Though Total War: Three Kingdoms was only released in May, there is already an expansion pack in the works. Eight Princes highlights a unique part of Chinese history: the catastrophe inside the Jin Dynasty which led to many different groups forming their Dynasties in Northern China.
Total War: Three Kingdoms is one of Creative Assembly’s best-received games in years. It covers a period of history few video games have ever ventured into. Classic Total War campaign gameplay, with the overworld and battle map, take on a magical appeal in the setting of powerful Chinese Dynasties.
It isn’t all perfect, though. Creative Assembly has been slammed recently for its predatory DLC policy. Three Kingdoms came out a few months ago and already there’s an expansion pack available to purchase. However, Eight Princes is reasonably priced considering the content offered.
In terms of gameplay, Eight Princes adds a new campaign set 100 years after the story of the base game. It’s an expansion that acts in a similar way to previous Total War games. It’s a playable campaign separate from the original campaign map.
Eight Princes seems sizable, and as the name suggests, there are eight new princes to play. Each has unique playstyles, added to by specialized buildings, court options and assignments. Plus, for those who enjoy zooming into the battle map to watch duels between champions, there are brand new elite units like powerful cataphracts.
At a glance, there are new princes such as Sima Yong, the shrewd defender, Sima Jiong, the imperious agent, and Sima Yue, the imperial overseer. They have a variety of focuses, like political intrigue, building optimizations, and combat preferences.
Alongside the new princes and their specializations, you can customize your Dynasty further by heading down four new alignments: Wealth, Spirit, Mind and Might. These are pretty self-explanatory, and there are more details about how these affect the campaign on the game’s Steam page.
Right now there’s a Steam pre-purchase sale on where you can get the expansion pack Eight Princes for a 10% discount. The DLC releases August 8th.
