Rise of the Samurai is now available!

[frogbeastegg]

Quote of the day: "Once all of the cakes are gone, strength remains" - the sumo bodyguard art.

New title screen and music, unexpected.

New options, like battle realism mode, carry over to the original campaign in the form of a checkbox during setup.

My initial impression of RotS is that there's a lot to dig into. The tech tree is the same size as S2's, with everything moved around and re-named. Some of the techs are entirely new, others are new twists on old ideas. The same applies to the building trees. Units are, obviously, entirely new, and there's quite a lot of them. I suspect I shall be spending the next hour reading the tooltips and encyclopaedia entries one by one. There are lots of Japanese words used in these areas, many more than in the basic game.

The clan bonuses are attractive, and I had difficulty deciding who to play with as 4 out of the 6 had bonuses which really appealed to me. This time bonuses are less about an improved version of a unit, and more about chunky bonuses like 20% reduction in samurai upkeep, reduced samurai recruitment times, bonus research items, and faster research. Mmm, tasty.

The opening cinematic for the RotS campaign is pleasing, a nice set of atmospheric partially animated drawings.

The new campaign map visuals are a nice contrast to those in the original campaign. They are a bit softer, almost as if they have a tiny touch of pastel sketch about them. I have noticed some decreased performance on the campaign map, however. It doesn't scroll smoothly as it did before.

The artwork for the interface, encyclopaedia etc is all of the same style and quality as the original game. It fits very well and preserves the atmosphere, as does the new music. I appreciate that I've only been playing for half an hour, but the expansion definitely feels like a proper job instead of a quick and dirty money rush.

Realm divide is still present. The "If our daimyo ..." lady at the start of each campaign has new text, and she advises that reaching maximum fame will cause Emperor Go Shirakawa to declare you an enemy of the state and all clans will turn on you, including your sister clan.

I can see some neat little ties to the Shogun II tech tree etc. Arts which were very basic in Shogun II are high-level here. The basic castle is now the highest level. Everything feels much more low-tech and ... developing, I guess is the best word. It really does feel like an earlier time period. Fortunately, it doesn't feel like a weaker version of the existing technology, it's a flavour of its own.

Time to play some more.

[econ21]

The new campaign map visuals are a nice contrast to those in the original campaign. They are a bit softer, almost as if they have a tiny touch of pastel sketch about them.

I guess the original campaign map is unchanged even if you buy the DLC? I was hoping they would backdate the new map, as it seems viusally an improvement.

[Nowake]

Oh dear, I was in two minds about buying it today, as I wish to finish my Mori campaign first and I believe it will change the AI behaviour significantly -- never change the poor horsie mid-stream right?! -- yet when I saw the new opening screen, I had to buy it right away to check the art. There was something about the composition of the previous shot which annoyed me to no end, that castle wall just filling the foreground, so very in-your-face and with a tree stuck prominently to the side and no other sign in life to be even hinted at behind those fortifications... While the new one simply draws you in and that rickety wooden rampart seems to be crawling with defenders waiting for a dawn attack to unfold!

And yeah, I know, takes all sorts

[Populus Romanus]

Off to watch a lets play.

[Madae]

I played it pretty much all day yesterday, though I'm still torn on whether or not I like it. This is gonna get a bit nitpicky, but here is my list of things I like/dislike, which I will update as things come to me (it's still early and my engine hasn't fully started yet).

I like how they gave generals bows so they can actually do something meaingful during a battle instead of standing around and mostly being delegated to chasing down routed units. This actually caught me by surprise, because I was playing my first battle and I had one unit of swordsmen and my extra general hiding in the forest for an ambush. Soon as the enemy came into view, my general started shooting at them and gave away his position, which got him quickly rolled by the enemy. So, that was a nice lesson on that change. It didn't take much for him to die, either, so it seems like generals became a lot more fragile, so I suppose it's a good thing they can stay back with bows now. The downside is that they require more micro now, and bow cavalry have always been kind of a pain because of that. They also have this really annoying tendency to kill eachother when they're running in large groups and shooting arrows.

Practically all the units have changed, with only a few making a reappearence (Warrior Monks, for one). This was kind of confusing at first and required some study and a few test battles. Basically, the whole of battles have been changed, as there are very few cavalry (at least in the game I played), and superior units are multi-roled (foot samurai are excellent archers and have the highest melee attack of all my units). The cavalry you do have are also multi-function.

