A great strategy game that not only tests your skills on the battle field but on how well you can rule a nation.
THE GOOD
-Superb battle system
-Good music
-User friendly playing menus
THE BAD
-Poor graphics
-Gameplay can get repetitive and stale after a while
OVERVIEW
Nobunaga's Ambition takes place during the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. During this time period (from about 1560 to 1582) Japan was divided into separate governing Fiefs (territories). Each Fief had a leader or Daimyo. Under these circumstances, chaos prevailed and war was inevitable until one man, Oda Nobunaga, stepped forward and was determined to unify Japan. In this game you get to relive Nobunaga's dream of unification in a unique turn based strategy game. Not only are your skills tested in battle but also in politics. You don't have to play as Oda Nobunaga. Instead you have the option to pick another Daimyo to unify Japan. There are four different campaign scenarios to chose from which are the "Battle for the East 1560", "Daimyo Power Struggles 1560", "Ambition Untamed 1571" and "Road Towards Unification 1582". Each scenario begins with different stats like the number of Fiefs controlled by Daimyos and larger starting armies. The goal for each scenario is the same; unify Japan by any means necessary.
GAMEPLAY
Nobunaga's Ambition is a great turn based strategy game that not only tests your skills in leading an army in battle but also in government like building a town, feeding your people, and growing your economy. Before you start each game you and seven other friends (optional) chose Fiefs and play as the Daimyo. All the other non-player Fiefs are controlled by the computer and the difficulty is set before the game starts. Aside from battling, this game is played using a series of user friendly menus. This is where most of the game is played.
Each player takes one turn per season (Fall, Spring, Summer, and Winter) which gives the player four turns per year. During each turn you can perform one of the many tasks offered. You can see the current status and make changes to your town, army, economy, etc.
On the military side, each Daimyo has a few options to perform like waging war, hiring more soldiers, training your army and purchasing better weapons. On the government side, each Daimyo has a few more options to perform like adjusting taxes, growing food, building up town, trading with other Daimyos, and setting up alliances.
There are many more things to do other than the ones I just mentioned. Another thing to utilize and be aware of is the national market. This market is used by every player in the game and fluctuates based on supply and demand. The market is the place where a Daimyo can buy or sell goods and services which each have a monetary value. Things like soldiers, food, arms, and the ever popular ninjas are a few things available in the market. Now aside from the military and government you have the option to hire ninjas to either try and assassinate other Daimyos, destroy towns, or cause a Fief's morale to drop.
Other neat aspects to the game that make it seem realistic are that rebellions can happen (due to low morale), floods and diseases occur (crippling food and army), and it is even possible for your character to get sick and die! Nobunaga's Ambition has a large variety of tasks to do, besides war, which gives the game a lot of depth. However, you may experience that the game gets repetitive and stale especially when more than one player is playing in the same game. As you control more Fiefs the maintenance can be quite tedious at times.
Now the non-combat activities are fun for a while but you're not going to achieve your goal of unifying Japan without success on the battle field. In Nobunaga's Ambition, the battle system is very well done and will test your military strategies. When a battle occurs, the defender places his or her units on the battle field. Your units consist of Infantry, Calvary, and Rifle-men. They rank in toughness in that order, respectively. Terrain also matters in battle, just like in reality, so I would advise any player to utilize this to the fullest. The different terrain features are the castle, mountains, hills, plains, water and towns. The castle has the best advantage, then the hills and lastly the plains. So, once the defender places their units the attacker then gets to see where the defending units are and plans accordingly. Now the attacker is limited to where they can place units based on where they attacked from. For example if the warring Fief was to the North, the attacking Daimyo may only place his or her units on the north side of the map. There are three outcomes that can happen as a result from the battle: the attacker flees, the attacking or defending general is defeated, or the army starves from lack of food. This brings up a good point in that you need to plan out how much food your soldiers are going to need otherwise they'll starve to death. Again the battle system is very unique, realistic and really tests your skills as a commander in battle.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The graphics aren't too good for this game but the level design, for the battle field, proves to make the fighting fun. Plus, since each Fief has its own terrain, the battles are always different. This provides a nice challenge to Nobunaga's Ambition.
From the sound of swords clanging to the shots from the rifle-men, the sound effects are great to listen too. Also, the music not only fits this game but the mindset of feudal Japan. Both audio features enhance the quality of the gameplay in Nobunaga's Ambition.
CONCLUSION
For people who really enjoy complex turn based games this one is right for you. Other "non-hardcore" turn based strategy gamers will also find this game fun. Nobunaga's Ambition is a simple looking game but does a great job at making you feel like you're apart of the unification of Japan in the late 1500s. Plus, it will definitely test your skills as a leader of a nation.