Kessen Critic Reviews

The battles themselves are almost always immense, with more than 30,000 troops a side (that's the smallest battle I can remember in the experience) but you don't get that feeling of enormity.

The bottom line, Kessen is a masterpiece in more ways than one and can keep even the most hardcore fan occupied for some time.

Despite a multitude of polygonal eye-candy and the largest amount of high-quality FMV ever seen in a game, its otherwise spare graphics and lazy AI won't appeal to everyone.

If you want a strategic military simulation with immense amounts of depth, coupled with incredible visuals, Kessen is your game.

Encompasses fantastic graphical prowess with equally fantastic gameplay and depth.

Never mind that the story is fantastic--especially because it's based on real history -- the one thing that will get this gem some serious press is the overload of eye candy.

Though whoever commissioned the dub will be smitten at the last by the hammer of justice, Kessen is a great game otherwise, one of the best-looking, and more than that the most accessible console strategy title to come down the pike in a long while.

A masterpiece in it's genre. It's a shame its a genre that most casual players won't like.

One of the best console strategy games ever made.

This is more like a Japanese version of "Gone With the Wind" than a videogame.

The game's biggest downfall is that it isn't particularly difficult.

You're welcome to nod knowingly, and call Kessen a tremendous game, a work of art; it is. But think very, very carefully before actually buying it.

A brilliant lesson in game making as well as in history--and like history, it repeats itself again and again and again.

This is not a game for the impatient, and some gamers might find the slow pace and long battles to get a bit boring. But ruling all of Japan should take a while, right?

Stunning visuals and sounds. The only question is whether you are willing to sit down and play the game, with its continuously redundant nature.

The battles soon result in simplistic tat-for-tat assaults using the boosted special attacks whilst the tactical differences between various sections is questionable.

The game is fun to watch (and that's mostly what you'll be doing) for a couple of hours, but beyond that the repetitive pre-scripted cut-scenes and ease of play will leave you bored.

It seems as if the story actually is more important than the game.

An excellent game ... if you like games with a low replay value.

Sadly, the controls in the Battle screen are totally counterintuitive, making it a slow, tedious chore to command your units.