History VideoGame / TotalWarThreeKingdoms

''Total War: Three Kingdoms'' is an RTS game developed by Creator/CreativeAssembly and published by Creator/{{Sega}}. It is the latest of the ''Videogame/TotalWar'' series; set during [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu the Three Kingdoms era]]. The era has been popularized in operas, folk stories, novels and in more recent times, films, television, and video games. The best known of these is Luo Guanzhong's ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''.

# '''''Eight Princes''''', was released on August 8th, 2019. It covers the starting phase of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Eight_Princes War of the Eight Princes]] (291CE), which led to the eventual downfall of the Western Jin Dynasty and the second division of China, just over a decade after the conclusion of the Three Kingdoms period in the year 280CE and a century after the events of the "Three Kingdoms" campaign. [[note]]Much of the Jin nobility who fled south gathered around Sima Rui, who would establish the Eastern Jin in 318 C.E. with its capital in Jiankang. (today's Nanjing; during the Three Kingdoms period, it was known as Jianye, Sun Quan's capital for his state of Wu. As for Sima Rui, he's only distantly related to the eight princes featured in the expansion. Probably the closest relation was Sima Liang; Rui's grandfather, Zhou, was a full brother of Liang (they had the same mother, Lady Fu)[[/note]]

** Records mode in general has a more muted color palette, period-accurate visuals, and a grittier atmosphere more in line with earlier historical ''Total War'' titles.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The "Eight Princes" [=DLC=], which covers the conflict of the eponymous eight princes of the Sima family, is depicted as such in comparison to the main campaign. In contrast to how the warlords of the "Three Kingdoms" era were presented with some degree of heroism or [[{{Pun}} romance]], the trailer focuses more in the bitter nature of the infighting between the family members that would ruin the Jin Dynasty.

* JustBeforeTheEnd: While the main campaign begins with the last gasps of the Han Dynasty, the 'Mandate'' bookmark shows the Empire just before its terminal collapse - beset by rebellion and betrayal, yet still sturdy enough to [[AlternateHistory potentially avoid disaster]].

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: Downplayed among the non-Yellow Turban factions. Each leader has strengths in different fields, and while certain troops are common among them, they usually have unique troop types and buildings. Averted by the Yellow Turbans, who have entirely different buildings and reforms, and unique playstyles. They cannot even recruit officers from non-Yellow Turban factions.

** The AI makes some attempt to lessen the effect of missiles and artillery against their forces by loosing formation while under fire and repositioning troops behind terrain or walls to prevent being shot at...but only some, as they will still prefer to keep their units in tight formation after a few minutes of not being under fire, so players can still maximize their ranged attacks' ammunition by shooting a bit at clumped enemies when the opportunity presents itself, and then holding fire or switching to other targets until the former targets decide to tighten their ranks again. Against enemies holed up in a settlement, they will usually prefer to stay within it and thus allow the player to fire off all of their ammunition in this way.

** The Juggernaut unit is a tank with the head of a dragon that shoots fire at the enemy. Freakin' awesome, and in the right situation can easily wrack up hundreds of kills in seconds. Unfortunately, the range of the weapon is extrmely short, and they're finicky to use; the necessity of needing optimal placement to get a good angle on the enemy combined with being ''extremely'' slow-moving makes them impractical, especially when compared to the alternatives: the trebuchet or the multi-bolt crossbow ballista. Both the trebuchet and the ballista can easily get the same number of kills as the Juggernaut while being ''much'' simpler to use. The trebuchet also lets you assault enemy fortifications (which the Juggernaut cannot do). Still, some players continue employing a Juggernaut every now and then just because it's so cool.

** The Juggernaut unit is a tank with the head of a dragon that shoots fire at the enemy. Freakin' awesome, and in the right situation can easily wrack up hundreds of kills in seconds. Unfortunately, the range of their weapon is extrmely short, and they're finicky to use; the necessity of needing optimal placement to get a good angle on the enemy combined with being ''extremely'' slow-moving makes them impractical, especially when compared to the alternatives: the trebuchet or the multi-bolt crossbow ballista. Both the trebuchet and the ballista can easily get the same number of kills as the Juggernaut while being ''much'' simpler to use. The trebuchet also lets you assault enemy fortifications (which the Juggernaut cannot do). Still, some players continue employing a Juggernaut every now and then just because it's so cool.

