Kessen III – PS2 – Review

Kessen has had a big following since
it was released on the Playstation2. The main focus of the previous Kessen games
was on epic battles with land as far as the eye could see. It was your goal,
like any strategist, to try to win the battle no matter what the odds. It has
been a few years since the last Kessen game was released, and during this time
the developers have changed a lot of things in this game. Unlike previous games,
this game merges the action of Dynasty Warriors (another KOEI game) and the
strategy of previous Kessen games into one title.

Kessen III is set in the Feudal Era
of Japan when war was rampant. Players will follow a young nobleman named Oda
Nobunaga as he tries to unify Japan though his military power. As with the
majority of KOEI games, Kessen III is based on historical fact, but to make
things interesting the developers threw in romance and plenty of comedy to boot.
As players advance though the story they will be shown cutscenes that will make
them care about what happens next in the story. The game is set up similar to a
novel or a movie, because players will start to relate to the characters and
being to care what happens to them next, until they reach the conclusion.

Gotta love the archers.

Before each fight that players will
take part in, they will first have to attend the War Council to prepare a
strategy. As mundane as this might sound, it is very important to take in all
aspects of everything before a battle. This includes the positioning, terrain,
support units, and various other things. Also players will have to take in
account the status of the main officers to make sure that they are battle ready,
because they could be worn out due to previous battles without any rest.

Players will also want to take into
consideration what troop support they want to take into battle with them. Do you
want to have a battalion of spearmen, archers, or other types, as this can be
detrimental to the battle. Players can also upgrade armor and weapons of the
Infantry and Officers. After getting everything prepared then players will be
able to go into battle. When you find the enemy units you can attack.

Young love…

This is where the action part of the
game comes in. Players will be able to personally lead their armies into battle.
Players will have to be aware of the formation of the infantry because the more
you move the more the units will get out of formation, which leads to a weaker
defense. Another thing that players can do is switch to any allied general and
gain control of their troops during the course of a mission. When you actually
find enemy troops to fight against players have a few things they can do.
Pressing the square button will attack the enemies, pressing square then
triangle will cause a break, which will smash though an enemies defense. Players
can also hold the triangle and then once it charges up you can unleash the
troop’s special attack, which varies depending on which type of troops you have.

The Officers have special skills
that can help out during the course of a battle, which they can do by pressing
the circle button. Some of these skills can weaken enemy troop’s defense, heal
your troops, or even boost the attack power of your troops. The best thing is
the “rampage” mode, which will remind you of Dynasty Warriors. Once selected
players will take on the role of the officer and play the game like Dynasty
Warriors, meaning going one against the army for a limited time. In this mode
players can gain more experience points, plus it gives this game some more life
and helps prevent any repetition the strategy part has.

Nice ship…

As you go through the levels you
will gain money to purchase new items. The officers can level up, which enables
them to boost their special talents as well as the amount of troops that the
person can have with them. Another thing is that you can find hidden items
throughout the levels, which range from rare items to healing your battalion.

The thing that really prevents this
game from being a wonderful game is the enemy AI. During the War Council players
have the chance to give your supporting allied troops orders to go do what they
want. I played several of the exact same battles with the AI controlling the
troops and me doing it and I got a higher score, and completed the missions
faster and without losing the troops. This was dumbfounding because the missions
where not that complicated. Also, what is with the lack of multiplayer? It would
have been great if a friend could have taken control of the other troops and
helped me out in the battle. This would have made the game ten times better and
given it a huge boost in its replay factor.

The leader rallies his troops.

The graphics for this game are
pretty good, and the game really shines during the in-game cutscenes with highly
detailed character models. All of the main characters have their own unique look
and feel to them that make them stand out from among all of the other characters
that you will see. The environments that you will do battle in are not highly
detailed yet they still get the job done. What I really like is that the
environments really play a factor in the game. For instance players can corner
the enemy or they can get the advantage if they are fighting on top of a hill.

The musical score for this game
really fits every aspect of it. During the course of the game the music will
ramp up and make you want to defeat all of the enemies that lay before your
feet. The downside is that the sound effects are pretty generic with sword
clashing and other various effects that you hear in myriads of other games. The
voiceovers for this game are not the greatest but they get the job done.

Kessen III is rated T for Teen. It
will take up to 276KB on your memory card for game saves.

Gameplay: 8.5
The game plays really well, especially since players are combining
action and strategy into one game. The only problem with this game is that the
AI is not the smartest.

Graphics: 8.3
The graphics for Kessen III are really smooth and fit the game. There
are many things going on during the course of the game, including many different
characters onscreen at one time without running into lag, which is a really good
thing.

Sound: 8.0
The music and sound effects to this game are decent, but it is nothing
out of the ordinary. The voice acting for this game is not the best either. It
gets the job done but it could have been a little better.

Difficulty: Medium
This game is not the hardest game in the world, but it is not that easy
either. In order to win you will have to use your wits. If you do not plan
accordingly and make sure you have all of your bases covered you might not see
the end of the battle.

Concept: 8.4
I really like the blending of these two genres to make one smooth
gaming experience.

Overall: 8.3
If you like strategy games and action games then Kessen III is not to
be missed. You will enjoy all of the action as you go though each of the
battlefields trying to figure out the best way to win a battle and actually
being a part of the action.