Review Jevnation 4/5 · Nov 7, 2025
Chronolog #09: Rumbling to the red cliff!
Ever heard of the River City franchise? No? Well, neither have I.
But it turned out to be a long-lived beat-em-up adventure franchise that even branched out to a Saga spin-off and has two titles retell the Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". RCS: Three Kingdoms tells the first part of the novel (from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to …
Ever heard of the River City franchise? No? Well, neither have I.
But it turned out to be a long-lived beat-em-up adventure franchise that even branched out to a Saga spin-off and has two titles retell the Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". RCS: Three Kingdoms tells the first part of the novel (from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the Battle of Red Cliff). The Kunio characters play the roles of the historical people and add their own flair to the storytelling, as well as the fighting. There's plenty of customization for choosing your fight style, let alone weapons, (spectacular) tactics and moves to pick between as you go along with the story. When I got over the starting bump and got some moves that enhanced my character, the progress gains its flow but will still leave room for some challenges up ahead.
River City Saga appears to deliver on its formula that's been built on its decades long existence and fits well with the Three Kingdoms interpretation, coming off as an entertaining parody TV show in 2D fighting format. (My favorite take-away is learning about how Zhang Fei lost to Lu Bu in a duel contest)