Call Me Emperor ~ RIEview

Before Call Me Emperor, I had been highly invested in Emperor and Beauties, a game similar to Call Me Emperor. Both games are ancient Chinese imperial palace storyline with similar gameplay, but have several differences that will be discussed in the subsequent review. Eventually I uninstalled Emperor and Beauties but kept Call Me Emperor, though initially I had preferred Emperor and Beauties over Call Me Emperor. Call Me Emperor by Clicktouch Co. Ltd started first in a Chinese version targeted to its Chinese population, only later an English version for the international market. So what can you expect in Call Me Emperor?

Game Plot

Set in a imperial Chinese dynasty, you play as an emperor/empress tasked to build up your very own loyal army and secure your place on the throne. At this time you receive news of a possible coup d'etat, and so you begin your journey of rooting out people who are against your ascension to the throne. There's betrayal, assassination, confrontations... Usual troupes that you would find in any imperial dynasty dramas and movies. 

With that said, the focus of Call Me Emperor leans heavily towards strategy and simulation that have bare links to the plot. In fact, the plot seemed like a side dish rather than a main meal that holds the whole game together. 

Verdict (3/5) 

The plot could have been fleshed out more had it not... disappeared right after the first storyline was done. Yes, there were still one-liners when you head out to defeat NPC armies of what's happening, but other than that the dialogues became completely nonexistent. Translation of the dialogues are average, but could've been done better. (Of course if the storyline fades out of existence then proper translations may as well be unnecessary.) While Call Me Emperor had a much more solid plot and translation in the beginning when compared to Emperor and Beauties, at least Emperor and Beauties still churned out a continuation of chapters.

Character Diversity & Personality 

While there are brief character bios for ministers (characters for power battles) and consorts (characters for excelling in tea parties), you don't get to know much of a character's personality through interactions. The general personality is that everyone is loyal to you, even though they are different in looks and outfits. 

Consorts are obtained either by achieving the required affection points (different for each consort), or by synthesising Confidante Souls (obtainable through events). Consorts can be found in Cruise, the Banquet shop, the Palace Cuju shop, and the different VIP tiers. The default consorts are female, but you can reincarnate them into their male counterparts. Do note that the first reincarnation is free (i.e. female to male), but to avoid spending cost to revert the change out of regret you can always check the preview to see which version you prefer before you reincarnate. 

Ministers are mainly recruited through Exam, which becomes available every time you increase your player level. These ministers are often in 3 tiers: Excellent (lowest), Epic, and Unparalleled. The highest minister is a Legendary, which are Emperors that you recruit with Emperor Souls. Emperor Souls can be obtained in shards through Power ranking events and Dragon Treasure. Female ministers known as Heroines are recruited with Heroine Souls, which are found through Intimacy ranking events. A special minister is the Crown Prince/Princess, who once you nominated can not be given away in marriage (makes sense because the Crown Prince/Princess is the heir to the throne).

Verdict (3/5) 

Because Call Me Emperor focuses on game play, characters have only been noticed by players in terms of attractiveness and their strengths. So yes, there is a diversity of characters in terms of looks, but because not much is known of characters other than whatever is written on their brief description (poster child of no show and only telling the audience), there is only one bland generic personality – their loyalty to the players and how in love the consorts are with the players. This is also a common issue with the characters in Emperor and Beauties; probably a trend in imperial dynasty-style games?

Game & CG Art

There are 2 things that Call Me Emperor put in a lot of effort into: the game play and the art. Especially illustrations of P2P-only ministers and all consorts (male and female) as a marketing tactic to encourage more players to spend money on the game. Call Me Emperor, in its efforts to entice players to spend money on the game, will also release limited edition avatars and avatar frames. 

Limited edition avatars only available for P2P players

Verdict (4/5) 

Overall Call Me Emperor has high quality art, though some character art (such as Bluetooth's summer outfit) may be less up-to-par with the overall character art styles. In my personal opinion I preferred Emperor and Beauties art style, because in contrast the art style in Call Me Emperor appears to be less eye-catching, like it's more faded which is probably due to artists leaning towards a light outline.

