Sav
2006
An entertaining experience that takes the zombie genre and does something unique with it. Full of variety, charm, and hidden bonuses, the game could've been great with better survivor AI
The goofy animations, instant fail screens, cheesy voice acting for the side characters, and ludicrous story elevate this otherwise mediocre game into an unintentional comedic masterpiece.
A likeable protagonist, survival mechanics, engaging gunplay, tight economy, and every firefight feeling like a life or death situation leads Boiling Point to creating an engrossing world that pulls you in.
The faction reputation system is one that has been done better by few other games, and the mission structure and faction system do a great job making you feel like a mercenary in a foreign country. Unfortunately the game's poor pacing, jankiness, repetition, and significant amount of bugs hold it back from greatness.
Worth playing for a very unique game made by developers who had the vision, but not the money/experience.
The faction reputation system is one that has been done better by few other games, and the mission structure and faction system do a great job making you feel like a mercenary in a foreign country. Unfortunately the game's poor pacing, jankiness, repetition, and significant amount of bugs hold it back from greatness.
Worth playing for a very unique game made by developers who had the vision, but not the money/experience.
2004
Kessen III mostly ditches the strategy aspect of the previous games and goes much more into action. You control an officer and his troops (whether it be cavalry, spearmen, archers, gunners etc.) and run around attacking, parrying and performing special attacks in unison with your troops. You can switch between your various officers and give them orders, making the game much faster paced. Allied units can now move through each other, which is a welcome addition to the series. The game features heaps of unlockable unit types and secret officers to recruit, though the limited number of troops on the battlefields (for you) kinda took away from the 'epic scale' battlefield feel the first two games were going for.
The story is no where near as wacky as II, but it still manages to be enjoyable, which an outrageous finale.
The story is no where near as wacky as II, but it still manages to be enjoyable, which an outrageous finale.
2001
This review contains spoilers
Kessen II is a distinct departure from the first, both story and gameplay wise. It's set in Three Kingdoms China, rather than Sengoku Japan, and focuses on smaller scale battles with more control given to the player. Unfortunately, the battles have gone from large open fields to smaller fields with lots of corridors (like a Dynasty Warriors map). The gaps are typically big enough to only fit one officer, so you constantly get drawn into 1v1 fights with no flanking opportunities and fights come down to who has the better stats. Sieges were even worse in this regard, and the naval battles are just plain horrible. Unlike the first game, you can't skip the special attack cutscenes, and some of them are pretty damn long. IA neat new feature I really liked was how before each battle your advisors and officers would each give their own plan for how the battle should be fought, and these often changed the course of the fights in significant ways.
As for the story, well, while the first was a relatively grounded affair this game turns it up to fucking 11 and goes full blown fan fiction. It begins with Liu Bei and his loving girlfriend Diao Chan being kidnapped by Cao Cao and his dastardly witch ally Princess Himiko who secretly loves Cao Cao and hates Diao Chan. So Liu Bei enlists the aid of his allies including Zhang Fei and his ninja daughters, and of course his trusty wizard Zhuge Liang. Towards the end of the game Zhuge Liang and Himiko even have an epic DBZ style beam fight. When you finish the game as Liu Bei you then unlock a new playthrough from Cao Cao's side, at the end of which it is revealed that Cao Cao and Liu Bei are actually brothers! And then Cao Cao lets Diao Chan go and be with Liu Bei while he supposedly turns his own desires towards a genderbent Xun Yu.
So while the gameplay felt frustrating most of the time, the outrageous story and cutscenes almost make it worth playing alone.
As for the story, well, while the first was a relatively grounded affair this game turns it up to fucking 11 and goes full blown fan fiction. It begins with Liu Bei and his loving girlfriend Diao Chan being kidnapped by Cao Cao and his dastardly witch ally Princess Himiko who secretly loves Cao Cao and hates Diao Chan. So Liu Bei enlists the aid of his allies including Zhang Fei and his ninja daughters, and of course his trusty wizard Zhuge Liang. Towards the end of the game Zhuge Liang and Himiko even have an epic DBZ style beam fight. When you finish the game as Liu Bei you then unlock a new playthrough from Cao Cao's side, at the end of which it is revealed that Cao Cao and Liu Bei are actually brothers! And then Cao Cao lets Diao Chan go and be with Liu Bei while he supposedly turns his own desires towards a genderbent Xun Yu.
So while the gameplay felt frustrating most of the time, the outrageous story and cutscenes almost make it worth playing alone.
2000
The first Kessen is a relatively simple RTS that served as a launch title for the PS2, set towards the end of the Sengoku Period in Japan. The battles are either huge, open battlefields with dozens of officers on either side, or smaller battlefields with only a handful. From a gameplay perspective there were some really neat ideas, like officers refusing to follow your orders if their morale was low (or if you told them to do something their personality wouldn't let them), officers commanding multiple groups of infantry that would engage the enemy's groups individually while the commanders stood back and watched, and the scale was impressive.
