Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII [official site] is not new-new, having technically been out since January, but only today did Koei Tecmo release an English version. It’s a tactical grand strategy RPG wargame sort of a series, now over 20 years old, based on the famous semi-mythical historical epic about China’s strife during the second and third centuries. Buuut even if you’re a die-hard Romantic you might want to check the reviews before you buy.

Players get to play as one of 700 historical characters during the era of unification, playing through history or trying to change its direction. Here’s how Koei Tecmo’s blurb says it’s supposed to go:

“Explore the myriad of experiences within the world of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII, covering Civil Development, Diplomacy, Debates, Duels, open field battles, sieges, naval battles and more with gameplay differing depending on the situation at hand. Cities can be built and developed; alliances can be fostered or broken; armies can be mustered and deployed. Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII prides itself on offering a wide range of options for conflict resolution including a robust army composition selection, while special care has been taken to incorporate diplomacy and personal relationships, giving the player an extra incentive to build a stable and loyal network of friends and allies.”

Player reviews are looking less sunny. If you’ve played RotTK before, you might want to check what folks have said on Steam as it seems quite a few folks were hoping for something different. However, do bear in mind that it cost more before its official English release.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII now has a launch discount bringing it to £41.49/49,79€/$49.79 on Steam. The launch trailer is all cinematic guff but this explains a little about how it works:



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