game when it first came out and enjoyed it from the start. It seems daunting at first, but if you give it time(and refer to the manual if you're a newbie), the options/controls become second nature soon enough. The graphics could be better, but anyone who puts gameplay above graphics will be richly rewarded. The game has a good mix of strategy(turn-based battles/diplomacy), simulation(simplistic resource management), and rpg(character development) elements. The best part of the game is probably the role-playing aspect of the game. Pick (or create) any character...and do whatever you want to him/her. Whether it's improving their abilities, interacting with other characters, or trying to rise through the ranks; you can do it in this game. It gives you the freedom to do all that. This allows for massive replay value. The worst aspect of the game is the slightly tedious nature of the actual battles. They can be engrossing at times...downright boring at others. Still, the game is very involving, addictive, complex(at first), interactive and enjoyable. The objective may be to unify China, but the journey in getting there with your character(s) is the true reason for experiencing this game.

An example of why: when i first bought it, i just booted it up and started playing(not much for reading manuals). I picked a character i didn't care much about, so i thought "just play it for an hour to get the hang of it...then start a real scenario". More than 10 hrs later and I was still playing my "throw-away" scenario(which is still saved on one of the six allotted save options). During this time my ruler character: died, his son took over, Sun Ce demanded I surrendered, I did and became one of his officers, became a ronin, snuck into an empty province, set up my own kingdom again, got beaten and recruited(by Sun Ce again!), decided to be a loyal officer this time and rise in the ranks, got caught in battle against Cao Cao's forces, joined him, etc. Again, all this in my first "gonna play for just an hour" scenario! So if you want that "what's gonna happen next to my character" type of game, this is for you. Whether you are the type that knows you can control your own fate, or enjoy the unpredictability of events around you controlling your fate; I highly recommend you give this game a try/rental for its high replay value. For die-hard fans of the series, you should already have bought it long ago :)

Top-notch historical simulation game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: July 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS VII is the seventh installment in a long-running series of historical simulation games made by KOEI based on the book of the same name by Ming Dynasty author Luo Guanzhong. The book, as does the game, takes place in second and third-century China. The goal is to reunite a China torn apart by warfare and rebellions.

If you are new to the series, I can honestly say that this game is not for everyone. It is built in the mold of games such as Europa Universalis and Civilization, and has a lot of micromanagement. If you liked those games, you might very well like this game. If you didn't, this game is definitely not for you. Like Civilization and Europa Universalis, RTK VII has the potential to be very, very addicting. Be forewarned.

For fans of this series, what can I say. BUY THIS GAME. It's got several improvements over previous games. New features include playing any officer, not just the ruler. There are ten scenarios, including two entirely new scenarios in "184 AD: The Yellow Turban Rebellion" and "257 AD: Sima Shao's Ambition." Other interesting additions include dueling tournaments, poetry contests, and a system for building friendships between officers. The graphics are also tremendously improved over previous incarnations, but are still nonetheless dated. Creating new officers is also greatly expanded, as you can now create parent/child relationships and can create a total of up to 100 different characters.

Simply put, highly recommended for fans and people who love in-depth strategy games.

P.S. For those who have heard that there is no multiplayer option, that is an incorrect rumor. After you choose your first officer and start the game, press L2 + R2 + Select to add new players/officers.

Taking Over China.... the Fun way

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: December 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm a fan of the RoTK Books, and a major supporter of Koei for it's exemplary games. This is by far their most innovative, and engaging game. Obviously considering it's spanned 9 games since the old days of the NES(8 is currently out in Japan, and I'm not sure about 9 yet). Stratgy and mangement are the fundmentals of the game. It doesn't bog you down with micromanaging, or limit your control, rather it has a nice median. If you don't wanna worry bout a kingdom, fine go off and be a prefect of a city, or a general/tactician on the battle front. Even better is you can have up to 8 players, and get a big game of hot seat going like in the good old days of all those older strategy games.

Story/Plot is obviously good, considering it's taken from historical(and fictional) accounts. Whats better is if you've read the books you can see how you sort of alter history, and create your own story of the Three Kingdoms(in my cas eit's more of the 5 kingdoms ^_^). I took over the riverlands, had my providences split when He Jin sneakily captured my supply route, killed Dong Zhou, made a 3 pronged attack on the province He Jin stole, had one of my prefects defect over to He Jin, Took out Han Sui who was threating my northern provinces, allied with Zhang Bao and cut off He Jin from half his kingdom and his warlord Cao Cao, took over He Jin's southern Territories, then decided to turn on Zhang Bao because I noticed he had my Warlord's(Liu Bei) Swords, and currently am on a campaign to reclaim his swords, and grab the Emperor from He Jin. Now thats what I call ownage. Story totally gets a 5.

Graphics tend to be where the major downfall is. I for one don't mind, most Next-Gen games spend their entire budgets and resources to make games graphically incredible for about 5 hours of gameplay. I would say the graphics could be better, but I still get excited about battles and duels even with it's less than par visuals. I say if you looking for graphics, play Dynasty Warriors. Graphics earn a 2, although true startegy players will tell you great graphics don't make for great strategy games *cough War Craft 3 cough*.

