Hundred Swords

"A game that separates the "Good," from the "Great.""

Shenmue and Virtua Fighter 3tb from AM, Skies of Arcadia and Sakura Wars 1, 2 and 3 from Overworks, Grandia 1, 2 from Game Arts, Confidential Mission, Crazy Taxi 1 and 2 from Hitmaker, Sonic Adventure and Phantasy Star Online from Sonic Team and Jet Set Radio (Jet Grind Radio in the US) from Smilebit. These are just a few of SEGA’s best titles. And now, Smilebit comes out with yet another game, none other than Hundred Swords. It has been a while since Hundred Swords has been released in Japan. The game is under the genre “strategy”. Despite that, it’s actually quite mixed with other genres as well. To be exact, it is a Real-Time-Strategy (RTS) game. Don’t picture it exactly like Starcraft or Command and Conquer. It’s quite different from them. I’ll go deeper into this later in the Gameplay. There is also a little mix of RPG in it though. There is levelling up in this game. Sadly I think this game goes unnoticed, since it was only released in the Japanese market. English is seldom used in this game so you better know how to read Japanese. The kanji’s here are quite deep but not as much as Sakura Wars 3. Their English is also a little messed up at some points like the first chapter. The title is “The Ballad of Fool”. Apparently they’re trying to say “The Ballad of The Fool”.

Presentation
Setting
The setting of this game is really amazing. The game (like many other RPGs) has cat-like people as well as dog-like people and last but not least, humans. The some of the animals are quite similar to many other RPGs but seeing them here on an RTS game is what makes it so special. The names of the characters are really unique. Example: Larf Nalavale, Zern Cariostea. The cultures of each race (the way they dress and all that) are also great.

Menu
The main menu is great especially the fiery effects. Loading times are not very long but still are acceptable. There is also a tutorial to help you get started.

Story
There are 4 countries in this game;

*Nalavale
(Personally, my favourite) A country that depends mainly on animals. Larf Nalavale is the prince of that country. His mother, Palmira Nalavale (the queen), rules the country but Larf is a soon-to-be-king. Does he have what it takes to be a king?

*Gran
Sort of a “magical” country. Most of the people there know how to control magic. The ruler is Fals Lu Gran but her ruling isn’t absolute. Will she be able to rule the country?

*Mascar
Lenz Mascar is more like a leader then a ruler. The Mascars are planning to take over Nalavale by force. Will they succeed?

*Ruplustorie
A self-centred country that only believe in the superiority of their own race (I hate people like that). Their country is mostly depending on machines (And I gotta admit I am amazed at some of their machines). The leader is Zern Cariostea. They’re just after absolute power. Will they get it?

In the Adventure Mode, Mascar declares war on Nalavale. What about Gran? Years ago the queen of Gran tried to kill her daughter, Fals, because she wanted to retain all power for herself. If you ask me, I think she’s sick in the head :) But Igor managed to save Fals before the queen could finish her off. And Ruplustorie? They plan to conquer the world. That’s right. Taking down Nalavale, Gran and Mascar. They want it all to themselves. I won’t go on any further than that, but I will say this, the story is marvellous. It really has that feeling of “war” in it.

Others
Another thing I notice is the characters’ personality. Throughout the adventure mode, you will notice it too. This game has a lot, and I do mean a lot of different characters in it. And Smilebit actually took the time to give each one of them their own detailed personality. Some of them are Anna’s kind nature, Feofan’s egotistical behaviour, Diamond’s strict commanding, Eroll’s sarcastic (and not to mention eccentric) behaviour and many more. It doesn’t stop there. Each character has their very own past. It’s written down in the Records. The Records also holds each country’s history. Apart from that, they hold some letters as well. The letters will update as you go along in the Adventure Mode. Well-done Smilebit. Now that is what I call detail.

Overall Presentation – 10

Graphics
Smilebit has done a fascinating work on JGR’s graphics and did their magic here as well. I haven’t seen character designs this cool since Industrial Spies: Espion-Age-Nts. I have to admit that the works here can actually rival I-Spies. The character models are in 3D. They are small but really detailed if you pay close attention to it. From the pilot in the transport aircraft looking left and right to the catapults loading their rounds and firing it and from fight scenes to their death. When you use a “shell” (I’ll explain this later in the Gameplay) prepare to see some special effects. They are really nice but since you are looking it from afar, the mood of excitement isn’t really there. Finally, when attacking a building after the building has receive certain amounts of damage, an explosion will occur and then it will be followed by smoke and fire. This is rather interesting to see. It happens only 3 times to a building (the 3rd one means the building is severely damaged). The disappointing part? When a building gets destroyed it just collapses with very little explosions. Maybe they should have worked on it more. As for the surrounding, you will see some creatures moving about. Apart from that, the rivers, the terrain and the trees are certainly a treat to your eyes. But I really have something against what I think is their “blood”. When a troop/general dies they will collapse to the floor but before that their “spirit” will jet to heaven. When their bodies are lying on the ground, the suddenly “sink” and disappear, and then a small patch of what I think is “blood” appears. What is really senseless is that other troops like catapults or golems, which are humongous also leaves a patch this small. A small note; this game also supports the VGA box.

Overall Graphics - 9

Sounds
Music
Each country you play has their own music. The music is quite repetitive, but don’t get me wrong. It is not as bad as it seems. It still is good. In the Adventure Mode the music really knows how to put you in the mood of the events like a shocking event, a tense moment or a sad past. Overall, the music is good.

