By Christopher Pinner
How much do I want simulated?
I find myself debating this question as I play Paradox Interactive’s Sengoku, the most recent in their long line of historical strategy games/simulations. Paradox has won a dedicated fan base for their obsessively detailed takes on specific historical eras, filled with an incredible wealth of options and possible strategies in diplomacy, economy, and war. Whereas most of their games have taken place in Europe (natural, given that the company is based in Sweden), Sengoku takes place in medieval Japan, surprisingly enough during the Sengoku period, a time when Japan was a land of smaller feudal territories, filled with lords and clans engaged in endless struggles for influence, territory, and power.
In addition to the previous question, I find myself thinking about a closely related question: how do I want what is being simulated to be simulated? In essence, these are questions of depth and method of simulation. In Sengoku, the simulation is incredibly deep, but the method takes a lot of getting used to.
As close as possible, the game wants to simulate the life and times of a feudal lord in Japan. But since it is seeking to simulate centuries of time, the game cannot simply be a 1:1 simulation of this life — this method simply wouldn’t work as a game. The game has the player pick one person to play as initially, which caused me some immediate dissonance. The game is simulating a life as this person, but I have no idea who this person is, what they look like aside from a small picture, where they come from. Knowing none of this, I am thrown into menus to attempt to control his small territory, elect his court, and attempt to rise in power. It is a big leap to make right away, but it’s a basic one that many strategy games have asked players to make.
For some reason, this opening leap seemed a lot larger than it has in other games. Perhaps the gap being leaped is made larger by my relative unfamiliarity with the era, which the game is steeped in. If you don’t know the culture of medieval Japan, be prepared to learn an entire new vocabulary. Paradox has done an admirable job of making a game that is clearly a computer simulation “feel” like Japan, including authentic places and names, and even designing a map to resemble older maps drawn in the period. Even the graphic design of the menus is designed to feel authentic and in line with the aesthetic of Sengoku-era Japan. While the initial unfamiliarity with the names and titles is a large hurdle, the presentation of the game is designed to draw you in, and make the culture being simulated feel natural.
While the look drew me in, the actual play initially pushed me away. The method of simulation used by Paradox in Sengoku can be summarized in two basic ideas: the time-lapse and the menu. The time-lapse is a simple enough concept to explain, but did cause me some trouble. Time constantly moves forward fairly rapidly in Sengoku, but can be paused at any point to give different orders/instructions, or simply to analyze what is occurring. I paused time often when I began, but slightly less as I went on, only pausing to commit larger actions, but allowing it to move forward if I was only making a slight change. The problem I first had (and one that can still crop up if I am not paying full attention to the game) is the lack of weight to much of what happens in the constant progress of time. If I was not paying full attention to what was occurring in each of my territories, soon I would find I had lost an area, or a rival warlord’s view of me had shifted towards the negative.
Once I learned what to look for, I still had to grapple with Sengoku’s main simulation method: menus. These menus are, for the most part, the only way you can interact with the world presented. Menu after menu after menu, each one controlling some micro aspect of your empire, each with only the barest hints of explanation. Even with the guides provided by Paradox and the help of their forums, if you have not played a game from Paradox before (as I readily admit I have not), these menus are a giant hurdle. Simply understanding the function of each is difficult initially, and sometimes the actual methods of controlling them is a bit counter-intuitive, though I found I learned them well enough.
Together, these menus give you control over almost every aspect of your clan, including your line of succession, your town building plans, your relations with other lords, and your military. Despite what the era is known for (the Sengoku era is often called the Warring States era), combat is not as large a part of this game as you might expect. When it is carried out, it is largely out of your control past the summoning of your armies and commanding them where to go. You can influence the battles ahead of time through use of ninjas and negotiations with other lords, but for the most part, battle is out of your hands, and seems to work best when used sparingly and with great forethought.
Instead of battle, the game focuses on diplomacy and subterfuge to gain influence with other clans. Simple acts such as giving gifts to other lords can be combined with marriages and other offerings to win the favor of lords, and potentially draw them into plots. Plots are a specific game device through which you can declare a goal (something along the lines of “overthrow this person”) and then attempt to draw other lords into the plot with you. Getting them to join in requires winning their favor, which is a complicated task. There seems to be little direct negotiation, but you are judged by the other lords based on your actions towards them and others. Based on their judgements, they join you or not. Like much of this game, it is incredibly complex, but there is a distinct sense of reward when another lord agrees to go along with your plan.
In the end, I find myself answering my own initial questions on depth and method of simulations in terms more of myself than this game. While I might want as much as this game simulates to be simulated, I don’t necessarily like the method of simulation. Yet, I don’t think this is meant to indicate any flaws in the simulation taking place here at all. Sengoku seems incredibly accurate in its simulation, but I personally don’t find that the time-lapse and menu method it uses “work” for me. However, there is clearly a group of players out there who love these kinds of games, and for them, I think Sengoku has much to offer. Even with the barriers of the interface, I find myself wanting to try again, knowing I will fail in my rise to power, but that I will find new tricks each time. With a shift away from combat towards diplomacy and subterfuge, the game offers a different approach to history than one might expect, but it is certainly one that leaves a lasting impression of how the politics of the Warring States worked, as long as one is willing to accommodate the way the game works.
Recommended: For those with an interest in the period of history and/or Paradox style strategy Yes.
For everyone else, Maybe, but with the realization that the game’s structure is incredibly complex, and the initial learning curve is VERY high.