The Best Video Game You've Never Heard Of.

Destiny of an Emperor

Hey folks, pretty much if you haven't played this game, you are like Carrot Top: you probably aren't alive. But ask your friends right now...Ask ten friends right now if they have played this game. I bet not a single one has played it and maybe 1/10 has heard of it. You do have 10 friends don't you? Go ahead I'll wait... because this game may well be one of the top 10 Nintendo games ever. What? They haven't heard of it? Well then, get ready to get your face smashed, Han Dynasty style!

When people think about the best RPGs on the Nintendo, people throw around Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior all the time. Are they great games? Yep. Do they stand the test of time? Sure. Do they have a brother that they keep chained to the furnace in the basement that nobody knows about? You betcha!

Yes, it looks just like that.

That brother is Capcom's 1989 masterpiece Destiny of an Emperor. It is a very rare RPG -both in the sense that it is hard to find and that it is actually fun to play.

Not pictured: Mr. Miyagi

The game is based, very loosely, on historical events, as well as some fictionalized accounts said history. I know that sounds about as interesting as "Articles of the Constitution- the Game!" and it's sequel , "The Bill of Rights- Extra Rights Edition," but it turns out that some pretty awesome stuff happened in Chinese history.

Not a real game.

Basically you and your homies meet up and try to help some Chinese historical figures unite China under a single banner. At least that's what Wikipedia says. Anyways, the best part about this game-along with the very deep plot and level of customization- are the battles. Since it is an old school RPG, you have to expect some battles and some grinding to level. Never has this been more fun than in Destiny of an Emperor.

You meet up on the battlefield in random encounters face to face with the enemy. You have the option of choosing everyone's actions one by one (ala Final Fantasy) or you can choose the "All-Out" option where they just duke it out with the enemy super-fast like. The All-Out option is a godsend. If your heroes are more powerful (and they usually are) you will win, albeit with less HP than if you did turn-by-turn battles. It eliminates much of the tedium of level grinding that you see so much in RPGs.








Pictured : Bandit Force.

As you can see in the picture, you also have a bar-graph representation of HP. It may not seem like much of a thing, but the bar graph pretty much kicks ass. It's very satisfying to see an enemy's graph get slashed in half from one attack. Not to mention when your graph becomes very long... Erm. Anyways.

There is also magic to be used, although here they call it "Tactics". Magic is very crucial toward the end of the game. If you don't master the magic system you will be hard pressed to complete the game. Not that it's hard, but it is slightly more involved than simply picking a spell out of your menu.



Money Shot

You see, you have to recruit generals. You don't start off with the same people that you end the game with. During the course of the game, you will most likely have 25-30 different party members, most of which you have to convince to join you. You accomplish this task the same way you accomplish tasks in the real world: you bribe people.

Once your party evolves enough, you get some bona-fide badass generals and weapons. The plot and story is of the highest quality I can remember on the NES. The plot is intruiging and you actually care about the characters. This game is just awesome. If you are a fan of RPGs, classic video games, or just great video games in general, pick yourself up an emulator and a ROM, get some beers, and play this great game.








You broke my heart Lu Bu. Never again!

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