Nintendo just released four Koei Strategy games on their Nintendo Switch Online Super Nintendo app. Or… they would have if I published this when I intended to. Instead, they released these a week ago. In any case, let’s have a look at them!
Here’s what I thought of each:
Super Nintendo Entertainment System App
| Game | Genre | # of Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nobunaga’s Ambition | Turn-Based Strategy | 1-8 Competitive (Local Alternating / Online Alternating) | C- |
tl;drThis game plays like a more complex version of Risk. Unfortunately, that complexity is not very well explained within the game itself – you’ll definitely want to seek out a game guide online to explain how to play this one. As such, this is going to be a pretty niche experience, but those who have the patience to learn the game systems for a game that has no interest in teaching you how it works, this game has some potential. | |||
| Nobunaga’s Ambition: Lord of Darkness | Turn-Based Strategy | 1-8 Competitive (Local Alternating / Online Alternating) | C- |
tl;drLike its predecessor, this game has zero intention of explaining anything about how to play it. Players who have a lot of patience, a wiki guide, and a great interest in the Japanese warring states period may find this fascinating, but everyone else will be absolutely bewildered by it. | |||
| Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire | Turn-Based Strategy | 1-8 Competitive (Local Alternating / Online Alternating) | D |
tl;drThis game is so inscrutable, you will need a game guide to play it. This is a game that doesn’t want to give newer players any indication how it works. Good presentation, at least, but that’s not enough for me to recommend it. | |||
| Uncharted Waters: New Horizons | Simulation / Strategy-RPG | 1 | C- |
tl;drThis combination of a simplified Strategy-RPG and a trading Sim is really unique and ambitious, but the execution makes this an extremely niche game that only a small handful of players will appreciate. Apart from some decent writing, this game’s presentation is fairly dry and lifeless, and you’re expected to remember a lot of information without the game making it easy to access important info like what quests you’ve taken and the names of cities on the map. Despite its many flaws and frustrations, a select few will undoubtedly really enjoy the unique and thoughtful gameplay here, but most are better off skipping it. | |||
I know someone is going to absolutely love this month’s Super Nintendo app update, but that person is clearly not me. I previously reviewed three of these four games on the Wii U Virtual Console, with the odd one out being Nobunaga’s Ambition: Lord of Darkness, which doesn’t really change my mind about my general thoughts on Koei’s Super Nintendo Strategy games, which is to say, they’re overly-complex, dry, steeped in Japanese history and culture in a way that’s hard for Western audiences to penetrate (except Uncharted Waters), and really needs to be played with a guide if you want to try to play them at all.
All in all, I don’t think this is an especially good month for the app, but I recognize how others may strongly disagree with me on that.
tl;dr – The SNES app gets four Koei Strategy games this month: Nobunaga’s Ambition, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Lord of Darkness, Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire, and Uncharted Water: New Horizons. I know some players love these games, but I just cannot get into them at all, and I doubt most other players will be able to either. Not recommended.
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