** Certain reforms have powerful effects, but require the completion of two or more branches before they can be implemented.
** Lü Bu and Sima Yi are both extremely powerful in their respective battlefield roles, but are notoriously difficult to keep satisfied in your court. Averted in the ''Mandate'' bookmark if the player is playing as Emperor Liu Hong, as he can easily offer a young Lü Bu a prestigious council position.
** Certain factions have abilities and playing styles that are very good or interesting on paper, but are offset by other disadvantages in practice:
*** Kong Rong favors a mostly conflict-free playing style that benefits greatly from trade and diplomacy. Now, if only he didn't have to bear the brunt of [[HardCodedHostility Yellow Turban attacks]] on the map and could trade with somebody other than with only Liu Bei for the first 15 or so turns in the 190 CE bookmark... In the 194 CE bookmark, his situation is slightly better, as he "only" has to deal with the father-son duo that is Yuan Shao and his son Tan.
*** Liu Bei himself has the very powerful option to peacefully take over Han Empire settlements. In 190CE, he starts with a strong army surrounded by two natural allies, Kong Rong and Tao Qian, who will mostly [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper get in your way in terms of expansion]] the first couple turns. The situation improves in 194CE, as Liu Bei takes over Tao Qian's realm.
*** Liu Biao can generate increased character experience for his officers, the only two really noteworthy ones amongst whom are Huang Zhong and Liu Biao himself who are both liable to die sooner or later.

# '''''Fates Divided''''', was released on March 11, 2021. It adds a new start date: 200CE, the fifth year of the ''Jian An'' era and the year of Sun Ce's death. The expansion focuses on Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, and their climatic showdown at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guandu Guandu]]. Liu Yan, the Governor of Yi Province from 188CE till his death in 194CE and father of Liu Zhang, would be made playable as part of the DLC; those with the relevant [=DLCs=] can also play as Gong Du, King Mulu, Meng Huo, Shamoke, and Sun Ce in the new start date. The patch accompanying the [=DLC=] will also allow Ma Teng and Yuan Shu to be playable in 182 CE, and for those with the relevant [=DLCs=] to play as Liu Chong and He Yi in 194 CE. The patch also overhauls the faction council and mechanics surrounding Emperor Liu Xie.

* BladeOnAStick:
** A weapon favoured by many during this period. Prominent users include Lü Bu (halberd) Guan Yu (The Green Dragon Crescent Blade, a guandao) and Zhang Fei (serpent spear).
** Infantry units seemingly ''heavily'' use spears, alongside large shields, forming up in tight formations for protection against arrow volleys.
** The ''ji'' halberd is also a common weapon.

* FullCircleRevolution:
** The Yellow Turbans are open about the fact that they seek to supplant the Han dynasty and its corrupt nobility with a new dynasty worthy of the Mandate of Heaven, and not overthrow the idea of an Emperor. [[spoiler:If you achieve the Yellow Sky Mandate, you can even seat your own faction leader as Emperor just to rub it in; alternatively you can seat a random peasant on the throne and completely upset the social order instead.]]
** Zheng Jiang hates the Han and wants to burn China to the ground. However, if she starts expanding, she'll find that she has to leave Han power structures in place and gradually develop into an Empress herself, soon becoming exactly what she was originally fighting against.

Listening to player feedback after the controversial shift in gameplay introduced by ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'' and ''[[VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerII II]]'', ''Three Kingdoms'' offers two modes that drastically alter the character of the game. In Romance Mode, ''Three Kingdoms'' takes on more aspects of Luo Guanzhong's story as well as {{Wuxia}} and heroic fantasy - generals are larger-than-life heroes who can [[OneManArmy cut through entire units on their own]] and unleash near-supernatural abilities to aid their soldiers and win the day. By contrast, Records Mode dials things back into a more grounded and historical experience reminiscent of the older ''Total War'' entries - generals and their bodyguards are still powerful battlefield assets, but you can't just run them through an army and hope for the best.

** '''Vanguard:''' The military noble, a [[BloodKnight wild, headstrong warrior]] that crashes into danger like a raging Fire. They buff shock cavalry to nasty levels and have many abilities that deal AreaOfEffect damage. As administrators, they improve garrisons and other military capabilities. Their traits are fiery and passionate, all about following one's insticts and heart - sometimes at the loss of tact or smarts. Their stat is Instinct.