Most battles I've faced right now have pretty much consisted of archer duels until someone (usually the AI) decides to go for a full charge - archers are the flavor of the month in this game. Unit stacks have also gotten smaller, and the units are naturally in a loose formation with no option to change. Not sure if I like or dislike that, but it seems like that is one tiny detail that I'm not really upset that I'm missing - switching in and out of tight/loose formation is just a novelty, really. On the whole, the battles are really fun still, just different then what you probably will be used to (unless you're a hardcore Chosokabe/archer fan).

Speaking of clans; there are very few from the first game that make an appearence. One thing that kind of bothers me is that you have all the same land/space that you did in the first game, but fewer clans to choose from and play. What's even more odd is that none of these clans start in the west, so Kyushu and the province road in is pretty much a free-for-all for minor clans. The Taiga clan starts around Kyoto and on the eastern end of Shikoku, so they are the closest, and probably the only clan that will ever conceivably get to Kyushu within a reasonable time frame. The two other clans (one starts on top of Hojo, aka Minamoto, the other on top of Date, aka Fuji-something) are almost destined to be at war with eachother - the Date-doppleganger can only expand one way, and that puts it into direct conflict with the Minamoto. So, Taiga (I keep saying that and I'm not even sure that's it) definitely have it the easiest in terms of location, where Minamoto probably have it the easiest in the battles due to their armies being superior. Fuji... I'm not really sure how starting with Date land and being, technically, an R&D/influence-giant makes them appealing. I've been wrestling them for most of my game (I'm playing Minamoto) and I'm kicking their ass.

Research trees have changed and been more simplified. It looks like a lot of the same things are there, just named differently, but there are a lot of nuances you'll notice. Towns, like someone else pointed out, start out as villages with no walls, and the highest level is the lowest level of grand campaign. This isn't really that bad, and I personally didn't like defending multi-level castles, preferring to just do the one level because there was a lot less area to cover/defend.

And finally... I'm not too crazy about the campaign map, myself. I prefer the old one, as this one is too bright and looks more "washed out", like someone threw your prized cloth map of japan in the washer with a load of bleach. However, I did like some subtle changes like when I was looking at where Takeda starts and then North Shinano - everything in between hadn't been explored yet, and it looked like a gigantic canyon. Unexplored areas are just kind of flat, and explored areas seem to just "pop" out of the map. It's kind of neat. I don't think that was in the grand campaign, but maybe I just didn't notice it.

I'll post more when I think of it.

[Nelson]

Oh dear, I was in two minds about buying it today, as I wish to finish my Mori campaign first and I believe it will change the AI behaviour significantly -- never change the poor horsie mid-stream right?!

I'm in the middle of a Mori campaign myself. I plan to wrap it up before embarking on the new DLC.

I have noticed a barbel shaped fort plan I don't recall seeing before. Have I heard additional music, too? I might have.

[frogbeastegg]

I have noticed a barbel shaped fort plan I don't recall seeing before. Have I heard additional music, too? I might have.

There were a lot of new castle models included with the Shogun II patch which released at the same time as the DLC. That's probably why the patch was so large. Everyone will have them.

RotS definitely has new music, and some extra pieces taken from STW as well. CA's notes didn't say whether they are part of the patch or if they are part of the DLC. If you are hearing new music it must be part of the patch. The new music is most obvious on the loading screen at the start of a battle (now includes STW's fighting music as well as its marching and tension music), and during the AI part of the end turn cycle.

[Nelson]

There were a lot of new castle models included with the Shogun II patch which released at the same time as the DLC. That's probably why the patch was so large. Everyone will have them.

RotS definitely has new music, and some extra pieces taken from STW as well. CA's notes didn't say whether they are part of the patch or if they are part of the DLC. If you are hearing new music it must be part of the patch. The new music is most obvious on the loading screen at the start of a battle (now includes STW's fighting music as well as its marching and tension music), and during the AI part of the end turn cycle.

I'm glad to hear there are more castle types. Originally there were too few and since I enjoy attacking and defending them I welcome the variety. Besides, Japanese castles look fabulous! I can’t have too many designs.

The music has always been important to me and I'm happy to be getting more of it. I loved the original score.

[Vladimir]

Is archery rage increased with height advantage in this expansion? Castle defense was always a letdown and the most annoying problem is that you don't get that in this game.

Please let me know if my observations are off.

[frogbeastegg]

I guess the original campaign map is unchanged even if you buy the DLC? I was hoping they would backdate the new map, as it seems viusally an improvement.

The original campaign still has the same graphics. I think prefer it that way. The slightly dreamy visuals of RotS feel appropriate for a semi-mythic age, whereas the sharper graphics of Shogun II fit the cool reality of Japan's worst civil war.

I'd like to have a choice between title screens though. The new one is nice, but it's not going to feel right starting a sengoku game from a screen with a rural wooden shack-castle.