User:GuardianOfTheWastes/Golden Oldies Wiki/Sword of the Samurai

Sword of the Samurai is a game developed by MicroProse in 1989 for DOS, and is extremely cross-genre. It contains elements of being an RPG, a strategy game and to a lesser extent, an action game. This is down to the way that it is broken up by mini-games within the RP element.

Manual PDF
Here is a link to the manual, which is worth a look at for help or the visuals. Aside from that it's damned useful! Find it here...

Setting
The game is set in the Sengoku era of Japanese history, during it's largest civil war which began with the fall of the Ashikaga shogunate and ended with the rise of, historically at least, Tokugawa Ieyasu to the role of Tai-Shogun. However, the wars that you experience at the beginning of the game make you less aware of the country's disarray as they are in fact very small, with you commanding only a small group of samurai, because the game is mainly character driven. This element only becomes a reality as such as you rise to the role of Daimyo, and then set out to conquer Japan and become Tai-Shogun.

Goal
So, as you have guessed by now, the aim of the game is to become the Shogun of all Japan. You must first rise through the ranks of your clan, however, and at first you aim to make hatamoto, a direct vassal of your Daimyo. From there, you must achieve the rank of daimyo, though not necessarily honourably. Then, you may set out in conquering your opponents with your clan united behind you!

Characters
The characters are generally random in terms of name, but there is always a pattern. You start with three opponents who also wish to rise up through the ranks, and if you're incompetent, then there is nothign to stop them doing so. Aside from then, you have a lord for the first two stages, and it is generally wise to try to appeal to them through honourable deeds and completing 'quests' or missions for them. Then, there are other clan leaders in the end stages, with your ultimate goal being to conquer and not get conquered.

Protagonist
The protagonist is whomever you create when you begin a new game, and this is the character you directly control, and only this character. That is unless you retire him to a monestry in favour of having your son fulfil your ambition... Or maybe your son/grandson/great-grandson - after all there is no time span. Essentially, if you don't complete the game with your original character, you will do so with a direct male heir (who are all the splitting image of you).

Review
In one word - addictive. Not to say that this game isn't a masterpiece - it is - but the one thing that I couldn't help noticing when I finished it a 'fair few' times and sat down to write this review is that it is one of those games you just want to keep playing.

Now I'm not going to lie, this game is older than me; it's even older than my eldest brother. However, how this gem of a game floated away into the annals of time with no-one noticing is beyond me. I came across this game entirely by myself, and I don't think I expected to find a game that is this good. Sure the graphics are old, but they're not bad in comparison to, say, internet games, and indeed in many places they are very pleasing, and they most certainly cannot detract from the fact that this game is a masterpiece, and one that anyone who is interested in samurai should play.

Personally, I often feel that I was born into the wrong time, an ailment a few people I have met have complained of (though I doubt for any of us it is a genuine desire to go back to a certain time, but rather a longing for an idealised world or role to play in humanity's course: maybe that's me exclusively actually...), though it is normally the 1930s or the age of exploration I long for, feudal Japan as a nobleman definitely ranks highly. And this game lets you live a simplistic view of that life.

You start as the son of a regular samurai (I presume at least), and you are told that your father had served your chosen clan well, and that your liege lord, a hatamoto in this case, hopes that you will serve just as well. Then the game starts and you must climb the ranks, being selected as your daimyo's hatamoto and eventually usurping him. From there you must conquer neighbouring daimyo and eventually declare yourself seii taishogun, the military lord of the entire country, and thus wield more power than the divine emperor himself - that is, theoretically, as the game finishes when you become shogun, but as a sense of how well you did and what you achieved, it tells you how long your shogunate lasted. This can be from 10-300yrs, with 300 being the best possible because it can then coincide with the Meiji restoration and be feasible to be an alternate past (as your shogunate replaces the Tokugawa shogunate.

The game is easy to grasp, and after you learn the controls and practice the various elements, and then you will be well on your way. The game progresses at whichever speed you drive it at, so as a vassal in the original stage you can practice the elements as much as you need to in order to get a decent grasp on them. This is a highly enthralling game, and the quest to become shogun will undoubtedly become as important to you as it was to the Daimyo of the Sengoku period.

Overall, considering the time it was made and the continued playability of the game, along with its beauty, accuracy and enjoyably, I give it ***** and wholeheartedly recommend it to any and all, regardless of interest in the historical side and setting of the game, even though the knowledge helps, as does a basic understanding of Bushido.

Overview pages for this game

 * FAQ by one Toenail Lord
 * Creation
 * Estate menu
 * Families
 * Encounters
 * Gameplay elements
 * Ranks
 * Tasks
 * In-games values
 * Historical content and background