Road to Empress II is an interactive live-action court drama coming soon to iOS and Android
Political mayhem
- Road to Empress II launches June 9th on mobile
- Set around Wu Zetian and imperial court intrigue
- Live-action storytelling with branching choices and multiple endings
Interactive movies had a decent run a few years back, then most of them just vanished. Netflix binned all theirs last year, and now it's mostly a niche thing you find on Steam or mobile if you go looking. Road to Empress II arriving in June feels a bit out of step with that, but here we are.
The first one did well enough, sold over a million copies, so New One Studio clearly found an audience for it. This sequel picks up the story but shifts the setup. You're not climbing your way into the palace this time.
You're already there, dealing with factions, rivalries, and court politics that don't stay still for long. It's based on Wu Zetian, the only empress in Chinese history, so the whole thing is rooted in intrigue rather than fantasy.
Your primary focus is still making decisions, though. Reviewing memorials, issuing decrees, choosing who to support and who to drop. The consequences don't always show up immediately either, so you're not getting instant feedback on whether you've just made things better or worse.
The live-action production is still the big selling point. Everything's shot on sets with a full cast, costumes, 4K cinematography, the works. It's not trying to look like a Western RPG or anything else, really.
There's around 1,000 minutes of content in there, branching paths, different outcomes depending on your choices. At the end you get a personality breakdown based on how you played. Make of it what you want.
Road to Empress II is an odd release to see right now, mostly because there aren't many interactive movies left. But that also means it's got less competition than it would've had a few years ago.
Road to Empress II launches on iOS and Android on June 9th.
If you're after something similar, check out our list of the top narrative adventure games on mobile.
