"I loved it and I hated it"

Dynasty Tactics is everything I wanted in a game, and at the same time almost nothing I wanted in a game. Sometimes it can be fun as heck, other times you just want it to end.

Story-9
If you are a fan of the whole Three Kingdoms thing, then you are going to like how well this game sticks to that story. For instance, if a character died early on in the book before they got a chance to do much, there is a good chance they will die somehow are another in this game. I just love how true this game stays with everything. And for the first time in a while with games, I was actually trying to rush through some scenarios so I could see what happened next in the story. The only problem is if your not familiar with any of the characters or events, you will probably care less.

Graphics-8
I was surprised when I first saw how could the graphics were in this game. The cutscenes between some battles are just breathtaking. Also, the pictures of the characters too are also quite good, making it so that each and every character has a unique portrait. But the only reason the graphics are so good is because you never really see any. You are either on the map or in the battles where the graphics are pretty boring. But overall, pretty impressive stuff.

Gameplay-6
And here we are with gameplay. The meat and potatoes of this game. I had fun with the battles at first and I couldn't stop, but after a few days I could only do one battle and then take a break...because it got so old and boring. Sure, capturing generals is a blast, but fighting the same boring battles many, many of times before you get to the end can get pretty tedious. Koei needed to add an RPG element to the game. If I could have gone down into the cities and raised troops, bought items, and solved puzzles to get items(instead of just plain conquering that city to get the item), this game would've been a lot more fun.

Sound-7
The sound is alright. It is nothing to marvel over, especially since you will be hearing the same sounds over and over and over again while you play. Koei needed to change things up a little bit because I just mute it and listen to music instead of listening to theirs.

Buy/Rent
If you played any of the ROTK games and liked it,then you should buy this game. If you have no clue who the heck Zhuge Liang is, rent it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/29/03, Updated 01/29/03