Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-11-26 18:32 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

Arc System Works announced the release date for the Nintendo Switch version of River City Saga: Three Kingdoms (Kunio-kun no Sangokushi dayo Zen’in Shuugou! / くにおくんの三国志だよ全員集合！). It will come out in Japan on December 16. The PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) version will launch in April 2022 or later.

Kunio-kun no Sangokushi dayo Zen’in Shuugou! is the latest title in the long-running Kuion-kun series. It is being developed by APlus as part of the Kunio-kun’s 35^th-anniversary project.

The game is set in the world of Three Kingdoms and features familiar characters from the series including Kunio and Riki. It’ll include a story mode with two-player co-op support and an extra mode called “SAN GOKU EI YU ROKU” (三国英雄録〜赤壁ノ章〜) that supports co-op for up to four-player.

In the story mode, players will travel across a vast world that consists of over 120 stages and progress through the story comprised of 6 chapters that let you experience the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Battle of Red Cliff, and other historical battles.

Kunio, the main character, will appear as Guan Yu, a general of Shu Han. Riki is Sun Quan, Misako is Zhuge Liang, Gouda is Liu Bei, and Yamada is Cao Cao. Depending on your actions, the story will branch to three different paths. Of course, you can also expect some nonsensical comedy just like in other Kunio-kun titles.

It’s a 2.5D beat ’em up game where players use special moves, ultimate moves that consume your SP gauge, and 10 different strategies to fight enemies and conquer the land. Kunio levels up as you defeat enemies, and you can allocate status points to raise the character’s stats to your liking. You can also purchase special moves and other items from stores in town. Enemies will sometimes drop weapons as well.

The newly announced “SAN GOKU EI YU ROKU” is a traditional beat ’em up mode where you can experience exhilarating battles with simple controls. The goal is to defeat the boss waiting at the end of each stage. There are 10 normal stages, along with some hidden stages. As for playable characters, there are 12 to choose from. Some of them are available only in this mode.

As mentioned earlier, this mode supports four-player co-op with the option to turn on/off friendly fire. It’ll have a leaderboard feature as well. However, it seems like this mode will only support local co-op at launch (through single Joy-Con use), according to Arc System Works’ press release. Their wording suggests that they might add online co-op in the future.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms (Kunio-kun no Sangokushi dayo Zen’in Shuugou! / くにおくんの三国志だよ全員集合！) is set to launch on December 16 in Japan. The PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) version will launch in April 2022 or later.