NOBUNAGA'S AMBITION: Taishi Reviews

From what I can tell most of these negative reviews are from previous versions of the game and the reviewers never bothered changing them. Given, I am a longtime player of many of Koei's game franchises; so up front I may appear biased. However, I say with absolute critical integrity that this game in its current state is very good. Generally, each entry adopts new ideas and implements them into future games; in which they further expand upon in expansions or "power-up kits" as they are often called. As stated earlier, the game in its current state and its ideas feel fresh and new for the series. As far as gameplay, alot of the quick and direct control has been taken away from the player, instead players must think on a turn by turn basis and leave things up to their officers much of the time; I speak particularly of the battle phase in this regard. This makes the player think further ahead rather than just flying by the seat of their pants sending troops into another batch of troops and pulling them out when things look bad, instead this must now be done during the periodic orders phase of the battle. The changes made in this installment, including the new morale implementation during battle, have made the game more challenging during the battles and the player less prone to exploiting ai; although I can still see it happening in certain circumstances. My only real gripe with this game (this isn't even really a gameplay thing rather than a potential historical oversight) is that muskets are available to use before the year 1543; this is probably because the game at its vanilla release begins in 1545 and the DLC content that adds start dates before that year were not patched up with an event that implements muskets later on. Previous games in this franchise have been aware of this detail which is why I mention it now. I currently give the game my recommendation and I anticipate that the game will only improve with future updates.

很多人认为我的点评不公正。自我上次点评以来游戏确实也改变了很多，新开放的建设功能更是让游戏达到了“可玩”的及格线，因此对制作者的公平起见，我认为有必要回来加把柴~ 希望它能越做越好。但这不代表说这游戏已经很好玩，我任然认为5，7，9，11代都比这一代做得用心更不要说13，15了。以下是我上次的评语，这些问题100%都还在，一点都没改观，所以不删除。现在附加四条： 7. 铁炮太强大，是忽略一切属性的存在。攻击力不合实际得强就不说了，对敌人士气打击也远大于其它兵种。2支铁炮队一个回合就可以把统帅不到90的队伍打溃散。射程远得让你误以为是美式装备M4A1。而且铁炮作为唯一的远程兵种（对，没有弓箭）对近战居然没有一点劣势，还要剑豪，战马，水军训练干嘛？政策上也可以把有关战马的全忽略了。 8. 千年粉都知道，历代武将都有对兵种的适性，但在这一代里任何武将都能上马杀敌下马开炮 。可事实并非如此，你让每天跟骑兵在一起的武将带骑兵出战，其效果必然是很优异的。 9. 战术策略简直弱得不忍直视（伊达家的双头龙除外）。打仗最强阵型：无阵型 10. 跟三国志一样，城市人口增长飞速，不受粮草产量的限制。粮草没有一个现粮和存粮的概念。直接导致人口没吃的照样繁殖；大名城里没一颗粮食照样能打仗；没有饥荒。这是光荣的老毛病了，可是老毛病不代表就不需要改啊。一上战场就是十几万人，我就想知道当年的日本有几个十几万？ 虽然比三国志好太多倍了但还是一代比一代差。前者明显已经是用来在华人身上赚一票就跑路的，后者好歹还有些新花样。 1. 武将已经没有意义，你会发现家里躺着几百个武将你自己都不知道是谁 2. 内政已经没有意义，一键完成投资种田然后就没事了 3. 手动合战已经没有意义，合战实在速度慢，自动战斗比手动轻松太多 4. 武将属性已经没意义，除了统率超过85的其余武将你不会记得，合战不看谁属性好，看谁先到战场 5. 没有任何计略，操作，唯一一代第一个月就必须开战的游戏否则：A)电脑把领地全占了，B)电脑把领民全糟蹋了，C)电脑战意太高你怎么打也打不赢的，平均统帅60的酱油团可以干死你的精英队 6. 综上所述不难看出小国，尤其是没有任何优秀武将的小国，99%被灭。不再像以前兵少将寡也都有得一战。

A lot of people hate this version because a lot of features were removed. But you have to face the truth, this game is 85% fighting battles and that's where Taishi has improved. You can't just curbstomp everyone past a certain stage in the game because every battle matters. I was once conquering a smaller clan with ease and they caught me off-guard in uncomfortable terrains and nearly turned things around. This couldn't happen at all in SoI, making playing as small clans actually viable to a degree.

