Total War: THREE KINGDOMS

This was, in my opinion, the last great Total War. It fully embraced its setting, and introduced new and innovative gameplay elements while keeping true to the soul of Total War. Many will criticize the fantastical elements of Romance mode, or the neglect of Records mode, but in my opinion Records mode is a historical experience on part with legacy historical Total War games, and becomes an all-time great with the mod TROM. Trom is to Three Kingdoms what Stainless Steel was to Medieval 2, or LME4 was to Napoleon Total War.

Some of the things I love about this game:
1. The retinue system. The retinue system introduces a happy medium of army stacks being tied to generals to avoid stack spamming by the AI, and the flexibility of having the option of breaking out sub-sections of an army to accomplish side-tasks.
2. Simple campaign mechanics like an actual population mechanic, a food mechanic, and an army supply mechanic makes this one of the most historically authentic campaign experiences in Total War.
3. The emphasis on characters brings back the old magic from Medieval 2 Total War, but it's built-in to the game.
4. Massive scale. Ultra unit scale in this game is 240 men per infantry unit. That's the biggest vanilla Total War unit size I've ever seen.
5. Diplomacy. It's extremely well done and enhances the gameplay, rather than being a chore.

I think the main thing that Western audiences won't like is the setting and the Chinese names. To this I really urge people to try and embrace the setting rather than being turned off by it. The Han Dynasty was one of the greatest empires in the history of mankind, and the names become way more digestible.

This really should have been the foundation that future total war games were built on, including Warhammer 3, with all of the major features that define Three Kingdoms. But Creative Assembly is allergic to progress and evolved backwards instead.

Why three kingdoms is the best total war ever. the MAIN reasons.
Not talking about the immersive atmosphere of the game, which some like and some don't, lets get to the game itself on 2 sections just so u see how well thought out and in depth they are:

1. it has the best diplomacy in all total war games; factions act like they should according to their personality. there is the option to trade territories, so u can get that territory that u really want and its actually doable more often than not. when it comes to enemies, u can make peace if u treated ur enemies fairly, and this peace will hold if the enemy personality allows it and who knows u might become best allies. if a faction is saying no to you in diplomacy you know exactly why, there are no vague terms like "BASE VALUE" like in troy saga. what is that even! it is even possible to win the game with economy (i.e. force others to trade territories with a monopoly on trade)

2. a spy system that actually makes sense; here spies are spies. Meaning, there may be a spy among your characters (generals, administrators or perhaps family members) and you will never know who they are until they show their true face. U have to pay attention to the type of personalities that u surround urself with. spies can become double agents, or perhaps give u a territory for free. The world is your oyster!

3. each increase in faction rank is meaningful, granting u access to additional features that make sense. factions treat you accordingly (some like u and some fear u), your characters are also affected by it.

Every choice in this game makes sense. it has a deeply satisfying sense of role-playing to it that is there in warhammer 2 for example but is magnified by 10 here.
You wont regret the time spent on this game, if u like total war titles
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It's a fun game, but the original game has a lot limitations and not match the real history. I played like 100-200 hours and have no more interest. But I found the mod called "New General Collection", these mods make this game 100000X fun than the original. That's why I can play 1000 hours.

Step back in time and walk in the shoes of legendary warlords in Total War: Three Kingdoms. Utilize tactics, diplomacy, and guile to unite ancient China under your rule.
Maneuver spear-wielding troops into formation for devastating flanking strikes. Send your most charming emissary to convince a rival to join your growing kingdom through diplomacy. Spy on enemy camps to gain advantage before battle. The possibilities are vast!
Duels between heroic generals capture the romanticism of the era in cinematic fashion. Liu Bei's sworn brotherhood with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu is palpable. If only all workplace friendships were this epic!
Juggle decisions during key events, like what to do when Lu Bu inevitably betrays you for the 3rd time. That scamp! Perhaps let him charge headfirst into an ambush this round?
Three Kingdoms brings history's heroes to life in vivid detail. Outsmart enemies, forge alliances, and carve your name onto the scrolls of legend in ancient China!

---{Graphics}---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{Gameplay}---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It‘s just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{Audio}---
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{Audience}---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ All
---{PC Requirements}---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{Difficulity}---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Significant brain usage
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{Grind}---
☐ Nothing to grind
☑ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isnt necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You‘ll need a second live for grinding
---{Story}---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It‘ll replace your life
---{Game Time}---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☑ To infinity and beyond
---{Price}---
☐ It’s free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{Bugs}---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{?/10}---
☐1
☐2
☐3
☐4
☐5
☐6
☐7
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☐10

READ CAREFULLY. Well i have played this game for almost 6,000 hours. I have completed all the best campaigns with the best mods activated (from TROM to MTU to Chibi Turning the Tide). I have been an expert on Total War games since the days of Napoleon and Rome II. This game, TW3K, is a very good game and gets excellent when you play it with mods. The map is vast and awesome, the visuals are great, the units are historically accurate. The age is one of the most well-known in History and has many great heroes and characters and the diplomacy system is excellent. Both battles and sieges are breath-taking and very unique, especially on romance mode, and i have achieved many many heroic victories (posted some on my profile). This game is also great for multiplayer and does not lack replay-ability. It's sad that CA stopped supporting the game 2,5 years ago but the modding community has kept it alive, much like Rome II and Attila. Finally, for those who are interested who is the best faction: perhaps the strongest in the game is Sun Ce with his insane charge bonus, low building and colonizing costs and great map range (or Sun Jian) and next are Cao Cao and Liu Bei. Cao Cao's game mechanics fit my own style of playing very much as i like to be a chessmaster, controlling every situation and other factions and adapting to changes well, while maintaining a supreme military and perhaps the best court. He also has the great Guo Jia and Cao Pi in his faction and with these 2 combined you get a -25% corruption factionwide, plus the replenishment bonus. Liu Bei on the other hand has very high satisfaction in his faction, very strong and capable generals and warriors like Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and peerless geniuses as chief advisors like Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, Fa Zheng etc. Lastly. the spies and their actions system is the best around, as it requires no money to be paid and you can steal characters and whole commanderies from the enemy or even your allies.

no two battles are the same
no two battle landscapes are the same
AI is VERY competent, always manages to surprise and impress me with it's tactics
very well intertwined systems: diplomacy, relationships, troop types etc etc etc
amazing artstyle and sound design

MASTERPIECE! WORK OF ART!