Battle Realms: Zen Edition Reviews

fun challenging gameplay

screen 2 small i cant find wway make it bigger other than that awesome

a game full of memories, you know this is my first game when i was 5 years old and my father taught me the strategy for this game

Very nostalgic with graphic more visible to this era.

One of the best RTS game ever made. It brings back my happy teenage days. Thank you for bringing back my awesome memories 22 years ago.

can you balance the bots? my ally bot = so slow and hard to make it respond to my command, while using hard bots for allies, they build very few buildings and armies. meanwhile enemy bots are = fast reactive, responds running towards their ally, build so many buildings for stalling enemies.

fantastic game made even more awesome thanks to this version i love that you can go down the path of evil or good and it really mean something story is fun game play is great

Peasant build hut Peasant collect rice / water Peasant build Dojo, Archery range, and Alchemist hut. Peasant go to archery range Become Archer Archer goes to Alchemist hut Becomes fat-boi with rice cannon Raid wolf-bois next door lost to over gown puppers 10 out of 10 would get ransacked again

Battle Realms Zen Edition is the definitive version of a beloved RTS classic. Even today it's one of the more unusual RTS games, that uses mechanics like population, unit training or cavalry and adds it's own twist to them. For starters the game has a very simple economy and population system. You need rice and water. Some peasants work on the rice field and others gather water. Depending on the size of the rice field it is good to assign 1 or 2 peasants to water and regrow it. Later you can use horses to help with resource gathering. When it comes to population it's even simpler. Once you build your first house, you gain a new peasant after a set amount of time, represented by a bar below the water and rice count. With each new peasant the population bar will fill up slower. The population cap is usually 30, but the limit can be set to 20 and 50 population. Peasants are also a vital part in building your military might. You see in order to get a combat unit you need to send peasants to train in special buildings. There are multiple buildings in which you can train your troops. Usually there are 3 main training facilities and a couple of special ones. Each unit can also retrain in another facility and become a different unit. Using the Dragon Clan as a example: the peasant trains in the dojo and becomes a spearman, after visiting the archery range, he becomes a dragon warrior, after training in the alchemist, he will finally become a samurai. There are some units that can be trained only once or only have 1 retraining opportunity. Each unit can also further train in one of two special buildings that grant additional abilities. For example spearmen gain either a single target stun or a AoE attack, archers get vision granting arrows or fire arrows. Some abilities have charges that need to be recharged. Units also have a main damage type and their own set of damage resistances. You can also further strengthen them by buying upgrades at their training facilities. Finally you can also equip your peasants or warriors with horses to further boost their performance. After building a stable you need to find and order peasants, to catch wild horses. Horses can be used to boos either your economic or military prowess. They help peasants gather rice and water at a more efficient rate. Your warriors gain additional mobility, hit points and can use trample to deal damage to enemies. The game also allows you to recruit special units like monks, ninjas and Zen Masters. They don't count towards the total population cap and don't require peasants. Instead they need Ying/Yang points (that are also used for upgrades) that can be gained through combat. Zen Masters are the equivalent of heroes from other RTS games. They offer useful abilities, but aren't super overpowered and can be killed rather quickly if left unattended. Finally each of the 4 clans has a different aesthetic and mechanics. Thanks to that your army composition is very flexible and each units can be a valuable addition. All of the above is also quite straightforward and easy to remember. Thanks to that Battle Realms can focus heavily on combat and it does an excellent job at it. The game is micro intensive and allows for some great tactical maneuvers. One of them is stamina management. Units can use it to run and move through the map much quicker, which in itself is valuable, but has some huge drawbacks. If stamina is too low you can't use special abilities. Running can alert enemies if you run through a forest and frighten the birds. Each unit also has it's own stamina bar and it could lead to potential formation disruption if the less enduring units stay back, when the combat begins. In combat units lock in with another and use moves straight from kung fu movies. Positioning is key because enemies can use the more agile units to break combat lock and target your archers. Ranged units can't use missile attacks while locked in melee combat and can get dispatched quickly. Add to the above units having different counters, ability usage, heroes, cavalry, heavily wounded units losing the ability to run etc. All of that makes the gameplay very dynamic, but also very micro intensive. You can go from multiple small skirmishes to one big battle in shorts periods of time. Speaking of kung fu movies the game is also quite single player friendly. It offers two campaigns, one for Kenji and one for Greyback. Greybacks campaign is pretty straightforward. Kenji has a more branching one. You can also replay them with different difficulty options. Skirmish vs A.I is also a fun alternative. Unfortunately no game is perfect and Battle Realms is no different. The Zen edition brought a lot of QoL additions, but at the same time it was heavily focused on general and MP balance. Because of that it left some other areas underdeveloped. One of them is the campaign. The devs changed the A.I. to be smarter and act more like a "sparring partner" than a dumb cheating brick. Unfortunately they forgot that this change also influences the campaign. You see having a smart A.I. is a good thing because it allows for a more organic challenge IF other elements are balanced around it. The previous campaign was balanced around dumb A.I. with cheats. Now a slightly less dumb A.I with a massive starting advantage seriously screws the balance of missions. Example being serpent mission 2. Originally this was a very chill mission. Now if you won't start immediately unit production the A.I. will attack you with around 12 units (thankfully most of them are archers). This happens on all difficulties. Another is the monastery defense mission. From minute 1 a constant onslaught of enemies, regardless of difficulty. In short this changed the campaigns difficulty dramatically and can sometimes feel cheap. The devs promised to change this, but to my knowledge they didn't do this. Also despite the updates the A.I. is still dumb as a brick. In one of the final Serpent missions it kept stubbornly sending workers to rebuild buildings. In my base. Multiple times. Speaking of dumb, one negative change is the constant worker hunting during missions. The A.I. sends it's workers to constantly rebuild in old places and because of that a mission that you already won can last longer than it should. How long? Multiple minutes of searching for that 1 peasant hut and killing peasants, to prevent them from rebuilding everything. Another bad change was making buildings more resistant to damage. IIRC in update 1.58 the devs introduced the siege system. In short units without the "siege" trait deal very little damage to buildings. This is fine in skirmish or MP, but in campaign it further inflates the mentioned rebuilding and worker hunting problem. From my experience this change also reduced damage done by fire. Finally my biggest regret is that Battle Realms Zen Edition is just a re release. Yes it has multiple QoL changes, balance adjustments, functional multiplayer and the ability to run on modern hardware, but in the end it's the same old Battle Realms from my childhood. The campaign and graphics were not updated. Kenji's Journey will still not allow you to use the new dragon and serpent units from the Winter of the Wolf campaign, there are no new tier 3 units, no Lotus clan campaign, no new content. Worse of all this is probably a finished product. From January the devs are silent and recently one of them had to quit. So sadly there will probably be no new content in the future, which is a damn shame. Despite of that I fully recommend this title. Don't wait for a sale and go play it if you like RTS games. You will love it. Even today it's a unique work of art. I just wish it was more successful to allow the devs to work on additional content.