I recently purchased Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence (SoI), I liked the game but I felt it needed a lot of changes particularly the battles, It was kinda boring having only a maximum of 3 units on most battles and i was struggling with officer placement on castles since there were no pictures provided when transfering officers from castle to castle. I thought to myself, man if only there was a game similar to ROTK 11 or maybe an option to gather forces and move only 1 force with many units and officers in it and fight battles with it would be epic. Then I found out about Taishi which had all the features I wanted present in SoI, in a few days will have English support so I bought the game. I wasn't dissapointed at all! in fact its way better than Soi in my humble opinion. The game felt like it was thought through. The negative reviews here are talking about launch date which was a year ago and so far I didn't have any problems with bugs(except for that one time Azai clan sided with the clan instead of me, the clan north of mino and Azai i forgot, then after I had wiped out that clan, Azai had a war with another clan and asked for my help as an ally.). This game is really great and I don't bother making reviews but I feel the negative ratio is giving this game injustice so I had to do my part although, I hope this is a lesson to the devs for not releasing a finished game lol. Best features for me are: 1. For battles, the game forces you to think 2 steps ahead and not just send units and pull them out if it gets really dicey. The implementation of morale which is a big thing in real battles are a step in the right directionn not many games have this and I hope they keep it. I do hope they would minimize casualties though, in real battles most of the casualties happen when units retreat and they're being run down by cavalry or the like. See how ultimate general: civil war handles casualties. 2. Trade: Its definitely better. I Hope it gets even more complicated. 3. Provisions: This is also better than SoI. You just can't spam and steamroll everyone in mid game. 4. Forges and Ranches and all those buildable buildings are also a great addition. 5. Adding portrait window when transfering officers helped a lot in gameplay. My only complaints with this game are: 1. that the graphics are a step backwards compared to SoI, however its very minor and I can definitely ignore it. 2. The lack of missions compared to SoI. Even as simple as unemploying Toshie Maeda for 2 years was present in SoI. I find these mini missions help with immersion a lot and the history behind all these warring states.

