This is an abridged version of a full review which can be found here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/koeiwarriors/my-review-for-na-awakening-t25974.html

Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is a difficult game to judge since it is the embodiment of the best and worst of Koei design philosophy. Most of the series fundamentals are still here in recognizable forms, but everything must operate within the new emphases on automation and restricting agency, which I feel severely holds back the game. For those who are not familiar with Nobunaga's Ambition, it is a grand strategy series set in Sengoku Japan. The series has traditionally had a strong emphasis on personnel management, with those personnel being historical characters existing in a historical context; many entries in it have also allowed for player management of tactical battles and employed a city-builder inspired system for economic development, which overall gives NA a very distinctive character that defies easy explanation beyond saying that, no, it is not like TW: Shogun 2.

Good:

Personnel Management is fully fleshed out and rewarding. Awakening puts its best foot forwards on one of the series flagship mechanics by making managing your personnel require actual management again. Loyalty is something that has to be actively monitored, hiring retainers takes actual effort, personnel have a hierarchy within your clan, how and what officers you assign where will dramatically affect the policies and strategies available to you, and personnel can be assigned actual fiefs instead of existing ephemerally within a castle. There is also a new system called direct talks where you will be able to negotiate directly with retainers over a number of possible issues.

Diplomacy is also one of the series' better iterations. While Sphere of Influence's Coalitions are sadly missing, its trust system and the ability to broker different actions with it are still around, while it also reintroduces actual negotiation from Iron Triangle (e.g. truces and tribute can be brokered in terms of exchanging gold, castles, treasures, etc. instead of just trust).

Policies are brought back from Sphere of Influence but take a few cues from Iron Triangle's technologies. They no longer have downsides beyond the gold upkeep, but must be researched over time by officers and have their effects unlocked/improved in tiers and will always be active once researched (unless you bankrupt). Requirements for unlocking them may also be dependent on what is physically available to your clan (e.g. no mining policies if you have no gold mines) and what officers you have in your council.

Espionage has also been brought back as a proper dimension after being neglected for many years. You can once again raze castles, sabotage supply lines, assassinate/wound enemy officers, incite riots, disrupt alliances and much more in addition to the usual arranging of defections.

Tactical Battles have strategic consequences. Many grand strategy games divorce the outcomes of their battles from any immediate consequences beyond the material losses of the troops involved. Awakening, however, has a system called Authority, where if a battle is large enough its consequences will spill over into the political sphere. If you defeat tens of thousands of enemy soldiers in a single battle or capture an important defensive base, the officers of that enemy clan will lose loyalty and some may reach out to you to defect, as will nearby castles and counties, and you will gain prestige and the respect of nearby clans (and you can be on the losing side of this).

Mixed:

Warfare is a marriage of Taishi and Sphere of Influence's systems. Roads from SoI have returned, but the county system that forms the basis of the map is an evolution of Taishi's - so while it allows the strategic maneuvering of the former and the army assembly of the latter, does not do either as well. The battlefield is more involved than before, with chokepoints and points of interest scattered across every battle map, but movement is along predetermined paths - meaning that while the battles are more tactical and resolve the total lack of an OOB that SoI/Taishi suffered from, it also reduces player interactivity. Siege battles can also be incredibly fun or annoying depending who is defending.

Counties are a continuation of Taishi's tile system, but better. You can give them out to officers, they each have separate economic values and potentials, many counties host a unique improvement that can be built and some even hold a landmark, which is a unique improvement that provides a global bonus once invested in. The criticism I have of this system is that it is the most indepth part of the game's civil system rather than being a backdrop to castle development.

Bad:

GUI in strategy games have been deteriorating as everything becomes more 'streamlined', and Awakening is no exception: this is probably the worst GUI in a NA game. This is owing to a mixture of clearly being designed with console controls in mind and information often being obfuscated. It's not an unworkable GUI, but there is a lot more clicking and even someone like me who doesn't typically care about GUI design noticed it.

