I’ve been playing the shit out of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI.

I am probably only one of the dozen or so people that gets pumped up for ROT3K, but I’ve been playing the shit out of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI for the past couple of weeks. So far I’m really liking XI (especially after the snorefest that was X). I dig how there’s less emphasis on micromanagement and “role-playing”… and more on what makes ROT3K fun: war.

I’m no video game critic, and I know that this series isn’t a game for the masses, but for those that like the game and the genre, it’s a can’t miss. There’s nothing that I really dislike about the game, even though some things could have been improved upon to make the game flow better. Like transporting resources. Nothing’s more frustrating than having 100,000 soldiers in Cheng Du while Cao Cao is raping your ass on the eastern front. Also, I still don’t get the whole “debate” thing. Does anyone enjoy this? No seriously, anyone? I guess it’s kind of cool to have your smarter generals “battle it out,” but come on, in a game primarily about warfare it just doesn’t fit. I am also really confused about duels now and just leave it up to the pc.

I’m glad the whole talking to generals thing is done away with that was in X. It just ate up way too much time. Also, I don’t play these games to be a lowly wandering general or advisor… I play them because ancient China needs to be unified under the banner of Haywood.

Currently, I’m in a fight to the death battle with Cao Zhi. (I managed to capture Cao Cao in a fierce navy battle and had him executed.) He’s pretty much got the entire northwest locked up, while my primary power base is in the south. (Oh, I created myself as a charming politician who could probably get beaten by Sun Qian in a duel.) Sun Ce, Yuan Shao and Gongsu Whatever-the-fuck are battlin’ it out eat and they all seem pretty even at the moment. Notable generals that I’ve picked up are Lu Bu and Sima Yi. I don’t know if I can beat the Cao’s straight up since he outnumbers my troops 3:1, but maybe I’ll be able to sneak something out. I am playing on the “beginners” setting after all.

At any rate, I’m a big fan of XI so far. It’s probably my favorite game of the series since 6. Koei seems to have done away with most of the things I didn’t like about the past 2 games. I really wish I could play this game with a keyboard and mouse (damn you Koei for not releasing an English PC version!) because the interface is clunky at times. Overall, if you like the series, you probably picked up a copy of this game when it was released and have played it to death, if you don’t like ROT3K, then this game won’t change your mind.

Score: 9.0

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