What a treat that set me back only $25. This game is great. It is a war strategy game that plays in real time. You are some war lord, I think Toga something, that is trying to unite the land of Japan. It is based on actual historical accounts that are accurate right down to the time of an attack. A nice explanation of the story and the war lords, and other characters, are found in the instruction manual.
First to get the bad things out of the way, the maps can get frakin long, I don't know if that is good or bad but it depends whether or not you enjoy the gaming engine. The battles can be as long as a couple of hours. Another thing that I really did not like was the sheer complexity of options there are. There are just too many for me, this is my first real strategy game attempt, ranging from how you approach troops to what kind of way you want to try to persuade enemy troops. This is not bad for the seasoned veteran of games like these but it was a little intimidating.
Now that the bad stuff is over I can list all of the great things about the game. The game plays much like a movie. There are dialouges galore. Scenes from meetings to the battlefield fight are all shot like a movie. Try to think ogre battle here except that when you go in battle it is very detailed and shows your casualties. In this game you are not controlling thirty soliders but up around thirty thousand. Trying to control all of them individually would be impossible. The best part of all of this is that the graphics are just awesome. I love the way the costumes are designed, and the voice acting is superb. Everything about this game just seems to click. Even if you are watching someone else playing it won't piss you off because the game looks like a freakin movie. The creator of the game even gives you a note on your screen to tell you about his dream of making a movie about the wars.Whether you are playing or watching, you will be amazed by the way this game is presented.
Well if this is your kind of bag then I suggest a buy for sure. More complex than OB but at least posesses a tutor mode, this game will not disapoint. If however you have never played a game that never resembled a strategy game before then I may suggest a rent. However this game is awesome when the mechanics of it are learned. While not a party game it is one of the closest games ever to being a interactive movie you can play. Kudos to the developer and creator. Well done!
