Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake Interview – Links, Debates, Tales, and More

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise has been around for some time now, and across over a dozen instalments, it has delivered some of the most engaging strategy games around. And though it’s likely going to continue doing that in the years to come, for now, Koei Tecmo has taken the decision to look back at one of the series’ older entries and bring it back for modern audiences in the form of Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake. Recently releasing for PC, PlayStation, and Switch, the strategy remake attempts to deliver an enhanced and expanded form of a fan-favourite, and ahead of its recent release, we were able to speak with its developers about some of the ways that it does that. Below, you can read our interview with producer Kazuhiro Echigoya.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch.

"There are several All Officer Play entries, but among them Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 is unique in that it featured scenarios for every year from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to Zhuge Liang’s death on Wuzhang Plains in 234, which is why we chose it for a remake."

For strategy games, remakes are rare – typically developers choose to simply iterate on the mechanics with a new entry rather than doing a full remake of an earlier title. What prompted the decision to return to Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8?

There is currently a trend for remakes in the game market, and we have seen success with remakes of other Koei Tecmo game series, so we decided to try remaking a Romance of the Three Kingdoms title. There are two types of Romance of the Three Kingdoms games: “ruler-based games” where players manage their force as a ruler, and “officer-based games” where they can also play as subordinate officers instead of a ruler. The previous entry, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14, was a ruler-based title, so we decided to remake one of the officer-based ‘All Officer Play’ titles. There are several All Officer Play entries, but among them Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 is unique in that it featured scenarios for every year from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to Zhuge Liang’s death on Wuzhang Plains in 234, which is why we chose it for a remake.

How does the Relationship Chart work? What kinds of gameplay benefits will Links Forged have?

One of the defining features of Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 is the ” variety of relationships”, and in this title, we’ve added the “Destiny” feature to further enhance it. One of the enjoyable aspects of this title is how your officer will form relationships and destinies with others. The progress will be shown by the “Relationship Chart”, making it easy to track how far you’ve advanced in building these bonds.

Officers with good relationships will activate “Link Forged” in domestics or in battle. For example, in battles “Link Forged” can boost damage, so it’s important to strengthen relationships with other officers before heading into battle.

Are Tales going to serve as side quests/missions players can take on while in an existing campaign, or will they be more of self-contained campaigns in and of themselves?

“Tales” will show the conditions or results of events that can be triggered, allowing players to actively choose which ones to trigger or skip. Players can also select whether to continue or stop an event partway through. This will allow them to select the parts they like most that of that are based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel or the Records of the Three Kingdoms novel.

How will the debate system work? What are the biggest ways it will change the gameplay experience?

To explain one of the biggest ways it will change the gameplay experience would be to compare it to “Duels.” In Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8, we had “Duels” where officers fight with brute force, but there were no “Debates” in which officers can battle with just intelligence. This meant that officers with greater physical strength would have an advantage. However, in this game, there are both duels and debates, making it more enjoyable for officers that are either warrior or scholar type.

In terms of how “Debates” work, when certain strategy commands or events trigger a Debate, winning it allows you to persuade your opponent. Sharpening your debate skills will prove useful in advancing through the game.

"The layout of the evaluation and city screens is intentionally kept the same as in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8, which I believe will evoke a sense of nostalgia for fans of 8 at first glance. We also used 2D assets from 8 for the animations of the populace on the city screen and the paper cutouts in the loading screens."

What are the biggest visual enhancements that players can expect in this title? How closely will visuals resemble the spirit of the original game?

The layout of the evaluation and city screens is intentionally kept the same as in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8, which I believe will evoke a sense of nostalgia for fans of 8 at first glance. We also used 2D assets from 8 for the animations of the populace on the city screen and the paper cutouts in the loading screens.

One thing where we’ve put significant effort into 2D materials is the ink wash painting used as the background in battle scenes. The “Art Book” included in the Digital Deluxe Edition features original ink wash paintings, which I think will be quite impressive.

Conversely, the 3D elements have been developed for current gaming platforms, ensuring that the visuals are competitive in today’s gaming market.

As developers, is there a challenge in making a game that has to scale on devices from the Nintendo Switch to the PlayStation 5?

Each platform requires adjustments, so naturally, the more platforms we support, the more we need to deal with. Especially with differences in graphical performance, we make sure that the core gameplay experience is consistent across all platforms. Please enjoy it on your preferred platform.

Is there any chance of the game eventually launching on Xbox as well?

Currently, there are no plans for releasing it on Xbox.