Game Mechanics 

Call Me Emperor relies quite heavily on strategy. As a F2P player, all resources should be used in a wise manner to ensure you reap the maximum output with what limited resources you have. The majority of the gameplay involves boosting your ministers and consorts in order to score high in ranking events. There are two kinds of currency: Taels (common) and Gold (premium). Taels are easier to come by than Gold, though you can obtain Gold in-game from Worship (Probably a literal translation from the Chinese version) and when Firework Festival event is on. The easiest way to get Gold is, of course, using real money to recharge in-game. 

Consorts are used mainly in tea party to duel with other players' consort. To be the top consort it is necessary to boost Harem Exp and Consort Attributes (Etiquette, Talent, Charm, Scheme), which in turn will determine the title the consort in choice will receive. By increasing intimacy with consorts you can get higher level children. Levelling and arranging marriage of children will boost player power, and your highest level child can be nominated as the Crown Prince/Princess that can be used as a minister. 

Ministers are more commonly used than consorts, as minister(s) power will determine the player power. You can boost ministers at Imperial Academy based on the 4 attributes: Commerce, Agriculture, Politics, Military. Each ministers specialised in different attributes, with most being a combination of 2 attributes and others only specialising in 1. There are also Balanced ministers, although they are rare and few. You can also equip ministers with pets, although note that you can only equip 1 pet per minister.

Levelling and powering up your ministers and consorts are essential to single-server events and cross-server events, which will be discussed more in the next section. Outside of events, players can set their ministers out to duel ministers of other players at PG to determine who is the strongest player. Teamwork is also a crucial aspect of playing Call Me Emperor, with many events rewarding personal achievements as well as alliance achievements. A recent feature is the Alliance nation, which is the cross-server version of the Alliance in each server. 

PG duels

Alliance Nations

Verdict (4.5/5)

Call Me Emperor is an intermediate level of strategy-simulation games, with League of Legends and DOTA as the pro level and the rookie levels like Ayakashi: Romance Reborn and A3!. A lot of effort is needed to stay on top of rankings or even just to remain active in the alliance. This game is also best suited for players who don't mind cooperating with others, but not so good for players who prefer to do things their own way and on their own pace.

In-Game Events 

All events, cross-server and server-only. have a 3-day period. Power and Intimacy Cross-server ranking event only allow players that ranked top 100 in the single-server Power/Intimacy ranking event, while others like Go Match and Naadam Fair do not have such restriction in participation. There are 3 main kinds of single-server events: Events that require boosting with minimal/no gameplay (Rankings Boost and Expiring Event), Events that immediately give rewards when you use event items (Tree Prayer, Dragon Treasure, Firework Festival, Mooncake Festival), and Events that have mini games (Jade for Beauty, Feast Imperial, etc).

Another kind of single-server event is Alliance War, which runs for 2 weeks and the alliance that wins in the final battle will have possession of Hetu Ala until the next Alliance War. This event requires strategic placement of troops, with the last alliance standing winning the match. 

Verdict (4.5/5) 

While the game is packed with events, it may leave players feeling frustrated as effort and constant playing is needed to keep up with these event and staying on top at the same time. While players may be entertained with constant change of events every 3 days, keeping up may be a whole other matter altogether. In terms of participation in the events, most events are open to all save for ranking events, especially cross-server power and intimacy events. Rewards are quite generous, and the resources that players can get from the event rewards can be stored up should the player decide to put all their resources in to secure top 5 in future events. 

Call Me Emperor is geared towards players that are interested in strategy/simulation games but not wanting a game that requires too much play time (e.g. DOTA) and not too simplistic that it makes gameplay repetitive and bland. Playing in teams is a huge part of Call Me Emperor, with lots of rewards only available for players in alliance. Of course, higher ranking alliance that also perform well in alliance-related events will have better rewards. Do note that some alliances will require their members to join a group chat outside of the game (e.g. Line), but if you are uncomfortable let them know and just request that you prefer to stick to using the in-game chat. While Call Me Emperor does try to entice players in terms of game art and rewards you can get from aceing events, make sure you check the value of in-game item packs to see if they are really worth the price. It's good to support the developers, but please do so in a manner that won't break the bank. 

Is this game for you? Download now and leave a comment on your thoughts! 

Happy Gaming!

~ RieRie