Kessen

by Koei

Product Details

• ASIN: B00004W4WH
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,785 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #38 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Strategy

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Kessen is the first DVD PlayStation2 title--boy, what a difference a DVD-ROM makes! Kessen's fantastic cutscenes showcase the difference between the visual capabilities of non-DVD and DVD formats. That difference is analogous to the gap between analog television and HDTV quality.

The graphics are awesome, too. In a triple barrage, three rows of gunmen draw and fire their guns. Not everyone does it at exactly the same time, and the number of men goes back as far as the eye can see. The smart choreography makes the battle seem much more real. In fact, you actually can see other soldiers fighting as the generals duel.

The game's orchestral score is wonderful, and the sound effects also are great, with booming cannons, neighing horses, and clanking spears.

While all of the above makes for a very splashy presentation, it doesn't do much for the gameplay. Those who have found fault in the micromanagement of past Koei strategy titles surely will be disappointed with Kessen. It's often painful to see every single stat and try to improve them all in a set amount of time. Kessen goes too far in that every battalion has a morale level, called zeal, as well as a certain number of soldiers of different types. Each general has a different amount of loyalty to you, but it really doesn't affect gameplay, as far as we could tell.

Before each battle, you go through the political stage. Here, you can persuade undecided generals or enemy generals to join you in battle, or not to fight at all. That's a cool aspect, but the game basically tells you outright who will join you and who won't.

The pace of the battles is extremely slow, like in most other Koei games. However, the difficulty is not. Many times, you're given so many reinforcements that you just can't lose. Also, every single event involves a 20-second cutscene, with no obvious way to skip these. Sure, the triple barrage is impressive the first few times that you see it; but, after the 100th time, it wears a little thin. And you get to see a cutscene every time that your enemies do the same to you.

Unlike other RTS games, there's hardly ever any cause for alarm or stress--even if you're losing, you feel like there's not a lot you could do about it, anyway. --Todd Mowatt

Pros:

• Fantastic cutscenes showcase the visual capabilities of DVD format
• Great graphics, score, and sound effects

Cons:

• Too many statistics to manage
• Slow game pace

Product Description

This is the game Kessen for the Playstation 2. This game may not come with the original case and instructions. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for you.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unleash the DVD capabilities, January 9, 2001

By 

Maxime Bombardier - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kessen (Video Game)

This games sets ground to a new area, bringing many great animations (both 3D, DVD, and rendered) inside an RTS game with a touch of Japanese history. This game deserve those 5 stars because of its new way of bringing the animations.

I was impressed to see real-time video, with a touch of 3D rendered as well as 3D polygons at the same time!! That creates a touch of reality over the virtual 3D world and it looks great. I have to agree that I've seen animations that had a little bit more details over the character's face but the overall reality of those graphics plus the number of them are amazing.

I've also looked a reviews that talks about the repeating special features video and you can bypass them by pressing the triangle button. But something else that is interesting is that you can simply sit back and control the armies or you can zoom on a squad while they are fighting; bringing a different reality.

If you are still afraid of this game, it is at least a must-rent to see this kind of approach and the useful DVD features.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Save your cash, October 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Kessen (Video Game)

Koei was and is the master of turn-based strategy games, so why have they stopped producing them in the US? This game is visually arresting, but the battle sequences leave something to be desired to gamers more used to a hands-on control of troops (from games like Starcraft, etc.) Point, click, kill isn't as fun when you are just a spectator. I grew tired of the same video sequences often replayed during battle. The game is too easily beatable, and I'd recommend rental for all the same fun, and one-tenth the price. Old school Nintendo games like Nobunaga's Ambition still have much better replay value, and once you've beaten this game, you've seen it all, and there's no increased entertainment from added play. I'd much rather a turn-based game that allows you to raise your own army as opposed to inheriting everything from the grace of the programmers. Despite all my gripes, it is still a fun game, but don't bother buying it. Rent.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic game, but easy to beat and tedious toward end., November 30, 2000

By 

HeWhoReadsALot - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kessen (Video Game)

I was absolutely enthralled with this game, staying up all night to play it. These people took the Japanese civil war storyline from the 1600's and turned it into a great strategy game. The graphics are phenomenal. I only have two things to comment on, however.

1. For each attack command or special move, it plays a movie relevant to the theme. However these movies get old after a while and I got tired of pushing the continue button after making a command.

2. It was way too easy to beat. I would have been willing to play it for two weeks if I could, but I beat it in one night. It was like a demo game.

Rent it! You'll have an evening or two of great fun.