When I play RTKVII hours pass by like minutes...and all you do is click your mouse.
User Rating: 7.5 | Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII PS2
Note: I played Romance of Three Kingdoms VII on a PC. So I would not be able to comment on controls, but given that the interface is quite basic only essentially requiring a mouse for PC, it would not really have a major impact on overall gameplay given the intuitive interface. Romance of Three Kingdoms 7 is not a game for everyone. It is not a genre defining game, either. It is a strictly simulation game with a lot of crunching numbers and stilted words involved. The allure of the game sorely stems from the fact that the player is able to direct the decisions of the many characters that are so colorfully presented in the popular Chinese folklores that were abridged by an ancient scholar Luo Guanzhong. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not strictly of a historical merit, there is little in the historical context that justifies the events in the book. The book is a popularized version of many recounts of the history surrounding the times of torment in China in 300 AD, where three warlords vied for power to unify all of China. Although set in a historical context, the work is strictly fiction, and does not reflect at all how the real counterparts in the history are presented. Even compounding this fact is that the Chinese account of the story has been altered somewhat by Koei for Japanese consumption. It is perfectly understandable and I personally did not have a problem with playing the game as is. Typically, you do not build bases, the thirty cities that are already established when the game starts act as a pre-determined points of supply and command. The overall strategy involves administering both political and military aspects of government, fostering growth in the cities by farming and encouraging commerce. As for the military side, enlarging your army and training them in order to prepare for invasion to brace yourself in the case defending your cities become a necessity. Of course, doing all these tasks require the services of certain officers, all different in ways that their ratings might suggest, and derived from the characters found in the actual book. Certain officers excel in military and strength, so you give them the title of generals and entrust upon them the affairs of the military. Those who are proficient in politics and intelligence, internal affairs should be their primary tasks. Highly charismatic characters are used to enlist the troops and charm others. These generals shares rapport with your character, and the ongoing relationship with them can net some interesting results. More interesting part of the gameplay, and new to this series, is that not only can you assume the role of the warlords, but of a low rank official striving to put his name in the history. Therefore, you can place yourself in the steps of some 230 available officers. You can be a pragmatic advisor, a ferocious general, or an absolute nobody for pure roleplaying reasons. There around fifty available slots to create your own character, and form a whole clan if you so desire. The actual battle takes place on a gridmap where the units that are under the command of each general are placed according to how you planned in the pre-battle stages. There are vital supply points that you have to defend while you progress to invade or defend your territory. The army is governed by its number and its moral rating. If your supply points were to fall under the hands of enemy, the moral decreases, and this has a tremendous effect on the outcome. Of course, the AI can be manipulated single-handidly in the easy setting. The actual battle scene is where your generals strut their stuff, and the ones with high ratings in strength and other military related traits absolutely can destroy other units at will. Although the war sometimes can devolve into simply putting emphasis on attrition, it is fun nonetheless. There is an innumerable possibilites of playing this game, but the goal is to unify China. There are several scenarios to start from, from the beginning where the Yellow Scarves(?) brigands terrorized the countryside or when Liu Bei acquires Kong Ming (Zhuge Liang) and expands upon his ambition to restore the Han dynasty. Other additions to the game design includes many treasures, which enhance the skill ratings of the officers, poetry or battle contests, which put to the test the talents of many officers, and the curious pledge of hospitality to the emperor of China, whose status as an embattled figurehead pining for protection is peculiar at best, and who can give you formal ranks within the government, however titular it might be. The music is very nice indeed, as it changes in a seasonal cycle. There is a music clip in every different occasions and particularly the interpretation of Chinese folk music through electronic guitars and synthesizers is, to say the least, innovative. Overall, this is an interesting game to try for anyone who has affinity for strategy games. The historical context that accomapanies the game is the main selling point, and to those who wish to play the game should consider reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which spans about ten volumes. I definitely liked the score of characters that are diverse and colorful and to play them as generals under my command is a humbling experience, at best. It is bit of a shame that the Romance of Three Kingdom games are not accompanied with the entire text itself, only passing references to it. If you are piqued by the mention of the text, it is available online, at http://www.threekingdoms.com. It is also a shame that I was not able to find any Romance of Three Kingdoms X title on PC, it seems that Koei has finally given up marketing the game outside the core Japanese audiences due to various reasons. The most current iteration is due to ship on PS2 this year, localized, giving me some thoughts about acquiring PS2 just to play it. tips If you happen to capture one of the coveted generals or officer, hesitate before sending him merrily back to his warlord. Kill him or her off to at least dampen further incursions or threats. Although that would lead to some shortage of interesting characters, which are ironically just a face and a number to represent nothing but some expanded choices. In historical mode at least, there will never be a case where a famous general under Cao Cao to submit under the influence of Liu Bei. There are compability ratings for each officers in the game and it dictates whether what ruler the officers are more willing to serve. Always try to cut off supply lines in the battle scene. An army that is ten times smaller than the opposing foe can defeat it by cutting off supplies and reducing the moral of the enemy soldiers. Observe carefully what traits or military skills the officers have acquired. For example when an officer is skilled in navy, bestow him boats and deploy him on any body of water. And it tremendously helps if you are acquainted with the story upon which the game is based on. 
