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.

The Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack is loaded with new possibilities, including trade with great Eurasian empires -- including Rome and India -- allowing for even broader strategies to unfold on a path to unify China. But that’s not all, as the expansion pack also introduces cities of foreign forces onto the map. Apart from conflicts in the central area, armies will now need to deal with intensified border clashes, upping the stakes in every skirmish.

In addition, new geographical advantages will be assigned to each province, so the strategies gamers will be able to choose from will vary dramatically depending on which provinces are conquered. For example: Conquering Qing Province expands the area you conquer, while conquering Yo Province allows you to open up trade with the nomadic tribe of the region, making the order of which province you conquer first now vitally important. 

New officer characteristics and special tactics have also been added, along with new buildings for specific topography, a calendar that enables you to reflect on previous activities in the game, and an all-new campaign entitled “War Chronicles Mode.”

The Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack allows players to interact with cities of foreign tribes, including the tribes of Wuhuan, Xianbei, Qiang, Nanman and Shanyue. While it has always been important to deal with conflicts in the central areas of China, now players must think twice about strategies on the borders where tense battles can now emerge.

If players decide to open trade with the foreign tribes of the region, they can send envoys to develop their relations after acquiring certain geographic advantages. For example: conquering Yo Province allows friendships to form with Wuhuan, while conquering Bing Province allows strong relations to form with Xianbei. Players will also have the choice to deploy their troops to conquer these tribes. 

Once players form strong relations with, or successfully conquer the tribe, an Outlander Officer will join their forces. These extremely powerful officers utilize the “Siyi” formation to gain the upper hand in mountainous areas or forests. In fact, each tribe has a unique trait assigned to them -- Qiang officers can activate “Bow Cavalry”, while Xianbei officers are equipped with “War Chariot”. Strategically recruiting Outlander Officers with desired traits will be pivotal in unifying China, while ensuring the officer’s conditions are favorable will ensure they do not leave the ally forces, as these units can easily turn on the player’s forces if their relationship changes for the worst.

Also announced today for the Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack was the new “Switch Kingdoms” mode. When starting a new scenario in this new mode, the location of forces will be randomly shuffled causing events to unfold in fresh new ways.

The Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIV: Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack is scheduled to release for PS4, PC (Steam), and making its series debut on Nintendo Switch in Early 2021.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV is currently available for PS4 and PC.