To be honest, I have been searching through the gaming landscape for a long time recently, and finally found a SLG that allows me to calm down and play for a night. As I get older, I don't pursue graphics and special effects as much as I used to. Instead, I begin to miss the energy of playing “The Legend of Cao Cao” on a Symbian mobile phone and repeatedly moving SL positions. This "Biography of Heroes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" has brought me back this feeling after a long absence.
The game is set at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, starting from the tyranny of Yang Guang and the rise of heroes, all the way to the gathering of heroes in Wagang, the melee against the king, and then to Li Tang's domination of the world. The plot basically follows the path of a novel, and characters such as Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and Shan Xiongxin have their own story lines. I'm not bragging, the text is solidly written, and it doesn't have the forced-bloody internet flavor. Instead, it has a simple narrative style – which is really rare in today's fast food mobile games.
The gameplay is a standard war chess strategy, including moving grids, blocking terrain, counting turns, and training generals. The map of each level is not big, but the level design is exquisite. For example, ambushes, reinforcements, and weather effects are all arranged, so it is not a brainless map. I played around Chapter 20, and found that the combination of each military commander's unit type and skills can be played in some tricks. The spearmen arrayed, the cavalry detoured, and the archers were at the top. The micro control was quite good.
The platform is 5.0 (should be the requirement of Android system), and my old phone can run it too. What surprised me the most was that it was completely free, with no stamina locks, no forced ads, and no cash points. The developer is Chengdu Xinyue Interactive Entertainment. This company has made several stand-alone war games before and has always had a good reputation. As an old guy who came from the Symbian era, I really hope that there will be more hard-core strategy games like this, instead of having to draw cards and change skins.
In short, if you are a strategy and chess enthusiast, or are interested in the history of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, you might as well give it a try. Don't worry, play slowly, and pass each level one by one, just like the time when you were sitting in the back row of the classroom secretly playing on your mobile phone. 😌 If you have also played it, welcome to chat about which general is the best.