First off, really love this game, well done to all involved. It is so dynamic and it is brilliant how the clan map changes so readily, that happily mirrors the rapidly changing feel of Japan during the Segoku period.
However, I do have some positive feedback that I felt can perhaps make the game even better that could be improved through patching.
Regarding my victory, I made the Date Clan leaders breed like rabbits and successfully married off my children to surrounding clans that I wanted to build good relations with or with clan Daimyo and Leaders to bind them to me. Along with gifts and giving out plentiful land titles, this seems like the most productive way to improve relations.
Unproductive Masters
When it comes to using the court masters to improve relations or sow dissent, I felt these events were far to rare and their random nature meant they were of limited practical use. Even with high ranking court masters, you can wait 20 years for your Master of Ceremonies to simply have a cup of tea with another clan Leader or Daimyo to get a relationship bonus, which is just far too long given that a gift gives you an instant +10. Sowing dissent seems to be even harder and over 30 years of continual sowing dissent in Echigo, I never got to the point any of the Uesugi clan daimyo member would join me or revolt. I appreciate it is a random event, but the ratio of successful diplomacy/dissent events feels far to low given that:
1. My Masters could be used for more productive region improvements
2. The extra tax income from doing so, is then spent on gifts which hae a far more dramatic and definite improvement. Gifts basically - never fail as long as they are spaced out over time
3. That a character whose opinion who you are hoping to improve may naturally lower over the period of time it takes for a positive diplomacy event to occur, making the relationship improvement pointless, this is particularly true with rebellious vassals
4. When dealing with internal issues like this it is simply easier to go to war and give an upset clan member some more land
The affect on plots
This has a negative effect on what should be one of the best features - Plots.
Self initiated plots become pointless because it is far easier to build positive relations with a neighbour so that they won't attack you and then simply pick off your next enemy in a war, than it is to spend the extra years of effort and money, to simply have another clan join you.
However, I was invited to an AI initiated plot by Takeda. This is confusing given that I could not get them to join my similar plot, but they felt they could approach me!
The plot I was invited to was huge involving 8 clans to overthrow the Uesugi. Seeing this unfold in the game was utterly brilliant and allowed me to remove my biggest enemy and make substantial land grabs and finally make Uesugi become my vassal. But I could never have spent the money, time or effort to make this plot myself as the mechanics stand. The masters are not powerful enough to create the right conditions - it is just far easier to create positive relations with marriages and gifts with your neighbours and slowly pick off the smaller clans one by one than it is to involve them in such a far reaching plot.
So, for me, it is a shame that plots are so difficult to achieve given their unique twist to the game play and what helps Sengoku stand out as a strategy game.
AI plots against me
Despite clearly becoming a massive clan leader in Japan, the enemy AI never really used a similar plot that Takeda did that one time, against me. I suppose this was down to my through use of gift / marriages that I rarely had true enemies, but it just felt like I should expect the smaller clans in a region to plot against me. Once I became a certain size, it was pretty easy to win the game, and it would have been interesting if two of the bigger clans combined against me instead of acting alone.
Building costs
I found that both expanding guilds and building new guild buildings pretty pointless until near the end game. The first guild I built for example, was the guns. I just had no problems with winning battles to justify the cost to improve them through guilds. I suggest that Guild prices become 100 like religious buildings so they can be built earlier and have more impact, given that most money has to be spent on gifts - given the issues I've mentioned previously with Masters. The other issue in end game, is that the regions that these guilds are built in, are to far from the front lines to be of much use raising as levies either. If they were cheaper, I feel they could affect the game more positively and also give AI an edge where needed.
Sound effects
This is a minor critique, but as it happens I was playing Paradox's Rome prior to the release of Sengoku, and was surprised to see the same sound effects for alerts and notifications, army movements etc. It... felt out of place, and a missed opportunity to make Sengoku feel more historical and Japanese, given the wonderful work done on the interface and music; A few well chosen sound effects would have given the game more atmosphere and completed the overall feel of polish and love.
I hope I've not been to harsh, I really enjoy playing the game, and now trying it at harder difficulties above Normal.
Thanks guys.
