Reviews - Kamamura

This game is a sequel of more than 10 years old COE2. It features updated interface, better AI (probably), and somewhat refined gameplay mechanics. That said, it also inherits some really obsolete elements that make you feel like you travelled back in time.

First of all, said interface, while improved, leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes, you need to find a particular terrain type to accomplish an advanced magic ritual, but the game does not help in that - you have to scour the map square by square (highlighting function would be nice). Recruiting system is horrible, because it's difficult to tell where the new units appear. There are also balancing problems, since some classes are too dependent on map type and scarcity of certain map features - on some maps, they are drastically weaker than on others. The graphic is also tiny and somewhat ugly, and the units lack flavor texts like in Dom3.

These flaws aside, however, the game plays rather nice. The classes are varied enough to offer solid replayability, the unit characterictics create interesting relations concerning what beats what, the AI (with enormous enough cheating bonuses) is capable of massing challenging stacks later in the game. This game plays more like a dungeon crawler/exploration RPG than a proper strategy game, because the units are few and far between to control any larger territory, and features like supply lines, upkeep, base building, research are completely missing from the game.

Pros: solid, if simplistic gameplay, interesting units with lots of variety, lots of classes different enough to be interesting, so-so AI.

Cons: Ugly graphics, somewhat shoddy interface, the AI clearly lacks strategic focus and sort of wanders around, poor sounds, balance problems, missing flavor texts.

Overall, cheaper, simplified brother of Dominions 3 centered about single player and map crawling.