This is a great game along the lines of Crusader Kings. Although there is no navy to manage, your vassals and armies can become difficult to manage late game. The ai makes good use of plots to bring down powerful clans and provides a good challenge.

First off, I found this game to be great.

The graphics for the game are pretty good, especially considering that it is a top down view strategy game. The design of things on screen is good, but the UI can be somewhat cumbersome, and can be pretty overwhelming when you first start out.

The gameplay and AI are give a fairly good challenge, particularly with increased difficulty, and there are enough different factions, choices, and tactics that can be effective to give you many, many games worth of replayability. I really enjoyed the pace of the game, which depending on playing style, can range from tediously slow to terrifyingly fast.

As hinted at before, one definite downside to a game such as this is the steep learning curve. You will probably lose your first game or two, and hard...if you have it on higher difficulties. Once you get the hang of the intricacies of the UI though, you'll be a leading armies of samurai and assassinating rivals through intrigue in no time.

Value; I got this on sale cheaper, but $15-$20 is a fair price for this game.

Getting it on sale just sweetens the deal.

graphics - 4.5/5

gameplay - 4/5

interface - 3.5/5

replayability - 4.5/5

Sengoku is something quite unusual in wargaming or strategy games, as you're not driving a country or a character but a... dinasty. That's right, like in Paradox's Crusader Kings, you're playing like a character, with some land belongings, but overall with a clan to lead to become the Shogun of Japan.

In probably the most detailed map of Japan in a PC game, with hundreds of regions, your strategy couldn't be just conquering all the land you can, because where in sort of a feudal period, and you can't have too much land under your direct control; you need to get nobles to play like your allies... but that depending on their interests and traits, they could plot against you in civil wars or trying to become your successor instead of your son.

Plots, ninja (yes, they have a role in the game), ronin, some decisions about how to develop your demesne (buildings, villages, castles...) and which religion you should adopt make of this game something different but very very playable.

Not such a wide scope as Crusader Kings (which its sequel is coming out in a few days), but better than EU-Rome (other Paradox game, mixing country ruling and characters managing). Maybe a good starter for grand strategy games by Paradox.

This is a good adition to the paradox family and adds a new graphical look to what is essentialy crusader kings. The map is very nice and with the adition of the overlays easy to navigate. this will only get better with the new patches that are relesed.

Sengoku has a great map and interface, and plays very smoothly. The learning curve is not as steep as other paradox games, and for those who hate the process of suing for peace, any territory grabbed in war is automatically annexed without giving infamy.

My only complaint is that because everyone uses Salic Primogniture by default you cannot wage wars by marriage, and you get fewer of the education and development events for your children that allowed you to make the kings you wanted.

Overall, a very fun game.

Well I have to say that it was different the I expected(as in less focus on character) but I have to say it is a fabulous game. Despite the smaller scope then most Paradox games then have managed to put a lot of content to the game.

Before the game was patched it feels a little empty but now it is a lot better where there are still areas that can be improved.

If you've played Crusader Kings or the Europa Universalis games you will be familiar with the interface. It's a cool time period and area for this game. Pretty addicting - sometimes I look at the clock in shock and can't believe how much time has passed.

I like how you gain ownership of a province as soon as you take control. The levy system is pretty interesting as well.

Sengoku is a game with endless possibilities. One can choose from hundreds of characters dozens of daimyos and many clans. It's one of the deepest strategy games I have ever seen and it's about Japan!!!

Sengoku,

As a daimyo you try to unify the country and become the Shogun.

To complete your goal you have many ways.

Diplomatic, conclude breeding, alliance and vassalage other, to increase your power.

Guile: use your spy , ninja and yourself to destabilize other daymo power or you daymo if you are a vassal.

Religious: Three religious Buddhism, Taoism, and Christians.

Military: Engage Ronin as mercenaries, mobilize your army and vassal and conquer.

Sengoku, one of the best games about Sengoku. Better than Shogun total wars (the first) .As good as Shogun total wars 2.

A very good paradox interactive game !

Got this game for a steal. The game is not as in depth as other Paradox titles, but offers a complex family and courtier system and extremely dynamic AI and combat. Defeat comes easy to the unprepared.

Sengoku is an excellent game, once you mknow how to use plots effectively. However, besides the plots, the game is rather dull and not as complex as other Paradox titles. But it is still rather enjoyable.

Sengoku is a bit of an odd duck in the Paradox stable: A game that lacks a fair amount of the depth of other Paradox titles, and yet, for all that lack, it still keeps enough elements of the core complexity intact to see this as "something to try".

The visuals are lovely, and the sound similarly so, but the diplomacy is a little awkward, the combat is mainly based on strength of numbers, and declaring war itself can be quite expensive in terms of the games secondary currency, Honour (especially considering how difficult it is for small clans to gain honour). Thus, on the one hand, there are no longer grand political games in Sengoku, but, on the other, there is still the feel of a giant balancing act when playing with other nations.