Gameplay as I've already said is totally excellent. You can be a Liege, a Prefect, a Ronin, a Common, or a Warlord. I got beef about the Warlord though, your liege asks you inane questions about his generals, and you pretty much have to memorize everyoens stats otherwise he won't let you do ne thing. Aside from that the game has foriegn, demostic, military, politcal, diplomatic, and interpersonal aspects. There are skills to learn, stats to improve, countries to conquer, and an emporer to kiss [butt] to for a title. You can make friends allies, enemies, and even coup your own lord. Combat is excellent, forcing you to watch out for terrain, traps, guard your rear, and complete strategies. Even with a 110 war you can still get wasted in battle if you charge without thinking(bad memories). Gameplay totally gets a 5.

Sound is basic. The msuic is authentic, can kinda get repetive. Theres clanking in duels and battle etc. Nothing spectacualr, or terrible about it. Basically a solid 3.

Replay, 10 different time periods, 500+ characters, create your own, multiplayer, changes every time you play. Nuff said. Another 5.

It's good to see a game like this not dpendent on Graphics, but on the Gameplay. If you like Diablo, or Dark Ages of Camelot, chances are you won't care for this game. If you enjoy Civilization, Age of Empires, or Masters of Orion you'll feel right at home. Hopefully the 8th installment will be coming out soon.

Also, forgive the numerous typos, I'm a terible typist. ^_^

Best of the Series

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: July 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I must admit, until this one came out RTK 2 was still my favorite. But being able to play any of the 5 roles as a general is fantastic. The game is involved but it is not overwhelming by any means, especially not for someone who has played other games in the series. As for being only 1 player....well this is only true if you dont know the secret to getting more players. I.E. Choose Multiple Characters:
After choosing a player and enter the game, hold down R-Shift, left mouse button and right click twice to bring up a menu which allows you to choose multiple characters instead of just only one. Enjoy!

Not for all Dynasty Warrior fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Like I said, most Dynasty Warriors fans will be dissapointed by this game. recommended for strategy buffs and the super-thick manual can back me up on this one. Think of it as Stronghold but with such a wider range and more, way more complex. The graphics are all not as well as you would think, but hey, they never were good. Well, to get right down to it, it is a strategy gamers hardest challenge hands-down. You must keep your headquarters while spreading over more of your land and taking over others. You can use your army or political propaganda to take over everyones land. THis game is fun, but ... it is one player and if you want 2player action, stick with ROTTK4. At least rent the game. It probanly will be worth your money. Koei ROCKS
. THis I am Now editing. It appears there is a 2payer thing goin on with this game if you hold down R2+R1+L2+L1./ Thank you whowever voted for this review

The crown jewel of the series!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

To me, this was when the Romance of the three kingdoms series hit it's high point. Romance 8 expanded upon it but I still like this one a little better. For one thing the combat is slighly easier to get into. You don't have to wait three months before you can engage in warfare. The gameplay is hard but not so hard that you go crazy unlike Romance IX. If you want you can just forget about trying to conquer China at all and just live as a ronin and build your characters stats which is cool.

The music in the game is some of the best in the series. It is worth playing through the game just to hear the majestic score at the end of the game. Multiple endings are good of course although it can be hard to get the 'good' endings. I always became a tyrant and then got conquered by the Xianbei. I hate them so much.

Anyway, this game is a great strategy game but is not for beginners or people who like fast paced games although with this series that goes without saying.

for those of you who dont know yet-IT HAS MULTIPLAYER

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: July 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I dont know why they did this but to get multi player you must hold R1+R2+L1+L2 and press select. Anyways, this game is the best of koei's series yet! This game has plenty of gameplay since you have nearly 500+ characters to choose from with many different positions to play as. Each game you play will take you atleast 10-12 hours and after you are done, you are provoked to just play it again! Being a ruler, officer, governor, advisor, or even a wanderer is fun for this game. The battles are long and challenging but that is the fun part about this game. Become the evil person that brings turmoil to the land, or try to bring peace and unify china. Whatever you would want to do you could do in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 7.

Yawn. Almost Like A Board Game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: February 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is based on stats. Which means, you get a menu after choosing who you want to be, and pick a command like, "Visit"
You never see a visit, just see a talking bubble and a faceset of a character pop-up thanking you for visiting them. Then your stats are raised. This goes on and on for all of the commands. Nothing big happens, just a message telling you what happened after selecting it.
I'm a big fan of "Show not tell"
I don't want to be told defense went up in my region, I want to place my men accordingly and watch them defend. I want to go up to the person I visit, see them, press X, and then talk. Not see them pop up in my menu screen and thank me for visiting them.
I do have to say that once you get farther into the game, it gets more involving with battles and taking over regions. It still, however was not a game for me.
It reminds me of a really complex game of Risk, which again, reminds me of "the board game" aspect of it only turned into a video game.
The music is great, but repititive. And multiple endings to the game adds a ton of replay value which is always a plus!
I suggest rent before buying...and read reviews before even renting. :)

Cool

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I think personally this game is great. In my opinion it takes more after Kessen 2 then Dynasty Warriors. I like the fact you can make up a character and climb the ladder of power. Although it is designed for one player, I still enjoyed it because I am a big RPG fan and I am used to playing by myself or taking turns with a friend. Koei has made many games about this period during China's history. The basic story is there is one big kingdom, Han and in Dynasty Warriors you piece it back together, alot like Kessen even though it focuses mainly on Shu forces. In Romance 7 you are supposed to defeat powerful opponents like LuBu, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu.You are also supposed to win wars, expand your kingdom, and keep a good relationship with your people. In summary it is a well thought out game. The fighting and graphical capabilities are amazing. I say this is a game for RPG fans, Kessen 2, and Dynasty Warriors fans. Enjoy!

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