The remake of Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII is now out in the wild, and it is a very good game. It’s excellent for newcomers while also offering something for the series faithful, all wrapped up in some truly gorgeous art.
We were able to send some questions over to the Koei Tecmo team on what they hope players will take away from this game, with Kazuhiro Echigoya, the game’s producer, answering the bulk of them, but Hisatsugu Ishikawa, the development producer, also offering some insights where noted:
MS: Romance of the Three Kingdoms has tried hard to become more accessible to a new and mainstream audience in recent years. What have you done with the remake of RotK8 to continue this trend?
KE: Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII is a game from 20 years ago, but we have remade fundamental aspects such as the user interface, game pacing, and graphics to ensure that current game fans can fully enjoy it. To ensure that it’s accessible to a newer audience, we have invested considerable time in developing beginner-friendly features, such as a comprehensive tutorial, more so than in any other title in the series. Plus, the original game is 20 years old and is mechanically simpler and more straightforward compared to the recent installments, XIII and XIV.
We’ve aimed to create a game that allows today’s players to enjoy a classic experience, so it is an ideal entry point for series newcomers, so we hope people will give it a try.
MS: The number of 4X strategy games has exploded over the last decade. Do you see it as more challenging to stand out now?
KE: The growth of strategy games, not just limited to 4X games, means that the market is expanding so it’s something we welcome. Within that, this game has its own original and interesting features that’s different than 4X, so I think that it is another form of a strategy game. While competition has certainly become fiercer, in terms of distinctiveness we consider ourselves one of the standards for historical games, and I think that our presence is firmly established.
We aim to continue offering a deep and enjoyable experience that is different from 4X titles to everyone interested in strategy games.
MS: I’ve always wondered why Koei Tecmo maintains this series as a single-player series. Is there something about Romance of the Three Kingdoms (including this remake) that means that multiplayer isn’t viable?
KE: In the older, non-online era, we did have multiplayer, but in the online era we’ve rarely included it. The reason is specific: Romance of the Three Kingdoms titles often apply systems like turn-based or simultaneous plotting, which require waiting for other players to complete their actions. This inevitably leads to being tied to the game even longer, which we think does not fit with online multiplayer. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms XII, where battles were real-time, we did separate the battles for multiplayer. If we decide that we have something suitable in the future, we might create it for multiplayer.
HI: I believe that multiplayer games have their merits, just as single-player games do. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, including this title, is designed for players to enjoy the story of the Three Kingdoms while taking their time to think things through.
MS: Storytelling has become an increasingly important part of the strategy gaming experience – the likes of Crusader Kings III in particular has become well regarded as a narrative experience. Have you taken this opportunity to modernise the storytelling of Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8?
KE: One significant feature of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series has always been the enjoyment of key episodes from the Three Kingdoms story through in-game events. We have deliberately enhanced this in this title with the largest number of events in the series. In addition, the “Tales” system allows players to choose which events to trigger and which to avoid based on their preferences. This allows players to fine-tune the game in a way that they find most enjoyable according to either historical accuracy or advantages and disadvantages.
MS: What do you think players can (or should!) learn about Romance of the Three Kingdoms when playing this game?
KE: A key feature of this title is that it features scenarios for every year from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to Zhuge Liang’s death on Wuzhang Plains in 234. When starting a scenario in any given year, the player will be presented with a “Scenario Opening” that explains the situation faced by each force at that time. Just by watching these openings, players can get a grasp of the Three Kingdoms story.
In addition, the character information screen includes a biography explaining how the characters are depicted in both Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Records of the Three Kingdoms. Many players worldwide have become interested in the history of the Three Kingdoms through these features, and I think that number will continue to grow.
MS: Can I ask you what Romance of the Three Kingdoms means to you personally – are you a fan of the book, or did some other pathway result in you working on this project?
KE: For me, Romance of the Three Kingdoms could be said to be my “destiny” project. I’ve been familiar with it since childhood, both as something I read and games I played, and it’s what led me to join Koei Tecmo.
In Japan, the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa and the manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama made Romance of the Three Kingdoms well-known. Many people, including myself, were introduced to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms through these works and went on to play our games.
To be honest, when I joined the company, I didn’t start with a strong desire to create “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” games, and actually my original wish was to work on game sound production. However, it’s true that this series was the motivation behind joining the company. In addition, though I wasn’t originally strongly committed to it, as I worked on various tasks, the opportunity eventually presented itself to me. I thought, “If given the chance, then I’ll do it,” and that’s how I ended working on this series.
Matt S: Historically and in the novel’s fiction, the various armies in Romance of the Three Kingdoms were not equal. In fact, it was only by some miracles that the dominant factions were defeated in key battles that “three kingdoms” were able to emerge at all. As a game developer, how do you balance the desire to be authentic to the source material with the need to make the game fun (i.e. make sure that all major factions are reasonably playable)?
KE: The event system known as “Tales” in this title will allow players to recreate to an extent the movement of forces as depicted in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Records of the Three Kingdoms. However, whether you start with a strong or weak nation, in order to achieve the goal of unification, the player must be victorious. Of course, playing as a weaker nation will be more challenging, but there are many players drawn to that difficulty, so we intentionally keep the strength differences between forces as they are.
MS: Women were little more than background objects in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and certainly not battlefield participants. Obviously, it’s important to give them an expanded role in the game, so how do you approach bringing them into the experience in a way that is still authentic? How do you research the female characters when there is so little to go on from the book?
KE: Indeed, not many women are featured in Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Records of the Three Kingdoms, but there are a few. Additionally, we have included female characters from folk tales and also original characters created for Koei Tecmo titles. Whether it’s from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Records of the Three Kingdoms or folklore, we research how these women are portrayed in the sources and consider what roles to assign them as we develop their unique characteristics.
MS: Finally, what do you think is the most interesting way to play Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake?
KE: I think it would be enjoying the feature of “Destiny,” where symbiotic (officers who become your allies) and antagonistic (opposing warlords) dynamics shift with each play, creating new drama every time. While the overall flow from “Parliament” to “City” remains unchanged from VIII, most of the individual elements have been transformed, ensuring that fans of the original version can also enjoy it.
