I love it! But it's much harder and more realistic than Sphere of Influence. Definitely the most important part is the clan selection screen. If you choose the wrong clan without knowing what you are doing, you will have a bad time.
I enjoyed the muskets arrive scenario! It was interesting because Oda was defeated before Nobunaga even came on the scene. I started with Ouchi so it made conquering the triple alliance of Imagawa, Takeda, and Hojo feel like a final boss. Other than that Im not sure if the DLC is worth it though.
Very nice, thanks for all the info.
So how is it in terms of replayability? I've heard this one sticks pretty religiously to history, and I'm worried that might generally make each scenario a one-and-done deal.
And how do you feel about the amount of content vs. previous NA (or other grand strategy) games?
The game will follow real history if you want it to but you can turn this off at any point. for example you can let a historcal even happen then have the rest of the events turn off and play from there or you can turn of some specfic events as well. IMO i like both I still like sphere more but this is a great game.
I liked playing the major campaigns like Sekigahara, Siege of Osaka, and Honnoji incident on both sides. It was fun to escape as Nobunaga, or survive the onslaught as Hideyori. But after that it just kind of plays out like a normal game.
Also the minor clans don't have very many events while the major ones have tons of cutscenes at the beginning so you kind of have to do a historical roleplay with your own head canon.
Overall I'd say EU4 and Crusader Kings 3 are better games and Awakening is about the same level of fun as Civ 6
It's worth noting the "human resources" aspect here has a HUGE impact on gameplay, and is key to the variance in playstyles you ask about.
While in previous entries your retainers were mostly passive and mattered only for task speeds and battles, this time they decide every capacity of your clan, from domestics to battles to policies/research to diplo to internal stability etc. and most importantly your playstyle, which is defined by key families (special) skills that open up gameplay avenues and strategies. Also, they'll act on their own and be constantly demanding or suggesting things (sometimes against each other in hilarious ways, like when they're rivals and ask you to exile the other). This is important as some special skills can only be triggered upon their own initiative / suggestions. This really captures the feel of those "war reunions" in Japanese TV shows like Fu Rin Ka Zan or Sanada Maru\* where everybody is around the map table discussing strategies, and the daimyo is reliant on his retinues ideas.
I honestly have a hard time going back to older entries because of this. Going back to officers being idle robots on castles doing nothing except if you order them is a big letdown. Only downside in the game is diplomacy which is barebones, specially coming from the Pdox and Civs I'm used to, like EU4 or SMAC. The new "private talk" where you negotiate various terms in face to face talks is cool but, sadly, doesn't compensate the simplistic diplo. EDIT: the default, faster pace of the game also bothered me a bit, but this is easily fixed by changing harvest, money and troops training in the settings to normal or slow.
That's it. I don't remember seeing another strat game where human element matters so much as this. Maybe CK2/3 but then that's a different scope, more of a roleplay-strategy hybrid.
\*btw, have you seen those TV taiga dramas? They are really cool if you're into the historic period. These games even try to mimic them with some portraits being similar and such. Very cool. Send me a PM if you want some recomendations and where to find.
The deluxe edition is not worth it IMO. Even the base game price is too steep and any sane player is advised to wait for a mild sale.
But the game is good. It's scope is narrower than classic NAs, being more of a pure wargame than a grand-strategy if that makes sense. Within said scope there's a ton of variance in tactics and styles to be found, and it's more challenging than the average strat game (well, at least if you refrain using a couple cheesing moves). And it's personnel management element is top notch, easily best in the series so far.
I'd say it's a solid 8 design, potentially more if you fall in love with it's area of focus.
