Dynasty Tactics

"Zoom in on Romance7's battle system"

First off, this game receives an extra point for being based in the Three Kingdoms period. Otherwise, you can take it in at a 7.

Okay, down to business.

Anyone who has played Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII has a good starting base on what to expect, only with much more tactical control.

For those of you who haven't played ROTK7, and are looking for something similar to FFT (Final Fantasy Tactics), I'm afraid that Dynasty Tactics might not be what you're looking for, but before you hit your back button, it might just surprise those of you willing to try something new.

While FFT (and I use FFT for reference because of its popularity) required a lot of time investment working on skills and basic toughing-up, DT really plays more like an insane battle of chess with some exquisitely rendered (in real time) background scenes to match the moves.

Each piece on the battlefield represents a unit comprised of several soldiers. They each move along a grid, their turn order calculated each round (or 'day' as the game calls it) based on how much morale each unit possesses. Aside from the basic move-next-to-and-attack fare are the ''Tactics''. In other words, these are simply special moves.

The strongpoint of the game is in the way you utilize your moves. You could simply throw away your move by making uncoordinated attacks, or you can set up some pretty awesome traps by chaining moves to be performed one after the other. This works by having most special moves pushing enemy units around on the board. Push the enemy to a certain spot where another unit can act (each Tactic has special conditions that must be met, but at first, many of them simply require the enemy be in front of the unit) and the next unit pushes to another, and so on and so forth.

Of course, when the computer is able to move before you, sometimes your traps don't work out the way you want them to, and yes, there is a way to sort of freeze your opponent so you can make a devastating combo.

Unfortunately, such gameplay is a bit steep on the learning curve and can turn players away, but those who make the effort to learn how to effectively utilize the battle system will definitely find a deep, deep game under the shiny surface.

However, most strategy fans (action fans need not apply) will enjoy the sheer number of options and situations possible in each battle, and if there is a little masochistic side to you, you'll enjoy the odd difficulty ramp. While some would argue that games that ease you into the interface is simply useless (''that's what manuals are for''), many others will find the sporadic difficulty changes a little disheartening. Nobody is going to take your hand and walk you through after the first few battles. However, like most other strategy games, practice will get you where you want to go.

For graphics aficionados, DT strikes an odd balance. While the battlefield is pretty bland to look at (looks pretty much like ROTK7's battlefields enlarged) with its black sky and flat textures, the action scenes that play behind the board in a very stylized manner (the board remains visible except on the big moves) are beautiful.

Of course, this type of game is rarely about graphical prowess and the enjoyment will definitely come from the gameplay itself which is strong as long as you are willing to go through a few frustrating moments while you get the hang of it.

Casual gamers may want to rent first, but for the hardcore strat fan, this is definitely a game that you should be looking into. While there isn't much to do by way of customizing your character(s), building your army and fighting your battles will give you all the meticulous tooling around that you could ever want.

In a strat game like this, I always find that the more options there are, the better experience you have, and DT is definitely full of those. Throw in an excellent tutorial into the mix, and you've got yourself a strong game.

Koei has done a marvelous job bringing this game to fruition, and any Three Kingdoms fan (yes, it's a book) will get a kick out of it.

My only beef? Koei seriously needs to hire a logo designer for their localization team.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/16/02, Updated 09/16/02