Destiny of an Emperor
Reviewed by Chris Halvorson
Destiny of an Emperor is what any gamer with any experience would call a strategy
RPG. It involves ancient Chinese history from 190-220 A.D. which later inspired the
made-by Koei series Romance of the Three Kingdoms #s 1-4. In this game, it has
more of an RPG feel as you may equip your generals and their armies with weapons.
You may talk to people in towns throughout China, attack opposing rulers (in a certain
order), and change generals in your group later on in the game.
Some generals you have may have a large amount of 'intelligence', making them
perfect for the status of 'tactician', meaning the person who takes care of all of
your tactics commands and determines how many you can do in a battle.
Graphics 4.3 out of 5
The graphics in Destiny of an Emperor aren't any better than most RPGs, but it
offers what most RPGs of it's time didn't- close ups of the face when commanding
generals. They don't look that real, but they give a sense of what the general's
personalities might have been- heroic, determined, ruthless to all who were evil.
This is one of many unique parts of this game.
Music and Sound 3.6 out of 5
Music and sound on this game, like all NES games, are fairly grainy and don't
even compare to Super NES or N64 games. However, seeing as this is one of the
earliest games for NES, this game has above-average Music and sound. They give
a sort of depth of feeling in towns and in battles.
Game Challenge 4.0 out of 5
This game is fairly hard, as you have to gain levels and money to get anywhere.
This takes up time, but not too much if you know a few things about this game.
I will cover that in the 'Tips' section. However, I'd say this game still takes 45+
hours to beat. This is game isn't too hard, but it just takes a while to find places
and get to them.
Game Play-Fun 4.3 out of 5
This game is way above average NES games in amount of fun, if you like strategy
and RPG games. It's hard to get used to controls and commands, but once you know
that kind of thing pretty well, the game is fun and I might even go so far as to say
it is semi- educational. It tells you about cultures of ancient China. It also teaches
strategy functions fairly well too.
Frustration
List of frustrations-
1: Finding certain towns.
2: Running into enemies while finding those towns.
3: Getting into Liu Zhang's area.
That's it!
Replayability 3 out of 5
Replayability is not what this game was made for. It's fun to see how many generals
you can accumulate though, as you can have up to (I think) 255. This game is one that
nagged at me for years after I first played it, until I finally bought it and I still can't
get very far in the game.
Game Value 4.5 out of 5
Personally, I got this game at a game trading store. I got it for about $9 so I thought
it was defiantly worth the price. If you can get it for $15 or less, get it. It's a great
game. Perfect for an RPG-Strategy lover like me.
Hints + Tips
1: If you run into a small enemy you know you can overcome without using tactics
or items, use the All-Out function with your leader.
2: Tactics do different things. For example, the first one you should get is a fire
attack that only hits part of the time but does about 100 damage. A few increase
HP or defense.
3: Keep a lot of wing-things in your inventory when you can.
4: If there is a general with a specific name on the opposing side in the battle,
and you beat him, you have a chance(about 1/2) to recruit him and use him on
your side. Sometimes they ask for gold or food, or for steeds(horses). Sometimes
they won't join you at all.
Uniqueness 5 out of 5
There are so many unique things in this game I can't name them all. For example,
the fact that you can recruit enemy soldiers after battles. Also the fact that your
commander in the beginning of the game becomes the emperor shortly after and
you can invite him to other palaces. He gives you tips on what to do next. This game
is the most unique of all games of it's time.
Overall 4.5 out of 5
Destiny of an Emperor is without question one of the best games I have seen for
NES. The only problem is, there isn't a sequel of some sort. Oh, sure, Koei made
Simulation sequels of that era, but they're Simulation, not really Strategy RPG. Also,
I haven't been able to find any solid references to that era. Anyway, it's a great game.