First off, about the Negative Reviews, as others have stated, it's basically a combination of 3 things I'm seeing... -No PUK Expansion in the West yet (4 months and counting, so getting kind of worried, considering we got PUK for RTK 13 after 2 months here in the West, thus some getting worried it won't happen) -Bugs, lots of them were basically at release, and while new ones have popped up like the Militia/Infantry Bug comes to mind where you can only recruit 4,000 militia and 1,000 infantry per city I believe, which was fixed as of June 3rd, most have been fixed now. -Finally, it's pretty much a streamlined version of the NA series, compared to Ascension (the SoL slight Remake that added new features, but wasn't praised very well, as that one still has bad bugs not fixed to this day) and my personal favorite Sphere of Influence (which I'll call SoL from now on), it's a tough pill to swallow at first. Now that's out of the way, let's talk about Taishi, at least the base game since I like to talk about PUK too, but can't cause it hasn't been translated for the West yet, Hint hint Koei :). First thing that pops out, while the graphics are probably not great (who plays a NA or RTK (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Koei's other franchise, for graphics anyway?), the UI is awesome, and finally there is a NA game that I don't have to squint at my screen while playing on a 1440P resolution. The Artwork really stands out, and it scales really well, so bravo for finally making that happen Koei :). Now in the terms of the meat of the game, buildings are very simplistic and much different from the previous entries, in fact I don't really find them that interesting that I mostly delegate the development of Buildings since the AI can actually handle that I find. Even if you delegate, you can still place a building here or there, if you need too, and I don't think the AI will try to destroy the building after it's been built, so you got nothing to worry about there. The economic system is actually pretty cool, I like the whole trade aspect, and reminds more of the EU series in a way, trying to continue to expand your trade network so you can reap the profits. I find a lot more interactive than it was in SoL in my eyes.. The farming system is interesting, and different, you actually get different options every season to try to increase your Harvest, it can be delegated like everything else, but it's that complicated to handle yourself if you want too. The Policy system for those familiar with past games, got intertwined and upgraded to a "tech/reseach tree" of sorts, which new branches open up based on certain officers you have, which I find much cooler than the system in SoL. Also all are always benefits, so you have no negatives to worry about. There's also a new system called Resolve where each major clan has certain features that that give them bonuses and some negatives that encourages you to play the clan a certain way (like if you play Takeda, you'll be using Horses for sure in battles....) I should also mention unlike SoL: Ascension, this is back to only playing as Leaders, there is no officer play, but considering that feature while touted as one of the major features of Ascension was kind of poorly done I thought, so glad they didn't try to continue it for this series or maybe they'll go back to the drawing board for that for a future release in the series. And now we talk about the Battles, it's quasi Real Time the battles, where you set your orders, when you are in a battle screen, and than it plays out for about 20-25 seconds, and the battles pause again, and you adjust orders as you go. The usual tactics selection and all that fun stuff for those familiar with SoL can be done here too. I read that PUK Expansion changes the battle system to be true real time, with pause feature like SoL, but since I don't have PUK can't confirm tell ya if I would like that or not. The battles are also more Morale based with flanking that truly trying to destroy the army like past games... One thing I should point out, is a lot of provinces has battle limits for troops you can bring into a battle, which means there's a chance you have a 100K army coming in and attacking a clan's territory, but only able to use a fraction of it (say 10K) if you happen to fight a battle on a particular province that has a low field limit within their territory. What blows about this feature though is that if you lose the battle, it looks like you not only lose the 10K units, but the 90K units that were in reserve, which is kind of dumb. Yea.. some say that's how it was for the "300" for those familiar with Greek History, but even than the Persians didn't lose a Million units just because the Spartans defeated a fraction of that army over the course of 3 days, and in the end they were still wiped out to the very last man, lol. There are ways to increase your solider limit in a battle by building patrol posts near neighboring friendly territories you own so if you plan accordingly the limitation won't be as a big of a deal, but it's still worth mentioning... Finally we get to the historical events for those that are familiar with past entries of the series... Sadly, the events are much harder and break more easily in this game than in the past, but they are there and coming from Sphere of Influence which basically can play out like a book for some clans (which I thought was awesome) is a tough pill to swallow for me. Great example... The Triple Alliance for those familiar with Japanese history, between Hojo, Imagawa, and Takeda, if you play a scenario that it is active, it will 99% of the time never actually break... Which means Hojo are free to expand West, and Imagawa are usually free to expand East, and take out Oda before it becomes a threat. Takeda on the other hand if it gets tired of fighting the Nagano/Uesugi will try to go after the Saito clan since that's the only direction they can really go, so right off the bat, you are in for a wonderful unhistorical game, which some may be OK with honestly. Also pretty much everyone goes War Crazy within the first year or so of whatever scenario you play, doesn't matter... Currently there's no way to edit the aggression for clans (maybe through their resolve system, not sure) like in SoL, I assume that kind of feature is more of a PUK feature so it's probably in that expansion already. *** Brief Edit*** ***So earlier I mentioned how the Triple Alliance never breaks, well just had the Takeda event play in my 1560 scenario and he breaks it off with Imagawa and Hojo at least, so that is at least in the game... Only problem if you start earlier than 1560 that odds of that event having any meaning, or if it triggers at all, won't really have much "teeth" to it since Imagawa and Hojo clans will be way to powerful by time it happens, so what I say after, still sort of applies I feel, heh.**** What's worse, because Hojo have very weak clans to the West, they can usually just steamroll everyone until they meet resistance with the Nanbu, so yea, bye bye Sataka and Date Clan, lol.. With that being said, it's still fun to play :). And that's pretty much it... Basically if you're a fan of the previous entries and were on the fence, get it as now it's on sale, you'll get at least 20-40 if not more hours out of it no matter what... If you're not a fan or never heard of the series, than this could be a good entry point for you to play because of the summer sale.

