izigame.me

After playing this game for 25h straight and already finishing the wei story, and getting in a pretty good position where I'm farming for them special weapons... I am conflicted.
Pros:
1-Damned great graphics.
2-Beatiful sound designs.
3-Great maps.
4-Satisfying af.
5-The MOST well made instance of the entire series.
6-Combat is fcking GOOD, with so many diffferent types of enemies, and AI that actually feel challenging, and all the niches where you control your own units and stuff.
7-It's just, fcking GREAT.
Cons:
1-Costs an eye.
2-Way too many cinematics ( I think having to sit through 4 cinematic before a single mission is a bit too much. )
3-Voice actings and some scenarios are a bit lacking and/or unfitting and/or straight up weird.
Aspects I'm unsure of:
1-The entire game system. It's fun and neat that I can "explore" the world, run around, bring peace to the land, interact with npcs, but it just doesn't feel right for me for some reason; It feels incomplete.
2-The level system; I just don't like the other weapons. I don't wanna use them or grind them to level up.
3-The "single protagonist" system. I don't know who he is, I have no real connection to him aside from "That is my character", I just don't feel I should be forced to play him, when I wanna be the God of warriors Lu Bu.
4-Limited storylines. It is so odd to say this, since this is the very first time they actually have a GREAT and actually executed in such a well crafted manner. But it all revolves around one person, with different endings, that all feel more or less the same, making it feel "cheap". Just as cheap as older instances where every character has their own story, but in the end, all revolves around "I am now the greatest".
5-No co-op. I'm fine with it being a purely single player game, but I also kinda want it back.
6-"free play" mission selection is not all that great. I wanna go into a menu, select it, click it, and play. Not select it, wait for a loading screen, search the mission on the map, walk up to it, go through another cinematic, and then finally start it.
7-Frienship system. Just... why? What's the point? I get it is for story telling, so you unlock more interactions, but at least, give me the opportunity to do more with it. Like, once I reach enough friendship I get to recruit that guy to fight with me, and take him away from the other faction's forces, giving this whole game even a "diplomatic" side to it.
Personal expectations:
1-I really, really, expected to have more stories/more missions and/or even speculative stories when you side with a specific faction, where caocao, liubei, or even the sun family would rise to absolute power, or even new factions would pop out as the "time" goes on, such as the sima family. But they get cut more or less at the same time as previous instances of DW, making it feel a bit lacking, especially when they've put so much effort into the story telling of the game.
2-I also really expected almost a diplomatic aspect of the game, especially when I learned about making friends with the different characters. Just imagine if you could recruits fcking lu bu and start your own faction. Or you have your own faction and you ally with caocao before betraying him, just so you can get onto the sun family's side, before betraying those guys too.
3-And this is a personal preference, but I still want to play as other characters and/or have them like in the previous instances of DW, where I can play their own personal little stories. Doesn't have to be a 10 mission story; Maybe even a small origin ( aha, get it? DW origins ) story, of how they came the way they are.
Conclusion:
All in all, it is a damned great DW game, where they have ABSOLUTELY nailed the core of the series, which is combat.
But there are many aspects of the game that leaves me wondering if they could've/wanted to do more with them.
And in all honesty, if they do implement the game for the better, especially the diplomatic side of the game ( which was also historically such a massive part of the entire three kingdom era ) Iegit wouldn't mind spending 80 fkcing euros on this game.
As for right now, if you are not a massive fan of the DW series, it falls a bit into the "monster hunter" cathegory, where new players will definitely feel it is overpriced, while old fans will fawn over it.
Again, it is a damned great DW instance; It could've just been SO much more.
As an old fan of the series: 8/10
As a new player, taking into consideration the price: 6/10
PS: Koei could also implement aging, since all the characters are so damned young ( I can't get over the fact how young caocao looks, or how alluring liubei looks )