Unfortunately, for like 80% of the game, the AI was just too stupid to really serve as a threat and almost every battle could be finished by standing still, luring the enemy into your ranks, and then jumping them with everything you have. The cursor was also really slow, which made giving orders to various officers scattered around the battlefield annoying at times.
After finishing the game for the first time as the Eastern Army (the 'historical' path) you then unlock the 'what if' path where the Western Army wins, and I found the game much more enjoyable. The game starts off at Sekigahara, the "finale" of the Sengoku Period, and many of the battles afterwards feel really minor by comparison. The Western Army story however is fictional, and allowed the developers to make up whatever they wanted and the freedom shows. Many of the battles are more enjoyable, more open, and the last few are actually somewhat challenging, which was a breath of fresh air.
Overall an interesting and experimental little piece of PS2 history (it was advertised as the first strategy game for PS2) that laid the foundation for its wacky successor.
Unfortunately, for like 80% of the game, the AI was just too stupid to really serve as a threat and almost every battle could be finished by standing still, luring the enemy into your ranks, and then jumping them with everything you have. The cursor was also really slow, which made giving orders to various officers scattered around the battlefield annoying at times.
After finishing the game for the first time as the Eastern Army (the 'historical' path) you then unlock the 'what if' path where the Western Army wins, and I found the game much more enjoyable. The game starts off at Sekigahara, the "finale" of the Sengoku Period, and many of the battles afterwards feel really minor by comparison. The Western Army story however is fictional, and allowed the developers to make up whatever they wanted and the freedom shows. Many of the battles are more enjoyable, more open, and the last few are actually somewhat challenging, which was a breath of fresh air.
Overall an interesting and experimental little piece of PS2 history (it was advertised as the first strategy game for PS2) that laid the foundation for its wacky successor.
2021
Cut characters and cloned movesets suck, and while the story starts off promising, once the timeskip happens it goes to shit with some characters doing a 180 with their personalities. Gameplay is definitely an improvement over 4, with less focus on hyper attacks and more diversity between the rather low variety of weapons.
As for new characters, Yasuke, Sandayu and Kazuuji all kinda suck and are mostly forgettable. Mitsuki was alright, but I don't like OCs in historical games. Shikanosuke's a good addition, and I'd like to see more exploration of 'western' Japan in future titles. Lastly is Sena, who was by far the best new addition to the cast. A great design, a rare Imagawa character, and a well told, if underused, story.
Lots of problems, but a decent groundwork to build upon for future SW games.
As for new characters, Yasuke, Sandayu and Kazuuji all kinda suck and are mostly forgettable. Mitsuki was alright, but I don't like OCs in historical games. Shikanosuke's a good addition, and I'd like to see more exploration of 'western' Japan in future titles. Lastly is Sena, who was by far the best new addition to the cast. A great design, a rare Imagawa character, and a well told, if underused, story.
Lots of problems, but a decent groundwork to build upon for future SW games.
2013
Very unique game that turns a simple and mundane task into a tense thriller where you must balance your own safety and the needs of others in order to survive a despotic system. Alternate endings provide some replay value, but otherwise reaching the final days will show pretty all this game has to offer.
Would've worked better if it focused more on the action and not the chasing, as most of the time there's no reason to actually engage with the enemies. Enemy variety, graphics, and level design were surprisingly solid though.
2022
The setting allows for a nice change of gameplay from the maps of Verdun, and the classes and abilities feel important and useful enough to matter, as long as you're playing with teammates who know how to use them. It's also nice to see an underutilised front of WWI for once.
Class progression is kinda shitty, with things like grenades and new weapon types being locked behind levels and challenges.
Class progression is kinda shitty, with things like grenades and new weapon types being locked behind levels and challenges.
A worthy remake that improves on the original in most aspects while only falling short in some minor areas. The levels look great and feel 'alive', most of the weapons have been buffed and perform better, and multiple missions were expanded upon to make them more interesting. The remake was quite buggy, with numerous graphical glitches, and mission objectives falling off the game world, but the generous checkpoint system alleviates some of issues.
2007
It incorporated enough different mechanics to stand out amongst the many other post-CoD4 FPs games, and enough attention to detail to make me feel like the developers were passionate about making it. The game was often gory and high octane (if a little janky), but sometimes mellow and touching and overall felt refreshing to play.
2015
A rare WWI shooter that creates an authentic and challenging multiplayer experience with a good atmosphere that's great fun to play with a lot of people. Unfortunately, the declining popularity ruins what could be an otherwise great multiplayer game.
Adds basically nothing over the original, makes unnecessary changes to some enemies and characters, has worse voice acting and music, awful enemy redesigns, and a very generic art style that doesn't hold a candle to the originals.
The improvements to the first game's save system were nice, and the new levels+bonus rounds were well done. However, I find the original art style and music superior to the remake's.