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I’m swiping right on this medieval Chinese adventure - Reigns: Three Kingdoms Review

4K View2022-12-13

With its vast story, fun interactive choices, and easy to use mechanics Reigns: Three Kingdoms pulled me in and never let up. This addicting epic card strategy game combines managing an empire, making alliances, and online multiplayer in a simple-to-grasp, turn-based battle system. It brought me back to my nostalgic days of playing Dynasty Warriors, and boy did that feel great.

Reigns: Three Kingdoms takes inspiration from the Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and mixes it with a formula that developer Nerial has perfected across multiple Reigns titles. This one is set at the end of the Han dynasty during China's warring Three Kingdoms period.

Moment of honesty: I’ve never read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but you can be damn sure I’ve played the Dynasty Warriors games, which are also based on this literary classic. My go-to? Shu kingdom. My guys? Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun. So naturally, when I allied with these dudes in Reigns: Three Kingdoms, the game instantly left a positive impression on me.

Of course, you probably shouldn’t go to this game looking for historical authenticity. Reigns: Three Kingdoms takes plenty of liberties in retelling this classic narrative. The game doesn't take itself too seriously, with a cartoonish art style similar to previous games in the Reigns series.

Reigns: Three Kingdoms begins at the Yellow Turban Rebellion peasant revolt, which is about as close as it gets to following the history books.

From that point, it’s up to you to set the course of history. Gameplay involves swiping left or right as you determine who you'll make alliances with and decide the fates of peasants and soldiers. It reminded me of a choose-your-own-adventure game. I made choices on everything from arranged marriages to converting to Buddhism.

Each decision had consequences throughout the region of China I found myself in. My playthrough took me across ten-plus provinces, including Jizhou, Yuzhou, and Jingzhou. Each decision affected the number of supplies, military power, public charisma, and intellectual prowess I possessed.

In true Buddhist style, it's best to try and keep everything balanced as you build alliances throughout ancient China. Failure to do so could lead to the end of your reign and even death. As I progressed, I earned different character cards depending on my choices during wartime, which played out as a card battle.

Card battles rely on an easy-to-grasp system where you must try to take your opponent’s health down to zero before they do the same to you. It only took a few matches for me to really get the hang of it, and I appreciated that simplicity. The game still provides plenty of room for strategy too, since each character has different abilities, but it never gets too overwhelming.

One of the more wild aspects of Reigns: Three Kingdoms that I enjoyed a lot was its almost rogue-lite approach to death. Thanks to a convoluted setup about the “game” being a historical simulator that your character “wakes up” from after dying, you’re able to keep certain elements of progress between sessions. When I unlocked a province in one playthrough, it remained open for me to access when I started my next attempt.

For those looking to battle, Reigns: Three Kingdoms lets you challenge players in PvP matchups. I managed to both give and get an ass-whooping when fighting against strangers, but it took some effort just to get matches going. It doesn’t seem like a ton of people are playing the game as of yet, as I ran into a “no opponent was found” message several times. Which was definitely a letdown. Winning against the computer doesn’t grant the same satisfaction as another person. But this disappointment wasn’t enough to get me to put the game down.

After spending seven hours playing Reigns: Three Kingdoms, I’m glad to say that my streak of always being satisfied by a game depicting the Three Kingdoms period remains intact. As a fan of Chinese history, I was really pulled in by this game’s vast storyline and easy-to-use swiping mechanics. The game’s overabundance of interesting choices really kept me coming back for more, though. Every choice led me to different outcomes, making for a supremely replayable and enjoyable experience.

SCORE: 3 STARS OUT OF 5

PLAY IF YOU LIKE:

• The Reigns franchise. If you have enjoyed previous entries in the Reigns line of strategy card games, you’ll find the art and mechanics familiar here.

• Strategy games. Building alliances, managing your stats, and picking the best card for the job are all things you’ll need to manage while playing Reigns: Three Kingdoms.

💬 What’s your favorite game Set in the Three Kingdoms Period? Mine is Dynasty Warriors 3! Let me hear your thoughts in the comments below?

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