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I would like a little more info on you reply, if said reply is not just "BULLCRAP".
That's not a logical explanation since every Nobunaga ambition game is the same price. With that logic, since this is the 'best' one the future games price should be lower.
The answer to the OG that is most sane and logical is that the publisher wants m m money. Give money. Publisher money now. Give it. Price no go down. Buy all game. Same price.
It's utterly shameless that they still charge full price, especially when they discontinue support almost as soon as they ship each game they bring to the west. At least they were kind enough to add the PUK in this one.
Im still waiting for the "sequel" Nobunaga's ambition: Ascension to go on sale too.
I get that the game offers improvements and expansions to Sphere of Influence as a stand alone expansion. But its so famously buggy that i would expect a discount.
Its been years. Not that we can do anything about it, but we shouldnt permit a game to come out for 60USD still being 60USD years later. This is why the franchise will never get any traction. Lack of newcomers= Lack of sales= Dumbing down future games and stripping features to reach a wider audience/consoles. Like the current Nobunaga's Ambition.
The new game comes out for 60. Gets good reviews, new comers wonder "hey ill try a cheaper alternative and buy a past game to get a feel for what the franchise is about" only to find those old games are also 60. Its a turn off. Such a shame.
Even during the summer sale the games wont go on sale. Its shooing away potential customers. New people who buy this excellent game for 15-30USD on sale is more likely to buy the new game in the series for full price.
no, I've watched a lot of gameplay and followed the development fairly closely, they've striped the things that make SOI so good in exchanged for a simplified game aimed at a wider market.
I get what they were going for, but I think the they missed on this one.
The game is too deep for a mass market, but too shallow for really serious historical simulation fans. The overlap of people who this game really works for seems fairly small in terms of the wider gaming market.
Recent reviews on Steam are set at "mixed", which is very poor for a non-indie release. Especially for a non-mass market game that is "complete" and won't get any real updates. Bug fixes aren't updates, and the possibility of some small changes in sieges aren't really updates either. But the latest statement on Koei's english site says the possibility of any updates is subject to change and they may leave sieges as they are. The only guarantee is the bug fixes, Japanese voice patch, and policy editing.
The fact that you can't control most of the domestic policy, developing districts is essentially eliminated (1 to 5 scale for developement? seriously?), retainers having more ability to shape the clan than the daimyo (due to some things only being possible through retainer suggestions), and so on.
honestly, the game looks terrible from my perspective as someone who loves deep strategic simulations. I want to have control over every aspect of development. I want the option to micromanage. I really, really do not like the game design decisions.
And those siege battles....never in a million years.
But that's Koei....every game in the Nobunaga's Ambition or Romance of the Three Kingdoms series is pretty different. Half the Romance games I love, half I hate, going back to at least #5.
What area exactly do you think SoI has it deeper than Awakening? I've played both and can't see a single one. Maybe domestics.
Awakening has the same systems as SoI only more in-depth / well-developed. Diplomacy where Prestige/Emperor Court interaction matters, Wars with multiple castle roles, Authority system that makes wars and diplomacy more organic, better tactical battles, much better human system where officers actively give suggestions and take care of their own, Direct Talks that give nuance to character interactions, way better Covert/Scheme aspect, etc. Even Awakening's AI is WAY better than SoI's.
While domestic is more complex in SoI, I would quetion if it's more interesting though. See, Awakening opts for a more realistic model of separated counties managed by retainers under a castle lord acting on his own. And while the player can't command them directly, it can be influenced through castle town's plans, clan's policies and character traits. So again, a more realistic affair than going from fief to fief directly setting productions for each retainer which is something a real world lord would never do in the first place.
I can see someone prefering SoI for it's more simplistic and well-rounded gameplay. But using it as an argument to criticize Awakening' supposed "lack of depth for hardcore sim fans" makes no sense IMO, since SoI is the posterchild of "wide as an ocean, shallow as a puddle". Even Taishi had deeper war and battles (even if shallower everywhere else). There's a reason SoI never made success with fans of western series like Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Total War, TOAW, Civil War 1863, etc. Those fans - which are arguably the real hardcore ones - expect actual depth, which those series provide in their specific niches be it diplo, economy, character interaction, battles etc. and which SoI lacks being all-around shallow and simplistic.
The (current) top review on the Steam store is negative and finishes with: "It fails hard in major areas where its predecessors have succeeded in favour of making it accessible to consoles and handheld devices. Since these failures are in core gameplay systems, the overall experience is greatly handicapped and ruined. As mentioned in the beginning, if you came here because you enjoyed and loved SoI, you will be greatly disappointed with this new iteration."
There are number of similar reviews from experienced strategy gamers.
In general, people who play these games don't want AI automation of player actions. It goes against why many of us play these games. Do not take control out of the hands of a player.