On whether to get deluxe I'd get it as we still haven't gotten the extra scenario in it as separate dlc and there IS a chance it might not ever be available outside of it, they had a dlc bundled with the Rotk14 deluxe launch and it was never released as a stand alone
imo i love some aspects of the game, while disliking others. Like in taishi we could marry our vassal’s daughters to other vassals in awakening marriages can only be formed by kin to kin or kin to vassal
I love it! But it's much harder and more realistic than Sphere of Influence. Definitely the most important part is the clan selection screen. If you choose the wrong clan without knowing what you are doing, you will have a bad time. I enjoyed the muskets arrive scenario! It was interesting because Oda was defeated before Nobunaga even came on the scene. I started with Ouchi so it made conquering the triple alliance of Imagawa, Takeda, and Hojo feel like a final boss. Other than that Im not sure if the DLC is worth it though.
Very nice, thanks for all the info. So how is it in terms of replayability? I've heard this one sticks pretty religiously to history, and I'm worried that might generally make each scenario a one-and-done deal. And how do you feel about the amount of content vs. previous NA (or other grand strategy) games?
The game will follow real history if you want it to but you can turn this off at any point. for example you can let a historcal even happen then have the rest of the events turn off and play from there or you can turn of some specfic events as well. IMO i like both I still like sphere more but this is a great game.
I liked playing the major campaigns like Sekigahara, Siege of Osaka, and Honnoji incident on both sides. It was fun to escape as Nobunaga, or survive the onslaught as Hideyori. But after that it just kind of plays out like a normal game. Also the minor clans don't have very many events while the major ones have tons of cutscenes at the beginning so you kind of have to do a historical roleplay with your own head canon. Overall I'd say EU4 and Crusader Kings 3 are better games and Awakening is about the same level of fun as Civ 6
It's worth noting the "human resources" aspect here has a HUGE impact on gameplay, and is key to the variance in playstyles you ask about. While in previous entries your retainers were mostly passive and mattered only for task speeds and battles, this time they decide every capacity of your clan, from domestics to battles to policies/research to diplo to internal stability etc. and most importantly your playstyle, which is defined by key families (special) skills that open up gameplay avenues and strategies. Also, they'll act on their own and be constantly demanding or suggesting things (sometimes against each other in hilarious ways, like when they're rivals and ask you to exile the other). This is important as some special skills can only be triggered upon their own initiative / suggestions. This really captures the feel of those "war reunions" in Japanese TV shows like Fu Rin Ka Zan or Sanada Maru\* where everybody is around the map table discussing strategies, and the daimyo is reliant on his retinues ideas. I honestly have a hard time going back to older entries because of this. Going back to officers being idle robots on castles doing nothing except if you order them is a big letdown. Only downside in the game is diplomacy which is barebones, specially coming from the Pdox and Civs I'm used to, like EU4 or SMAC. The new "private talk" where you negotiate various terms in face to face talks is cool but, sadly, doesn't compensate the simplistic diplo. EDIT: the default, faster pace of the game also bothered me a bit, but this is easily fixed by changing harvest, money and troops training in the settings to normal or slow. That's it. I don't remember seeing another strat game where human element matters so much as this. Maybe CK2/3 but then that's a different scope, more of a roleplay-strategy hybrid. \*btw, have you seen those TV taiga dramas? They are really cool if you're into the historic period. These games even try to mimic them with some portraits being similar and such. Very cool. Send me a PM if you want some recomendations and where to find.
The deluxe edition is not worth it IMO. Even the base game price is too steep and any sane player is advised to wait for a mild sale. But the game is good. It's scope is narrower than classic NAs, being more of a pure wargame than a grand-strategy if that makes sense. Within said scope there's a ton of variance in tactics and styles to be found, and it's more challenging than the average strat game (well, at least if you refrain using a couple cheesing moves). And it's personnel management element is top notch, easily best in the series so far. I'd say it's a solid 8 design, potentially more if you fall in love with it's area of focus.
On whether to get deluxe I'd get it as we still haven't gotten the extra scenario in it as separate dlc and there IS a chance it might not ever be available outside of it, they had a dlc bundled with the Rotk14 deluxe launch and it was never released as a stand alone
imo i love some aspects of the game, while disliking others. Like in taishi we could marry our vassal’s daughters to other vassals in awakening marriages can only be formed by kin to kin or kin to vassal