Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI: Awakening of the Dragon

by koei

Product Details

• ASIN: B00004R8W3
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,083 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Editorial Review
While it really isn't surprising that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series has survived long enough to produce six titles, it is absolutely amazing that this line of games is available on the Playstation. Anyone who thinks consoles are for kids hasn't encountered the complex gameplay, convoluted menu-driven interface, or historical flair of Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI: Awakening of the Dragon.

Your job is a big one: unite China under your rule. To accomplish this task, you must sway your enemies through use of diplomacy, subterfuge, and force, all the while keeping your homelands protected and your people fed. No one man could do all this, so you must delegate authority to a variety of historical officers with varying degrees of ability. Some are suited for leading troops in battle, and some are better at spying. It's up to you to pick the best man for the job.

The game's biggest problem is its interface, which consists of dozens of nested menus, packed with commands that are not very well described in the thin manual. This is not a title you load up for a quick gaming fix, but one that--if it's your cup of tea--you start playing on Friday night and continue through Monday (after calling in sick). Unfortunately, few gamers will have the patience or resolve to overcome the more frustrating aspects of RotTK VI. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Incredibly deep gameplay for a console game
• Historical content is interesting

Cons:

• Convoluted interface with too many menus
• Perhaps too complex for most people's tastes

GameSpot Review
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is an ancient series, by console standards, stretching back to the NES. This series has been at the forefront of historical-war simulations since then as well. Koei has refined and crafted these games with more and more options in each iteration - but with no real innovation. Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI is a rich and textured game, but it's a victim of the company's unchanging ways. ROT3K6 shares not only the same themes as its predecessors - a historically accurate account of ancient Chinese wars - but also virtually the same graphics. Certainly, any effect or graphical nuance this game possesses could be faithfully reproduced on the SNES or Genesis without any loss of clarity, color, or animation. The sole exception is the rather lackluster FMV opening. Of course, the amount of data and sheer number of historical characters is astounding, but the presentation is sorely lacking. This is an issue Koei has sought to remedy with the forthcoming Kessen on the PlayStation2 - and in fact, an FMV demo of this game is on the ROT3K6 disc. Unfortunately, that only serves to highlight the graphical faux pas. Where ROT3K6's attraction lies, then, is in the complex and intricately woven gameplay. As you begin the game, you can choose from plenty of short or long scenarios, you can set historical accuracy on or off, and you can even create your own characters and name them. While short scenarios have their own goals, each long scenario can have only one - the unification of ancient China. The road to accomplishing this is long, hard, and menu-driven. Each turn lasts a game month and consists of three phases: civil, military, and cattle. During the civil phase, you must choose which officers to set in what position (for example, you can assign an officer to oversee farm production or place him in charge of troops) and arrange your absolute multitude of settings to your liking. Moving into the military phase, you make decisions on strategy, and during battle you're sucked into a huge field map to watch miniscule stick figures dance. If you're lucky, you'll capture an enemy city and be ready to do it all again for the next turn. What Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI has going for it may not be graphical prowess but the sheer level of content. No other developer has the history Koei does - the evolving scenarios and characters contained within this game point to the fact that they have been at it for years, and each game gets packed with more and more characters, scenarios, and situations. You could most probably play this game every day for a month solid and not run out of stuff to do. With hundreds of officers, tons of scenarios, customizability and options, and the whole of China to unify several times over, this game offers a lot of replay value. The main obstacle to enjoyment is that you must process endless arcane menus and settings. There is no action, and there is no flash - just pure historical simulation achieved through the judicious application of management skill. While ROT3K6 won't win anyone over with its graphics - even die-hard 2D fans are going to find nothing to love about this title - it is a solid and intricate simulation title, recognized by fans as being one of the best. This series has carried Koei for a long time, and while it's nice to see the innovation the company is finally bringing to the genre in Kessen, for now, fans can enjoy the intricacies of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the original. --Christian Nutt
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More depth to an already deep simulation, June 11, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

RTK VI is a further enhancement to the successful franchise. Now your officer's abilities change as they age and as they acquire experience. The maximum number of troops and officer can command is based on his rank (and a ruler's rank determines what rank he can bestow on his officers). There are now many more officers to interact with and the story behind the game is given greater depth. The addition of short scenarios allows players to meet objectives without having to complete a campaign game. The main weakness is Koei's lack of documentation. Your officer's loyalty increases as your prestige increases (by completing tasks asked by the emperor)-- but the manual doesn't tell you this. You find out at a council that it takes 6 months and 20000 gold to build a palace-- but not in the manual. Talk with your officers to set up a council. The graphics are only incrementally improved. Overall, this is a solid addition for those who loved Koei's previous offerings, but it requires some learning and patience.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I wonder what koei was thinking, April 17, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I just say that i love the whole RTK series but in number 6. I believe that Koei made a mistake. does anyone notice that their is not hardly anything to do in between months while your waiting for tax income? theres no rewarding your generals. and no training your troops either, both of these things not only made the game more realistic but also used up downtime in between wars and tax time. One thing that i do like is that thier is a good amount of fighting in the long missions, which was lacking in previous versions. I also really think that the fighting is much improved. and the new ranking system with all of the gazillions of ranks to bestow on your officers. but you will find your self skipping many a month (turn) in the game. the graphics are the best ever for a romance game but i for one dont play this game for the graphics, i play for the strategy ive logged more than 5,000 hours playing this series!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay game but could have been better., May 14, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Well, I think the latest version of Romance of the three kingdom part 6 is okay but really could have been a lot better. Some of the major differences between part 4 and part 6 are described below. Some of the things missing in part 6 that I like so much in part 4 are: Train your soldiers, rewarding your generals with gold, building weapons like catapult, rams, strong bows, and etc, learning and controlling bolt, weather, wind, boulders, and etc, extended war only 30 days war, searching a large area instead of one city, having 3 generals to one unit instead of one general to a unit, invade plot, goving food to your people, sending supplies and troops option, vassal cities operate just like the main city, and keeping prisoners in jail for more than a year. Some of the new feature in part 6 that I like are obtaining title for the Emperor, give rank to you generals according to the title obtain for the Emperor after you help him perform or agreed to some task required for you, able to talk to your general and sometime they will ask for a council meeting, some animated story line, general have distinctively different attitudes that goes according to their dream and amibition, and distinctively different plot and battle. Finally the graphics are better. These are only some of the differences mention. Hope this will helop you decide. Despite all the differences, I still like playing it. Diehard RTK fan.