‘River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next’ Reviewed — Great Humor And Action With A Compelling Story

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms, from Arc System Works, saw the unlikely pairing of two very different properties. The historical novel chronicling the end of the Han Dynasty, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is retold using the colorful characters from the Kunio-kun video game series. Its sequel, River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next, picks right up where we last left off, following the events of the Battle of Red Cliffs. 

The gameplay is reminiscent to other titles in the River City series. It takes your beat ‘em up game and incorporates elements of RPGs where you earn experience to level up and increase attributes. There is an elaborate list of skills and attacks to acquire adding depth and complexity to the combat. It’s a joy mixing and matching the various attacks to take down the endless horde of enemies and finding a preferred combination. 

In addition, there are two elements that can tip the scales of any fight. Tactics are skills that affect the entire screen and come with entertaining animations. More amusing is the use of the Red Hare motorcycle that fits in with the oddball tone; a modern machine wreaking havoc in ancient China. With the myriad of attacks, large volumes of enemies, and the help in co-op mode and from NPCs, things can become chaotic in a fun way very quickly.

Speaking of the humor, River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next has plenty of it. Some can be the corny variety complete with over the top typical anime facial reactions, but there is also some great jokes from pop culture as well as very self aware, meta references. But dig a little deeper and you’ll find a pretty compelling story filled with deceit, triumphs, drama and so much more. That’s where the game benefits from the source material creating an epic war tale.

The graphics might not be the most breathtaking, but the contrasts of styles adds a certain charm. The classic pixelated aesthetic of the characters makes you feel nostalgic, as if you traveled back in time playing the other Kunio-kun titles on the original Nintendo. But, the clean and crisp backgrounds provide a modern video game look while conveying third century China. The soundtrack only complements the feel, supplying good adventure music as you travel from city to city and the countryside in between while tapping into the tone of each scene.

It’s worth mentioning the extras on River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next. There is a section that gives insight to the story and provides more historical context. More impressive is the comprehensive character guide. Not only does it have descriptions on the real life people portrayed in the game, but short bios and images on the history of Kunio-kun characters that play them as well. It’s like an entire Wikipedia collection you can get lost in.

Like any beat ‘em up, the game can become repetitive with so much fighting. Moreover, there are too many times you’re walking back and forth to complete missions. Fast travel can help with this, but it can still get monotonous. The changes in difficulty can also be frustrating. The higher difficulty levels have more challenging enemies, but only add one major story battle with a few more side quests. Although, this is only a minor gripe.

Overall, the game delivers the humor and action you’d expect from the series with modern upgrades in gameplay and a captivating story.

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