Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening Review (PS4) | Push Square

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Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is the sixteenth entry in the venerable strategy franchise (which celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year) from Koei and its most accessible yet. While still convoluted compared to even another strategy title of this scale, the love and dedication to Japan’s iconic Sengoku era and the larger-than-life personalities that populate it shine through.

The game is played on a massive and detailed map of Japan, with historical start points ranging from 1545 to 1614. This was a time of chaotic civil war in Japan’s history (known as Sengoku Jidai, or 'Warring States Period') making it the perfect setting for a grand strategy game. Players are free to choose any of the dozens of historical samurai daimyo (feudal lords) and write their own records. This includes legendary figures who remain famous five centuries later, such as Takeda Shingen, Date Masamune, Tokugawa Ieyasu (the eventual historical victor), and the first of Japan's great unifiers, The Demon King, Oda Nobunaga himself.

What happens next is up to the player; the competent AI will suggest historical objectives which offer direction, or you can attempt to rewrite history, with the idea being to do what even Nobunaga failed to accomplish: to unite feudal Japan’s fractured warring factions under a single banner.

This is primarily accomplished through the application of brute force, with thousands of ashigaru troops locked in titanic engagements. Everything in Awakening revolves around the colourful characters of the age, who will serve as your officers, and there are more than 2,000 unique, historical personalities to lead your faceless footsoldiers into battle.

Japan is divided into dozens of regions, each riddled with roads and pathways