Sengoku is definitely a game that, as it gives with one hand, it takes away with the other. Gorgeous interface - Not a whole lot to build, or oversee. Diplomacy simplified - Diplomacy is definitely second fiddle to conquest. Gameplay simplified - Less units, less technology, lack of decent tutorials often lead to confusion and conservative play (a relative no-no, considering that the campaigns have a set time limit). It's okay, but it definitely needs polish, internal tinkering, and, as is often the case with Paradox games throughout their history, a decent tutorial/guide.

Sengoku is simply on of the most easy to learn Grand strategy games out there. It's clean UI and it's easy to learn but hard to master gameplay makes it a top choice to get into Paradox's line of Grand Strategy games. While it isn't as in depth as games such as Hearts of iron and EU3 it definitely is equally enjoyable. Sengoku is a great game at it's base but I feel like it can be made better with an expansion that adds on to the game's core elements.

Sengoku is a fast-pace strategy game, love the new character interfaces and the historical accuracy. Still a lot of blobbing and power of numbers matter

A fairly average game i'd say, much simpler than even eu3. and i dont really enjoy it.

played it like 3 times, never finished.

it could be cool, but i guess its really just a tech demo for the upcoming crusader kings 2, or at least i hope so :)

The game feels unfinished and soulless, as if the features were just an afterthought. It's a beautiful game, but beyond the surface there isn't much gameplay. A patch has already been released to help fix some of the problems, possibly something that should have been done at release. It has potential to be fun and interest; however, it isn't at the moment.

Fantastical and unrealistic 'strategy' game with a shallow patina of Japanese historicity on top. Currently, buggy diplomacy, intrigue and sub-CK characters are not enough of a distraction when the combat is weak with terrain almost irrelevant for movement and combat, incredibly simplistic and unsatisfying province improvements and bizarre cookie-cutter provinces where every province generates exactly the same income, etc. Poor graphical feedback gives you little idea of the state of each province beyond a blocky little castle. Much is apparently WAD, but I question the wisdom of those design choices.

The game has great potential that's for sure. I was rather "shocked" to see how certain things were managed and preformed, but overall, the game is good. specially since Paradox is already working on a patch to fix most major issues, and there's already a mod that sets the game in the 1551 timeline, so we can play our favorite clans with their famous/our favorite historical figures, spanning from Nobunaga and Ieyasu all the way to the Hojo and Takeda families

I am quiet disappointed to be honest. I have always been excited by the prospect of a new Paradox title. I understand the idea of a low cost development game, but that seems top translate into a game that is obviously low-cost and seems to test some gaming concepts than creating a game.

It is focussed on politics in theory, but warfare is quickest especially as the political path is very time consuming and obscure.

Probably the most annoying side to me is the fact that all provinces are absolutely identical. Same income, same potential. It's very bland. The economic model is very very weak.

The character interactions is roughly pay people to be your friend and run a reproduction farm (sorry, marry member of your family) to produce clan heirs. On the contrary of EU where infamy make it impossible to go the full warpath to win, here there is nothing preventing you to do so.

The map is good looking but there are a lot of problems to navigate trough it. For example, you want to arrange a marriage and it's almost impossible to know where the prospective spouse clan is without clicking in many place then loose the screen with the prospective partners.

The strategy is roughly for the player to start with a 'corner of the map' clan to limit its front line. Then wait for your big neighbour to be in war and attack his back. Swallow small neighbours as there is no real alliance system. Pay money to get honour to allow you to start another war and start again, until big opponents clan are not so big and you can crush whatever is on your way by sheer numbers (I have more province than you, therefore I will win).

This will end on the shelf very quickly for me. It's too much like the first Crusader King and if it means that we will have to wait for another 6 months to pay for an extension to get a game that is worth playing, I'll pass...

Sengoku has been a pleasant surprise among the other Paradox titles. As opposed to those, it has a clear goal, conquering half of japan, and features a standard way of doing that: conquest.

But simply conquering all your neighbours will only get you so far, as the remaining clans ought to put you down by plotting against you. The clans will secretly organize and then declare war on you, and you can do the same to that big one.

And because of this, diplomacy cannot be overlooked, it is important to cement your relations with the clans you won't be fighting soon, not only to prevent them from attacking you, but to get their support in plots. It is also important to keep a close eye in vassals or they are bound to break free from you, starting their own conquest.

The military aspect of the game is simple, you can levy army from provinces and maintain a personal retinue, and you can later get rifles to improve your troops.

Unfortunately, the game lacks a bit of immersion beside the music and the beautiful buttons, battles feature no sound and events can be sparse.

All-in-all, this shortcomings will soon be filled up by modders, so it is not a great problem.

