''Sangokushi Online'' (三國志Online) is

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...

's third

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' game developed for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

platform.

announced the development of its latest

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

in mid-2006. Koei planned on releasing ''Sangokushi Online'' in Japan in the first quarter of 2007 followed by the rest of Asia. However Koei started the first pre-open testing on September 27, 2007. A second pre-open testing was begun on February 7, 2008. Additionally, these plans do not reference a possible North American or European release. This follows Koei's tradition of Asia-only MMO releases, such as ''

Nobunaga's Ambition is a series of turn-based grand strategy role-playing simulation video games. The original game was one of the first in its genre, being released in March 1983 by the Japanese video game developer Koei. ''Nobunaga's Ambition'' takes place during ...

''. The game ended as servers shut down on 19 July 2010.

Story

''Sangokushi Online'' is set in the warring and chaotic times of the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in ancient China. Power struggles among ambitious men were everywhere but particularly there were three men who have successfully rallied sufficient abled talents, enough to build the empire of their own. The player will join this triangular conquest of power by taking one of the three sides, in hope for the unification of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

World setting

In ''Sangokushi Online'', the world of the virtual Three Kingdoms of ancient China is divided into five main regions, namely

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

, Sili, Yizhou, Yuzhou and

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

. There are also five major village and cities, namely the Shuijing Village (a village that is named after a wise old recluse who is also known as

Sima Hui Sima Hui (died 208), courtesy name Decao and pseudonym Shuijing, was a hermit who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Sima Hui was from Yangzhai County (), Yingchuan Commandery (), which is around present-day Yuzhou, Henan ...

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province of China, province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the s ...

and Jianye. The Shuijing Village, which is situated in

is an activity hub for the beginning players between Level 1 and 10, while

, which is found in Sili is the ideal place for players of Level 11 to Level 20.

is the stronghold of

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

and it is located in Yizhou.

(

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

's stronghold) and Jianye (

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

's stronghold) are located in Yuzhou and

respectively. The five regions are also peppered with dungeons of mythological creatures and other minor villages. A sixth region, featuring the dry and barren desert of

Liangzhou Liangzhou District () is a district and the seat of the city of Wuwei, Gansu province of the People's Republic of China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the east. Geography Liangzhou District is located in east Hexi Corridor, north to the Qilian Mo ...

has also been added in the August 2008 update. While most places are accessible on foot, players can also move around by other modes of transportation, such as zoning by horse or boat.

Gameplay

The player will control a character

avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

within a persistent game world and engage in activities such as exploring the landscape of ancient

, fighting bandits and mythical creatures, running errands, quests or political assignment missions, learning combat and production skills, and interacting with both

NPCs A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

and fellow players. In return for engaging in such activities, the player will be rewarded for their effort with money and items. Unlike most MMORPGs, player will be rewarded skill experience for using their skills which allows them to advance their skills further. Currently, players can level up the characters from Level 1 to 50.Aug & Sep 2008 Major Update Part II
/ref> Players also choose to join

clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

(known as

guilds A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

in most MMORPGs). Like other MMORPGs, short term groups such parties and raids can be formed to explore the different territories and instances. As players take side in one of the 3 forces, the Wu Force, the Shu Force and the Wei Force (which are led by the powerful warlords,

and

respectively), they will be able to take part in large scale ( PvP &

PvE PVE may refer to: * Places ** Beech River Regional Airport, Henderson County, Tennessee, United States ** Palos Verdes Estates, California ** Prairie Vista Elementary School, Granger, Indiana, United States * Science, technology, and medicine ** Por ...

) wars, with as many as 500 players on each side. At the end of each war session, players will be rewarded with rankings according to their performance during the war.

Development history

References

External links

Japanese Official SiteGame Manual
{{Romance of the Three Kingdoms series 2008 video games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Romance of the Three Kingdoms (video game series) Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Kenji Kawai Windows games Windows-only games Inactive massively multiplayer online games