Civil mechanics are also at their worst yet. Rather than requiring any city-building that rewards creativity, investment or interactivity it's little better than a Paradox game where you just slap a building into an ephemeral slot and watch a number increase. City-building has been the biggest casualty of Koei's efforts to reinvent the wheel; SoI, Tendou, Iron Triangle and Rise to Power all had excellent city-building mechanics that rewarded player involvement and offered massive variation depending on location and playstyle, and this just doesn't. Because of how siege battles work you can't even customize/upgrade castles, which is something that even Taishi had in a very barebones format and is a staple of the series.

AI Diplomacy is also awful in Awakening. Not because the AI is irrational or won't negotiate with the human, but because the devs appear to have made the conscious design decision to prevent the AI from forming dynamic alliances. This is a beyond baffling decision - the AI dynamically forming alliances has been a feature of every NA game and it has actually been very good at arranging them to counterbalance the player and other AIs.

Restricting Player Agency has been the theme of this game, and while it is tolerable since the AI is actually competent, it's not something I want to continue - I want to play a game, not have the game play itself for me. NA as a series has had a l impressive history of offering multiple tools to the player to delegate issues to the AI to help reduce micro, but these were either always optional, or could be ajusted by game settings and mechanics - here it is mandatory. It would be tolerable if this game had a dedicated officer play/feudal system, but it does not, which brings me to the final point.

Reinventing the Wheel is something Koei likes doing with these games, and often it just means that interesting systems are never fully developed or built upon between iterations for the sake of giving each game a unique spin. The county system, personnel management and increased emphasis on espionage feel like they would have fit in perfectly with SoI:Ascension's officer play, and if Awakening brought that and proper city-building I could overlook having my agency greatly restricted for the sake of a better feudalism simulation. That is unfortunately not the case, and the result is that while Awakening does not feel unfinished, it does feel incomplete.

Summary:

I would give NA:Awakening a cautious recommendation. The thing ultimately tipping this review in its favor would be that Awakening, like SoI, comes with the PuK (the single, massive expansion pack that Koei always does for these games) by default for the localized version. Get it on sale if you're on the fence.