This is a fine addition to Paradox' line of strategy games. It has been a relatively smooth launch as far as major issues go, and the game is very enjoyable.

It's gameplay style is somewhere in between EU Rome Gold and Crusader Kings Gold. You must manage (and survive!) via your dynasty, so keeping plenty available heirs and arranging good marriages for them is a high priority. If you no longer have an heir, and you die, then it's game over. I like the dynastic gameplay in all of the Paradox titles that use it, and this one has it's own flavor due to a limit of four wives per character (polygamy), and the clan leader being elected by the titled nobles of the clan which may not necessarily be related to you and occasionally nominate a pretender to your throne. As such, internal clan politics are obviously part of this dynastic gameplay. I'd like to see more character-related events, such as those in Crusader Kings, included in future updates as other than arranging marriages and keeping your sons in line for clan leadership, there's not a lot else to do decision-wise.

Warfare is a common happenstance, and there is little penalty for it. Actually, penalty isn't really the appropriate term for it since a declaration of war only requires spending 'Honor' to initiate. Thus Honor is another currency used in the game. This is a reasonable setup as long as the values are well-balanced, and I believe this needs a bit more balancing at the moment. Not game breaking, but some adjustment would help.

Conquering is the name of the game, here, and you don't even have to debate peace terms with your enemies. If you capture a province, you own it. Simple as that. While this eliminates some of the frustrations of screwy "War Scores" and "War Capacity" ratings of other similar games, it also allows some rather quick expansions and blobbing across the map. Playing as a smaller clan is much more difficult in Sengoku, as compared to others, and this is part of the reason.

There aren't many Diplomacy options at all. Many are related to luring enemy vassals to join you or vice-versa, leaving your liege, bribing, arranging marriages, and a small list of peace terms which the AI rarely bothers to accept. This is another area in which the game needs to be filled out, but it's not broken and does what it does with the few options fairly well (besides the AI being in denial).

Overall, it's a fun game that seems to be missing some of it's guts. It screams for more Crusader Kings-like dynastic decisions and events, because it shares many of the same mechanics, though set in a different location and period. I can recommend this as a buy for anyone interested in the period, or who wants another dynastic style game like Crusader Kings while waiting for CK2. It has a lot of style, and with some added features, and tweaking, it will be a wonderful game. I've had much fun with it as-is.

Long Awaited and well worth the investment. The game has a few minor bugs and glitches as do most games when first released however the games mechanics are decently polished. this game does seem to rely heavily on politics more so then warfare however warfare is always an option I use most. If you were ever a fan of Shogun total war 2 then this game is definitely a must have!

Sengoku is a unique paradox title unlike all the others. While there is less involvement in the economy, it makes up for it for its bigger involvement in military and diplomacy. The action is fast-paced, and the clear goal makes the constant expansionism not seem out of place. Certainly worth it for Paradox fans.

Sengoku is not only a great gaming experience in its own right, it is also for those of us who were really let down with ShogunII in the strategic planning, subterfuge and diplomacy arenas. Sengoku is a well crafted game and like all PD offerings is choke full of historical information!

Wow! Talk about getting games out quickly to boost sales...

Sengoku focuses on character interactions as the primary means of play and progression. When the end goal is to control 50% of the country (Japan), you will need to do more than just talk.

The game does a decent job of creating a wide variety of paths to choose from and ways to progress yourself in terms of relationships with other (AI) characters. While this is the focus of the game, the goal (winning) is based on controlling half of the country. Thanks to the diverse (and fun) means of interacting with the other characters, this can ALMOST be achieved. Ultimately, you will have to resort to violence and this is where the game starts to stutter.

The vast majority of strategy games rely on war as the action/conflict element of the story you are involved in. Sengoku attempts to change this, but keeps the end game based on contol of geographical units analgous to US counties (called kokujin). A group of kokujin form a larger area termed kuni (rough equivalent of a US state). Control of these provinces can be gained through political alliances (using the advertised primary means of play) and building of military forces through assest management. Like the relationship aspect, managing your assets has depth and a fun way of implementing your choices. Assets include: other characters, finances, honor - dimplomatic action points, provinces - and their inherent human resources, and military forces. No matter how good you are at these mechanics, you will eventually have to use military might to increase your holdings - and who wouldn't want to?

The combat system is one of the worst examples of commercial laziness I have ever experienced. The advertisements and manual make it very clear that this is a game of character interaction. The end goal still requires combat and this is what sinks the game. The combat system is almost non-existant. In practice (actuality), the 'focus' on character relationships is a poorly veiled attempt to hide a game that was put out before it should have been. This attempt to reduce development costs and get the game to market quickly has sullied my view of paradox. I truly hope this is not a sign of company 'progress.'

