Stepping into the royal palace as a young assistant is a daunting task made worse by constant infighting. You never know who you can trust as even friendly allies are hiding their true intentions. As you navigate the intricate web of politics, can you stay alive to achieve your goals? Or will politics ensnare you, forcing you into early retirement. Even worse, politics may consume you and change you forever.
Road to Empress tells a powerful story about political intrigue and internal struggles that keeps you hooked. Having proper actors that convey powerful emotions helps you empathise with them or understand their struggle. The multiple routes is muddied by having only one viable route. This is not an FMV game you should pass up or a story you should ignore if you love strong narratives.
Road to Empress is available on PC, iOS, and Android for USD 8.49.
The most important man in the room and your main objective.
Story – Your Stay in the Inner Palace
You are Wu Yuanzhao, a young woman who has recently found a job in ancient China. Working in the imperial palace, she is quickly thrown into the web of political deception and infighting. She is forced to adapt upon realising that she cannot trust anyone. While she starts out as an innocent and friendly individual, what kind of person will she become to survive? Will Yuanzhao successfully play the game and earn her destined reward or perish?
Road to Empress is inspired by actual events in Chinese history like WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers was. While the characters aren’t based on real people, similar power struggles often occurred in an emperor’s palace. Concubines fighting for favour while princes aim for the throne. People are often killed in the struggle and the reality is perfectly depicted here. Yuanzhao often has several branching options, many of them leading to her death.
Everyone has an ulterior motive and is working towards their own goals.
As powerful and accurate as the story is, its major flaw is its focus on a singular path. You often don’t have much of a choice but to pick an option because everything else leads to a bad ending. While that’s not inherently bad, it does make you feel like you are shoehorned into a specific ending. There’s no possibility of investigating other avenues of character growth and that’s a shame since the story is engaging.
Gameplay – Choose Wisely
As an FMV, gameplay is similar to Mia and the Dragon Princess. You watch scenes play and must make a choice in some situations. If a situation leads to a bad end, you get a chance to review what went wrong. At the end of each chapter, you get a summary of the events thus far. You also get the chance to view videos that provide further insight on events. This usually involves viewing the thoughts of others or events that you weren’t privy to.
Choose the wrong option and the game immediately ends.
Gameplay is simple and it’s similar to a visual novel. Apart from paying attention to events and character personalities, you view events as if you were watching a movie. Even if you make the wrong choice, it’s not hard to guess your way to the correct answer. The only downside is that there is only one feasible path and wrong answers lead to an immediate end. This makes the choice system feel redundant because you aren’t actually making different choices.
Audio & Visual – The Viciousness of Reality
As an FMV, there are no graphics as you would see in a regular video game since it’s acting. The characters portray emotions well as you can clearly see them on their faces. Locations are intricately decorated as you would expect of an inner palace. Character movements are fluid as well, whether it’s dancing or fighting.
The music and sounds in Road to Empress fit the time period and situations perfectly. You hear classical Chinese instruments in the background along with tense sounds if the situation feels dangerous. For normal situations, it’s peaceful music that rarely overpowers conversations or discussions.
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- Even if it doesn’t arrive immediately, bad ends always appear.
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- Hearing external thoughts gives characters more depth.
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- Every bad end gives you a chance to reflect on your fate.
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- The work put into the costumes and environment is amazing.
Road to Empress was reviewed on Steam with a code provided by Tara Bruno PR.
