Three Kingdom Heroes brings top-level AI challenges to chess-like duels, coming soon

• Koei Tecmo has announced a new entry in their Three Kingdoms franchise with Heroes
• A chess and shogi-inspired battler, it sees you taking on opponents using individual abilities
• But perhaps the biggest selling point is the challenging GARYU AI system

The Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history is a fascinating one, whether that’s the Arthurian tales of valour and strategy that lionize it, or the arguably even more intriguing attempts to sift truth from myth in this almost legendary era, which has proven a fertile ground for interactive media. One developer who’s explored it more than any other is Koei Tecmo with their legendary series of strategy titles, and now they’re bringing even more action to mobile with Three Kingdoms Heroes!

For fans of the series, the familiar art-style and grand-scale operatic storytelling is there. But if you’ve ever been sceptical of trying it, Three Kingdom Heroes may be the most intriguing entry point into the franchise yet. This turn-based board-battler inspired by shogi and chess boasts a huge variety of abilities and stratagems wielded by famous figures from the Three Kingdoms period.

But perhaps the most intriguing feature of this upcoming release, hitting storefronts on January 25th next year, is not in the numerous visual, audio or gameplay features but instead in the intriguing, challenging GARYU system; an in-game AI trained to adapt and battle it out with you as an almost lifelike opponent.

The only way to win is not to play

Suffice it to say GARYU is what caught my eye here, and while I’m always sceptical about the AI buzzword, this system is developed by HEROZ, who also created shogi-dominating AI dlshogi. This system reportedly dominated the World Shogi Championships for two consecutive years and outwitted some of the top grandmasters of the sport as a result.

Now, obviously, that’s probably not as clear-cut as you might expect. I mean, we all know the controversy behind chess “grandmaster” Deep Blue. But at the same time as far as selling points go, and for a period of history that so often focuses on ingenious martial gambits, I’d say the prospect of facing it off with a lifelike, challenging opponent has me sold.