Customer Reviews

Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is probably my second favorite Romance of the three kingdoms game. That probably doesn't mean much since I have only played three of them. II, III & IV. II is probably my favorite. This game is a close second. It is more intricate and the the graphics are better but that doesn't mean the game is better. Probably the worst part about the game is the ending. One of the worst endings I have seen. Once your general conquers the land you see him on a wall overlooking his troops. The thing is, no matter who your ruler was the cinema has him looking like Cao Cao so you might as well play the game as him. My favorite feature is the create an officer option but it is hard to create a super officer like Cao Cao or Sun Quan. Although I have genearated a few guys with war ratings of 100, fit to fight Lu Bu himself. At least on paper but usually my super warriors didn't fight as advertised and got whupped once the actual big fight commenced. Still, for all it's drawbacks this game rules. There's nothing like taking a wimpy created general, recruiting troops, building up a horde, conquering China with said horde and then watching your female general turn into Cao Cao. It's a beautiful thing.

This is my favorite of the Three Kingdoms games. It isn't as complex as the later editions but is definitely an upgrade over the original two. The ability to create your own generals and ruler adds welcome difficulty to the game as well as adding that personal touch if you like to see your own name flash across the screen. Overall, the game is fun to play, complex enough to keep your interest yet not overload you with options and things you have to remember to build up your cities/troops etc. If you are into these types of games, RTK III is definitely one to check out.

GRAPHICS: 3 OF 5
The graphics are okay - not as good as Square games like Secret of Mana or Final Fantasy, but about the level of Dragonquest. I did like the character graphics for this game much better than RTK 4 though.

MUSIC: 4 OF 5
I liked most of the music, and even listen to the soundtrack every so often even today. I liked how some of the songs sound very Chinese. One of the tracks halfway through the game was really annoying though.

STORY: 4 OF 5
There really isn't much of a story to these types of games, but it's not entirely satisfying that there isn't a different ending for each ruler. I loved the individual intros for each ruler in RTK 6; there is none of that here. But other than that, this game has excellent replay value because no two games are alike - different rulers will become stronger or weaker, and there is no way to predict variables such as bad weather or when an enemy will attack you.

GAMEPLAY: 3 OF 5
I really like the battles, but the menu system is frustrating.

PROS:
* The castle battles were very challenging because it was very difficult to win. In RTK 4, it is way too easy - you just use the battering ram or catapult to bust open the castle gate and it's over. You can't do that in this game.
* The field battles are much better than RTK 4. I love the fact that you can't see everything at night - it makes the battles more realistic.

CONS:
* The organization of soldiers was a little inefficient. For example, in RTK 4, whenever there is a battle, I could choose how many troops to give to each officer. In this game, I have to assign soldiers ahead of time.
* It is much more difficult to plan commands in this game than RTK 4. In RTK 4, I can give orders to my cities in any order I like. In this game, the order is set, which makes it difficult to plan orders like moving soldiers, officers, and items.

CONCLUSION: 3 OF 5
I wanted to give this game a 4 of 5, but the menu system is just too frustrating. After seeing the user friendliness of RTK 4's menu system, it is very difficult to want to play this game despite the excellent battle system.