Game cover of the Total War: Three Kingdoms
Total War: Three Kingdoms, stylized as Total War: THREE KINGDOMS, is the 13th installment in the Total War series, developed by The Creative Assembly. It was announced on January 10, 2018, and released on May 23, 2019. The game is set in China during Three Kingdoms era.
The game features two game modes. The first mode, "Romance", is based on the highly romanticized account of the era, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which generals are gifted with nearly superhuman strength. Another mode, "Records", based on Records of the Three Kingdoms, presents a more historically accurate version. In Classic, the generals have their powers removed and they can no longer be commanded separately.
Story[]
The game begins in 190 CE, in which the once glorious Han dynasty is on the verge of collapse. The enthroned child Emperor, Xian, was manipulated by the warlord Dong Zhuo, at the age of eight. Dong Zhuo's oppressive rule leads to chaos. New warlords rise and form the coalition to start the campaign against Dong Zhuo. However, with each warlord having personal ambitions and constantly shifting allegiances, the player needs to utilize strategy and tactics to unify China and write their own history.
Features[]
Characters system[]
- Character system has been revamped. Characters in the game are now unique entities with different backgrounds and traits. There are no dedicated Generals, Spies or Diplomat in Three Kingdoms, all characters can perform all roles. So all of the player's characters can be a spy one day, a general on the battlefield next, and a governor in the court after. The games features a cast of hundreds historical characters with some of them being famous figure with unique design.
Guanxi system[]
- The Guanxi System (Friendship and Loyalty) is modelled after Guanxi, the Chinese concept of dynamic inter-relationships, Creative Assembly claims that the game has taken an paradigm-shifting approach to character agency. Each of these characters is brought to life with their own unique personalities, motivations, and likes/dislikes. They also form their own deep relationships with each other, both positive and negative, that shape how your story plays out.
Ancillaries[]
- Ancillary are now items that can be equipped on characters to provide bonuses for your character's attributes. A character's portrait will also change according to the ancillary equipped.
Campaign mechanics[]
Diplomacy[]
- Diplomacy is completely revamped from previous titles. To support these new aims and features, the developer rewrites the diplomacy model and AI from scratch. The new Diplomacy revolutionizes for a host of traditional features and systems from previous titles in the franchise. These include haggling deal and trade territory and ancillaries, and how AI values your offer, which affects state relationships and attitudes between different leaderships. It also add new diplomacy option such as coalition and guaranteeing vassal autonomy.
Court[]
- Court system revamped. It now features various new court positions, family tree, character relationship web. New faction council provides bonus and generate missions for player improve national industry, military and commerce. Player can give out Administrator position for your characters, ensuring their effective and satisfied employment in your court. People with low satisfaction and unpleasant guanxi within your court will automatically leave your faction to seek employment elsewhere and bring their own retinues and territories with them.
Reforms[]
Espionage[]
- Undercover Network returns to replace the old Agent system and plays vastly different from assassination and espionage system in previous titles.
Story progression[]
- The game now features story events and diverted paths. Events and Initial dilemma are new features introduced for player to create their own war stories during game progression. After fulfilling certain prerequisite actions, Each faction will face dilemmas to choose, marking a pivotal moment in that warlord's story. One of the options available to player is a choice reflecting what happened in history, and the outcomes will follow the events of the period. The others let player forge a alternative history of what might have been.
Battle mechanics[]
- Extreme unit size with 240 infantry/archers or 60 horses per unit. General's bodyguard unit in Records mode can be upgraded even more horses in one unit.
Heroes[]
- Hero mechanic returns in Total War: Three Kingdoms. heroes in the game are unique characters that act as single unit on the battlefield. Heroes are divided into different class that provide benefits in both grand campaign or on the battlefield. Some heroes are better at buffing allies while others are duelist whom are able to hunt down other heroes. Some heroes carry their own unique armors, weapons and equipment.
Duels[]
- Dueling returns with new improvement. Through dueling, the player could choose certain class of heroes to engage in one-on-one battle in front of their army. Victorious side will gain morale boost on the battlefield, which can often turn the tide of the battle.
Wu xing system[]
- Wu Xing (Elemental Phases) is a new gameplay mechanic. The system is based on the ancient Chinese philosophy that describes the interrelationships of the five elements to view the workings of the world. Wu Xing mechanic summarize the rock-paper-scissor balance approach from previous titles, streamlining them into a closed-circuit system that affects every aspects of gameplay.
Miscellaneous[]
- New art style, user interface and graphics design that inspired by traditional Chinese cultures.
