Info about Rise Of The White Sun - 白日升:

Official game description:
"Rise of the White Sun" is the most immersive grand strategy game set in the Chinese Warlord era.  
Delve into a new world filled with intrigue, murky plots, and treacherous military ventures.  
Once you experience the chaos of 1920s China, there will be no going back to boring WW2 grand strategy games!  
Naturally, you will encounter all the standard features found in other grand strategy games, such as:  
\-building your empire,  
\-engaging in diplomacy,  
\-leading military expeditions...  
However, what sets this game apart is its unique focus on leading a loose clique of unreliable opium-addict warlords, commanding massive, unruly (and unpaid) armies.  
You'll have the opportunity to play as an underground communist activist, a secret society grandmaster, a "lord of the mountain" bandit king, or a cunning Kuomintang politician.  
The game's diverse factions offer distinct flavors and challenges.  
Thanks to the valuable feedback from players, the game boasts exceptional historical accuracy, remarkable replayability, and a fresh take on strategy games that I hope you will appreciate.  
Have fun!  
Maestro Cinetik  
**PS: Are you unfamiliar with 1920s China?**  
Lucky you!  
I developed this game with the intention of captivating you with this fascinating historical period.  
I wish I were you, to discover a new all these fascinating stories!  
(After experiencing the game, many of you jump into the Discord seeking a bibliography.)

Release date: 21 Sep, 2023

Categories: Turn-based Strategy, Management Simulation, Unit Management, Character Management, Resource Management


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Rich Historical Immersion (weight 0.99): The game is highly praised for its deep historical accuracy and immersive portrayal of the Chinese Warlord Era, a period rarely explored in video games. Players appreciate the detailed research, unique setting, and the ability to learn about this specific historical context.
- Engaging & Addictive Gameplay (weight 0.86): Reviewers find the game to be fun, engaging, and highly addictive, offering a rewarding experience despite its initial complexity. The gameplay loop and overall design contribute to a compelling and enjoyable experience that keeps players coming back.
- Deep Strategic Complexity (weight 0.33): The game offers a complex and deep strategic experience, focusing on the management of armies, provinces, and characters. Players appreciate that the game prioritizes strategic thinking over micromanagement, providing a challenging yet rewarding experience.
- Active Developer Support (weight 0.27): The developer is highly praised for their active engagement with the community, consistent updates, and dedication to improving the game. This responsiveness and commitment to development contribute significantly to the game's positive reception and future prospects.
- Unique Concept & Potential (weight 0.26): The game is recognized for its unique concept and innovative mechanics, particularly in its approach to resource management and character interactions. Reviewers see significant potential for future growth and improvement, indicating a strong foundation for continued development.
- Diverse Factions & Scenarios (weight 0.17): The game features a wide variety of playable factions, each with unique mechanics, starting positions, and historical events. This diversity across factions and scenarios enhances replayability and offers distinct gameplay experiences.
- Good Music & Localization (weight 0.08): The game's audio elements, particularly the music, are well-received. Additionally, the official Chinese localization and the alignment of in-game descriptions with local language characteristics are highlighted as positive aspects.

