Another "Hey, I'll ask Kitsune" thread

[Ben]

Hey, Kitsune, in the best game thread I fondly remembered Koei's great SNES strategy games and bemoaned that they only seem to crank out franchise sequels(that are all set in ancient China. Cao-Cao vs. Liu Bei over and over and over) these days.

Is that true, or are they coming out with quality new strategy games that just never find their way to this side of the pond? Basically, did they make Uncharted Waters 3? I'd pay roughly all the money in the world for that.

Kitsune may be Japanese for "google".

[Dirt]

Nobunaga's Ambition II is one of the best games ever made.

The Water Margin games were a little weak.

[Lum]

I'm not Kitsune, but there is actually an "Uncharted Waters Online" MMO in development.

http://www.gamezone.com/gamesell/screens/s23872.htm

[Mark L]

I want to apologize to Kitsune for inadvertently starting the "summon Kitsune" trend. You've got plenty of stuff to concern yourself, I'm sure, that takes precedence over randomly providing information about Japanese games to folks. I am sure, though, that everyone appreciates whatever time you do have to spare! I know I do!


Mark L


p.s. Just so no one thinks I'm a suckup, I totally disagree with you on Xenosaga! :twisted:

[Kitsune]

Yeah, there were a lot of non-RoTK Koei games released. Lately? Hmmm. Last year, they released Pacific Theater of Operations IV in the US on the PS2, I know, which is a naval WWII strategy series, did you happen to play the earlier ones on the SNES? The Warship Commander games are their spin-offs and they are realtime sea wargames sims (with a strategy shell) with extremely long campaigns. You'll have to research how they arrived, but I believe they both got translated in limited quantities.

Crimson Sea isn't strategy like at all, but sequel, Crimson Sea 2 is supposed to be a huge, great improvement over the first and a lot of fun, I got a recommendation from someone who is a fanatic for the type of thing, so if its to your liking, you might to check that out. That's it, for recent US releases, I think. Now for the Japanese only stuff.

There was Houshin Engi 2 on the PS2, Battle Houshin and Magical Houshin on the Gamecube and GBA, but only the weakest one came out in the US (what is it with this? Why do companies make such bad decisions?) which was the Gamecube version. The GBA is a decent RPG, but the PS2 is a somewhat uncoventional update a widely praised strategy RPG also by Koei on the PSX. Its based on a different Chinese legend than RoTK and has a lovely, ethereal artstyle. Kind of a strategic action RPG.

There's also Taikou Risshiden, which is kind of hard to explain. Its kind of like a samurai life simulation strategy RPG, which focuses on the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The fourth one is out on the PS2. There's also the new Nobunaga's Ambition, the next in a long series where you try to unite Japan, very much a pure strategy game, there's both an online game and a new single player game. As well, Lum is quite correct, there is a new Uncharted Waters MMO coming out. Now, for RoTK and Nobunaga, they first announced an online version and then a singleplayer sequel, so I have no doubt Uncharted Waters V is in the works. I would be extremely surprised if it isn't. Probably for release next year, though. That's right, there wasn't one, not two sequels to Uncharted Waters, but two spin-offs, all pretty much for the PlayStation. Uncharted Waters IV rocks, if you ask me.

Other than that, the rest of the games are Sangokushi/RoTK, based on the Dynasty Warriors (like Samurai Warriors) line, horse racing sims, like Winning Posts, or historical romances aimed at women.

There's a lot more where this came from, of course, but you'd need to be willing to go a little farther back to the PSX and Saturn. Which of these were you most interested in hearing about? I kind of thought you were looking for a newer game, so I didn't know whether you wanted to hear about the PSX Uncharted Waters games that were never translated.

-Kitsune

[quatoria]

This is how warship commander was translated in the US - and it was a hell of a lot of fun, too. Designing and fighting with your ship was a kick in the pants, as were the superships.

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/234988.asp

[Ben]

Mostly I'm just going to complain. Stupid Koei.

I will look into Crimson Sea 2, as it's box copy synopsis on EB sounds cool. That Naval Ops game also sounds intriguing.

2 Uncharted Waters games? Curses. I doubt there are the sort of fansubs that brought FF5 and SD3 to emulators for a PSX game, and I imagine importing them would be quite difficult. Curses. Early research indicates that they are extremely rare.

I would buy Uncharted Waters 5 sight unseen, so hopefully they'll bring that one over if they bother to do it.

I don't actually like RoTK or PTO very much, but I loved Nobunga's Ambition and Genghis Khan, and Liberty or Death is pretty much the perfect "beer n' pretzels" strategy game.

I can't believe Shingen the Ruler for the NES wasn't a Koei game. My friend and I played that game to death, and it absolutely plays like Nobunga's Ambition. Maybe it was a knockoff.