- Move Capital returns, a feature last seen in Medieval II: Total War.
- Campaign AI rewritten.
- Customization of user interface and unit cards.
- The game has over 700 historical characters.
| Total War THREE KINGDOMS gameplay mechanics | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Ancillary・Attributes・Background・Class・Guanxi・Legendary・Resilience・Satisfaction (Title Rank)・Skill・Traits (Personality)・Unique |
| Campaign | Army (Retinue)・Assignment・Buildings・Court (Administrator・Council・Family Tree)・Diplomacy (Coalition・Vassal)・Event (Initial Dilemma)・Factions (Leader・Heir・Prime Minister)・Fertility・Food・Mission (Challenge)・Population・Prestige (Faction Rank)・Records・Reforms・Resources・Seasons・Specialisation・Treasury・Undercover Network |
| Battle | Ability (Unit Ability)・Dueling・Formation・Fortification・Morale・Terrain・Siege (Siege Escalation)・Unit (Hero Unit)・Weather |
| Miscellaneous | Advisor・DLCs・Locations (Commandery・County・Settlement)・Timeline・Pins・Records mode・Romance mode・Subculture (Governor)・Wu Xing |
Factions[]
Portraits of the faction leaders in the base game
The game features 12 playable factions at launch, without counting DLC and FLC characters. Total faction count is 36 including vassal and NPC factions. Each faction is led by a warlord.
The Three Kingdoms[]
The Han Dynasty[]
Warlords[]
- Sun Ce - leading Eastern Wu
- Yuan Shao - leading Song
- Gongsun Zan - leading Yan
- Lu Bu - leading Yin
- Yuan Shu - leading Zhong
- Dong Zhuo - leading Zhou (Unlocked after defeating his army in battle or reaching the rank of Emperor)
Governors[]
- Kong Rong - leading Qi
- Liu Biao - leading Chu
- Ma Teng - leading Liang
- Liu Yan - leading Xun
- Lu Zhi - leading Ji
- Tao Qian - leading Lu
- Shi Xie - leading Ba
Bandits[]
- Zhang Yan - leading Heishan
- Zheng Jiang - leading Tai
- Yan Baihu - leading Yue
Yellow Turbans[]
- Zhang Jiao - leading Yellow Sky Mandate Restorative
- Zhang Liang - leading Yellow Sky Mandate Defensive
- Zhang Bao - leading Yellow Sky Mandate Offensive
- He Yi - leading Runan Yellow Turbans
- Gong Du - leading Anding Yellow Turbans
- Huang Shao - leading Taishan Yellow Turbans
Nanman factions[]
- King Meng Huo
- Lady Zhurong
- King Mulu
- King Shamoke
Eight Princes[]
Eight princes DLC features of 8 Playable factions each faction lead by a prince
- Sima Yong - Prince of Heijian
- Sima Jiong - Prince of Qi
- Sima Ai - Prince of Changsha
- Sima Ying - Prince of Chengdu
- Sima Yue - Prince of Donghai
- Sima Lun - Prince of Zhao
- Sima Wei - Prince of Chu
- Sima Liang - Prince of Ru'nan
| Total War THREE KINGDOMS factions and leaders | ||||||||||||||||
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Development[]
When The Creative Assembly start to develop the next historical title for the Total War series, they're very keen to create something based heavily around characters. The Creative Assembly ultimately decided on the Three Kingdoms period, which many records on specific people from the time, as well as potential larger than life characters available for each faction.
Sources used in Creative Assembly's research for the game were the famous pieces of Chinese literature Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Records of the Three Kingdoms.
The Creative Assembly then created several characters with names and unique personality traits, as well as 38 characters with unique art.
According to the Pawel Wojs, Project Art Director at Creative Assembly, the team created Total War: Three Kingdoms as a game that will break the status quo. The team didn't specifically planned for the Chinese audience for the game, but believed that Three Kingdoms needs to be done "differently" to be successful in the Western market, and if Creative Assembly "do it right, it will definitely resonate in the East."[1]
Marketing[]
The game featured three versions at launch.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
| The Total War series |
|---|
| Shogun (The Mongol Invasion) • Medieval (Viking Invasion) • Rome (Barbarian Invasion • Alexander • Remastered) • Spartan • Medieval II (Kingdoms) • Empire • Napoleon • Total War: Shogun 2 (Fall of the Samurai)• Total War: Rome II • Total War: Attila • Total War: Warhammer • Total War: Arena • Total War: Warhammer II • Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia • Total War: Three Kingdoms • Total War Saga: Troy • Total War: Warhammer III |