Sounds
I really wished there was some voices in this game. I would really like to hear them speak. However, once in a while in the Adventure Mode you will hear the crowd laughing. The sound effects in the background are okay. In the battle, the sound effects are done excellently. The hammering sounds of a building, the cheering, the death cries, the shots of the arrows, the sound of the river flowing and many more. But the best part is the sounds of the swords clashing.

Overall Sounds - 9

Gameplay
Generally
You can picture this something like Command and Conquer. Collect resources, build up and fight. But there are some differences. You cannot just build troops and just send them out like that. The Generals are usually the ones who really run the show. They are the only ones who can build, repair, use shells (magical items you can use to increase the strength, defence or speed of your General and his/troops for a short amount of time) and lead.

*Building, Repairing and Recruiting*
They will go to a point you decide to build. There, a construction site will appear and until a General gets there to supervise the construction, nothing will happen. The more Generals there are to supervise, the faster the construction will be completed. The same rule applies for repairing a building. There are only three types of buildings - hall, barrack and resource extractor. The hall cannot be built but can be repaired. Think of it as the heart of your army. There you can “resurrect” or call in another general. If it is destroyed, you are in big trouble. The barrack is to recruit some troops. But each General can only recruit his or her type of troops. For example: Larf controls the cavalry. Anna controls the archers. Rune controls the infantry. There is a way you can get Larf (for example) to control some archers. That is by reassigning Anna’s troops to follow Larf. The general troops that all Generals can control are Golems and Catapults. To get them you must upgrade a barrack. Each General can only control a certain amount of troops. Golems and Catapults are counted as two each. The transport is the only troop that works alone. Each country can control as much as 100 troops. Hence the name, “Hundred Swords.”

*Upgrading a barrack*
Unlike clicking and telling them to upgrade the building just like that, the Generals play their role here too. They have to be sent into a building (the troops will stand outside on guard) and there you can upgrade it and they must stay in there until the upgrade is complete.

So far, so confusing? Don’t worry. This isn’t as hard as it sounds. You will get the hang of it after playing a while.

Controls
It isn’t really bad on the DC controller but you will get better results if you use a mouse instead. You can also use the keyboard to send messages to others online.

Battling
Strength isn’t always everything in this game. Taking advantage is. Like the game Dragon Force 1 or 2, each type of troop has their advantage against another type, but that also means they have their disadvantages as well. For example, infantries have the upper hand against the cavalry. Wizards can destroy golems easily. However, the archers are special. Their attacks are satisfactory against all other types of troops. And each country has their “specialty troops”. That means like Nalavale’s cavalry can win the Ruplustorie’s cavalry. Taking advantage of the terrain is another thing. The archers or wizards on a cliff can attack down giving them a huge advantage. Another thing to use wisely is the AI. Each General has 4 AIs. This will affect how the troops will attack. And as I said before using shells will also determine the outcome of a battle. Timing an assault is also another thing. Remember that giving any orders to any of the Generals/troops will take them 1 second before they will react to the order. This game also has the dumbest AI (I think Smilebit did this on purpose). Should you wish to move a set of troops to a certain point and along the way it’s zigzagging they will just walk straight until they begin to think to take the bridge. But some of them will also break off from the group. So you will have to guide them all the way to a point by placing flags they will then move better. Apparently they strictly follow the AI which is set. There is an AI that is called “Berserk”. Should the troops encounter an enemy, they will attack and should the enemy try to run, they will pursue them until they are dead.

Modes of Play
There are 3 modes of play.
*Adventure Mode*
Think of it as some sort of RPG part of this game. The stories of the countries are told here. How to level up? Through decisions. When you make a decision, either your Person or King incremental value will increase. Choose well. Person increases the Generals’ HP and MP, while King increases the number of troops a General can control as well as accessing new AIs for the Generals. Some decisions won’t increase either of them and some decisions will increase a value less than the other. Some of them will also affect the storyline.

*Mission Mode*
Offline missions. This isn’t directly related to the story. The missions are divided into three classes, Beginner, Intermediate and Advance (Expert). After finishing a mission, you will be given a rank. Ranging from D to A (rumour has it that there is an S). I’m not sure why is it to my point of view that Advance is easier than Beginner. Maybe they should change the places :)

*Network Mode*
Online battling. I really don’t have to explain this. Basically you go online with the country of your choice and duke it out with other people. There is also a “practice” mode here. I’m not sure why Smilebit call it “Equipment”. Also you can go to the Hundred Swords Homepage.

Camera angle
A gamer’s worst nightmare, is bad camera angles. This game fortunately, doesn’t have any. The camera is positioned like Starcraft but this time, it can be rotated. Also there is a bird’s eye view that allows you to see the area from above. This eases your burden of placing flags. The bad part about it is that you can only see the Generals but not their troops unless you click on the General, and you can only see one group at the time. So you should probably use this to only move troops.

Overall Gameplay - 9

Replay Value
There are some turning points in the Adventure Mode and story is good enough for more than one go. The playing online like all other games also provides some extra replay value. Trying your best to get an A ranking for Mission mode. Overall there is some replay value here.

Overall Replay Value - 9

Buy or Rent?
To buy, or not to buy? That is the easiest question. Buy. As I said before, this one of the games that separates the “Good” from the “Great” This game is Great! But like I said before, don’t buy the game unless you know how to read Japanese. Still, you can rent it and try it first to see if you do understand a bit of it.

Overall - 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/21/01, Updated 06/21/01