To be honest, I have been playing mobile games for almost 20 years. From playing "Cang Shen Lu" on a keyboard in the Symbian era to "Clash of Clans" and "Civilization Change" on smartphones, strategy has always been my favorite. Recently, I played "Dazhou Kingdoms" for a few days in a general environment. I had a lot of feelings. I don't want to brag about it. I want to talk to my friends about the differences between it and other similar games.
First of all, I have to say that the main time span of this game is really long - from King Wu's defeat of Zhou to Qin's destruction of the six kingdoms, nearly a thousand years. This is more sincere than many strategy games, unlike some IP masterpieces that only focus on the Three Kingdoms for decades and cheat on feelings by changing dynasties. To be honest, I played a Java game called "Spring and Autumn Hegemony" on Symbian ten years ago. It was much rougher than this one, but the sense of substitution was the same. Now you can see the bronze patterns, ritual and music systems of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties on your mobile phone, and even the mechanisms of "enfeoffment" and "tribute". It's like digging out a yellowed history textbook.
Compared with the "Three Kingdoms" series, the biggest advantage of this game is that it does not force you to have an end point of "unifying the world". If you choose a small prince in the Western Zhou Dynasty at the beginning, you may have to live within the framework of rituals and music for several generations. Diplomacy, marriage, sacrifice, road construction... every step must be calculated. Unlike "Three Kingdoms" where you can't wait to start fighting in the first round, the early stage of this game is more like the "farming" fun of "Civilization", but the pace is slower and more realistic. However, there are also disadvantages: the tutorial is too short and not friendly enough for new players. It took me three days of playing to figure out how to balance the "country system" and the "military system". It's easy to give up if you don't have the patience.
Let's talk about the UI. Although version 5.0 is much better than the earlier version, to be honest, the operation is still a bit complicated. Compared with the design of "The Coast of the Land", which is easy to understand and get started, the information density of this game is too high, with war, strategy, internal affairs, diplomacy... a bunch of panels layered on top of each other. I guess the production team wants to restore the historical complexity, but for mobile phone users, the rhythm of clicking and feedback is indeed not smooth enough. But looking at it from another perspective, this also shows that the content is solid, unlike some online strategy games that give you one-click hosting when you top up 648.
Speaking of fees, it's 0 yuan for download + in-app purchase, which surprises me. Similar games on the market now are either forced by monthly cards or bombarded with advertisements. The payment points of Great Zhou Lie Kingdoms are mainly some acceleration and skins, which do not affect the core gameplay. In comparison, "Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition" of a certain glorious mobile game will fall behind by a large margin if it does not spend money for one day. This is called cutting leeks. Of course, the paid model is a matter of opinion, but at least this game allows me to regain the feeling of playing the cracked version with free traffic.
Finally, let's talk about feelings. The copywriting and music of this game are very thoughtful. When I open the interface, I am stunned every time I hear the phrase "Your Majesty, do you remember Zhou Li?" I remember playing "Tai Ge Lizhiden 5" when I was in college, and I also liked the story line of the Warring States Period. Now that I am thirty years old, I don't have much time to play, but I turn on this game from time to time and watch the intrigues among the princes and the Qin army marching westward out of Hangu, which is like reading a history book that I can participate in. The only pity is that the multiplayer mode is basically single-player, which lacks the intensity of playing "Civilization 5" with roommates.
In short, if you are an experienced player of historical strategy, don't mind the slow pace, and don't mind the cost of learning, then this game is worth a try. At least it allowed me to regain the sense of calmness that "governing a country is like cooking fresh food" in the era of fast food games. 😌