* BadassLongRobe: AvertedTrope - unlike the other character types, Strategists wear robes on the battlefield while everyone wears armour. They also are unable to enter duels unlike all other officer types, and die about as fast as you'd expect when they get into combat.

** The theme song is "十五從軍征" (Shiwu cong jun zheng - At fifteen I joined the army on expedition), featured as the page quote.

** Liu Bei's trailer has "[[https://eastasiastudent.net/china/classical/li-bai-shudao-nan/ "蜀道难"]] (Shu dao nan - The Difficulty of the Shu Road) written by the great poet Li Bai during the Tang dynasty [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin describing the treacherous road in the country of Shu]].

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Enforced in Romance mode. If a duel is taking place between two Generals, ''no one'' will interfere unless you specifically order the unit to - even when it's a single General vs another AND his five units of Ji Militia.

* ForGreatJustice: By far what most of the Warlords describe as being their main drive. The smallfolk suffers and corruption reaches critical mass - literally with the bloated tyrant Dong Zhuo - which is why most of the Warlords broke with the Han Empire. Their [[AmbitionIsEvil actual drive]] [[LeaderWannabe may differ, however...]]

* FriendlyEnemy: AI factions ''really'' value you releasing their generals - seeing a long, bloody war with another large enemy faction but with the player constantly setting their generals free after every victory over them can cause them to have much more friendly diplomatic relations with them than a variety of other factions who've suffered no worse from the player than a territorial trespassing.

* MasterOfNone: The Yellow Turban leaders are all like this except for some of the legendary characters. Veterans have the most in common with champions but can act like sentinels or vanguard. However, they're the only class leader in the Yellow Turbans to have any cunning worth a damn meaning (except for the legendary lords) so they will be forced into the strategist role despite the fact that Scholars have better archers. However, since they have the best cavalry, you can make them commanders. Scholars are most like sentinels, but can act like champions or commanders. They are generally forced into the commander or strategist role because of their low instinct, but they also have the worst cavalry. Healers are most like vanguard and can act like champions or commanders, but they have the best unbreakable infantry putting them in Sentinel or ''Vanguard'' territory given their high instinct so you think they would excel in combat. However, they also have the worst armor, barely any better than ''strategists'' because [[JustifiedTrope they're doctors and spiritual healers]]. Furthermore, none of them can be equipped with armor manually. They are locked into whatever armor they start with and are randomly locked into a slightly better set of armor as they increase in rank. None of them are good duelists because of this and you will often have to interrupt their duels with other units - or refuse to duel entirely. Justified as the Yellow Turbans are a Revolution of the common people. The leaders' roles are downplayed for the betterment of all which is why many of their units are unbreakable. It's not uncommon to lose a battle with your leaders fleeing while the unbreakable units fight to the death to allow them time to escape. [[note]]Veterans have the best cavalry and the only siege equipment, Scholars have the best archers and support infantry, and healers have the heavy spear cavalry and the [[ImplacableMan Youxia]] infantry. Veterans have the second best archers and the faction's only (terrible) missile cavalry, Scholars have the second best Infantry, but they have better Support infantry as mentioned, and Healers have the second best cavalry as was already mentioned. They also all have very quirky units just for added chaos.[[/note]]

* RedshirtArmy: Early in the game, most armies will be compromised of peasants and militias who are likely to die by the thousands. Somewhat averted in that they actually deal decent damage; they just can't take it, which is what leads to such deadly confrontations.
* RegentForLife: In the 190CE start date, Dong Zhuo aims to be this, as he already has the young emperor Liu Xie in his custody.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Although AnyoneCanDie, some characters are scripted to survive events that would lead to their deaths in real life. For instance, when an AI Dong Zhuo almost inevitably gets killed, his brother Dong Min inherits the faction, whereas in reality he was executed as a FallGuy for Lü Bu's betrayal.
** Also notable with the Sun family - historically Sun Jian dies in an ambush in 191AD and Sun Ce is assassinated in 200AD. Give or take a year, these events almost always happen when those factions are AI-controlled. If Sun Jian is player-controlled, depending on certain events and players' choices, you can have anything happen from both Sun lords dying at the events, to Sun Jian dying but Sun Ce surviving to Sun Jian living to a ripe old age to see all of his three children [[note]]and sometimes even more given that Lady Wu is specifically programmed to be fertile, which typically means even more babies given she's still of childbearing age at the start of the 190CE scenario[[/note]] reach adulthood.