This is an abridged version of a full review which can be found here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/koeiwarriors/my-review-for-na-awakening-t25974.html Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is a difficult game to judge since it is the embodiment of the best and worst of Koei design philosophy. Most of the series fundamentals are still here in recognizable forms, but everything must operate within the new emphases on automation and restricting agency, which I feel severely holds back the game. For those who are not familiar with Nobunaga's Ambition, it is a grand strategy series set in Sengoku Japan. The series has traditionally had a strong emphasis on personnel management, with those personnel being historical characters existing in a historical context; many entries in it have also allowed for player management of tactical battles and employed a city-builder inspired system for economic development, which overall gives NA a very distinctive character that defies easy explanation beyond saying that, no, it is not like TW: Shogun 2. Good: Personnel Management is fully fleshed out and rewarding. Awakening puts its best foot forwards on one of the series flagship mechanics by making managing your personnel require actual management again. Loyalty is something that has to be actively monitored, hiring retainers takes actual effort, personnel have a hierarchy within your clan, how and what officers you assign where will dramatically affect the policies and strategies available to you, and personnel can be assigned actual fiefs instead of existing ephemerally within a castle. There is also a new system called direct talks where you will be able to negotiate directly with retainers over a number of possible issues. Diplomacy is also one of the series' better iterations. While Sphere of Influence's Coalitions are sadly missing, its trust system and the ability to broker different actions with it are still around, while it also reintroduces actual negotiation from Iron Triangle (e.g. truces and tribute can be brokered in terms of exchanging gold, castles, treasures, etc. instead of just trust). Policies are brought back from Sphere of Influence but take a few cues from Iron Triangle's technologies. They no longer have downsides beyond the gold upkeep, but must be researched over time by officers and have their effects unlocked/improved in tiers and will always be active once researched (unless you bankrupt). Requirements for unlocking them may also be dependent on what is physically available to your clan (e.g. no mining policies if you have no gold mines) and what officers you have in your council. Espionage has also been brought back as a proper dimension after being neglected for many years. You can once again raze castles, sabotage supply lines, assassinate/wound enemy officers, incite riots, disrupt alliances and much more in addition to the usual arranging of defections. Tactical Battles have strategic consequences. Many grand strategy games divorce the outcomes of their battles from any immediate consequences beyond the material losses of the troops involved. Awakening, however, has a system called Authority, where if a battle is large enough its consequences will spill over into the political sphere. If you defeat tens of thousands of enemy soldiers in a single battle or capture an important defensive base, the officers of that enemy clan will lose loyalty and some may reach out to you to defect, as will nearby castles and counties, and you will gain prestige and the respect of nearby clans (and you can be on the losing side of this). Mixed: Warfare is a marriage of Taishi and Sphere of Influence's systems. Roads from SoI have returned, but the county system that forms the basis of the map is an evolution of Taishi's - so while it allows the strategic maneuvering of the former and the army assembly of the latter, does not do either as well. The battlefield is more involved than before, with chokepoints and points of interest scattered across every battle map, but movement is along predetermined paths - meaning that while the battles are more tactical and resolve the total lack of an OOB that SoI/Taishi suffered from, it also reduces player interactivity. Siege battles can also be incredibly fun or annoying depending who is defending. Counties are a continuation of Taishi's tile system, but better. You can give them out to officers, they each have separate economic values and potentials, many counties host a unique improvement that can be built and some even hold a landmark, which is a unique improvement that provides a global bonus once invested in. The criticism I have of this system is that it is the most indepth part of the game's civil system rather than being a backdrop to castle development. Bad: GUI in strategy games have been deteriorating as everything becomes more 'streamlined', and Awakening is no exception: this is probably the worst GUI in a NA game. This is owing to a mixture of clearly being designed with console controls in mind and information often being obfuscated. It's not an unworkable GUI, but there is a lot more clicking and even someone like me who doesn't typically care about GUI design noticed it. Civil mechanics are also at their worst yet. Rather than requiring any city-building that rewards creativity, investment or interactivity it's little better than a Paradox game where you just slap a building into an ephemeral slot and watch a number increase. City-building has been the biggest casualty of Koei's efforts to reinvent the wheel; SoI, Tendou, Iron Triangle and Rise to Power all had excellent city-building mechanics that rewarded player involvement and offered massive variation depending on location and playstyle, and this just doesn't. Because of how siege battles work you can't even customize/upgrade castles, which is something that even Taishi had in a very barebones format and is a staple of the series. AI Diplomacy is also awful in Awakening. Not because the AI is irrational or won't negotiate with the human, but because the devs appear to have made the conscious design decision to prevent the AI from forming dynamic alliances. This is a beyond baffling decision - the AI dynamically forming alliances has been a feature of every NA game and it has actually been very good at arranging them to counterbalance the player and other AIs. Restricting Player Agency has been the theme of this game, and while it is tolerable since the AI is actually competent, it's not something I want to continue - I want to play a game, not have the game play itself for me. NA as a series has had a l impressive history of offering multiple tools to the player to delegate issues to the AI to help reduce micro, but these were either always optional, or could be ajusted by game settings and mechanics - here it is mandatory. It would be tolerable if this game had a dedicated officer play/feudal system, but it does not, which brings me to the final point. Reinventing the Wheel is something Koei likes doing with these games, and often it just means that interesting systems are never fully developed or built upon between iterations for the sake of giving each game a unique spin. The county system, personnel management and increased emphasis on espionage feel like they would have fit in perfectly with SoI:Ascension's officer play, and if Awakening brought that and proper city-building I could overlook having my agency greatly restricted for the sake of a better feudalism simulation. That is unfortunately not the case, and the result is that while Awakening does not feel unfinished, it does feel incomplete. Summary: I would give NA:Awakening a cautious recommendation. The thing ultimately tipping this review in its favor would be that Awakening, like SoI, comes with the PuK (the single, massive expansion pack that Koei always does for these games) by default for the localized version. Get it on sale if you're on the fence.