I’m typing up this column because I was inspired while recently playing Total War: Three Kingdoms. Playing Total War: Three Kingdoms and seeing its familiar characters really took me back to when it first released in 2019. Because of this, I wanted to reminisce about how much titles based in the Three Kingdoms time period in history and its universe have meant to me.

For those who don’t know, this era in history that Total War: Three Kingdoms is based on is known as the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. Total War: Three Kingdoms is a sensationalized version of the war that took place in China near the end of the Han dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period.

The Three Kingdoms period is also well known by players of the Dynasty Warriors series by the publisher Koei Techmo. I am included in this group as I was fortunate to grow up playing those games. My cousin Dakota had various entries of the series, and we would spend hours playing cooperative missions. My favorite characters were part of the Wu kingdom (Sun Ce and Lu Xun). While I didn’t know much at the time about the historical context of the Three Kingdoms, I still had a lot of fun.

This led me to get Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires at my local game store. What makes Empires different is it introduces strategy elements and requires players to take over parts of China. I started researching the historical elements of the war and learned about the historical context of those battles. Also, it showed how heroes can be dramatized many years after the war.

Finally, I got to dig into Total War: Three Kingdoms. Of course, I went with Wu by using Sun Jian. It was so great to dig into the Total War: Three Kingdoms from such an in-depth strategy perspective. There have been other games based on the Three Kingdoms period like Koei Techmo’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms which focuses on the diplomacy aspect and grand strategy.

What makes this era in history so interesting?

Well, for one it has epic heroes, such as Guan Yu, Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and Zhuge Liang. At the obvious expense of some historical accuracy, these characters have fascinating stories, such as when Xiahou Dun was shot in the eye with an arrow. He pulled the arrow out (including his eye) and ate it out of defiance. Or when Lu Bu was said to have fought a thousand men by himself.

Additionally, there are large scale battles during this era, such as the battle of Guandu and the battle of Jiangling. These were battles that were full of stunning tales and strategies. The stories of those heroes have inspired people through history and even helped make me want to be a soldier. I knew I wasn’t going to be some epic hero like the ones in the Three Kingdoms. But the stories of those heroes made me want to still be the best I could be. Until next time, thanks as always for reading.