The story of the three kingdoms is one of the most well-known sagas in Chinese history. It’s been retold countless times and adapted into various media. Most gamers might know the story from its depictions in the Dynasty Warriors franchise and Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game series.
This real-life epic of empires clashing was not unlike gangs battling for territory and dominion in any blue city. Sure, you had a ton of bloody and brutal battles and double (sometimes triple) crosses, but you could always count on big dudes trying to prove who had the biggest balls.
Combining the Kunio beatem-up franchise with a historical retelling of the three kingdoms makes a lot of sense. Why settle for River City when you can have the whole kingdom? Who will reign victorious over the battle of the Wuzhang plains? Find out in our River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next review!
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next
Developer: Arc System Works, APLUS Co., Ltd, R-FORCE ENTERTAINMENT, Technōs Japan
Publisher: Arc System Works
Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: November 6, 2024
Price: $29.99
The story of the three kingdoms was an orgy of war. Wei, Shu, and Wu – all duking it out for the throne and Cao Cao the Machevallian mastermind.
Liu Bei was righteous, aiming to restore the Han Dynasty and Sun Quan, playing both sides. The kingdoms were locked in a perpetual game of cat and also cat, forming alliances, breaking them, and backstabbing each other.
Battles rage across the land, cities rise and fall, and heroes and villains emerge from the chaos. Now imagine all of this retold with arrogant Japanese delinquents with no direction in life playing the parts of key historical figures and the battles being depicted as street brawls. That’s River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next.
The gangs from the Kunio games acting out an elaborate larp of the Three Kingdoms wars makes logical sense and is a great set-up for comedic hijinks.
However, unless you are already familiar with the basics, most of the plot will come off as a generic war story. The most interesting aspect of the history was how much technology advanced in China due to the war. Sadly this is not explored in River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next.
Like most Kunio games, River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is a beat ’em-up RPG hybrid. Kunio as Guan Yu has punches, kicks, and grabs, and as the General serving under Liu Bei, he can summon armies to assist. Guan Yu’s horse, the Red Hare, is reimagined as Kunio’s signature motorcycle which is helpful when breaking through swatches of goons.
At first, the combat is basic. Kunio won’t have access to more complex attacks until he levels up and earns some points in his skill trees. There is an impressive amount of attacks to equip. There’s a move for almost any instance: air kicks, air punches, a variety of grabs, ultimate attacks, and so much more. There are enough choices that multiple load-outs become necessary.
There is no shortage of ways to customize Kunio and allocate his stats to specialize in their preferred playstyle. Players can also outfit him with equipment, and items, and even his motorcycle can be customized. There is always a palpable feeling of progression and Kunio is constantly in flux to contend with Cao Cao’s horde.
The only problem players will face is the absurd stun lock that leads to cheap deaths. Kunio is often outnumbered by dozens of foes and is attacked in all directions. Sometimes there is a little luck involved. Other times players need to resort to cheap tactics.
It’s too bad the game’s flow undermines the decent playability and crunchy action. Most of the time, Kunio is forced to run to one area on a massive map, fight some guys, and then return to the home castle, with the trips bookended with long dialogue scenes. It feels like Kunio is playing fetch the ball.
The dialogue and cutscenes end up being very intrusive and tedious. Players will be itching to brawl but will pour through minutes of text, only to get into a scrap with weak enemies and then read some more. It won’t take long before gamers will lose interest in the fast and loose take on the Three Kingdoms drama and start skipping it.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is a long game for beat-em up standards and feels grossly padded out thanks to the way missions waste players’ time. The side missions won’t impress and usually require players to bring back some materials they’ve probably already collected while on the main path.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next‘s graphics are charming. It does the HD-2D thing with the Technos signature style.
The sprites have barely changed since the NES days and have only been given a slight amount of depth. The particle and lighting effects make the characters feel like living cutouts running around socking each other in the jaw.
This is a good-looking game and is very well-optimized for Nintendo Switch. It runs very stable and loads fast between areas. The sprite art, simple though it may be, is expressive and has a wide range of poses when performing special attacks. It’s a Kunio game through and through.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next was close to being fun. The tiring and repetitious structure that makes players run back and forth between the same areas across a huge map becomes very boring. There is too much teasing the player with a challenge and when it finally comes, it is too little and too late.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided by Arc System Works. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is now available for PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
