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Another unique RPG from KOEI.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Now, I'm not normally one to care much about graphics (I traded Final Fantasy 8 for Final Fantasy Adventure on the Game Boy). Unfortunately though, in this game, they were just plain bad. It's as if no real attempt was made to make the animations look convincing. Also, there seems to have been some attempt at strategy in the battle system, but ultimately all the fights drop to the level of standing there and attacking back and forth. The music in this game is also a very big problem. It is of extremely low quality, sounding much like a copy of a copy of a copy of a cassette tape. Some of the tracks sound cool, such as the music in the small villages and the large cities around the castles, and the little tune that plays in the shops is pretty cool. Others though, especially important tracks like the battle music, are HORRIBLE. And that dreary, uninspired dungeon music... it's enough to drive a person to seppuku.

Another thing is that in the beginning, the game is unusually difficult. You start off at a low level, with low-grade equipment, in the middle of enemy territory, and there's a bounty on your head. Two entire clans of ninja, plus a number of ronin and samurai are after you to collect it. And, every single one of them is stronger than you, so if you're caught, it's pretty much game over. If you manage to get out of that territory and raise some levels though, you should be ok.

At any rate though, enough with the negatives. Now I'll go into the reasons why I give this game 3 stars. For one thing, the uniqueness of it. Aside from Inindo, there has never been an RPG placed in authentic feudal Japan, and there still isn't one. The closest thing we have right now are games like Bushido Blade (which is not in feudal Japan at all, but still has a few of its principles), Tenchu, Onimusha, Kessen, etc. None of these are really RPGs though, as far as I know. Onimusha is the only one I'm not really certain of. But anyway, this game does to an extent capture feudal Japan pretty well.

The cast of characters is nice too. It's not exactly the type for character development though. They are mainly there either to join you or to hunt you down for Nobunaga (your arch enemy in this game). To get characters to join you, you must talk and befriend them wherever you happen to meet. Once you've reached a good friendship level with them, they might be willing to join you. Some will be more willing to join than others. For example, healers and your fellow Iga ninja will come out of the woodwork trying to join your party, while ronin may be slightly harder to recruit. Also, full-fledged samurai can be extremely hard to impress. If you're good enough, you might even be able to recruit ninja from enemy clans, but those Fuma and Koga ninja tend to be kind of moody and may leave you without notice.

Each of the characters has their own errands to run and their own travels. They will be looking for work, training, or heading home for a rest after a mission, much like the NPC sailors in New Horizons. Most of the samurai will be found in large cities looking for jobs, while Iga ninja can often be found in large cities preparing to spy on castles or at training grounds up in the mountains. Healers and magicians simply wander about, sometimes stopping in small villages and tea houses. Healers will also follow you to your training grounds looking for you, and they come in very handy if you happen to recruit them (this game is sorely lacking in healing items). Ronin and rival ninja are everywhere, and they will often attack you. Interestingly, fighting a duel with them will raise your friendship level slightly.

Unfortunately though, they also added in one feature that can be pretty bad. Many of these characters, when they work for feudal lords, end up getting killed in major battles. And, once someone is killed, they're gone for good. This includes your party members, and your best friend Rei. You can revive someone once. If they fall again after that, they die for good. Some may appreciate this for realism, but I don't like it because it permanently wipes them out of the game.

Another of the interesting features of this game is that after a certain level, you can actually USE your ninja abilities (something sorely lacking in most other so-called ninja games, such as Ninja Gaiden and Ninja: Shadow of Darkness). In the lower levels, you can survive by sneaking about and keeping a low profile. In other words, stay away from areas where people meet, such as inns, castles, and tea houses, since you're likely to run into bounty hunters there. And in later levels, you learn the abilities of spying and sabotage. Spy lets you check out a castle's supplies and how many soldiers it has. Sabotage, which you get later, allows you to sneak into the castle, destroy some of its supplies, and disable some of its soldiers. This can come in quite handy when you want to mess up one of Nobunaga's military operations.

Overall, it's definitely a unique and interesting game, but it has some major flaws. I would suggest that you try it before you buy it.

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