Summary:

I wasn't expecting a combat, action-oriented stategy game. It's a good thing, because what I got was an almost completely diplomatic game. Unfortunately, succes is still requires the use of military action and the in game application reveals a gaping hole in development. Is it a fun game? Yes, but ultimately disappointing. Is it worth the money? No - not only do you not get what you paid for, but purchasing the game supports company decisions to try to trick customers into paying more for less. If anything, this game serves as a strong example of poor business decisions...and greed. Shame on you Paradox!

When I first heard about Sengoku I was thrilled. I am still thrilled by the game as I play it, and for anyone who is a fan of Crusader Kings, or Europa Universalis Rome, will find this to be a fun game. Though I will say diplomacy is a little tricky to work with as you don't have the options you had in say Crusader kings, or Rome. Armies of other clans will also simply walk through your lands without needing permission. You will also notice unlike Crusader Kings, it doesn't cost to send troops over water areas. Despite the few flaws I see, it is still a great game, and as I said before if you liked Crusader Kings or EU: Rome you will like this.

Sengoku, the game is decent but it is repetitive. It is entertaining for the first couple of hours but then you realize you are doing nothing more than grabing new lands and handing them out to your vassals. The kori (city) developing sounds cool with your advisors but all it is is a way to minimize your development and extend the amount of time it takes for you to dominate the map. And unlike a number of Paradox games it is missing a tutorial. The game is really just crusader kings in Japan; nicer graphics but it really is crusader kings.

For first time i played a game for about 5 hours in a row,its quite interesting and deep strategic game. For the first couple of hours you will not want to quit playing for any reason :)).Its a mix of previous titles adding all the good points that those titles had and some new features as concern diplomacy(characters) and plotting conspiracy.The combat system is similar to eu3.. etc as you most know it.Moreover its a balancing deep strategic game that will make you forget some of your life problems for a couple of hours.Because of the combat mode that is pretty much the same to similar titles and the boring factor that could fire up easily in such games i will give it a stable 4/5.I also would like to mention that there are a few bugs that need to be fixed,some improvements must made to the interference but nothing too serious for destabilizing the overall game value and playability.So a 4/5 for me.

A great addition to the Paradox family of games. This is similar to EU:Rome, but a whole lot better than EUR. It is the game that EUR should have been. Overall the game feels more complete. The gameplay has more depth to it than EUR.

The range of strategy options is better and work v. well in the historical oriental setting. Whats more the level of intrigue develops from the onset far better than EUR. The new angle of honour and Seppuku hanging over the characters head w/ every decision made makes this a slightly different challenge than previous grand strategy titles.

Havent played enough of the game to see if any issues exist, encountered none so far. If you love grand strategy games and have a penchant for the Oriental setting like I have this is definitely one to get.

Will keep me happy till CK2 comes out. 4.5/5 stars.

Sengoku is a interesting idea of dynastic survive in the Sengoku era in Japan's history. What sets this game apart from all the other Sengoku era games is the heir system.

The problem with this game however is that the lack of tactical gameplay and resource management. Without these two elements in the Sengoku era, the game turns out to be a "create large army and storm enemies" type game. And you can play this game at the fastest speed the entire time. The lack of infamy type system coupled with a virtually unlimited amount of soldiers also meant that you can simply roll over your enemy's army over and over again and the snowball effect simply gets larger.

The diplomacy effect is also very simplistic and unfortunately there isn't much your character can do to directly influence standings between your vassals and courts, leaving your leadership survival entirely dependent on "honor" and random events.

So as soon as this game was available, I downloaded it and have spent the last several hours playing it. It reminds me a lot of Crusader Kings and dynasty management is an extremely important (and one of the strongest draws for me) aspect of the game. Raising armies is also similar to Crusader Kings as each province has a levy that can be raised or released. In addition to levies are the personal retinues that the head of the clan can raise - a more or less permanent army.

All in all an extremely good time though I admit, the game being new to me I haven't had a chance to explore EVERYTHING the game has to offer.

Some minor quibbles - diplomacy seems a little more difficult than I was expecting (navigating through the menus and finding the RIGHT person to declare war on) but aside from that I am extremely satisfied.

If you like EU3 - Crusader Kings - Victoria Even Hearts Of Iron This might just be the game for you to keep you high on your fix for strategy gaming this has massive overhauled the EU3 engine included changes that will also be seen in upcoming Crusader Kings 2 title

Start up as a vassal of another clan and rise to power or try to keep you self in power as the leading clan contesting for the Shogun title of japan and bring honor to the emperor and your family

5/5 it will give you countless hours of gameplay and sure to include mods in the future

Loved the demo, and I've got to say this game is pretty impressive. It resembles Crusader Kings a lot, even if it does have it's differences, but it is at least as fun if not more, thanks to the 'plots' system. The map looks great and the game loads and runs real quick. Even the music is very nice.

All in all another great game by Paradox, and I'm looking forward to spend more time with this one.