Nanzou: The Divine Court

Nanzou: The Divine Court is a strategy game with clearly outlined city builder elements and also the possibility of turn-based battles. The game was developed by the Polish studio Live Motion Games and was originally created (in cooperation with the Strategy Labs team and PlayWay) as Builders of China. Ultimately, however, the authors almost completely detached themselves from the original concept and gave their project a new title.

Plot

Nanzou: The Divine Court takes us on a journey to a fantasy land inspired by Chinese mythology. During the game we embody the Exceptional Soul, which was established by the Emperor of the Divine Court. Our task is to govern the titular island of Nanzou, drifting beyond the time and space known to us.

Mechanics

In Nanzou: The Divine Court we watch the action from a bird's eye view. If we want to take proper care of Nanzou Island, we must expand the city that is its heart, collect raw materials and produce various goods. Resources also serve us to build various structures. Interestingly, we can develop the city both horizontally and vertically. We connect subsequent floors with roads, bridges and elevators, thus creating the base for efficient supply chains.

We can use the surplus of goods for trade with other metropolises, although we must first establish diplomatic relations with them and set up trade and communication routes. Other cities are procedurally generated, just like the characters we interact with during the game, as well as the events in which we participate. The latter can be a source of adventures to which we send our heroes, as well as the cause for potential conflicts.

Given that not everyone may like our activities, our city is exposed to dangers and may be attacked by our enemies. Battles with enemy forces take place in turn-based mode and we send our own recruited mythical heroes to fight them.

As the city we have carefully developed is destroyed during the siege, it is worth considering taking the initiative and giving the enemies a battle in the open field. Another solution is to launch a preemptive attack on the enemy metropolis. We must prepare for such a scenario, including equipping our army with siege machines.

Technical aspects

Nanzou: The Divine Court boasts high-quality graphics. The visuals are maintained in a colorful style. It's worth pointing out intricately designed buildings and the fantasy locations densely overgrown with vegetation.

Builders of China

The project was born as Builders of China, a city builder that was supposed to take us to historical China (from the Tang dynasty). During the game, we were supposed to play the role of wardens working for the emperor himself. Throughout the missions that were supposed us into various corners of the Middle Kingdom, our task would be to take care of individual metropolises, by acquiring food and resources, overseeing production chains, and trading with neighbors. It was also planned that a major point of the game would be to care of the citizens' satisfaction (although our possibilities in this matter were supposed to be limited by imperial edicts and orders).

However, as the project developed and new ideas and functions were implemented, the creators began to deviate from the original plans. They ultimately decided to completely abandon their initial concept and base their work on a new vision, which resulted in giving it a new title.