Kessen

"A good book... an adverage game..."

I'm not sure wether or not to call this a strategy game or an interactive history book. The main catch of the game is the story. That's not to say the game itself isn't good, but the story is the big draw.

Gameplay: 6 Well for a strategy game, I really didn't find a lot that I could do. You move units on the battle field (Its all real-time) there are land features on the battle field etc, kind of like you'd expect. When a unit meets with an enemy unit, you can zoom in on the fighting and issue commands. Each unit has what is called ''Zeal''. You gain Zeal when an enemy unit is destroyed or by other various ways. When a unit has over 80 Zeal it can preform a special maneuver such as Cannonade or Barrage. Different special maneuvers are effective against different enemies.

Level of Strategy: 4.5 Well Strategy is basically limited to the position of your troops, when you attack and when you use special maneuvers and against who you use them. The amount of raw strategy in this game was kind of disappointing.

Story: 8 The game is set back in Feudal Japan. It revolves around two warring clans (I will not even attempt to spell any of these names...). At the beginning of the game you control the east. After the death of the former ruler the clan leader of the east took control. This went against the former rulers wishes for the guy in the west to become ruler. Obviously that creates a problem. The story is, for the most part, historically accurate.

Characters: 8 The characters are what you'd expect for Japanese Warriors of the time. The biggest problem in the game is you never know who's who. All the names sound the same to me and I can't tell the characters apart. Other than that, characters are fine.

Presentation: 10 Probably the best presentation I have ever seen in a game. In game movies, the battles, everything make the entire game feel real. Music fits the mood very well. The presentation draws you into the game and makes you see the war as it happens. The use of the Historical story is a nice touch. If I played this game instead of going to History class, I probably would have passed my Finals.

Overall: 6 The Presentation, graphics and atmosphere are excellent. Unfortunately I'm not impressed by graphics, I'm more concerned about gameplay, which this game simply lacks. If you are part of the post-Final Fantasy 7 crowd, you probably won't even notice the lack of gameplay. To others that wanted a good strategy fix, Kessen did not cut it.

Rent or buy? I'd rent it first, but it is a great game to play through once or twice (After playing once you can replay the game as the east). However its short, and once your done with it, it will no longer have much appeal.

Final Score: 6 A Great interactive History Book... a disappointing strategy game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/05/01, Updated 08/05/01