Sengoku Jidai: Shadow of the Shogun
Just Updated
The Mandate of Heaven DLC brings players of Sengoku Jidai to another “country at war”. The expansion contains four dynamic historical campaigns set in the 16th and 17th centuries. These chronicle the decline of China’s Ming Dynasty and its conquest by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It also includes the Mandate of Heaven sandbox campaign that enables players to freely choose the opposing forces fighting for supremacy over the Chinese mainland and Mongolian steppes. It also includes four new factions and many new units!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/502361/
About the GameSixteenth century East Asia is in turmoil. In Japan, the ruling Shogun family has lost its grip on the country. A civil war is brewing as regional lords actively expand their influence. In Korea, the Joseon dynasty is paralysed by factional struggle within the royal court. In China, the might of the Ming dynasty is waning due to rebellions and foreign incursions. These seemingly separate internal conflicts will pave the way for an international war involving the three countries.
Sengoku Jidai: Shadow of the Shogun is a turn-based tactical and strategic game set during this turbulent time; primarily focusing on the Japanese Warring States period and Japanese Invasion of Korea. Other armies from East Asia are also made available to simulate different conflicts across the region.
Take command of diverse armies which employ varying tactical doctrines. Lead your chosen army and their generals to victory in set-piece historical battles or “what-if” skirmish situations against an AI or human opponent. Become more ambitious and achieve regional domination through the operational campaign layer where you have to deal with the consequence of preceding battles.
To become the Japanese Shogun, to overthrow the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom, or to establish a Pan-Asian Empire, one requires mastery of the battlefield. In this time of turmoil, Asia is yours for the taking!
Features:
- Accurate simulation of East Asian battle in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly the Sengoku Jidai (Japanese Warring States period) and Imjin War (Japanese invasion of Korea and Chinese intervention).
- Unique graphic style influenced by Japanese paintings.
- Historical scenarios covering key engagements of the period
- Campaign mode allows you to rewrite history as you play through key campaigns of the era. Terrain, manpower, supply, attrition, sieges and economic damage all need to be taken into account. The decisions you make on the strategic map will affect the forces available to you in battle. The results of each battle will have long-term effects on the strength, experience and elan of your units.
- Classic Turn-based, tile based gameplay.
- Easy to use interface, hard to master gameplay.
- Battalion-sized units.
- Named generals who can influence combat and morale of units under their command as well as engage enemy generals in personal combat.
- Single player and multiplayer battle modes.
- Skirmish system allows unlimited “what-if” scenarios using historically realistic armies from carefully researched army lists, on realistic computer generated terrain maps. Armies covered include numerous Japanese clans, Ikko Ikki, Wokou Pirates, Joseon Korean, Ming Chinese, Chinese and Tribal rebels, Eastern and Western Mongols, Jurchen and Imperial Manchu (Qing Chinese) armies. Each faction has multiple lists covering the development of their armies through the 16th and 17th centuries.
- Skirmish scenarios are randomly generated and include open battle, attack on a defensive position, defence of a defensive position, awaiting reinforcements, enemy awaiting reinforcements, flank march.
- In skirmishes players can pick their armies from the army list or allow the computer to pick the army for them.
- Effective AI makes sound tactical decisions. Historical battle AI customised to the historical tactical situation.
- 6 difficulty levels allow the challenge to increase as you develop your battlefield skills.
- Numerous different unit organisations, combat capabilities and tactical doctrines allow full representation of tactical differences and developments through the period.
- Mod friendly game system with built-in map editor.
- Multiplayer mode allows historical scenarios and “what-if” scenarios to be played by two players using Slitherine’s easy to use PBEM server.
Steam User 126
This game is simply incredible. I had been looking for a tabletop wargaming experience in digital format for a very long time. The direct predecessor to this game, Pike and Shot, looked very viable, but I was not interested enough in the time period and aesthetic of it to gamble $40. Something about landschneckts in frilly blouses and giant feather caps wielding impossibly long pikes just doesn't do it for me (purely a personal preference).
But being a lifelong fan of Japanese history, and in particular the Sengoku Jidai, when this game came out I knew I had to get it. I have no regrets. It is a near-perfect digital adaptation of tabletop wargaming.
You know those feels you get when when you're playing your favorite tabletop wargame and you bait your opponent into a perfect flank charge that rolls up his entire battle line? Or when the Dice Gods answer your desperate prayers to pass an impossible morale check? Or when your "sure thing" charge gets bounced by an unusually motivated mob of peasants? All those feels are right here in this instant classic.
The art design is also just incredible, and, if you can believe this, actually looks even better in-game. I find myself marvelling at how the battlefields look like a classic painting and a real battlefield at the same time. It's highly stylized but realistic and utilitarian all at once. I've seen a couple of complaints about things being difficult to see, but aside from the very occasional hard-to-find facing marker, I haven't had any of those problems.
The mechanics of the game are very elegant. I love that the effects of attrition, fatigue, and morale are all represented by a single unit cohesion status. Units are either steady, disupted, fragmented, or routed. Other mechanics such as charge priority, evasion, and terrain effects all work as they should.
Which brings me to my next point - I've seen a couple of complaints in player reviews regarding the pursuit mechanic specifically and the extent of your control over units in general. There are zero problems here. The game designer addresses the issue in a brief article entitled "A Question of Control" in which he cites both common-sense and historical reasons for his decisions. They make total sense. History has shown that it's pretty tough to control large masses of humans who are literally fighting for their lives and in varying states of rage, fatigue, bloodlust, and mortal terror.
Turns out that historically, troops wouldn't stop chasing after men who had been trying to shove spears through their heads mere moments earlier simply because their field general asked them nicely. If you're not able to plan around this reality of human behavior, maybe commanding virtual hordes of little men on digital battlefields isn't for you.