Kou Shibusawa himself has said he favors making games more mobile-friendly, simplified, and social. I strongly disagree with him, but Koei is his company (sort of).
Regarding the gameplay, any play through with someone who has played previous games, and review both positive and negative mention how gutted the domestics are. Development is simplified and levelized. No more multipliers to maximize your economy, or to make trade off for immediate benefits at the cost of long term ones. No more min/maxing. No more controlling every base....I never, ever want an AI choosing how to do base development.
Officer development is greatly hindered by lack of control. I have things I want them to do and things I don't. Also, in SOI I have very specific sets of things done to really ramp officer experience and improve specific officers quickly to fill certain roles. This includes lesser officers to focus on one specific task. Without control over those officers, you lose your ability to control the direction and speed of their development.
Battle is, as is stated by everyone, on rails.
The idea that a Daimyo has less idea of what to do than retainers is just outright silly. To prevent a player from choosing certain actions unless and random number generator offers it is bad game design.
The games you mention are different genres under the umbrella of "Strategy".
I like some of the Total War games (some I don't), but they are primarily Real Time Tactical Battle games with lite-strategic and RPG elements.
I like Europa Universalis games as well, but again those Grand Strategy games where individuals are irrelevant...they're heavily automated as they border on the "god" game genre since players are primarily influencing things but not controlling them (which is why random events fit so well in those games). In EU, you are not a monarch or ruler, you are shaping many rulers over hundreds of years, unlike NA where you are playing a specific daimyo and controlling their actions.
Civil War 1863 is a turn-based tactical combat game more like XCOM or Age of Wonders but without the elements of those games like base building and RPG-lite features.
TOAW is, I presume, The Operational Art of War. Again, those are wargames aimed at turn-based tactical combat.
I disagree they are deeper games. In general, they are more shallow and limited in approach. They are focused on combat options, and certainly have more depth there, but economics and base build doesn't even exist in those game except very shallow "1,2,3,4" building in EU and TW games. Even fans of those games will tell you how shallow those aspects are, never heard anyone say otherwise.
Of course fans of those games aren't all NA fans. They're different genres of games. It's like asking a fans of Baseball why they don't like Tennis games even though they are both "sports"....they're really different.
I'm not criticizing fans of Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening, I'm glad they like the game. But a lot of the reviews or comment I see about it outside the Awakening message board says they like SOI better and say why (similar to The Shogunate's YouTube review).
I'm trying to be clear for people trying to decide on spending the money or not....the game isn't cheap.
I will just leave this here for fans of western series that come around: SoI is a casual game that's nowhere near what Pdox or Total War or Civ series offer in terms of depth. It's fine if you want a simplistic but well polished game. On the other hand, if you want to see where the NA series really differentiates from those western ones - the Human Resources aspect - give Awakening a try. It's has its issues, specially at this just released time, but is well worth the experience for that alone. The way characters impact and drive the game is done in a very unique and interesting way, that I've only seen in CK2/3 , but even so in a different manner.
Re-reading that I wasn't clear which games I was talking about.
Total War games, outside of combat, aren't deep. Economy and such are not the focus of those games.
Paradox games are deep, and I've played them as ton. But Europa Universalis, which is the specific game I mentioned, isn't a game with a lot of direct control. I was specifically mentioning base building with EU in the "shallow" part, which is a big part of Nobunaga's Ambition (maybe the biggest part depending on how you play). I spend more time on base building in NA than any other part of the game. That's true of how I play strategy games in general, focused on economy (which is base building in some games).
Outside of Manufactories, it is a linear build order. Going from Courthouse to Town Hall is just waiting until you have the ducats free to spend.
EU is a different genre than Nobunaga's Ambition with a different focus. Setting your nation to be more innovative or narrow minded once a decade and slowly adjusting tax policy isn't the same as Nobunaga's more direct control.
While there are some people who like both types of games, more people I know in real life and speak with online like one or the other but not both.
Even Paradox games (which I take to mean EU, HOI, CK, and Victoria...not their other games) some people like one and not the others. You see it a lot when people ask for recommendations, people who may only like one of those games. For me, EU was maybe my most played game at one point but I never liked Victoria. Hearts of Iron 4 was pretty good until some updates really killed it for me. I never got into CK.
Well, that's an opinion, which is fine. A casual game is something like puzzle game, or a simple deck builder game. We'll have to agree to disagree on depth.
I do think a lot of people would like Awakenings, but I think that would be independent of their feelings on SOI. We disagree on SOI vs Awakenings, that's fine....it happens every time KOEI releases a new NA or Romance game.
Online discussions are hard with the loss of nuance, context, and clarity. I actually think we would agree on a lot with regard to these games.