Common complaints:
- Poor UI/UX Design (weight 0.48): The user interface is consistently described as messy, unintuitive, and cumbersome, making basic operations difficult and hindering player understanding. Many players found it frustrating to navigate menus and access information.
- Unpolished and Niche Game (weight 0.3): The game is perceived as unpolished, incomplete, and having subpar execution, with some comparing it unfavorably to other titles. It is considered niche and not suitable for all players due to its flaws and lack of meaningful gameplay.
- Frustrating Bandit Mechanics (weight 0.28): Bandit mechanics are highly frustrating due to their unrealistic speed, unsuppressable nature, and tendency to flee immediately upon engagement. This leads to tedious and ineffective bandit suppression efforts, disrupting gameplay flow.
- Cumbersome Micromanagement (weight 0.24): Managing multiple provinces, factions, and units becomes overly complex and tedious, especially in the mid to late game. The interface design exacerbates this issue, requiring excessive clicking and making it difficult to track information across regions.
- Repetitive and Unchallenging Gameplay (weight 0.18): After the initial stages, the game quickly becomes unchallenging and repetitive, leading to a lack of excitement and a feeling of 'garbage time'. The gameplay loop can become stale due to simplistic mechanics and easy objectives.
- Poor Army Management (weight 0.14): The game's army management, particularly regarding supply and recruitment, is problematic. Players struggle with units starving due to unclear feedback and cumbersome manual management, while recruitment processes are often frustrating and lack control.
- Historical Inaccuracies (weight 0.1): The game has historical inaccuracies and omissions, particularly concerning the portrayal of specific factions, events, and geographical details of the Chinese Warlord era. This impacts the immersion and historical authenticity for some players.
- Incomplete Faction Content (weight 0.08): The Communist faction lacks sufficient politician characters and specific policies, making it difficult to implement new strategies or counter opposing movements effectively. Its mid-to-late game content is also perceived as incomplete.
- Poor Translation Quality (weight 0.07): The game suffers from poor translation quality, especially in Korean, with awkward phrasing, missing parts, and severe errors. This makes the game difficult to understand for non-English or non-Chinese speakers.

Gameplay feedback:
- Character-Driven Gameplay (weight 0.28): The game features a character-centric system where players control historical figures with unique traits and loyalties. This adds depth through RPG elements, allowing for betrayals and complex faction dynamics.
- Pervasive Bandit Mechanic (weight 0.22): Bandits are a pervasive and central game mechanic, constantly appearing and posing a significant challenge. They interact with other systems like loyalty and desertion, making province management difficult due to their unpredictable nature and impact on stability.
- Crucial Army Loyalty/Morale (weight 0.22): Army loyalty and morale are critical mechanics, directly impacting unit performance, obedience, and the likelihood of desertion or rebellion. Low loyalty can lead to troops looting, refusing orders, or even defecting, emphasizing the importance of managing military pay and morale.
- Complex Province Management (weight 0.19): Province and district management is a core but often cumbersome aspect of the game, especially when controlling multiple territories. Players must manage local construction, bandit issues, and maintain control over key assets like railways and capitals.
- Challenging Shanghai Scenario (weight 0.09): The Shanghai Uprising scenario is particularly challenging, with unclear troop movement rules and difficulties in achieving objectives even with high influence. The scenario highlights the importance of political organization but often leads to frustrating outcomes.
- Army Acquisition & Supply (weight 0.08): Armies are generally disposable and easily acquired, but arming them is challenging due to the difficulty of producing or acquiring advanced weaponry. Troops are often unpaid, leading to desertion or living off the land.
- Qi/Face Mechanic Issues (weight 0.07): The game utilizes 'Qi' as an energy resource for character actions and 'Face' for influence/credibility. However, there's a notable issue where nothing in the game generates 'Qi', potentially limiting player actions.
- Political Appointment System (weight 0.06): The game allows players to appoint characters to different departments and positions, and potentially gain governorships. This provides a layer of political management and policy implementation.
- Character Arrest Mechanic (weight 0.06): Players can track and arrest hostile characters within their provinces, provided their intelligence index is sufficiently high. This mechanic allows for maintaining peace and order through police actions.
- Resilient Red Guards (weight 0.06): Red Guards are a unique unit type that can be summoned for defense and are notably resilient. They can be converted from regular troops and are difficult to eliminate completely.
- AI Province Management Needed (weight 0.05): The game's design makes it difficult to manage multiple provinces effectively, suggesting that AI management of provincial affairs could alleviate player burden and make unifying the country more feasible.
- Abstract Combat System (weight 0.05): Combat in the game is highly abstract and non-deterministic, often feeling like a coin toss. This lack of transparency or predictability can make tactical planning difficult.
- Turn-Based Gameplay (weight 0.05): The game operates on a turn-based system, where players have a limited number of actions per turn. This structure dictates the pace of decision-making and strategic planning.
- Mongolian Steppe Dynamics (weight 0.05): The Mongolian steppe presents unique geographical challenges and opportunities, favoring cavalry units. Clearing bandits in this region is a time-consuming process.
- Faction-Specific Tactics (weight 0.05): The game allows players to control specific factions like the Red Army and includes unique historical tactics, such as luring enemies into Soviet areas.
- Mongolian Party Scenario (weight 0.05): The Mongolian Party scenario is a notable highlight, featuring unique factions and mechanics, though it lacks representation of mutual support between Mongolian and Chinese revolutionaries.
- Nai Shuai Wang Balance (weight 0.05): The character Nai Shuai Wang is strong early in the game but becomes less effective in the late game due to a lack of officers and inability to go into exile or retire.
- Ungern-Sternberg Mechanics (weight 0.05): Ungern-Sternberg is a unique character with strong cavalry units that do not use coolies, but he can sometimes become melancholic and cease movement.