Over simplified. The game is no longer the game we get used to know. I've played Nobunaga's Amibition 9, 10, 12, 14, this is probably the one I don't like the most. When we play this type of game, we are looking for something more complex and make strategic decisions, like make proper alliance or declare war on a rival. This doesn't give you that feeling anymore. Battle is super simplified compared to previous version. Koei need a total revamp of this series to bring back old fans.

This is the sparknotes version of a longer review I wrote: http://s13.zetaboards.com/koeiwarriors/topic/9174859/1/#new I’ll preface my review by saying that I have nearly 900 hours on this game’s predecessor, Sphere of Influence (SoI), and largely draw my opinion from how it holds up to it. Taishi is a game that makes me wish steam had ‘meh’ as an option. But between good ideas being stifled between bad implementation or feeling incomplete, I cannot in good faith recommend it for $60 when that same price is being asked for SoI, which feels overall more cohesive. Pros: Resolves – a unique combination of ideology, growth type and policies. They make playing as clans feel even more unique than in SoI and add a feeling of progression and immediate goals for your playthrough. Diplomacy – better than in SoI, mostly, with practicality being used as a counterweight against sentiment (I.E no more allying with clans on the opposite side of Japan), with being able to negotiate for various things rather than just spending goodwill, and more diplomatic options all around. Trade – More involved than in SoI, with you investing in Trade Zones rather than castles. This increases their wealth and your share, but other clans can also invest in unmonopolized trade zones if you have good relationships with them. There are also more powerful trade zones such as regional and grand trade zones. Definitely one of the better trade mechanics in the genre. Infantry/Militia – Taishi kind of goes back to older NA in having some difference between units – this time with professional soldiers and conscripts. Militia fight worse than infantry and have less morale but also provide some provisions in the fall. Infantry are top dog on the battlefield but require a monthly upkeep of gold. Militia are recruited from farmers and infantry are recruited from refugees (who can also become farmers). It’s a simply system that works well had has good potential for expansion. Aggression – Basically warscore. Winning battles and capturing castles pushes it up and increases your units morale – losing does the opposite. Nations with low aggression will be more likely to sue for peace. Might help snowballing a bit but it’s a good mechanic. Mehs: Agriculture – Also more involved than in SoI, requiring you to balance a variety of agricultural to get the most out of your harvests. The only and massive problem with this is that some of the most important actions require fertilizer and seeds – rather than being generated by buildings or population, they’re just set at a fixed amount of one that can be increased slightly if you enact the right policy. This means you can rule half of Japan and still only be able to fertilize one castle. Policies – A good idea, but not well executed. Basically, policies are now permanent, unlocked sequentially, require no upkeep and provide only bonuses – but you can only get them by spending policy points, which are only generated by councils (which are composed of six randomly chosen officers). You only have a council every three months and they’re your only source of policy points; points you will doubtlessly have to save to unlock higher policies. Basically enacting new policies is often an RNG-filled waiting game; the changes might be a nice idea, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Battles – On one hand, morale, wounded soldiers, a clear UI, terrain having an impact on the battlefield, and being able to win by pushing the enemy off the field are all good. Tactics being suggested to you by officers rather than being commanded, aptitude coming back but not really doing anything and the time between planning phases being so short you’re not really planning anything are not good. Treasures – You can’t buy them from Merchants for some reason anymore (they just randomly give them to you) but they also do more stuff aside from buffing loyalty again. Some treasures also give their historical owners special bonuses. Religion – Shrines, Temples and Churches dot the map, and the former two will give slight battlefield buffs while all three can give other bonuses depending on policies and resolves. Largely negligible outside of a few clans, but still the most attention religion has gotten in NA in a while and I hope to see it expanded. Cons: Castles – In all NA past games, customizing your castles has been a feature. Not here. Just click a button and see that health bar go up after paying through the nose. Province/Buildings – Dividing the map into counties was a neat idea – but issues arise from the lack of clarity on what county belongs to which castle with no way to take individual counties. Because there are no more castles (provincial capitals that can’t be razed) anymore, Koei also instituted the frustrating rule that all starting castles can’t be razed. Roads are also gone, so there’s not really any strategic checkpoints anymore (or clear paths that are faster to travel). And despite using the county system as the basis for it, he building rework is also a massive step down – only two or three buildings actually affect your economy, with the rest of them either being situational military buildings or ones that slowly increase officer stats in adjacent castles. It won’t require your attention or much planning since none of them benefit from adjacency, and you can set it to delegate and the only thing you’d need to worry about is your gold balance. Warfare – There are formal declarations of war now. Good. But you can’t actually attack someone yourself if you’re joining as an ally in it, which is silly. You also accumulate war exhaustion – which reduces happiness – just by being at war, not by simply fighting it. So you can go a whole year without a battle after winning a bunch of them and end up with riots everywhere. Which is also silly. Officer Management – Nothing really here. Don’t worry about loyalty because espionage is gone. You don’t even need to pay officers to join you now. Most of the traits have been nerfed and only offer the possibility of suggesting new policies after councils. Events – Seem particularly hard to trigger, or there are less of them. I can start as the Mori in 1554 and not have an event for Itsukushima immediately trigger, unlike in SoI. This seems to be true for a lot of major clans and startdates, where event triggers seem to be largely unspecified, as are their rewards. No Editors – While I get that Koei has a tradition of not including a lot of stuff until the PuK – the officer editor being one of them – paywalling an iconic mechanic is not an effective way to generate goodwill in a fanbase. Graphics – I don’t think graphics should be a sticking point in strategy games, but this game’s five year old predecessor has significantly better graphics than it because it’s not held back by the limitations of a mobile port. Everything here has less detail and texture than in SoI, and zooming in on the map is pointless because between that and the change to buildings there’s going to be nothing for you to look at.

