Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence
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Critic Reviews for Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence
Though it may scare off many players with its plodding pace and immediately complex array of commands, Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence is an engrossing and fiercely detailed journey through feudal Japan, offering a deep, lengthy strategy experience that simply can't be matched on PS4. It's not for everyone, but if you surrender yourself to its intricacies you may well find yourself crafting your own ornate strategies for victory long into the night.
If you have the time, Nobunaga's Ambition is a rewarding and immersive experience; you'll be bathing in its wealth of options and historical depth for months.
Its pace may be too plodding for some and it certainly seems somewhat backwards or dated in relief with other modern strategy games, but Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence still remains an ornate and absorbing title that kept me engaged for hours on end and surely will continue to do so.
Over the years, Koei has clearly continued to refine it's original strategy template, layering an interlocking mesh of game systems and mechanics. When the cogs start turning, Nobunaga's Ambition becomes this intriguing spectacle as clans employ a variety of strategies in order to adapt, survive, and expand. Although far from perfect, this is likely the best grand strategy title you'll find on a home console.
The graphics aren't exactly pretty, battles can be cumbersome, and even the tutorial is brutally unforgiving. But underneath the rough edges lies an undeniably competent game, one that will challenge you first and foremost, but also a game that will reward you for putting in the hours that it requires.
A long-awaited localization of a famed franchise that fails to make an impact. With little depth or strategy, this is a game designed for those who love Japanese history or are franchise diehards. Only that love will keep you wanting to play through the game more than once.
A few drawbacks in the game won't stop you from enjoying this in-depth strategy game and pouring an exorbitant amount of time into propelling your Lord to the top of the Feudal food chain.
Nobunaga's Ambition is an incredibly detailed game. It has a huge barrier to entry but if you can get over it, then the game can and will absorb you. There are weaknesses, the biggest actually being the sheer detail the game goes into when upgrading such as roads, it feels like needless busywork which should be streamlined. By no means is this perfect, there is a lot that could be improved, but for what it offers, Nobunaga's Ambition is well worth looking at. The huge downside is the sheer cost of the game, plus the fact that Koei Tecmo are charging up to half of the original price of the game on extra scenarios.
