| Sangokushi Taisen | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Sega, Shade (DS version) |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Nintendo DS |
| Release date(s) | 2005 |
| Genre(s) | RTS CCG |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Cabinet | Satellite |
| Arcade system | Sega Chihiro |
Sangokushi Taisen (三国志大戦) is a card-based real-time strategy arcade game based on the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Contents |
The game itself has an input system in which cards are placed on a sensitive playing area. Movement in-game is done by moving the cards on the playing field, and card behaviour on the battlefield depends heavily on the card type.
This game is played one-on-one and online play is available.
There are some LE (legend) cards in this game, based on different manga portraying the Three Kingdoms era. These include Sangokushi by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Tenchi wo Kurau by Motomiya Hiroshi, and Ryurouden by Yoshito Yamahara, among a few others.
In Sangokushi Taisen, the main objective of the game is to lay siege upon the enemy's castle with various generals, while eliminating the enemy's generals along the way. A player wins when he manages to reduce the opponent's fort health completely. A player will also win if his fort has more health than his opponent's when time runs out. The game is not won by complete elimination of the opponent's generals, as all dead generals will revive after some time.
A "Smash" is a situation where a player's general(s) causes one of the enemy general's health to reach zero through battle, forcing the enemy general to retreat. An "Evacuation" is the opposite of a "Smash", whereby a player's general retreats due to his or her health reaching zero.
A retreated general takes 35 real-time seconds to return to the battlefield (24 if the general possesses the Revival ability, 27 as of version 2.11), and another 10 seconds to return to the battlefield by emerging from his or her own castle. When a general is about to emerge from a castle, the enemy will be notified by smoke clouds emerging from the player's castle.
Each general in Sangokushi Taisen is assigned an orb rating of a minimum of one orb, to a maximum of three orbs, with most of the cards falling in anywhere in between. Additionally, particularly famous generals such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Guan Yu have multiple cards (and thereby different orb rating of cards) of the same name, thereby adding to gameplay variety. The orb number of each general is based on three factors: The general's strength (which determines the strength of the unit during battle), intelligence (determines the unit's susceptibility to enemy skills, and the strength and/or length of effect of the general's skill), as well as the general's skill . The orb limit, if you would use all 8 orbs, allows for a minimum of three generals (in a 3-3-2 or 3 - 2.5 - 2.5 combination) and a maximum of eight (all one-orb generals) when maxed out, thereby bringing with such a feature, extreme varieties to gameplay styles. A player is not required to use all 8 points. If he/she desires they can spend only 1 point on a single general as their entire team.
During a game, generals on the field can cast spells or execute special skills through use of a morale bar (the equivalent of mana energy when compared to other games). The morale bar rises slowly, and has a cap on its accumulation depending on the number of factions/countries the player has selected his generals from. The maximum is 12 morale orbs (when using only one faction), and is reduced by 3 morale orbs for each additional faction, to a minimum of 6.
For example, if the player uses an all-Shu combination of forces, he would possess, and is able to utilise, a maximum of 12 morale orbs. In contrast, a player using a mixture of forces from Shu and Wei can only utilise a maximum of 9, and a player using a mix of forces from three or more factions/countries can only utilise a maximum of 6.
Skills require anywhere between 2 to 12 mana orbs to use, and the strength and effects of these skills vary widely. The more commonplace skills such as "Power Up", "High Speed" and "Long Range" strengthens the generals for a short duration, and sometimes act as aids to the generals in their field of specialties. Less orthodox skills, the bulk of which comes from higher cost Generals, include "Flood", "Burning", and "Thunderbolt", and are usually offensive spells (and therefore damage is calculated by comparing the skill-caster's intelligence rating and the affected enemy generals') or an effect that would last as long as the general remains on the battlefield.
During the game, a scenario can occur in which two generals move towards the same spot simultaneously. The two generals that clash would be engaged in "A Single Combat", which basically means dueling. Those with the "Courage" (勇) have an increased probability of Musou (無双) occurring. A chance of a full bar Musou (無双) is also higher.
In Single Combat, bars either in the form of strips of blue or a thick block of yellow will form across the screen. The length of strips of blue is relative to the general's strength rating. The players' task is to hit the bars as close to the tail end as possible without completely missing the strip (for strips of blue) or just atop it (with thick yellow blocks). Depending on how the bars are struck, the result could be "Failed (失敗)", "Weak (弱)", "Strong (強)", "Very Strong (激)" or "Musou (無双)(unrivalled)". When the five strikes from both generals are matched against each other, a circle (denoting a stronger strike than the opponent's), a cross (a weaker strike) or a triangle (denoting a tie) could form. When one general has won more strikes than the opposing general, the opposing general is eliminated completely regardless of the amount of health he or she had prior to the duel. This system generally emulates how an actual duel between two generals of varying strength would result.
Since v2.1, the timing for Single Combat has change. The result is based on when players release the button.
Special abilities are special characteristics pertaining to generals which give them added advantages or abilities, and which are not affected by enemy spells or statuses. A general can have up to a maximum of three Special Abilities, or have none at all.
Some of the Special Abilities are listed below:
Upcoming Version Special Abilities:
At the start of each game, each player will pick a Strategy (兵法), which can only be used once per game. Apart from Recovery(再起の法) which is obtained by finishing the tutorial, once a player fulfills certain conditions, they will obtain scrolls after a battle, which grant them access to other Strategies. Strategies' levels can range from Level 1 to Master Level (the equivalent of Level 10), the higher the level the greater the effect. Advancing Strategy levels occurs via Strategy Orbs, which each player has a chance to find after each battle (a player cannot choose which Strategy the Orb is for, however the Strategy used in that battle is more likely to be advanced). Several examples of Strategies are as follows:
The Strategy system was completely remade in version 3.0 of the game, utilizing a `General' system, each of whom possesses 2 ‘Ougi'（奥義）, or `Secrets', one of which is chosen to be used at the start of every game. It is identical to the Strategy system of previous versions except that there is now an Ougi bar which determines the strength of the Ougi when used. The starting level of the bar, as well as the rate it increases, is dependent upon a new trait that every character possesses.
There are a total of 6 unit types in this game, namely:
Furthermore, different types of units cause different amounts of damage to an enemy castle during an assault. In general, Siege Engine > Spearmen > Swordsmen > Elephant > Bowmen > Cavalry.
From version 2.0 onwards, generals can equip items. Each item is specific to a general, and each general has a possible item, hence there are as many items as there are generals in the game. After each battle, there is a chance of the player finding an item on the battlefield, or encountering a merchant who will offer to sell the player an item. In addition, some battles may be designated as "Item Battles", the winner of which will receive a predetermined item.
Items generally provide such skills as reducing distance required for the Cavalry aura, increasing a Bowman's range, taking less damage from ambushes, speeding the morale bar's increase, among others.
When playing version 2.0 and using version 1 cards, those cards cannot equip items, nor obtain them, even if those version 1 cards have versions in v2.
The item system was removed in version 3.0.
Currently there are a few major versions of the game.
There are 6 factions/countries in the game. The former three are the focus of the stories of the Three Kingdoms, while the latter three are minor forces featuring generals of either breakaway factions that were no longer central to the power struggle of the Three Kingdoms (such as Yellow Turbans, who were eliminated as a cohesive force at the beginning of the story), or characters who are not of great impact to the main Three Kingdoms storyline (such as the Ten Eunuchs, Hua Xiong, and Hua Tuo).
The factions are:
Upcoming Version (only in version 3.0 - 3.59):