When River City Saga Three Kingdoms was released, it was an extremely welcome experience from the Kunio-Kun series. The beat em up mechanics were excellent as were the RPG mechanics, while the story was an excellent take on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but filled with the series iconic characters and humor. Now River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next has been released and continues the story in a fun an inventive way, but is it worth being a new game?
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next picks up where the last game left off and while no spoilers will be mentioned for those unfamiliar with it, Next follows appropriately enough, the next part of the classic story’s adaptation. Kunio is back as Guan Yu taking out enemies, but he has forgotten his skills and must relearn them. So yes, you are back to level 1 here, but the game encourages multiple replays at advanced levels, both with more difficulty and for taking alternative paths.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms leaned heavily into meta humor and the fact that it was the Kunio-Kun cast putting on a show, but River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next goes even further. You gain a horse early on but the cast member is only half willing to play along, so you clearly are driving a motorcycle. This is not for transportation though, and is instead a weapon you can summon to ride on and attack enemies. As with many things in RPGs, this steed can be upgraded and outfitted with new equipment that will affect its stats, so customizing it to your preference is key.
Indeed, the RPG elements in River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next are a bit more developed than the first game, with the skill system going into more detail for unlocking abilities. I have to say that in general, the RPG components in River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next are some of the best I have ever seen in a beat em up RPG and there is a good amount of customization and enhancement you can do for Kunio as Guan Yu. Leveling up to unlock stat points is still here and gaining skill points to unlock new abilities is handled perfectly.
Combat is handled well in the game, as you would expect for a Kunio-kun brawler, and the two player options works great. Some moves do take some getting used to, and enemies will scale fast, so be sure to upgrade yourself as much as you can, as fast as you can, while also experimenting with the moves on lower level enemies that you can afford to take time battling.
One of my only complaints about River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is that in some cases, the enemies do scale too quickly and do not give you time to adjust. In addition, they will swarm you constantly which can quickly lead to a death, especially if you are not quick enough to use a healing item. The game uses autosaves to record everything, and that is nice, but it can also be a bit cumbersome since passing a section will mean you will have to wait until you finish that chapter of the game to redo it.
Still, there is a lot of fun to be had in River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous and the music is some of the best in the series history, making River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next a feast for the eyes and the ears. In addition, the writing in River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is rather clever, with even more fourth wall breaks, and references to modern pop culture, only for other characters to be utterly baffled by those references due to being committed to their roles..
If you are a fan of the beat em up genre, there is much to love about River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next. It is a massive game that combines the beat em up and RPG genres well, and has a fantastic open world to explore gradually. The history is respected even with all the humor present, and this just makes me want more Kunio-kun games set in ancient eras. There is so much that can be done still, that I have the developers build on this and create an even bigger game next time, because while River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next is a fantastic game, I know the developers are just getting warmed up.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