Ehhh, while it's true that KOEI is now also in the business of releasing a bare bone game and then you need to pay twice for the PK to be a real game... but... The last installment's basic versions' map was MUCH better, the graphic level of this installment seem to have gone backwards 5 years for some reason. There's some real positives IMHO, the fighting system continues to improve. I like this version, it's getting more realistic to how things actually worked while still having good gaming elements. The battle's strategic thinking level is very well done. as is the element of choosing where and when to fight. The commerce system is interesting and I like the base concept of it, but it seems still a bit too basic. The farming system is meh. Tech system is ok. seems to really favors factions with a lot of high level char a bit too much. Overall, my main complaint is that the graphic system going significantly backwards when the last installment clearly improved greatly is very head scratching, even if they just use the last version's it would still work better.

In true KOEI fashion this game is a complete downgrade in nearly every aspect from the last. The graphics look like something from 15 years ago, which in itself is usually not a problem in startegy games since they aren't the main focus, but it's unacceptable when Sphere of Influence looked so comparatively nice. The gameplay is oversimplified, especially the battles where you have even less control of your armies than ever before. Overall this is not worth $60 by a long shot, I'd say wait until its $10-$15, but knowing KOEI the price wont't ever be dropping in our lifetimes.

This could be a really cool game. If it werent for the bugs. 1534 scenario is unplayable after 1543 (introduction of guns). Developer has done nothing. Game also crashes at 1616. Developer has done nothing. I've been buying Koei games since RTK1 was on Nintendo. I may not buy another. Their quality has gone south. I understand a bug every now and again, but not fixing them is inexcusable. I last played this game in 2019. I will update this if the developer fixes these. If not, take it as a timeline of how long these guys didnt give a fuck about fixing simple things in their game.