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Several characters are shown playing ''weiqi'' (or ''Go'').

** In Cao Cao's trailer, the Go game he played with Yuan Shao is reenacting a real gameplay from the Qing Dynasty. The black (Cao Cao) is struggling against the white (Yuan Shao) until it turns the table in the corner of the board, which the white did not see coming.

* AutomatonHorses: Averted for once. Cavalry units are slower compared to the previous games and tire out faster, with heavy cavalry receiving heftier penalties. This is actually [[AluminumChristmasTrees quite true to life:]] horses of the period were relatively small, and horseshoes and stirrups were still quite limited in use. As well, when cavalry dismount and fight as infantry, their mounts left alone can be spooked from the battle and flee, preventing their riders from getting on the mounts again. Played straight with the Qiang cavalry available to Ma Teng's faction, which are immune to fatigue to highlight their [[BornInTheSaddle steppe nomad heritage.]]

->''"At fifteen I joined the army on expedition, Only at eighty did I finally return."''

* NiceHat: All characters don fancy historical headgears.

** This also happens [[spoiler:in the endgame. Once a human-controlled faction leader reaches the rank of King, the top three non-governor factions all declare themselves as emperors and automatically go to war]].

* RightfulKingReturns: As of ''Fates Divided'', warlords with Emperor Liu Xie in their possession are provided with the option of restoring the Han Empire with Liu on the throne.

* LuckBasedMission: Apart from Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu and Sima Yi, none of the heroes who aren't on the map from the start are guaranteed to spawn in a given campaign. It's possible, for example, to play as Cao Cao and never come across Dian Wei or Xu Chu throughout your whole campaign.

* GameBreakingBug: If starting from the ''Mandate'' bookmark, Liu Xie exists as a character. If Dong Zhuo confederates the Han Imperial faction, Liu Xie will also (eventually) exist as an Emperor "token". The bug arises because the "character" Liu Xie does not move together with the "token" Liu Xie. Thus, when opting to restore the Han, Liu Xie will become faction head of the faction where the "chaarcter" is, not the faction where the "token" is.

* DoWellButNotPerfect: In the ''Three Kingdoms'' campaign, the player would do well to remember that as the faction leader rises in rank or power, the endgame becomes closer and closer. [[spoiler:Should any human-controlled faction leader reach the rank of King, the game will automatically crown the top three ranked non-governor faction leaders emperors, and the three factions will automatically declare war on each other. Governor factions cannot be crowned emperors this way; they must capture the capital of an existing emperor instead.]] Inverted with the alignment system in ''Eight Princes'', as the alignments have only bonuses at the lower and highest end of the scale [[note]]Ranks 1, 2 and 5[[/note]], but have both bonuses and penalties while being in the middle [[note]]Ranks 3 and 4[[/note]].

** In ''Eight Princes'', Sima Zhong is this, and unlike Liu Xie who at least can still push back via the imperial flavor mechanic, Zhong is utterly helpless.

** City population increases with time in the game. Maximum population of Imperial cities is 8.5 million people. A census taken in 156 CE placed the population of the Han Dynasty at 56 million plus people. A census taken by the Jin Dynasty in 280 CE had the Chinese population at only 16 million plus people despite all former territory being reclaimed. Mind you, census data only counted people who paid their taxes so tax evaders and corruption made those numbers unreliable, but the actual decrease in population was similarly drastic.

* MotiveDecay: Each Warlord, no matter how dedicated they are to the Han, will not allow Emperor Xian to rule and will turn him into a puppet. Eventually, every faction, no matter their initial intentions, will decide that only they are capable of ruling as Emperor.

* AlternateHistory: As Dong Zhuo in the ''Mandate'' bookmark, players can choose not to confederate the Han Imperial faction. This allows [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Bian Liu Bian]] (the historical Emperor Shao) to eventually ascend the throne when he comes of age. This ''disables'' the Imperial Favour mechanic as Bian has his own fiefdom and armies, unlike his half-brother Xie.