Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIV’s map showcases the territory captured and the thrill of expansion using a simplified color system – paying homage to the original Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIV, released on PC back in 1985. Everything from war to diplomatic affairs will be geared toward managing and gathering land as players attempt to spread their strategies at will across the vast China map.

In addition, RTK14 will adopt the ruler-based system from RTK9 and RTK11 in order to help return classic gameplay to the series. This means that all actions – from domestic, to political, to battle – will now take place on a single map. Greater individuality among characters will also be on display; with officers from the Three Kingdoms, like Liu Bei and Guan Yu, asserting themselves at various situations in order to fully immerse players into the game’s rich history.

But that’s not all, as a new Evolved Artificial Intelligence system is also being implemented to challenge players across repeated playthroughs. With organizations now determined through each ruler’s ideals, different game experiences are now possible via different rulers. Even within the same faction; different policies now bring with them different strategies for expansion, making the wise use of various officers a cornerstone of advanced gameplay.

In RTK14, it’s important to have a large number of forces surrounding you, and actively pursuing relations with allies and the opposition is required to succeed in battle. ‘Goodwill’ with another army can be improved through gifts such as gold, supplies, or specialty goods -- and as goodwill increases, relations will improve with a possibility of forming an alliance. Forming an alliance prevents the player from attacking their new partners or conquering their territory, but at the same time allows them to maintain their supply lines while passing through ally territory. As the bond between the forces deepen, players can even request their ally to attack an opponent to help improve any dire situation. If an alliance isn’t working, or no longer useful, it can be annulled allowing the forces to be separated.

Additionally, players can take advantage of ally units by using ‘Plots’. As the game progresses, this becomes a key way to weaken an enemy force. RTK14 offers players a total of five types of schemes: Hidden Poison, Estrange, Placation, Unattended Home and Dual Destruction – allowing different strategies to be used depending on the situation at hand. Hidden Poison lowers the development and public order of the targeted Force, and can cause bandits from foreign tribes to appear. Estrange lowers the loyalty of the target officer through bad rumors about their ruler. Placation targets the people of free areas, or areas under the control of other forces, in order to gain control of the area core. Unattended Home incites a viceroy or governor into leaving their current Force and going it along. Finally, Dual Destruction spreads damaging rumors about one Force within the territory of another. The success of any of these schemes can have a massive impact on the overall battle situation, though failure can cause relations with the affected force to grow considerably worse.

Increasing relations with foreign units is also important as only non-enemy units can be forced to surrender. Using the ‘Foreign’ function, players can request the return of captured officers as well as use the Order Surrender command. Careful planning and preparation are required to ensure that a surrender is successful.

Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIV is available for pre-order now. Those who purchase any version of the game within the first two weeks of launch will be able to download the additional scenario ‘Battle of Yiling’ for free.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV is in development for PS4 and PC, scheduled for release on February 28, 2020.