After the first PV exposure, can "Wanmin Changge: Three Kingdoms" enable NetEase to carry the banner of stand-alone games?

Written by Feng Min 

Edited by Liu Shiwu 

Nine years after the release of "Realm of Conquest" in 2015, NetEase's Realm of Conquest team has finally announced the launch of a new self-developed single-player historical war strategy game, "Song of the People: Three Kingdoms" (hereinafter referred to as "Song of the People"). 

On October 22, the actual game footage was exposed for the first time, which has aroused many discussions and speculations among netizens. 

Since NetEase has not made a real single-player game in the past two decades, many netizens are skeptical about this new work: "Do you still remember 'Yan Yun Shi Liu Sheng'?", "As we all know, single-player games and NetEase are not compatible." However, some players have shown a strong expectation for this domestic single-player Three Kingdoms strategy game: "As long as it can be made according to the actual machine demonstration, it should be quite fun.", "I hope it can be done well. There are really no decent single-player games in China." 

Image source: Comments on the Bilibili official account of "Song of the People: Three Kingdoms"

Previously, the "Realm of Conquest" released by the Realm of Conquest team is a fully free real-time sandbox mobile game. Set in the historical background of the Three Kingdoms period and with cards as the main battle method, it has fulfilled the sandbox strategy war dreams of countless players. Since its launch, it has received many praises from all sides, and still has a monthly revenue of tens of millions of yuan after many years of launch. 

As a new attempt by NetEase in the single-player field, "Song of the People" not only inherits the essence of the team's previous work "Realm of Conquest", but also makes bold expansions and innovations on its basis. It adopts a sandbox map with real restoration and seamless connection, allowing players to reenact the history of the Three Kingdoms from their own chosen perspective and with their own will. The production team clearly claims that the game is "pure PC, pure single-player", which also conveys NetEase's determination to break into uncharted territory and cultivate new users in the single-player category. 

.

What kind of "Three Kingdoms" does "Song of the People" want to shape?

The game uses "The battlefield is boundless, the strategy is unlimited; The prosperity lasts forever, and the people sing for a long time" as its promotional slogan, which is both broad and deep. 

Image source: Promotional poster of "Song of the People: Three Kingdoms"

The Three Kingdoms not only have wars and heroes, but also livelihoods and the common people. From the game name "Song of the People", we can guess that the game should not only depict the shocking grand battles and the heroic heroes, but also the stories worthy of praising and the unnamed and unknown common people in the chaotic times. 

Breaking away from the elite narrative of most historical war strategy games on the market currently, paying more attention to individual details and the perspective of the common people, bypassing the two "big mountains" of power and officials, and turning their attention to the insignificant "individuals" in the chaotic times, such a style may make the tone of the game more complex and profound. 

The art style of the game continues the tradition of "Realm of Conquest". Although the official has not explained the gameplay in detail, from the official announcement and the PV display, it is believed that "Song of the People" will integrate classic Three Kingdoms strategy game elements such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Total War: Three Kingdoms". 

Among them, compared with "Total War: Three Kingdoms", "Song of the People" incorporates the SLG infinite zoom mode. From the PV footage currently released, the sandbox of "Song of the People" covers various terrains such as mountains, plains, and various weathers such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy. The battles will be launched directly on the big map in the form of army corps confrontation, and the battle actions are quite clear. 

Image source: Actual game demonstration of "Song of the People: Three Kingdoms"

In the actual machine demonstration released by the official, when the perspective is pulled away, players can overlook the entire land, appreciate the vast mountains and rivers, and observe the overall situation of the battle; when the perspective is pulled into the city, the army construction in the city can be seen, and even the mist and flowing water in the mountains and forests can be clearly observed. The visual effect is quite stunning. 

Image source: Actual game demonstration of "Song of the People: Three Kingdoms"

Technically, "Song of the People" uses advanced graphics and physics engines to reproduce real battles and dynamic weather systems. The alternation of the twenty-four solar terms will bring changes to the atmosphere of the map scene, and small details such as roads, buildings, and even pedestrians in the city can also be clearly captured. At the same time, NetEase is likely to integrate more AI technology into this game to enhance the behavioral logic ability and environmental change richness of each AI player. 

It is worth worrying that since the battlefield performance is directly displayed on the big map, and there is no distinction between strategic map and battle map, the precision of the soldier models shown in the current PV is not very high. The current promotional video released by the official does not show more camera effects from the perspective of soldiers, and the stunning visual effect presented in the PV undoubtedly requires a huge amount of modeling. Therefore, whether the refinement of the specific characters in the game can meet the expectations of players is still worthy of concern. 

.

The Challenges of Three Kingdoms Games and the Mission of "Song of the People"

Writing the history of the Three Kingdoms well and telling the stories of the Three Kingdoms well is the common wish of the developers of Three Kingdoms games. Previously, as the first Three Kingdoms 3A-type SLG game, "Total War: Three Kingdoms" once became a model of Three Kingdoms-type games with its excellent campaign design and rich historical atmosphere in the narrative. However, it announced the cessation of updates in 2021, which disappointed many players.

Whether the launch of "Song of the People" can "overturn the table" and create the history of the Three Kingdoms by Chinese game developers is still worth looking forward to. 

Image source: Actual game demonstration of "Song of the People: Three Kingdoms"

It is worth mentioning that for NetEase, no matter which engine is used for development, it is not easy for "Song of the People" to succeed. 

"Total War" as the leading game series in the track, has been developed for more than 20 years. Even though it has done a good job in the continuity of content and development pipelines, it still stumbled in works such as "Total War: Pharaoh". 

Image source: Actual game demonstration of "Total War: Pharaoh"

(Image source: Actual screenshot of "Total War: Pharaoh")‍ 

A person in the game industry told 36Kr Games that in the later stage of the "Total War" series, the development of most gameplay mechanisms has matured, and the art style only needs to be customized according to different contents. However, SLG covers too many elements, and it is still a very difficult task to effectively integrate diversified gameplay to make the player experience more smooth. 

.

Conclusion

Why does NetEase want to make a single-player game, and it is also an SLG? 

This question is also what many people in the industry want to know. Perhaps it is because of the rise and hot sales of "Black Myth: Wukong" in the past two years, or perhaps it is because of the accumulation of many years of online game development and operation. NetEase believes that the time is ripe - as a first-tier game manufacturer in China, filling the gap of single-player masterpieces has many benefits. 

Judging from the PV currently released, whether it is the sandbox scale, the art quality or the content modeling, "Song of the People" has already reached the quality of a 3A game development. 

Image source: Actual game demonstration of "Song of the People: Three Kingdoms"

As for whether this work, which has been questioned since the first PV was released, is a "scam" or a "surprise", it can only be revealed after the game is officially launched. 

——————————

This article was first published on the WeChat public account "36Kr Games".

This article comes from the WeChat public account "36Kr Games", Author: Feng Min, and 36Kr is authorized to publish it.