I really like this game, I got it bundled with the game Pirates! Aesthetically and gameplay-wise I like this one more. Same developer different focus. Written retelling of it with basic explanations as needed. I plan on doing this with other games from the favorites list.
It's got really weird controls but you can remap it to be easier to remember. They make some sense but my brain auto pilots if I take too long a break.
It feels like a very simple sim game, it's got really good pick and play modes but there's a campaign mode and I never care enough to finish the whole thing, this is me trying to finish it.
The game starts as you pick a province. The starting stats for each are different, the icons represent the stats.
The only important ones are the bush one and the sun one. The Sun is standing with your Lord and the Bush is the land you control.
The sword is unimportant because you can easily win duels with low sword stats with a barrage of fast attacks.
The fan is leadership. I don't need this high, however it's pretty rad that it is. It's for the large battles. Just flank and you'll be fine. Especially if you make a wide enough arc to not get the enemies attention.
My playstyle really fits this spot from a glance, when I started here I also had quick access to the Lords castle and my rival. This is important for shenanigans.
NPCs have access to everything the player can do, I think that's cool. You play as a samurai, you can do tea ceramonies to increase standing with NPCs, straight up sneak in and potentially steal their stuff, family member and/or kill the other samurai. To which you can hold as ransom.
There's also random encounters with bandits, defending your own house from theft/kidnapping/trying to murder you. Defending/attacking with your army, practicing swordfights, fighting villagers who won't pay and freeing people.
The game has a top down view for traversal and group combat (reminds me of the gauntlet arcade game). A closer view for duels and a aerial view for controlling armies.
The rival is one I decided, I usually do this. There's no actual system for it except his standing was really high and I don't like that. The goal of the game is to become the ruler. However you can just kind of mess around too. However I wanted to actually see the whole game.
I liked Kirotaka, we are his ride or die and we want to take down Naohiro because he said no to having tea once and he was rude to us.
Our first course of action is to grow our army. We do this by taxing our farmers and recruiting when we have enough land.
If you remember a few paragraphs ago, I said I chose low land. I did this on purpose. There are multiple ways to get land, like helping out the Lord. Very easy, due to the closeness I can just walk for a second and be there.
The first little job I got was a duel with an assassin in the lords castle that they'd trapped in some corner tower. I just tried the barrage and it worked.
I went back to recruiting until I got word of a captured priest. The second easiest thing the game could throw at me. I walked in, took out as many as I could from the door with arrows and stabbed the rest.
Just as easy writing it as doing it, didn't even take a screenshot for them. I however wasn't earning honor fast enough to be considered for the next Lord. Nao was almost garunteed to win. I needed to pull something cool off or do a single shenanigan.
I was gonna steal a ceremonial sword. They gave it to that Nao guy ahead of time and he was to show up with it the next day for it to become the next Lord. Exactly what I can't have happen, maybe if it was anyone else. I was about to do a crime.
These are dangerous because if you let one person escape, you fail. It's stealth but the kind where no one knows if they're all dead. There's actual sneaking mechanics but I prefer this because it's easier to manage.
Failure results in death or you are in a state where you can almost never recover and we'd rather not have that if we can.
So the plan is to just camp the exit with a bow and alert just enough of them so that they'll rush me. Once it's clear I grab the sword and make it back out. This isn't to take his place but to stall.
The ceremony can't happen without the sword, now all I need to do is wait.
The only way to keep playing is to have a family and have the kid as the character when you die or age out so I got my character married. In this time, Nao decided to get cut in half by someone else :(
This happened almost the next day, he was supposed to win but it works out for me. I thought he could be like a whole game rival for me but I just was too cool for him. With him gone, his son took his place.
His son was a more annoying character to deal with because he already didn't like anybody and wasn't just rude. He attempted to ransom my wife the first day he had control.
He said "pay me and I won't kidnap them" and I said "go for it".
These encounters are the most fun because ninjas are a unique enemy. You can only see them when they are in katana range, you have to sword fight them. They only appear in situations where people sneak in.
Anyways, he was already past me and was running for the door with his "hostage" I cut him off before he got to the door so I could challenge him to a duel.
Cut him in half, as you do.
The game forces you to be an omega-snitch and tell on him.
After this I'd help the Lord and Kiro in some big fights. While I was away I was told an army had taken my house. I was afraid it would kill the run and turns out, literally one guy was there (not an army) so we crushed him on our way back.
I stopped helping fight to regroup and get more units. They decided to just go back to fight and I lost the Lord and Kiro. Which means I got thrown into the Lord chair by default and in the lamest, yet quickest way. RIP Kirotaka, you were too cool! :(
The game allows you to do a little more than before. You still are a single samurai, not a bunch of units even in the late game you are just a guy and I like that. It has the draw of an RPG.
It's really fun, I will probably make another one of these for the next part of the game. However I think this works just as well on it's own. Time will tell. I didn't give details on the army combat. It's heavily featurd in the next section, really simple.