Battle Realms: Zen Edition is a thoughtful remaster of a cult classic real-time strategy game that first released in 2001. Developed by Liquid Entertainment, the Zen Edition breathes new life into a title known for its unique mechanics, eastern fantasy aesthetics, and deeply tactical gameplay. While it retains much of the original game’s identity, this edition updates it with modern compatibility, improved resolution support, and quality-of-life enhancements that allow both returning fans and new players to experience its strategic depth with greater ease. Unlike traditional RTS games of its time, Battle Realms introduced a number of fresh ideas that still feel innovative today. The most notable is its approach to unit production: instead of queuing up units from barracks, you train peasants—who are generated automatically based on your economy—and then send them to different buildings to transform into warriors. This mechanic demands constant attention and strategic foresight, as the peasant population must be carefully managed to maintain a balance between economy and military strength. This fluid system, combined with the game’s elegant unit upgrade paths, makes army composition a dynamic and engaging challenge. The Zen Edition continues to offer the same diverse faction options, each with its own identity and tactical strengths. The Dragon Clan, for example, values honor and discipline, using traditional martial arts and mystical powers. The Serpent Clan, in contrast, embraces deception, aggression, and dark magic. The Lotus and Wolf clans add even more variety, offering different philosophies and unit rosters that fundamentally alter gameplay. Each faction is well-designed, with clear distinctions in playstyle, unit abilities, and strategic emphasis, which enhances replayability and depth. Combat in Battle Realms rewards positioning, timing, and smart use of terrain. Units are not simply statistics and damage values; they interact with each other in meaningful ways. Skills, counters, and unit synergy all play major roles, and rushing blindly into battle usually results in disaster. The game also uses a yin-yang morality system for the Dragon and Serpent factions, affecting access to certain powers and units depending on your actions during the campaign. This adds an extra layer of storytelling and strategic decision-making, making even your moral choices relevant on the battlefield. The campaign remains a strong aspect of the game, with a branching narrative depending on the choices you make. You play as Kenji, an exiled prince returning to a war-torn homeland. The path you take—toward redemption or conquest—shapes both the story and your faction, allowing for a more personalized experience. The voice acting and writing are dated in some parts but maintain a level of charm that suits the game’s stylized presentation. Story missions often feel handcrafted, each introducing new mechanics or requiring different tactics, which keeps the campaign engaging from start to finish. Graphically, the Zen Edition preserves the visual style of the original, which holds up surprisingly well thanks to its artistic direction. The environments are lush and detailed, full of bamboo forests, rice paddies, and mystical shrines that reflect the game’s East Asian fantasy setting. While it won’t compete with modern AAA visuals, the remastered textures and widescreen support make the game pleasant to look at, especially for fans of classic RTS aesthetics. The soundtrack, with its traditional instruments and evocative melodies, remains one of the standout features, enhancing the game’s atmosphere and immersion. Though the Zen Edition improves performance and compatibility, it does still show its age in some areas. The AI can be inconsistent, pathfinding sometimes frustrating, and the interface, while functional, could feel clunky to new players used to modern conveniences. Multiplayer, a highlight for many long-time fans, has returned with online matchmaking via Steam, but can still feel rough around the edges. However, these shortcomings are generally minor compared to the game’s enduring strengths. In summary, Battle Realms: Zen Edition is a welcome revival of one of the most creative and underappreciated RTS games ever made. Its distinctive approach to unit training, deep faction diversity, and strong thematic elements make it stand out even today. While some of its mechanics may seem unusual by contemporary standards, they offer a refreshing alternative to the genre’s usual formulas. For strategy enthusiasts seeking a challenging, richly layered experience with a touch of classic flair, this edition of Battle Realms is well worth exploring. Rating: 8/10