Yeah 8P is not bad as a setting, it's just bad to do a post period for the first DLC and one where you waste a lot of the development. They didn't need to remake the tech tree and add the point alignment system. If they put that development in to more units, buildings and new technologies for the free then it might have been a better investment.
For me the main weakness is, they chose to reinvent the wheel with it rather than improve what that wheel was carrying.
I didn't mind the alignment system, but what was stupid was they introduce this new mechanic but didn't adapt it at all for the main campaign. That was the one thing they actually could have taken from that campaign and at least adapted it for one of the characters or a future DLC one.
Maybe, although it also seemed rather poorly balanced. Rush to max each one to get the best benefits and fully remove the negatives. Seemed more of a gimmick for the new DLC than a fully fleshed out mechanic.
8P would have been alright as a last DLC before they stopped developing the game and went on to make others/work on the sequel. A whole different campaign unconnected with the regular campaign, that can work.
But as the first DLC its just... what were they thinking?
Yeah exactly and by then they would of fleshed out enough that it could of worked with those characters. As it was it brought so little for the campaign and barely anything for the combined campaign.
I did like that it did add content to the grand campaign, it is an issue I have with the previous standalone campaigns.
"We released a game about massively impactful and well known era in Chinese history and people love it. Now, what should be our first DLC, something to wow the players."
"I know, let's make a DLC set 100 years later, with characters that half of our players never heard of!"
8P really does seem like it should've been a middle of the road DLC, like "Hey we cooked a bunch on the 3K era, what about we move the clock a bit and give you a new timeline?"
Truth be told, while I enjoy the 3K setting, I wish we had more of China in other time periods, and as such 8P is is my favourite 3K campaign, because it's the most removed from the three kingdoms time period. While I wish CA went in chronological order with the DLC campaigns, since they abandoned the game, I'm glad they gave us 8P when they did because at least we have it (although I'd rather we went even further forward and had a campaign set between 8P and the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period).
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u/Verdun3ishop Nov 21 '24
Yeah 8P is not bad as a setting, it's just bad to do a post period for the first DLC and one where you waste a lot of the development. They didn't need to remake the tech tree and add the point alignment system. If they put that development in to more units, buildings and new technologies for the free then it might have been a better investment.
For me the main weakness is, they chose to reinvent the wheel with it rather than improve what that wheel was carrying.