And besides, your men generally do not pursue enemies all the way off the battlefield every single time in spite of some reviewers' claims. Regardless, what you should be doing is positioning your units in such a way that pursuits of routed enemies will result in charges against other enemy units. Now that's using your noggin. Trick your bloodthirsty little computer men into doing what you want!
Anyway, enough about that. I can already see that this game is one of those rare classics that I will still be playing regularly even 10 years from now. And it's also blown me away enough that I will be overlooking my contempt for flamboyant renaissance era dress to play Pike and Shot. If it's even half as good as Sengoku Jidai, I am sure I won't be disappointed.
In summary: Buy this game.
Steam User 50
SHORT SUMMARY:
Overall fun and has everything you liked about "Field of Glory:Renaissance" and "Pike&Shot". The new graphic style and UI is not very clear to read though and detracts from the gameplay.
All in all reccomended as an enjoyable tactical battle game.
IN DEPTH EXPLANATION BELOW:
THE GOOD:
1. The good old Field of Glory:Renaissance system - if you like it, play the game.
2. So far imho good and realistic combat results (I never played the asian armies in tabletop, so this is new for me mind you)
3. Enjoyable tactical battles, just as with the previous game in this series.
4. Varied armylist. NO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY THE DLC TO PLAY A BATTLE AS THE MONGOLS OR JURCHEN! These are vailable freely in skirmish mode. The dlc is just for the campaigns.
5. The AI is decent.
THE BAD (mostly grpahics and UI):
1. The UI/graphics - it looks cool on first glance, but its much less user-friendly than the one in "Pike&Shot". Its harder to see unit facing and the "engaged in combat" markers are hard to see, especially in forests. After a few battles it became easier, but the UI is still more fuzzy than in the pervious game in teh series (Pike&Shot).
2. While the graphics don't have to be relaly pretty to me in a strategy games, I do want to say that my eyes felt tired after some 2 hours of gameplay. This is usually a bad sign in a strategy game. I wear glasses with anti-reflective coating and play in a well-lit room, and yet my eyes felt tired. This did not happen with Pike&Shot or with other games based on this engine.
Guess someone will probably come up with a "P&S" style terrain and UI modpack soon.
3. No multi-sided campaign, in each campaign you can choose one of 2 sides only. Come on this is Sengoku-Jidai the era of shifting alliances and numerous warring factions.
I know this game engine was deisgned for 2 sides, but I think in this particular game the devs could have done more given the era flavor.
4. No full-Japan campaign map, you are limited to central Japan only.
5. No southeast asian armylists, nor the possibility to use European armies from P&S. Its a minor point all things considered as this is a standalone game after all. I'd be willing to buy a southeast asian DLC if the price was reasonable though.
6. Was especting some more specifgic asian terrain. Instead rice paddies are just "rough" terrain etc. Feels more generic than it should.
Steam User 29
Similar to the other games created by the company, Pike and Shot and Field of Glory II, Sengoku Jidai is a game firmly centered on tactical battles. Don't expect an extremely in depth campaign system.
At the same time, the battles are truly glorious. Yes, the graphics, while their style is pleasing, are hardly up to date. Yes, the soundwork is a little primitive. No Total War style spectacle here. But if you're interested in a more realistic, turn based depiction of battle, this game is great. All the subtleties of a great many troop types are depicted, from Samurai spearmen, to Mongol horse archers, Tibetan heavy cavalry, to Chinese matchlockmen screened by spearmen. The game is punishing; deploy poorly, or maneuver badly, and there will be no time to shuffle your troops across the battlefield before the ruthless AI takes advantage. Let your cavalry get bogged down in forests, and they will get slaughtered.
The battle system is not for everyone - you gradually lose control of your forces as they rout, pursue, or engage in melee combat. But as you learn the game, you learn to plan for the unpredictable human behaviors the game depicts, enabling you to smash into enemy flanks and charge down the line, or ruthlessly let a low quality unit of peasant conscripts be defeated and flee so that you can take the more powerful enemy unit in the flank.
Shogun 2 Total War this is not - but if you want a slower paced, thoughtful game of tactical combat, and are interested in the era, give it a try.
Steam User 25
Ukiyo-e: The Game. Everyone who appreciates human civilization should get this, "grog" or not.
This is not a "poor man's Total War" as some reviewer below was misled (?) to think; it's a miniatures wargame ported to digital form. And what a thoughtful port it is!
For me, this game does capture the very essence of what "TW: Shogun" -the original TW title back in 1999- was meant to feel and transpire: a tactical (not strategic) chalenge, but foremost a slice of taste of a particular era in history I was not familiar with, and became fascinated since.
Steam User 18
Finally, a good game about the Imjin War! Great mechanics that really captures what one presumes would be the feeling of commanding a battle in 16th and 17th century East Asia.
Steam User 12
A very honourable game and I'm very honoured to have had the honour of honourably playing it.
Steam User 9
Out of all Byzantine projects I like Sengoku Jidai the most.
If you're unfamiliar - the Field of Glory-Pike&Shot-Sengoku Jidai series by Byzantine Games is a family of turn-based wargames that does some very good simulation of medieval battlefield chaos. They are most characterized by strong emphasis on unit positioning, absence of control upon units already engaged in melee (because they're in the middle of a ear-destroying bloodbath, you can't realistically hope to give any sensible orders and be heard) and very heavy simulation of unit morale. In other words, finally, you don't have to kill most of the hostile units to win. In fact, the battle ends as soon as about half of the forces from a single side flees. This system leads to some extremely intense and satisfying scenarios.
I believe that Sengoku Jidai is the best of the bunch because it's the most visually attractive one and because its systems fit the period perfectly.
Very, very much worth a try.