Home Cinema River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is a must-buy for fighting game fans

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is a must-buy for fighting game fans

Isabella Smith
-
0
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is a must-buy for fighting game fans


River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is the second part of the game of the same name, minus the “Next” in its title. It follows the story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms from the perspectives of three historical figures, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, with a comic touch and extravagant re-enactments. Developed by Arc System Works, a team that has created some of the best fighting games over the years, such as Guilty Gear strives And Granblue Fantasy vs. — River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next fits into the same genre but with more emphasis on role-playing elements and a beat-em-up style.

The original River City Saga: Three Kingdoms was rather well received by the public and critics, with a rather positive score on Steam and 71 on Opencritic. There was good reason for this, given that it featured a charming arcade-like style mixed with modern elements, which felt nostalgic without being too dated. River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next does the same thing and looks very similar to the original, but makes improvements where needed this makes it better than its predecessor. What starts as a simple brawler quickly turns into a surprisingly good role-playing game, with depth and customization.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next has a satisfying combat and progression system

The game has enough skill to accommodate any type of playstyle

The fundamentals of River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next‘s combat system revolves around clearing out waves of enemies and attempting to take down powerful generals, also known as the game’s bosses. At first glance, it’s easy to compare this game to to a button press that requires no strategy. However, After the first five hours or so, the combat starts to gain complexity, allowing the player to create their own set of moves through skill, tactics, and the use of their trusty Hare motorcycle. All of these mechanics are brought together in a way that gives players some freedom in how they approach combat and adds replayability due to the desire to try out different combinations.

This is particularly seen in the game’s progression system. As players defeat waves of enemies, experience and skill points are rewarded, which can be applied to a detailed skill tree containing Unlockable attack patterns and moves. These unlockables, coupled with the stat system allowing players to increase specific stats such as punch, kick, weapon, health, etc. making leveling up every time rewarding and it’s worth facing the game’s enemies. Since each skill scales with a particular stat, players can focus on creating a combat build specialized to their specific playstyle.

Split images of fighting video games

Related

The 20 fighting games most suitable for beginners

From Street Fighter to Mortal Kombat to Guilty Gear, there are tons of awesome fighting games that will delight genre veterans and newcomers alike.

For example, if the player wants to combine kicks and punches as their primary means of dealing damage, increasing the Punch and Kick stat and equipping skills that scale to both of these stats is a smart way to do it. On the other hand, if the player chooses to use the game’s weapons to eliminate enemies, it is possible to create a build specialized in this area thanks to weapon and throwing stats. The list goes on with a variety of build combinations that add a nice role-playing twist to a genre that rarely gets this kind of depth. River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next understands that player choice and ability to experiment are important, and it shows this systematically in its progression systems.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next features a ton of unlockable abilities, allowing players to be creative and experiment with builds.

Combat controls are similar to other Arc System Works games, with multiple inputs to perform various moves. The way it works is: Punch, Kick, Throw, and Grab are all attached to a specific button. The player can then add a specific skill to each of these moves, unlocked via the game’s skill tree mentioned previously, for example a fireball associated with the Grab button. Each button changes depending on the skill the player attaches to it, allowing for unique moveset loadouts. Controls and systems are easy to understand, but can be difficult to master, as the player must learn the best attack combinations, which controller input order works best to deal the most damage, etc. The more practice there is in the game. River City Saga: Three Kingdoms NextThe combat system, the more satisfying it becomes.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next makes the journey outside of combat interesting

Preparing for combat is just as important as fighting

So the combat is awesome and while River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Nextbut what about everything that happens between fights? While not as exciting, time spent outside of battles is just as important as defeating the game’s bosses. In fact, the player will have no chance in combat if they do not engage in the game’s preparation mechanics. The majority of time players will spend between fights will be stocking up on health items, purchasing new equipment to take or deal more damage, or upgrading the Hare Motorcycle to make it more useful. Not only is preparation extremely important in River Town Sagabut there’s something incredibly satisfying about exploring each city and seeing what it has to offer to help in the fight.

Perhaps there will be gloves for sale that increase hitting power or an item that increases overall experience points earned. Better yet, perhaps players will encounter a merchant who sells an item that replenishes all HP, making their character good as new and ready for the boss fight. Whereas River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is not an easy game, It’s relieving to know that there are so many options available in the long list of cities that can help the player complete the challenge. Being able to prepare in this way not only makes the game balanced, but also keeps it completely fair throughout its 20-30 hours of play.

collage image of Hakan from Street Fighter IV, Norimaro from Marvel Super Heroes vs Capcom and Dampierre from Soulcalibur V

Related

10 Weirdest Moves in Fighting Games, Ranked

The best fighting games on the market, like Super Smash Bros and Street Fighter, also have some of the weirdest fighters in their roster.

Apart from the preparation, there is also tons of characters to interact with if the player wishes. While many characters don’t add much value to the story or even offer side quests, talking to them is still worth it because they add personality and stories to the world. Some will feature comedic dialogue, while others may provide historically accurate information about the classic Chinese epic “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” which the game losslessly adapted and modernized. In other words, these side characters are great for adding to the story of the game. It’s even more interesting to talk about the NPCs offering side content, since the side quests offered are always worth it from the point of view rewards and are a great way to distract from a brutal main goal.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next amazes with its music and art

The game presents the sights and sounds of Chinese beauty

Guan Yu vs. Zhou Yu fight sequence in River City Saga Three Kingdoms Next

What makes River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next so appealing, besides its addictive combat system, is the beautiful art style and musical score. The game features anime characters, each wonderfully drawn with eye-catching colors, helping to solidify Ark System Works as one of the best in the industry in terms of visuals. Guilty Gear strives is still the developer’s best work from an artistic point of view, but River Town Saga is just behind. The quality of the game’s design is consistent throughout its six chapters, making the story more engaging and keeping the player invested in what each character has to say. Even the most casual and fleeting anime fans will be able to appreciate the effort put into the artwork.

The same can be said of River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Nextit’s music. The game offers an exhilarating and dynamic soundtrack that pairs perfectly with its action-packed gameplay. The Chinese-influenced instrumentation mixed with a modern vibe is, as the kids these days would say, a real hit. The soundtrack does a great job of making each battle more tense and does a phenomenal job of evoking emotion in the player. It is strongly recommended to play River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next with headphones to fully enjoy the surround sound experience, which helps amplify every aspect of its gameplay.

Art and music in Kingdoms of River City: Three Kingdoms Then here is another example of the talent of Ark Systems Work.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero and Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising

Related

Anime fighting games should stop this boring trend

While not always bad, anime fighting games should avoid the arena fighting game formula.

The art and music of River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is a solid demonstration of how these two aspects can greatly improve the overall experience of a game. Ark System Works could have put less effort into these two features, and the game would probably just be considered “good” in because of its fun and addictive combat system. But, given that the developers clearly put a lot of work into creating standout art and music features, the game is much better overall. It’s hard to imagine a recently released beat-em-up game that measures up River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next in these areas.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is both a solid role-playing game and an excellent beat-em-up brawler which is not afraid to test the player’s combat skills. Its combat and progression systems focus on customization and create variety through its extensive list of abilities, allowing players to be creative and choose the combat style that suits them best. Like other Ark System Works games, the art and music are on full display here, making the game charming to listen to and look at, representing how veterans the developers are in both fields. Any fighting fan wanting the genre to have deeper RPG mechanics or just wanting to take part in a fun adventure should definitely give River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next a test.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Steam

© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv
0:00
0:00