Taikou Risshiden

"An Interesting start to an fun series"

This game is a super famicon port of the PC game of the same name by Koei which spawned 5 sequels(including Taikou online) and is still going strong. Sadly, none of these games, including this version, ever made it to the States.

Koei is primarily known over here for its strategic historical simulation series based on the 100 year conflict period in Japan in the form of the Nobunaga's Ambition series as well as the 100 years of strife in China during the three kingdoms post Han dynasty period in the form of the Romance of the Three Kingdom series. What has set Koei apart from other producers in the genre is the company's focus on human resources - that is, the abilities, traits, and strengths and weakness of prominent figures involved in these conflicts. In most Koei games, success is inevitably tied to the understanding and careful management of the strengths and loyalties of generals under your control and the exploitation of weaknesses of the generals of your opponents.

Taikou Risshiden takes the human side of the strategy conflict one step further, by putting you in the shoes of Kinoshita Tokichiro in the year 1560 as you enter into the service of one young and as of yet anonymous Oda Nobunaga. This changes rather quickly as the first mandatory historical event kicks in, the battle of Okehazama with one very surprised Imagawa Yoshimoto. You can then follow young Tokichiro along history as he transforms from lowly servant into a trusted general of Oda's Army as Hashiba Hideyoshi, and then unifier of sengoku Japan as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Or, you can follow some alternative paths, some of which Koei has even programmed in events for, some which may be entirely off the beaten path.

What separates this game from the Three Kingdoms or Nobunaga series is the deeper exploration of person to person relationships. While army to army battle is essentially a bland and simplistic version of a three kingdoms system outdated even at the time of this game's release, the personal aspect is fully developed, with each general under a daimyo able to have subordinates of their own, and each subordinate above a certain rank can have their own subordinates as well. People familiar with the later Three Kingdoms 8 and on series will be able to realize where Koei drew their inspiration for the exploration of fiefdoms and towns, as well as the rudimentary item system. A gift and hobby system is also implemented, with each general particularly susceptible to a certain type of gift, which you can use to convince the general to either teach you a particular skill, warm up to you, or even serve you.

As this series' progress and innovation has slowed to an anemic crawl, it is good to look back at times to the game that started it all with innovations that blurred the line between strategy and roleplaying.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/11/05