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Romance of the Three Kingdoms (video game series)

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Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms for the Nintendo Entertainment System, with the logo in the bottom-right corner
Genre(s)Strategy
Developer(s)Koei (now Kou Shibusawa)
Publisher(s)Koei (now Koei Temco)
Creator(s)Yōichi Erikawa
First releaseRomance of the Three Kingdoms
10 December 1985
Latest releaseRomance of the Three Kingdoms XIV
16 January 2020
Spin-offsDynasty Warriors
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese三國志
Simplified Chinese三国志
Literal meaningRecords of the Three Kingdoms
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSānguózhì
Vietnamese name
VietnameseTam quốc chí
Hán-Nôm三國志
Korean name
Hangul삼국지
Hanja三國志
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationSamgugji
Japanese name
Kanji三國志
Hiraganaさんごくし
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnSangokushi

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國志, Sangokushi, lit. "Records of the Three Kingdoms") is a series of turn-based tactical role-playing simulation grand strategy wargames produced by Koei.[1][2] Originating from Japan in 1985, fourteen installments of the game have been published in Japan, Taiwan, China, South Korea and North America to date. While the game's title as it was released in English refers to the 14th century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義) by Luo Guanzhong, the title as it was released in Japan and Chinese regions refers to the 3rd century historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms (三國志) by Chen Shou.

Overview

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The series are based on the romanticized Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel and the historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms, the storyline takes place during the Han dynasty in China with many warring factions that included the Shu Han, Cao Wei and Eastern Wu kingdoms. Gameplay revolves around managing numerical statistics, each representing an attribute of a city or a character. A city is described by statistics such as stored grain supplies, vulnerability to disasters such as floods and earthquakes, treasury funds, domestic affairs and populace loyalty. Characters are numerically characterized by their leadership abilities, melee prowess, intellects and loyalty, as well as special traits or even magical abilities that can be called upon whether during wartime, diplomacy or domestic affairs. Players can increase these numbers before waging war on neighbouring territories or intending diplomatic efforts.

While generally presented as a turn-based strategy game, the seventh, eighth and tenth editions offer role-playing features, allowing the player to play as a rank-and-file character instead of leading a kingdom.

Several spin-offs based on the series include the tactical action hack and slash video game series Dynasty Warriors, Dynasty Tactics which is a hybrid of Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as well as the three tactical role-playing games Sangokushi Eiketsuden (Liu Bei), Sangokushi Koumeiden (Zhuge Liang), and Sangokushi Sousouden (Cao Cao). Kessen II is a real-time tactics game on PS2.

Another spin-off is the mobile game Three Kingdoms Tactics, based on Koei Tecmo's series.[3] It was published by Chinese company Alibaba Group in September 2019. It has grossed $1.2 billion worldwide as of March 2021, making it Alibaba's most successful mobile game.[4]

List of games in the series

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The release dates provided are for original Japanese releases.

Main series

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Release timeline
1985Romance of the Three Kingdoms
1986
1987
1988
1989Romance of the Three Kingdoms II
1990
1991
1992III: Dragon of Destiny
1993
1994IV: Wall of Fire
1995Romance of the Three Kingdoms V
1996VI: Awakening of the Dragon
1997
1998
1999
2000Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII
2001Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII
2002
2003Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX
2004Romance of the Three Kingdoms X
2005
2006Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012Romance of the Three Kingdoms XII
2013
2014
2015
2016Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII
2017
2018
2019
2020Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV

Other games

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Reception

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Sangokushi received positive critical reception in North America when it was released there in 1988.

As of 2020, the main series has shipped more than 9 million copies worldwide.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Legendra. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
  3. ^ "Three Kingdoms Tactics". App Store. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  4. ^ Chapple, Craig (March 31, 2021). "Alibaba's Three Kingdoms Tactics Strikes Up $1 Billion and is 2021's No. 5 Grossing App Store Game So Far". Sensor Tower. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  5. ^ https://www.koeitecmo.co.jp/ir/docs/ir3_202310244.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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