Road to Empress I & II 《女王的游戏：盛世天下》 Review

Road to Empress 《女王的游戏：盛世天下》 is my first full-motion video (FMV) interactive game.

It’s essentially a long movie where you can choose which direction the main characters go in, and these choices will affect changes in the story and the ending you’ll land on.

I’ve had some experience with interactive movies; there are some on Netflix, but nothing to the same scale as Road to Empress.

I’ve completed both games, and even 100% the first game on Steam. I really enjoyed them!

Note: The second game is a redirect sequel and should be played after completing the first game.

About Road to Empress

Road to Empress I & II is based on the life of China’s only female emperor, 武則天 (Wu Zetian). It follows her life from the day she enters the palace as a low-ranking concubine, all the way to her ascension as China’s first and only official female emperor.

In Road to Empress, there is one ultimate ending (the end where she ascends the throne) and multiple other endings dotted throughout both games, including some hidden ones and some sad ones.

The story has romance, bickering concubines and consorts in a battle of the harem, and politics.

Note: If you don’t know 武則天 (Wu Zetian)’s story, don’t read about her! Play the game first, then research afterwards.

Gameplay

The gameplay loop is extremely simple: you watch some scenes, then are given some choices, you choose one of the options, and watch what your choice leads to. If you end up with a good or bad ending, you go back and choose a different option to continue your journey to the ultimate ending.

Every scene and option can be repeated as many times as you want, so you can explore all the possible paths and see every possible outcome and ending.

The choices and their effects on the story in Road to Empress I are quite simple and very linear. There aren’t that many alternative endings.

Road to Empress I takes around 8 hours to complete and around 13-16 hours to 100% it all.

Road to Empress II is double the length of the first game, featuring both a main storyline and an alternate route. Each has its own branching paths, scenes, and endings.

In terms of choices, the second game is far more expansive, with a greater variety of endings and many choices that affect how future events unfold.

Production Quality

As a full-motion video interactive game, it’s high quality and much better produced than most on the market. But it’s not perfect.

The most jarring aspect is the inconsistency with the voice-over.

In film production, it is very common for actors (sometimes a separate voice actor) to record a voice-over during post-production. When it’s done well, it’s not obvious and still feels like the characters are in the same room talking to each other.

But in both games of Road to Empress, some of the audio sounds very different from the rest; it’s obvious they were produced in a different studio and under a different setting from the rest. The audio quality of some lines is really quite low.

You can even hear some small background sound in some of the voice-overs. Some of them sounded like the voice actor recorded the line on their phone in their own office!

I guess at least we know they were recorded by a human, not voiced by an AI.

This is an area the studio behind Road to Empress really needs to work on for their next game.

Changes in the Second Game

China has strict rules for using real historical events in fictional media, which have led to some name changes in the second game to distance it from those events.

In the first game, the dynasty is 唐朝 (Tang Chao/Tang Dynasty), and the capital is 长安 (Chang’an). This is the real dynasty and the real capital at the time. In the second game, this is changed to 盛朝 (Sheng Chao/Sheng Dynasty) and 盛安 (Sheng’an).

The main character’s surname was also affected; it was changed from 武 (Wu) to 伍 (Wu). Phonetically, it’s still the same, but written differently.

The royal family’s surname was changed from 李 (Li) to 礼 (Li). Again, phonetically it’s the same.

I was surprised that they got away with using the real dynasty and names in the first game.

Note: 武則天 (Wu Zetian) is a name given to her after her death. Her birth name was never recorded in historical sources, as it was common practice at the time not to document women’s given names. 武 (Wu) is her actual family name, while 元照 (Yuan Zhao), the name used in the game, is entirely fictional.

In contrast, the names used in the game for the male members of the Li imperial family, such as 李世民 (Li Shimin), 李治 (Li Zhi), and 李泰 (Li Tai), are their real names.

As a Chinese learning material

Both Road to Empress games are really good interactive games for second-language Chinese learners. There are simplified and traditional Chinese subtitles available for all dialogue and UI elements.

You can replay every single scene as many times as you want, so you can take as much time as you need with each one.

Although Road to Empress is not 100% historically accurate, it’s still a great way to expose yourself to the story of 武則天 (Wu Zetian).

Many fictional stories about female emperors are inspired by her, and many novels and TV dramas are set during her reign or in the periods that followed.

The sub-stories, language, and vocabulary are similar to those of most historical-setting fictional media that involve the royal family and politics.

Outside of the interactive story elements, there’s a codex of all the characters, items, and even extra information on the world. This is a goldmine of knowledge!

If your goal is to read or watch historical fiction, Road to Empress is a really good resource for learning.

Final Thoughts

I had a lot of fun playing through these two games, and I recommend them if you enjoy Chinese historical dramas or are a gamer who likes story-driven games and wants to experience something a little different.

A minor drawback, which is my issue, is that I already know the story of 武則天 (Wu Zetian). I’ve seen different adaptations of her story and have previously read a lot about her.

Because I already knew her story, I often found that it was obvious which option would lead to the true ending.

This is why I stress again that if you don’t know anything about her, go in blind, play the game first, then discover more about her. You’ll have a much better time!

Road to Empress has been a great success with both Chinese and global players, so I really hope the studio will continue to produce full-motion interactive video games.

I’d also like to see them produce one with a unique story that is not based on real history.