The "Decisive Battle" Kessen is about to begin! Kessen is an RTS based on real Japanese History.
Graphics: 8
Sound: 7
Value: 5
Tilt: 7
The game is called Kessen for a reason. Kessen is Japanese for "Decisive Battle". This game is about a Decisive battle in Japan during the 15th, and 16th centuries. In this battle, 2 lords fought to rule the land. Ieyasu Tokugawa of the East, and Mitsunari Ishida of the West. The greatest battle of Japan, Kessen is about to begin!
At the start of the game you play as the forces of Ieyasu Tokugawa and after finishing his campaign you can play as the forces of Mitsunari Ishida.
The game might seem a little hard to pick up everything that is being taught to you at first, but it is easy to get the hang of it, and you will realize it after a battle or 2.
The goal is to defeat the enemy commander's forces. Yes defeating the enemy commander's forces is the goal, but it isn't always easy to get to the commander without fighting some of his officers first.
You will have control of several officers at a time in every battle and so will you opponent. Some officers are better at certain things than others are. Each officer has his own unit of soldiers which can include rifle troops, spear troops, sword troops, and calvalry. How you command your units is entirely up to you, whether you want them to attack, hold back, and so on.
You can occassionally pull off special attacks called special maneuvers, if you have enough zeal to perform it. Special Maneuver's consist of Cannonade's, Raid's, Rally's, Charge attacks, and more. These Special Maneuver's can really help turn the battle in your's or your opponent's favor. Some can whipe out a large amount of soldiers while others can raise troop morale or zeal. Also some officers can perform Special Maneuver's that others can't. At the end of battle's your officers Special Maneuver's can increase in level, raising their effect.
It is cool to watch your unit's to pull off these Special Maneuver's or jus to watch them fight. Duel's are also fun to watch. Duel's occasionally happen between 2 officers and the winning officer's unit gains morale while the opposing officer loses morale.
Morale is important. If your a unit's morale is low, the soldiers won't fight well an even a much smaller force could wipe it out in no time if they have higher morale than you.
Sometimes you can even setup your own strategy before a battle and also choose some of the officers you take into battle with you.
Most battles remain easy but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the story, and have fun in the battles while the game lasts. It can maybe take about 10 hours to finish the game with both sides.
Unfortunately it doesn't have a multiplayer. It would be an improvement to have a multiplayer where one of you can play as the Eastern Army, and the other could play as the Western army and your forces could battle each other. Well since it doesn't have a multiplayer, just enjoy the single player mode.
Kessen is a Historic Real Time Strategy game that is for the most part historically correct. The people in the game were actually at one time alive, and the battles in the game actually happened. Fan's of Koei, or of Real Time Strategy might like to give Kessen a try. It isn't a hard game to learn to play, though it seems like it at first, and just because it isn't really a long game doesn't mean you can't enjoy it, for the time that it does last. Just keep in mind that it isn't for everyone. It is different than many other games so you may want to try it before buying it.
Anyone interested in Japanese History should try it, and if you like RTS games or are a Koei fan you may want to try it.