Performance notes:
- Frame drops during messages (weight 0.02): Players experience significant frame rate drops specifically when action result message boxes appear on screen. This issue disrupts gameplay flow and can be particularly noticeable during intense moments.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended Game (weight 0.29): Many players highly recommend the game, praising its strategic depth and historical focus. Some reviews are general positive sentiments or expressions of enjoyment.
- Niche Historical Appeal (weight 0.18): The game is strongly recommended for players interested in modern Chinese history, particularly the Warlord Era, and those who enjoy deep historical strategy or role-playing experiences.
- Strategic Gameplay Tips (weight 0.08): Players provide specific strategic advice for in-game challenges, such as recommended army compositions for dealing with bandits and methods for political maneuvering and crisis management.
- Multiplayer Mode Request (weight 0.06): Players frequently request the addition of a multiplayer mode, including hotseat, to enhance replayability and dynamic interactions.
- End-Turn Report Suggestion (weight 0.02): A player suggests implementing an end-turn report for large factions to provide clarity on AI-managed character actions.

Other player notes:
- Desire for New Content (weight 0.31): Players are eager for new content, including DLCs, scenarios, historical figures, and factions, to expand the game's replayability and historical scope. There's also a desire for features like custom character/faction creation and workshop integration.
- Simplistic Visuals (weight 0.07): The game's visual presentation, including UI, textures, and assets, is frequently described as simplistic, crude, or resembling older flash games. This suggests a need for graphical improvements.
- Similar to Other Simulations (weight 0.05): The game is compared to other historical simulation titles like 'Mao's Legacy' and 'Crisis in the Kremlin,' particularly in its focus on modern Chinese history. It's noted for having a stronger economic simulation aspect.
- Quality of Life Features (weight 0.04): Players suggest quality-of-life improvements such as adding more hotkeys for efficiency and implementing an in-game load function to avoid returning to the main menu.
- Pricing Concerns (weight 0.03): Some reviewers feel the game's price is too high for its current state, especially after experiencing significant price drops post-purchase. This indicates concerns about value for money.
- Character Profession Suggestions (weight 0.03): Specific suggestions are made for character roles, such as adding the 'officer' profession to the Chairman and the 'politician' profession to the Premier, to enhance gameplay mechanics.
- Repetitive Background Music (weight 0.03): The background music is criticized for being monotonous and repetitive, with one reviewer specifically mentioning the constant playing of 'Jasmine Flower.'

