Kessen

publisher: Electronic arts
developer:Koei
number of players:1
genre: strategy simulation
ESRB:T (teen)

I don't know where to begin on this game, I didn't really like it that much. Now just too make things clear Kessen is a strategy simulation set in ancient japan (around 1500s). You play as ethier of two head generals in a civil war. It seems like an OK game but i just didn't have fun on it. First off the graphics where really good, it was among the best I've seen on a first generation PS2 game. The characters and screens looked pretty sharp, clear and detailed. But the gameplay and story are where this game went down hill. I didn't find the story and characters to be particulary interesting at all. The story was like reading a long book it didn't at all keep me interested. My biggest gripe was the gameplay, I found the game to be far too easy. Basically, you control a number of hoards of soldiers on the map, each hoard symbolizing a unit. The problem is you can win without hardly doing anything at all, in fact you spend most of your time just watching the special attacks being performed. When two hoards clash you play no part in who wins, the most you can do is zoom in and watch the action. I don't know about you, but I perfer to get more involved in my strategy games. As far as replay value goes I'm sure since I never beat the game but I think you can play as two different people. Bottom line is I bought kessen looking for a good strategy game but unfortunatly it didn't deliever. But it's still beautiful graphic wise and it seems like Koei put some effort in it. I have mixed feeling about rather you should get this or not so I would say rent it first. But for people who want a deeper strategy game they can get more involed in I would suggest Ring Of Red.

Graphics: 8 (pretty good in this area not much too complain about)
Story: 6 (Some people might like it but I found it to be a bit boring)
Gameplay: 6 (The player should get more invloved in the battling)
replay value: 7(I'm pretty sure there's a second character to play as with a different story, check with a more reliable source to confirm)

Overall: 7 not an average
Some people will like it more than others, I'd say rent it first.