

Magic-using generals tend to pack several spells that can quickly and easily enable a squad of only a few thousand soldiers to take down forces of 10,000+ troops. Arguably the best addition to combat is the ability to summon the forces of nature to wipe out zones of enemy soldiers. Unlike its predecessor, Kessen II's take on combat is heavily grounded in the realm of fantasy. It's never a major problem, but you'll catch a few instances of choppiness when things really get going.
Kessen iii special forces ps2#
The sizes of these squads have also been increased about fivefold since the original Kessen, resulting in some massive melee conflicts that push the PS2 to the point of near slowdown. Kessen II introduces a couple of new units to command that add spice to an otherwise bland form of battle hawkmen and elephant riders now make the rounds in addition to the standard foot soldiers, cavalry, and archers. KOEI could have easily fixed this little annoyance and made traversing certain areas much easier on the player.Īs if the hilarious stag headpieces KOEI calls helmets weren't historically inaccurate enough, some handy new warriors made their way to China to debut on the field of battle. Other times, your troops are fenced in completely by an invisible force that bars entry and exit until the adjacent unit changes the angle it is currently facing. What's more, substituting one squad for another becomes a hassle when the engaged unit has no place to flee to. Combat taking place inside the walls of a fortress has the potential to lock your units into a wedge if you're not careful about who goes where and when. There are several spots, though, where moving your units across the battlefield can become a frustrating ordeal due to some narrow spaces and invisible walls.

It's a shame that this type of unique strategy wasn't implemented more often in the game, as a good deal of the missions could've used something more inventive that simply defeating the enemy or fleeing safely. One mission, for example, requires your general's troops to be placed on top of a hill so that they might fly into the enemy's fortress from above. Said battlefields are now much larger and with a greater variety of obstacles and foliage than previously, and sometimes the player must play around with the environments to get things accomplished. As before, your generals take charge of their units on a sprawling battlefield. Kessen II takes this emphasis on combat and elevates it further, plunging the player into the fray and giving him or her much more control than in Kessen. As with Kessen, the story is told through combat. Liu Bei refuses to accept this fate and gathers as many warriors as he can to aid him in the battle. Liu Bei takes up arms in the hopes of rescuing his Diao Chan from Cao Cao, who has mysteriously been foretold as the victor by heaven. The tale opens with Diao Chan, lover of the warrior Liu Bei, being kidnapped by the nefarious Cao Cao, a red-clad devil with aspirations of world conquest. While Kessen dealt with a souped-up retelling of Japanese history, Kessen II performs similarly using Chinese history as its basis for plot advancement. Those who favored the military campaigns of Nobunaga and Romance but without the tedious rice-rationing found Kessen to be their cup of tea. Kessen took the elements of combat and strategy from the company's earlier games and expanded upon them, creating a system rich in these aspects and with little focus on political control by the player. KOEI has proven that their primary genre, albeit in a trimmed down state, carries onto the PS2 rather well. Those with a penchant for deep, intricately constructed war campaigns revere KOEI as a sort of modern day Mars, bringing them all the military and political drama of war for a fraction of the cost. Since the days of the NES, KOEI has been cranking these games out like so many Megaman titles in the form of the Nobunaga's Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms games. To many gamers, KOEI represents the kindly old developer with the ability to squeeze hundreds of years' worth of conflict and turmoil into an enjoyable little strategy game. Gaming Intelligence Agency - Sony PlayStation 2 - Kessen II
