Speaking of which, it suddenly occurred to me when I was rewatching an old show recently that if I were to find a two-dimensional reference for "Lords of the Three Kingdoms", it would probably be the kind of funny and hot-blooded show where "all the members are in Q version but the plot is unexpectedly serious"! For example, the contrast between Oga holding little Beru in "The Devil", or the cuteness of historical figures as personifications of the country in "Hetalia", you know, the kind of "obviously ridiculous, but he looks handsome at the critical moment" tone.
As for the game "Lords of the Three Kingdoms", I was fooled into it at the beginning purely by its illustrations. After all, I have seen many SLGs with the theme of the Three Kingdoms. Most of them are realistic style or greasy senior sister style, but this one just takes the Q version route! The generals are all chubby, with eyes as big as grapes, but they look inexplicably imposing when they put on their armor and hold their weapons. Especially for Diao Chan and Xiao Qiao, not only did they not collapse after being transformed into Q version, but they also gained a cuteness that "two heads can also seduce people". I took screenshots and sent three pictures to WeChat Moments, shouting, "This style of painting is my social security!"
Then I fell into the trap naturally. Although I really have no interest in systems such as sandbox wars, resource collection, and territory competition. After all, I am a salty commander who only cares about appearance and plot (´･ω･`). But I found that this game actually has a lot of private stuff in the generals' dialogues and bond plots! For example, there is a sentence in Guan Yu's voice: "This sword is only for killing generals, not you", which directly stimulates the second sense of the world; Cao Cao occasionally pops up a sentence: "I would rather teach me to betray the world than teach the world to betray me", and then coupled with the Q version of the villain's squinting action, my whole body feels better.
As for the degree of restoration...if we compare it with the adaptation of anime IP, this game is actually more like "borrowing the IP of the Three Kingdoms to create our own two-dimensional secondary creation." It is not like some comic book games that forcefully reproduce the plot 1:1. Instead, it crushes the famous scenes from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, adds a layer of "cute filter" and then serves it up again. Just like when you go to Bilibili to watch those Three Kingdoms-themed ghost MAD movies, the characters' faces fall apart but you still can't stop laughing – that's pretty much the truth. And its dubbing is also very interesting. I went to check the voice actor list, and it turned out that the voice of Lu Bu was the teacher who had dubbed the male protagonists of many hot-blooded dramas. When I heard his words "Who dares to fight with me", I got goosebumps. I instantly imagined the plot of "Long Aotian's version of Lu Bu travels to the Q version of the world" hhh
In short, if you are like me and have absolutely no patience for the combat system and numerical restraint, but you can play for half a year just for the good-looking graphics and good CP, then "Lords of the Three Kingdoms" is definitely worth a try. It's not a hardcore masterpiece, but it's got a cute painting style, poignant lines, and can occasionally be used as a joke in the guild by sending emoticons like “Your Diao Chan is in my hand” to each other. Anyway, I have already followed it as the "Three Kingdoms version of the daily show". I go online every day to see what nonsense my little city lords have said today. It is more fun than following the new show! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
Let me finish with a voice actor joke: I heard that the "Huarong Dao" plot skin will be released in the next version. I hope that Guan Yu can say "This time, I choose to let you go - because I am bound to the lord's bond, not yours." Then my two-dimensional soul will be completely worth the price of admission!