User Reviews (1 - 11 of 69)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

What a bore...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Alright, So i go throught Blockbuster looking for some interesting game to pop-out at me, and this cover just looks soooo Cool! So naturally the game must be! I mean with all that effort into the cover, the game has to be spectacular! Wow was I ever so wrong... The game is basically about 6 levels long and it is just about impossible to lose unless you have no idea about strategy at all. The game took me just a little over an hour to beat, which is saying a lot, cause I dont usually beat things fast. The only cool part about it was how you can use your different *forces* with different guys in sync... But, its just way to easy to beat. I guess if you just want something to make yourself feel good to say Hey! Im amazing at games! This is for you, otherwise you serious gamers out there wont appreciate it at all.

The Lessen I Play Kessen, the Better!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you are really into Japanese history, then you may like this game. If you are really into strategy games and Japanese history, you may like this game. In fact, go rent part 2. It has to be better than this mess. If you are not interested at all in Japanese history, then to you, this is simply a very lame strategy game that should be avoided at all costs. If you are not even into strategy games, let alone Japanese history, you shouldn't even be reading this review!
This game is just bad. It is very slow. You move your group of soldiers here, while they move their soldiers there. If they get close enough, there is a warning that someone is going to attack. This is where you see a cool looking cut scene where some guy on a horse says he is going to kill you like the eagle diving down from the sky to capture its prey... or something lame like that. Then, you watch as he kills your soldiers and you realize that this reminds you of another game you should be playing instead. Then you are back to the overhead screen where you see your soldiers defeat his soldiers. Way to go eagle man. After you beat him you can keep moving your group of soldiers to another group of bad guy soldiers. If you win, the cycle of "violence" continues. I suppose the game may be worth playing to see what other kinds of neat metaphors the evil Hondas or Toyotas come up with. Who knows, in the later parts of the game, they may have prepared threatening haikus.
Your face is ugly
My sword is extremely sharp
I will watch you die.

Really good

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If the goal behind Kessen was to create a spectacular-looking display of medieval Japanese warfare, it succeeds and then some. If the goal was to make a good real-time strategy game, however, Kessen fails. While at first it's breathtaking to watch the clash of dozens of incredibly detailed 17th Century Japanese soldiers-riflemen, archers, swordsmen, lancers-accompanied by the roar of battle and epic music, Kessen's focus on eye and ear candy hurts the gameplay. This is most evident in the many beautiful, but repetitive cinemas you're forced to watch that show every little thing that occurs on the battlefield. While the close-in battle scenes-the best part of the game-look amazing, the player has little control there beyond watching them. You exert most of your control at the Battle screen, a wide-angle view with a totally different graphics engine-here your units are scruffy 3D icons. Sadly, the controls in the Battle screen are totally counterintuitive, making it a slow, tedious chore to command your units. It's extremely difficult just to roam around the map, choose a unit, and give it an order. You're also thrown all over the map when responding to your lieutenants' constant queries and reports. You never feel in control of a large battle, but feel like an observer of many small, disconnected battles. If you're looking for a good strategy game, seek elsewhere. If you want to show off the amazing graphics of your new PS2, or if you're a fanatic for Japanese history, Kessen delivers.

Good Stuff

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Basically, people are too critical when it comes to games! I'd say this game could use a little more options, but i believe it is really well made and put together beautifully! I love the war, and how u get to control thousands of men rather than just 1, 2, 3 or 4...This game was really fun, and suspenseful. I hope number 3 is like it, only better!

this game could have been better

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

this isn't really a fun game it is basically a look at how great the PS2 graphics are for one of the first games I think its ok but still thsi game isn't really worth the money get Dynasty Warriors

intro into rts

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: June 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Yes the cutscences are repeatative but look past that and u see a bland rts,not to much strategy. Iwould of liked it better if it was a simulation of war. The game is give u story,give u the plan(which u cant change),puts u into war,rince repeat. Its a pretty short rts. It is addictive and fun so that justifys the score. Good game for begginers of the generation, like me.

Repetative, yes. Otherwise, great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: November 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First of all, one should have at least a bit of knowledge in Japanese culture/history to enjoy this game, in my opinion. The one who wrote "SOOOOOOOOOOOO Dramatic" review made it apparent she/he doesn't. Ieyasu's granddaughter didn't marry Hideyori out of choice; marriages were arranged in feudal Japan to form "alliences" between families, which is exactly what happened here. But anyway, that's not my main point here...

Yes, there are too many things to remember. But, as I've discovered, you can ignore half of them and still get along fine. The battles do get repetive, and you are limited in your battle choices, but, if you can put up with this, this game has great replay value.

You first must beat the game as the Eastern army, then as the Western army, before you have a choice in which side you want to play. And, contrary to what a few have said, you CAN lose. In fact, sometimes you may want to on purpose (After you've beaten it, of course). That way you can stray from history and see some interesting cut scenes, from both armies' points of view. For me, this was a great feature, especially with the wonderful quality of the graphics.

The voice acting is superb, but can get a little annoying during battle when a general says a phrase you've heard 300 times already; thankfully, by pressing Triangle, you can skip these. Also, as many have pointed out, there is no blood (Well, there was a tiny bit on Yi's mouth in a cut scene, but I won't count that). Now, I'm not exactly a "BLOOD AND GUTS!!! YEAH!!!" kind of person, but it does make it seem very unrealistic when your general sticks his spear through an enemy, and he never bleeds.

All in all, I'd say buy it if you can ignore the flaws and put up with repetativeness (is that even a word?) because of its good reply value. If not, either rent it, or just don't play it period. It's your buck, not mine.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO Dramatic

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: June 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The game is alright. I only bought it because it seemed like a bloody barbaric war kind of game. There is NO blood in the game whatsoever. And it is so dramatic. Like in the first batle of Sekigahara, when Lord Tokugawa is with that concubine named Okatsu and he sees Lord Nobunaga in the clouds and starts talking to himself saying he has his own vision of Japan or something. Oh PLEASE how much cheesier could this game get. Instead of bloody warfare I got a history lesson about some Japanese family who needs to sort out their priorities back in the 15 or 1600's. And the other thing that just puts the cream on the coffee is that that stupid Princess Sen got herself married to the guy whom is head of her Grandpa Ieyasu Tokugawa's enemy. Is that little tramp just trying to get some attention or does she think " if I marry him, My grandfather and him can make peace"? Give it a rest. If she knows her grandpa hates that guy and is going to war with him, why is she gonna marry him? The cinema parts are always so soap opera-like. And that officer Masanori Fukushima has such a short circuit and goes through these temper tantrums like he just entered puberty and he even gets drunk in the game[ either he got drunk or Tadakatsu Honda].

Very boring

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: February 23, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I thought this was going to be like Ghengis Khan for the original Nintendo, but on a grander scale.... it turned out to be more like chess on a grander scale. The graphics are alright, the game play is lame, and the movies are pretty much the same. It's not as advertised.

Nice Intro To Japanese History and A Great Game Too!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: February 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next 

Actions