Kessen
by Electronic Arts
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Category: Video Games
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Product Summary
Brand: PlaystationPlatform: PlayStation2
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Video Game Reviews of Kessen
Customer Review: Nice Intro To Japanese History and A Great Game Too!
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, this game has taken some critical hits for being too easy. Keep in mind that the first time through you are playing at INTRODUCTORY level (level 1 of 5), at which it is extremely difficult to lose. For a REAL challenge, try the skirmish battles at level 5...scream in agony as you are quickly outnumbered 8 units to 2...with your own reinforcements not showing up until near the end, and enemy defections highly unlikely. Even the regular battles become more difficult, but not as unbalanced as the skirmishes. You are no longer treated to complete intelligence reports on the enemy units or officers, so hopefully you've retained knowledge from earlier games. Enemies fire off more frequent and effective special attacks and in general behave in a more combat savvy manner. Another complaint-the inability to "cut short" the "cut scenes"-well, just press the triangle button and they'll disappear!Here's the few things I didn't care for in the game-difficulty levels should have been selectable from the beginning and not just after playing through the easy game. More battles should have been included as well-there are 13 (I believe) but 4 of them are Sekigahara variations. It is nice that you can play as either side. The goals are far too straightforward (although very relective of Japanese warfare, where the goal was to kill as many of the enemy as possible, rather than territorial objectives or strategic postioning). These are about the only complaints I have, and that isn't much!What does this game do well? Great cinemas based on the ascension of Tokugawa Ieyasu to power. Some of the battles (such as Osaka Castle and of course First Sekigahara) are straight out of Japanese history with accurate battlefield maps and orders of battle. Other battles are built upon logical extensions and "what-ifs" branching off from Sekigahara. The clan leaders and Daimyos of the game are given entertaining individual personalties and look great (yes, they really DID wear those outlandish looking helmets with the cool armor, although Tokugawa was a older, heavy balding man by the time these battles took place). The clan defections add to the game, turning victory to defeat (or vice versa) in seconds (although it would have been nice if they were a little more unpredictable). The myriad options in political mode give you the chance to tinker with your units, plans, and strategies until you come up with the "perfect" one! Although it was historically incorrect to see units using ninjas (no self respecting Daimyo would OPENLY use a ninja...but Uesegi Kenshin's fatal trip to his castle outhouse proved using them secretly was another matter) and women (there were as many samurai women as men, but except for rare isolated instances such as Tomoe Gozen they never went to battle) you can give it a try here! Unit compostion, officers, weapons, formations, special attacks-they're all yours to play with. You don't NEED to but they add a lot to replay value. There is a nice informative tutorial mode that eases you into the game (Koei games can be a little intimidating at first). The game also helps to point out why the side with the most soldiers didn't always win-officer ability, loyalty, and especially morale were of paramount importance during this period. Fans of fast action, button mashing games won't be happy here-DYNASTY WARRIORS or even the delightful mess that is KESSEN II might be better for you. All in all, while Kessen is no SHOGUN:TOTAL WAR it provides solid game play, an entertaining storyline, lots of opportunities to tinker and is a good introduction to both samurai warfare and Japanese history as well as being a lot of fun. One of my favorite games that I keep coming back to!
Description of Kessen
This is the game Kessen for the Playstation 2. This game may not come with the original case and instructions. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for you.Kessen is the first DVD PlayStation2 title--boy, what a difference a DVD-ROM makes! Kessen's fantastic cutscenes showcase the difference between the visual capabilities of non-DVD and DVD formats. That difference is analogous to the gap between analog television and HDTV quality.
The graphics are awesome, too. In a triple barrage, three rows of gunmen draw and fire their guns. Not everyone does it at exactly the same time, and the number of men goes back as far as the eye can see. The smart choreography makes the battle seem much more real. In fact, you actually can see other soldiers fighting as the generals duel.
The game's orchestral score is wonderful, and the sound effects also are great, with booming cannons, neighing horses, and clanking spears.
While all of the above makes for a very splashy presentation, it doesn't do much for the gameplay. Those who have found fault in the micromanagement of past Koei strategy titles surely will be disappointed with Kessen. It's often painful to see every single stat and try to improve them all in a set amount of time. Kessen goes too far in that every battalion has a morale level, called zeal, as well as a certain number of soldiers of different types. Each general has a different amount of loyalty to you, but it really doesn't affect gameplay, as far as we could tell.
Before each battle, you go through the political stage. Here, you can persuade undecided generals or enemy generals to join you in battle, or not to fight at all. That's a cool aspect, but the game basically tells you outright who will join you and who won't.
The pace of the battles is extremely slow, like in most other Koei games. However, the difficulty is not. Many times, you're given so many reinforcements that you just can't lose. Also, every single event involves a 20-second cutscene, with no obvious way to skip these. Sure, the triple barrage is impressive the first few times that you see it; but, after the 100th time, it wears a little thin. And you get to see a cutscene every time that your enemies do the same to you.
Unlike other RTS games, there's hardly ever any cause for alarm or stress--even if you're losing, you feel like there's not a lot you could do about it, anyway. --Todd Mowatt
Pros:
- Fantastic cutscenes showcase the visual capabilities of DVD format
- Great graphics, score, and sound effects
- Too many statistics to manage
- Slow game pace
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