Sengoku Jidai GOLD

As we only get GOG’s permission to write a review once, I’ll be careful to list the amusing, if I hadn’t wasted £6 on this tedious game, attempts to create historical ‘chaos of battle realism’ instead of a warfare simulator. Just in the tutorial, a spear unit, properly formed, facing the enemy, within range of a general and with friendly units on both sides is attacked by horse riding bowmen and breaks after they attack. Same premise again, spearmen facing an enemy horse unit cannot do anything for two moves and is then decimated because it could not attack, rotate or move. ‘Can’t charge that target type’ Oh, I didn’t realise armies used to ride a horse unit up in front of spearmen to form an impenetrable wall. Contrastingly, on the other side of the battlefield one of my units (exactly the same as one that was just decimated by sword wielding bowmen) starts to attack an enemy unit and without any chance for my input, stomps through three enemy units over the next few turns.. Is the other premise to repeatedly demonstrate the Mongolian false retreat principle of breaking up the enemy formations? Or is the suggestion all Samurai armies were comprised of completely disorganised rabble? Even more bizarrely, after expending the pitiful movement points that require a sheet of paper and formulas to calculate any single move’s likelihood of maintaining any proper battle formation, when attacking, a unit can suddenly move four extra squares to pursue an enemy unit, past and deep into enemy formations and where any skilled warrior would avoid being. Wheee, there goes a horse unit chasing 20 squares after enemy units that rush off the map and then pop back up where my unit can’t turn and face. Where is the strategy? Line of sight with ranged units takes some weird concept that a 20 degree frontward angle change only allows a rank to fire with half angle of fire? 1960's table top gaming was more accurate.

4*

In comparison to its competition I suggest getting something else instead, I picked this up with the intention of playing a turn-based wargame like strategy game. What I got was a dice rolling simulator that cheats. Let me explain: the enemy charging you while standing in a stream do they receive a debuff? If you answered yes that is not how the game views it, instead it will buff the enemy if it charged/is charged. Try to use that same tactic? Enjoy that 40 free damage you just incurred from the enemy charging you because you are in a stream. That isn't the end of it, forests seem to abide their own rules and only exist to frustrate archers and offer nothing in terms of offering you a buff if the enemy has to fight on open ground. That is, of course, the enemy tries the exact same thing. I would have enjoyed this game, I would have enjoyed if it attempted to be a chaos-of-battle simulator. The fact of the matter is that it hides critical decision making information and arbitrarily distributes bonuses when it wishes to.

Nice outlook, sadly nothing more. The computer is really not fair. The rules, damage and morale are always on computer side. You cant shoot on units in melee, why not? Hat gute ideen, nette grafik und hätte ein gutes Spiel sein können, wenn Logik und Spielspass im Spiel enthalten wären. Save le petit.