However, I do have some positive feedback that I felt can perhaps make the game even better that could be improved through patching.
Regarding my victory, I made the Date Clan leaders breed like rabbits and successfully married off my children to surrounding clans that I wanted to build good relations with or with clan Daimyo and Leaders to bind them to me. Along with gifts and giving out plentiful land titles, this seems like the most productive way to improve relations.
Unproductive Masters
When it comes to using the court masters to improve relations or sow dissent, I felt these events were far to rare and their random nature meant they were of limited practical use. Even with high ranking court masters, you can wait 20 years for your Master of Ceremonies to simply have a cup of tea with another clan Leader or Daimyo to get a relationship bonus, which is just far too long given that a gift gives you an instant +10. Sowing dissent seems to be even harder and over 30 years of continual sowing dissent in Echigo, I never got to the point any of the Uesugi clan daimyo member would join me or revolt. I appreciate it is a random event, but the ratio of successful diplomacy/dissent events feels far to low given that:
1. My Masters could be used for more productive region improvements
2. The extra tax income from doing so, is then spent on gifts which hae a far more dramatic and definite improvement. Gifts basically - never fail as long as they are spaced out over time
3. That a character whose opinion who you are hoping to improve may naturally lower over the period of time it takes for a positive diplomacy event to occur, making the relationship improvement pointless, this is particularly true with rebellious vassals
4. When dealing with internal issues like this it is simply easier to go to war and give an upset clan member some more land
The affect on plots
This has a negative effect on what should be one of the best features - Plots.
Self initiated plots become pointless because it is far easier to build positive relations with a neighbour so that they won't attack you and then simply pick off your next enemy in a war, than it is to spend the extra years of effort and money, to simply have another clan join you.
However, I was invited to an AI initiated plot by Takeda. This is confusing given that I could not get them to join my similar plot, but they felt they could approach me!
The plot I was invited to was huge involving 8 clans to overthrow the Uesugi. Seeing this unfold in the game was utterly brilliant and allowed me to remove my biggest enemy and make substantial land grabs and finally make Uesugi become my vassal. But I could never have spent the money, time or effort to make this plot myself as the mechanics stand. The masters are not powerful enough to create the right conditions - it is just far easier to create positive relations with marriages and gifts with your neighbours and slowly pick off the smaller clans one by one than it is to involve them in such a far reaching plot.
So, for me, it is a shame that plots are so difficult to achieve given their unique twist to the game play and what helps Sengoku stand out as a strategy game.
AI plots against me
Despite clearly becoming a massive clan leader in Japan, the enemy AI never really used a similar plot that Takeda did that one time, against me. I suppose this was down to my through use of gift / marriages that I rarely had true enemies, but it just felt like I should expect the smaller clans in a region to plot against me. Once I became a certain size, it was pretty easy to win the game, and it would have been interesting if two of the bigger clans combined against me instead of acting alone.
Building costs
I found that both expanding guilds and building new guild buildings pretty pointless until near the end game. The first guild I built for example, was the guns. I just had no problems with winning battles to justify the cost to improve them through guilds. I suggest that Guild prices become 100 like religious buildings so they can be built earlier and have more impact, given that most money has to be spent on gifts - given the issues I've mentioned previously with Masters. The other issue in end game, is that the regions that these guilds are built in, are to far from the front lines to be of much use raising as levies either. If they were cheaper, I feel they could affect the game more positively and also give AI an edge where needed.
Sound effects
This is a minor critique, but as it happens I was playing Paradox's Rome prior to the release of Sengoku, and was surprised to see the same sound effects for alerts and notifications, army movements etc. It... felt out of place, and a missed opportunity to make Sengoku feel more historical and Japanese, given the wonderful work done on the interface and music; A few well chosen sound effects would have given the game more atmosphere and completed the overall feel of polish and love.
I hope I've not been to harsh, I really enjoy playing the game, and now trying it at harder difficulties above Normal.
Thanks guys.
However, if the AI has started a plot but not yet gotten any backers, it is told to drop its own plot and join another one with the same target if asked. So had you asked Takeda before they had gotten any of those eight backers they would have dropped their plot and joined yours instead.
