GreatWyattNorth

The strategy aspect was basically gutted for this game. It's little more than a friendship simulator. I bought it because my computer died, and I needed to scratch the strategy itch on my ps4. I know this is the PC section, but it's literally the same game. When I told my friend I bought it (we're both RTK geeks since RTK III), he said "NO! BAD! VERY BAD! BAD IDEA! BAD BAD BAD!". He wasn't lying. Somehow having nothing but close friends in your unit makes you super powerful. Somehow having the rough equivalent of 3 Zhang Fei's makes you nearly immune to enemy plots. Officers/generals with high intelligence are basically useless in battles. RTK 9 did a far better job of making both WAR and INT officers/generals far more useful in every situation. If you like the RPG aspect more, I recommend 7, 8, and 10 for that. If you like strategy more, 9 and 11 are up your alley. Everything after 11 has been a dumpster fire IMO.

Worst RTK game I've ever played. They should honestly just call it a friendship simulator instead. I spent more time giving away cheap wine just to get officers to join me, than I actually spent building up my cities, invading enemy territories, etc. There is little to no strategy involved with combat anymore. It's just spam your top general's skill as often as you can. Also it seems high intelligence officers are largely useless in combat, when compared to older titles like RTK 9 for the ps2. I have no idea how they could've gone so backwards with the development of this game. If you want to have more of a RPGish style of game, 7,8 and 10 fit the bill. If you want to focus more on being a ruler, 11 is good for that. If you want a really tough strategy challenge, 9 would be best. That game actually makes intelligent officers useful in combat, as opposed to what they've done to them here in 13.

The rating I gave it is for hardcore SAO fans. If you love the series, you will love this game. If you haven't watched it, or are impartial to the show, you likely won't be a fan of it. For me, I'm a hardcore SAO fan, so I bought a PS4 just to play this game, and I've loved every minute of it. The pros and cons vary at some points. My biggest con, is that being friendly enough with characters like Klein and Agil is painstakingly painful. You have to just spam the O button enough times, before you can change their basic gear. The second biggest con, is that you have to walk around to every food stand, with every female character, engage in some kind of "romantic" dialogue just to get their trust up high enough to give them better gear. If you want to max out everyone, enjoy the grind. By the way, it's not enjoyable. Pick your waifu. Aside from the biggest cons, I still can't put the controller down. The game basically runs as SAO. Use your skills, and you unlock better skills. You use enough skills of one skill tree enough (or maybe it's just one skill repeatedly, I'm not 100% certain), you can unlock another chain of sword skills for that weapon. There's additional levels of difficulty as well. I thought using a two handed sword, and no potions was the best way to win. It doesn't work like that on higher difficulties. You need to use potions, learn to chain sword skills, get great equipment, etc. The normal difficulty is easy if you ask me. Contrary to what other people have said, the AI does not ****. Normal = easy. Both the opponent and allied AI change. Again, a bit grindy, but you have the opportunity to change your allies behavior by choosing what traits you like, which ones you don't like, and giving them the big ol' thumbs up when they do what you like in battle. Silica used to stand around like a dunce. Now she's always restoring the HP of the tank, and throwing in a sword skill when she can. Why? Because I threw my likes and thumbs up on support skills. Balance out the behavior of your party members, and you'll have a solid party. Just highlight their tendencies, see what the description says, and dislike the ones you don't want, and support the ones you want. The enemy AI gets far more aggressive once you get past "normal". Like I said at the top, if you're an SAO nut, you'll love it. If you're on the fence, maybe wait a bit for prices to drop before trying it. Also, the devs did add free additional content, which is very nice. 9/10 if you're a fan 4-5/10 if you're not, and like some grindy MMO-ish gameplay.