[rec.games.misc] Koei-Bandit Kings!

davidy@sumax.UUCP (David L. Yee) (12/15/90)

In article <1990Dec14.185544.19482@cadence.com> kimpao@cadence.com (Kim Pao; x6249) writes:
>To: yuena@dsp
>Subject: Re: Romance of the 3 Kingdoms
>Newsgroups: rec.games.misc
>In-Reply-To: <5630@dsp>
>References: <36435@cup.portal.com>
>Organization: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
>
>In article <5630@dsp> you write:
>>

  ( Discussion on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, tips, strategies, etc.deleted)

>        Usually I find loyalty above 60 to be okay (I found out that I
                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^
     That is interesting. When I play level 10, usually the loyalty had better
	be 100 ASAP or they get hired away almost iummediately (unless you have
the jade seal, naturally. :^)  Nothing more frustrating than capturing a host
of prime enemy generals and watching them get hired away before you can pay
them off.


(More tips and dicusssion deleted)

>
>        Now a question of my own....
>
>        Where do you find "beautiful women".  Yeah, gotto boost the
>        morale of my generals by improving their social lives.  8-)
>        Actually I suspect that it would be a lot easier to recruit
>        stubborn generals with women than a dumb horse.
		
	You find them in the same state you find the jade seal in, usually.
(At least where I find the jade seal.:^)
>
>       
>        A little historical perspective for the non-asian R3K fans out
>        there:  R3K is actually Koei's adaptation of one of China's 
>        four best novels.  It is based on what actually happened in 
>        China in the period immediately after the Han dynasty (around
>        200 AD, of course).  The actual hero from the author's point
>        of view is Liu Bei.  He is (actually questionably so) the
>        uncle of the last Han emperor.  The main part of the story is
>        about him and the kingdom that he built.  Koei actually 
>        adapted another great Chinese novel -- "Heroes of the
>        Marshes(?)". 				^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
         ^^^^^^^^^^^

	This novel is called "Shui Hu Zhuan", literally water border novel.
It is about the exploits of 108 exiled heroes who turn bandit and battle
the evil minister Gao Qiu who has usurped control of the empire from the 
Emperor. It has been translated into English by Pearl S. Buck under the
name "All Men are Brothers" (as one can see the literal translation wouldn't
make much sense.) Which leads me to...
	
	That other Koei game based on this novel- Bandit Kings of Ancient
China. If you liked Romance of the 3 Kingdoms you will love this one. It
is better in almost every way. The battles are more realistic, with archery,
magic, etc. A lot of the arbitrary tricks you could use to win battles in
R3K have been eliminated. The battles are more detailed now. When you
capture the enemy generals, you have the option of employing them, exiling 
them, imprisioning them (if they won't join) or of course, the tried and true
behead option. After they stew in prison a while they might change their
minds (but Gao Qiu might break them out.)
	
	There is a much stronger role playing aspect. Each of the different
character has a different personality and will join you based on your own
personal characteristics (are you merciful, courageous, etc.) and your
popularity. Popularity is vital, because without having high levels of it
you cannot recruit the most powerful bandits to your side and cannot get
the imperial mandate you must have to finally hunt down and kill Gao Qiu.
And, for Amigans, Koei has totally Amigatized the interface. That's right,
it uses the mouse entirely. The interface is very good IMHO. Anyway, it is
a great improvement over a game I thought was superb (R3K.) It does not have
the somewhat somber, serious atmosphere of R3K, mostly due to the jaunty
music (during certain seasons of the year) and the sometimes funny responses
the subordinate characters give when you issue them orders. But I grew used
to it, and I STRONGLY recommend Bandit Kings to anyone who likes Romance
of the 3 Kingdoms, and also anyone who likes strategy games or conquest
games in general should check it out.

>      
>        
>-- Kim Pao
>        

				David L. Yee
			Email to:davidy@sumax.seattleu.edu