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Destiny of an Emperor in many
ways is your classic RPG. The
battle engine is similar to Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior. You click on your guy, click battle,
and then click on your target.
Instead of spells you have tactics, which are basically the same thing
and instead of health you have soldiers.
Although your spell points for each battle are based on the
tactical prowess of your tacticioneer which is
interesting. There are a number of
features that make this RPG unique, in a good way. First, it is based off of a book
concerning Chinese history, which Romance of the Three Kingdoms is also
based. Thus, the story line is
quite detailed, though too much if you ask me. The amount of characters in this story
in mind boggling and as an English speaker I have a hard time keeping
track of thousands of similar Chinese names, though I think I would have
trouble with thousands of similar English names. Here might be an example in
English. Go see John George about
John Young who used to be called George Young. His brother John Smith is at Young
village in the Smith castle.
Confusing? Try seeing that
around a hundred times!
If you can get beyond the naming
aspect, the game itself is pretty good.
The world is similar looking to Final Fantasy and basically you
walk from castle to castle putting all the usurpers in their places. However, unlike most RPG games, when
you reach a castle you have to fight the men who have claimed it in order
to enter it. Be aware though that
this is a long game and you must conquer many, many castles. One of my least favorite parts of the
game is that often you will not be able to save in a particular castle,
forcing you to play longer in order to save your game. This is not a huge deal, but is a major
pain when you were hoping to move onto something else and find yourself
forced to beat until castle before you can finish. Oh wait that one did not allow you to
save either, I guess I’ll
have to beat yet another castle.
The most interesting feature is
what many people have dubbed the “Pokemon” aspect of the game. Often when you defeat an enemy, you
will be able to convert them to your cause. You can only have 7 people in your
party at once so most of them are waiting for you in their Poke calls and
can only be recalled at certain locations. This is really fun until you have the “tigers” in your army and are no longer really concerned with adding
new members.
Positives:
If a battle looks easy you can
select Battle
it Out and the computer quickly finishes the battle for you. All RPGs
should have this option.
Glaring
Negatives:
The items system is
horrific. To equip or trade
multiple items you have to open the item menu and select a general each
time you want to do anything.
There is a myriad of confusing names that you either must write
down or resort to using a FAQ to keep track of them.
Graphics
and Sound: Good
The graphics are standard high
quality NES RPG graphics. The
sound is nothing special.
Gameplay and Controls: Good
The controls are fine for most of
the time. However, the menus are
horrible. Everything is done on an
individual basis, ugh.
Features:
Lots
There are many weapons and items to
choose from. You will eventually
have at least a hundred warriors to choose from to fill your party. However, the spells are learned as you
progress. While this may sound
good it is rather annoying. For
example, my mass heal was replaced by a slightly stronger individual
heal. Not good.
Fun?: Somewhat
If you love detailed RPGs or are a Chinese historian you will love this
game. If you thought it might be
fun to play an RPG this is not the one for you, try Final Fantasy or
Dragon Warrior. This game requires
extensive note taking or FAQ using.
Either way it is hard to keep track of what is going on. It feels like you are just wandering
from castle to castle killing everyone with no real purpose. Which is ironic
because this feeling stems from being overwhelmed with so much storyline!
Challenge:
Medium
I wouldn’t really say the game is hard. But it is long. There is a lot of backtracking
necessary. You often have to go
talk to someone from the past whom you do not
remember. I would say the game
takes at least twice as long as Final Fantasy to complete.
Replay: Not
for me
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of replay. You will play with the 5 tigers once
your recruit them and the storyline is always the same.
2
Player: No
No, but it might be fun to
subject your friends to the madness.
Online
Manual?: Yup
TSR has the manual
Bottom
Line: Maybe
I did not enjoy this RPG as much
as others. I would only recommend
it to the hard care RPGer. Also if you are familiar with the
characters and storylines from Romance of the Three Kingdoms you may have
an easier time with this one.
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