Which Romance of the 3 Kingdoms game to try 1st?

On a recent trip to my local Circuit City I saw they have Romance of the Three Kingdoms (hereby referred to as "Rot3K") 7 for $19.99. I had always heard about how deep these games were, but I ended up getting Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War for $19.99 instead (no $9.99 PC game goodness at my CC..don't get me started on the local Target and BB either ). Now I am real interested on whether I should end up picking up Rot3K 7, or look around for a later version (if they have some huge gameplay addition or something)? Granted, I have only seen one other Rot3K game in a store before (Best Buy, $49.99), but I don't remember which it was.

I'm not sure how much I will get into Warhammer, as I tend to forget how sucky I am at RTS games in the Command and Conquer vain (I'm just so damn slow, especially after getting used to playing the computer in campaign. Every first match I play online in these games just puts me off entirely after that.). But the hype and praise always gets me (same happened with Ages of Mythology, I ended up ebaying it). I hope I can get into DoW...I also plan to get Rome: Total War, but at least I have an idea how that is, after the demo.

And finally, how're the Dynasty Tactics games? I remember seeing DT2 at an EB somewhere, so are they worth tracking down for $25-30? Is 2 better than 1, or just different?

Thanks for any advice/info!

Can't be much of a help here, cause my mind is drawing up blanks, but I'll try.

7, I own but I've never played, so I can't help you with that one.
8, was very boring IMO, not too much going on.
9, I found this one the most enjoyable of the three, but I played it on the PC, and I'm not sure how much it changed when going to the PS2
10, I have yet to play this one.

I have Dynasty Tactics 2 aswell but I still haven't played it so I can't help you there.

I would reccommend Kessen 3.

From what reviews I've read, they all are pretty much the same. Pick up the cheapest and see if you like it, first.

I think I can help you out here because I'm an RTK fan for a long time (from RTK3 - 10). I'd recommend you visit www.3kingdoms.net/forum to meet some RTK enthusiastic gamers over there. A friend of mine is the author of the RTK English patch on PC. Though he has abandoned the project now since RTK10 has been released in the US on PS2.

RTK7, 8, & 10 are all share a similiar style of Role-playing. You can play any of 650 characters in the game. Some will join you, some will try to kill you. I would rate RTK10 as the best out of the three.

For the RTK1-4, 6, 9: these games are the traditional RTK games, in which, you are the ruler and you try to conquer China under your name. Since you probably can't find those old RTK games anymore, RTK9 is your best bet to play on PS2 if you prefer this gameplay. I would rate RTK9 having the best AI in all RTK games.

And even better, pick up the RTK novel and read it. You will appreciate the game and the characters in there more than you will ever be in Dynasy Warriors. One last thing, don't listen to those American magazine reviews, American critics don't like/understand this kind of game so you can't ever get an honest opinion from them.

Well, you know what. Forget what I said about reading the novel. Go buy and play RTK10. My sister knows jack about RTK and history but she had played that game over 3 times and had put in over 100 hours.

Thanks for the comments guys, looks like I will pick up Rot3K 7 next time I'm at CC (granted it's still there!). I figure that will give me a general idea of how these games play, and it's the most convenient and cheap option available to me. I take it the PC versions are all Asian versions? Those would probably be cheap, and then you patch I guess...

And yeah, just about every American review of these games is the same. I don't mean the Dynasty Warriors games, I have no interest in that sort of game anyway (those REALLY seem like the same game every iteration). But with the strategy games, they never really mention any distinctions from version to version, just "more of the same with better menus" or something.

If you're familiar with playing games on the pc, I really recommend RoTK2. You can find it on various Abandonware sites. Just make sure you use 'DosBox' to play it on newer machines.

Bandit Kings of Ancient China. Find it.

If you like 7, you'll love 10. IMO, 10 is the best one yet.

I liked 7 better than 8, I haven't played 9 or 10 though....

Get 10, its the best with tons of endings and more indepth crap.
The campaigns are shorter and the characters look best.

Bump, hoping for new input as XI has come out since the original post. Also hoping for new opinions in general.

Wow, I've never seen this series before. I like the whole three kingdoms story. Is this just another dynasty warriors game or is it different.
Also why would Koei have 2 series on the 3 kingdoms.

X is my favorite. XI goes back to the style where you don't play as a specific person, but as the entire force that you choose. For example, in VIII and X you play as the person you choose. And you can become a roving bandit if you want, or serve under a ruler. You don't have to be a ruler if you don't want. It's more like a RPG. I prefer this.

In XI you have to rule. You don't really play as the ruler, but the entire nation. More like a RTS.

So definitely get X.