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.23): Players are satisfied by the game's deep historical immersion, accurate portrayal of events and characters, and engaging strategic depth. The game's unique theme, abundant content, and replayability also contribute to a rewarding experience, especially when combined with effective tutorials and developer responsiveness.
- Frustration (weight 0.2): Frustration stems primarily from a clunky and unintuitive UI, numerous bugs, and a steep learning curve exacerbated by unhelpful tutorials. Players also express frustration with micromanagement burdens, unrealistic game mechanics like bandit suppression, and poor localization quality.
- Disappointment (weight 0.12): Disappointment arises from the game feeling like an unfinished product, lacking strategic depth, and having limited content. Issues with UI, poor translation, and perceived historical inaccuracies or biases also contribute to a sense of letdown, leading players to lose interest.
- Hope (weight 0.06): Players express hope for future improvements, including better UI, optimization, and additional content like new scenarios, characters, and multiplayer modes. There is also a strong desire for improved localization, particularly for Chinese and French languages, and mod support.
- Excitement (weight 0.06): Excitement is generated by the game's unique historical theme, engaging gameplay possibilities, and the opportunity for historical learning. Players are also excited by the game's overall quality, its addictive nature, and the successful simulation of historical events and tactics.
- Appreciation (weight 0.06): Players appreciate the game's historical accuracy, attention to detail, and unique theme, especially for an indie title. Developer responsiveness, continuous updates, and dedication to improving the game post-launch are also highly valued.
- Interest (weight 0.03): Interest is driven by the game's rare and unique historical theme, particularly the Chinese warlord era, and the opportunity to learn about this turbulent period. The combination of historical elements with strategic gameplay and the lack of competitors in the genre also pique player interest.
- Anticipation (weight 0.03): Players anticipate future updates, including new DLCs, scenarios, and detailed storylines. There is also anticipation for Steam Deck compatibility and general game improvements, with a strong recommendation for utilizing the Creative Workshop.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.02): Enjoyment comes from the game's overall fun and engaging gameplay experience, including its complexity and depth. Shorter scenarios and chaotic, challenging gameplay also contribute to a positive and enjoyable experience.
- Surprise (weight 0.02): Players are surprised by the game's detailed historical research, the depth of its historical knowledge, and the unexpected discovery of a game covering such a unique historical era. Unexpected in-game events, such as defeats or severe bugs, can also cause surprise.
- Confusion (weight 0.02): Confusion arises from an overwhelming interface, specific historical inaccuracies or lack of detail, and persistent game bugs. Players often feel lost after initial gameplay, with many questions remaining unanswered due to unclear mechanics or tutorials.
- Joy (weight 0.01): Joy is experienced through the game's overall quality, elegant design, and its ability to provide an enjoyable and interesting experience despite any flaws. The strategic depth and unique warlord experiences also contribute to player happiness.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players express a strong desire for more features, including multiplayer, increased freedom with unlimited turns, and more playable foreign factions. There is also a desire for quality-of-life improvements such as more hotkeys, in-game load functions, and richer historical content like photos and character histories.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is directed towards the developer's consistent quality, deep understanding of modern Chinese history, and the game's unique theme with detailed research. The accurate portrayal of historical figures and events, along with the extensive character roster, also garners significant admiration.
- Suggestion (weight 0.01): Players offer suggestions for improving historical accuracy, UI, and overall quality-of-life features. These suggestions often include specific character inclusions or interface enhancements.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): The game's complexity and initial difficulty, particularly for new players, present a significant challenge. Players find it difficult to establish and develop armies, requiring strategic compromises and careful management.
- Immersion (weight 0.01): Immersion is achieved through the game's character-driven gameplay, realistic portrayal of 1920s China, and the ability to experience historical journeys. The high historical setting contributes significantly to a deeply immersive experience.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement comes from game quirks, such as bandit movement and AI behavior, as well as dark humor and the realism of the simulation. Unexpected game outcomes and humorous descriptions also contribute to player amusement.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is caused by frustrating game bugs, particularly with bandit movement, and perceived poor design decisions. Betrayal by allies and limitations in sandbox mode also provoke anger among players.
- Observation (weight 0.01): Players make observations regarding game bugs, particularly in army reports, and a general lack of polish. These observations highlight areas needing developer attention and improvement.}