Conquer the World Review

You are transported back to the mid 17th century China, during a period of upheaval as the country transitions from the Ming to the Qing dynasty. You play as Deng Ming, a lowly soldier on the Ming side who must fight against the course of history. You steadily, and satisfyingly, gain rank and prestige because you have practical skills and know of past events. Four officers become so loyal they start calling you father, which is funny. Another major strength is the inclusion of real events and people. Historic facts are presented via Chinese text pop ups (requiring Google lens) but you can still get a good appreciation through the dialogue and circumstances.

The game is long, taking 12 hours at first and about 18 to see everything. Player choice is limited though, with not enough branching paths. The main blocker for progression is power level, which grows based on choices. Not having enough halts progress completely, so you can reverse and choose again, or use money (from the campaign) to buy gear. Most of the other options lead to instant death or a loyalty boost for a love interest.

Romance is sparse, but there is roughly the same amount as a typical romance FMV, and the six women are diverse. The warrior lady, Zhao Tianba, has amazing screen presence (played by Yu Menghan). The red-haired weapon dealer sacrifices much. A frugal businesswoman backs your rise. The  white-haired doctor’s solemn expression shows deep pain. One holy maiden wants to give you love potions. And a spoiled Princess falls hard, after you recite poetry. High affection unlocks extra scenes and endings, but nothing substantial. A separate “date” menu has four dates per person, accessible via gifts. There was enough money to see all, after doing food delivery missions. You can pay real money to speed things up, but it is optional (and currently disabled). One neat feature is being able to set characters as menu backgrounds, and they say hello and react to prompts.

With a bigger scope comes more bugs. English translation is good but there are way too many mistimed subs. One ending only worked when using the Chinese language, and timeline navigation broke occasionally. The game uses ADR for everything, and the voice actors are not the character actors, but it is so professionally done that it makes me rethink my hatred of ADR. Fun fact: the game shares actors and music with a web series, My Talented Husband, which explains its production standards. Despite some issues, Conquer the World’s historic undercurrent left a stronger impression on me than similar games, and hopefully the creators get another chance to go into battle.