Overall 8.7 Graphics 5.5 Sound 7 Addictive 8 Story 6 Depth 7.5 Difficulty 7
7.6
Unite the whole world in one empire endings
KOEI strategy games, long before Dynasty Warriors added gold to their coffers, these menu driven games of plots and conquest were their bread and butter. Genghis Khan II is much like the more well-known Romance of the 3 Kingdoms series by KOEI, except in this you are the ruler, and are battling other countries. I think this game is easier to play for novice players, and can be a good way to get into other KOEI offerings.
Graphics: 5
You get a headshot of each general/king/child/wife, and a tiny picture of the climate of the country you command. The map is bright and colorful, but not especially detailed. This does make it very easy to see borders, and the large numbers for the territories make it simple to switch between them. In fact everything about the graphics is simplistic. The menus are not particularly awesome, very plain - and the tasks feature pictures instead of telling you what the action is - this is novel, but a little weird. For instance, you have a son who is old enough to be a general, I would think, we'll lets go to the general icon, but that only appoints fresh people from the street. You have to play around with the pictures until you understand their functionality. The look is again, simple, but having a clean graphic style for the reading is key.
I did not like the graphics in the wars, and that hurts a lot as Khan is trying for a realistic approach to how you play your ruler. The soldier units are big and puffy looking, something that might have been at home on a whimsical NES game. You do have a lot of options as far as troop types, but an army of doughy elephant riders or squat little samurai didn't do much to make me feel the serious of the game's tone.
Sound: 8
There are many countries to conquer, and governing them allows you to hear the music for each region, making for about 9 or so unique soundtracks to your areas if you owned the whole map. Its a nice touch each sound is different. While I found battles ridiculous looking, the music is actually pretty good. Nothing felt wasted in this area, and its one of the best parts of the game. The fanfare when an army wins on the overhead map was probably my favorite, full of glory.
Addictiveness: 8
The ability to choose different timelines and different rulers is a strong point to these games, and adds a lot of replay. Once you get the ball rolling and take over some countries, you might be able to steamroll several in a row. But you also have to worry about your own governors, who might turn and rebel if they are not loyal enough. The struggle to have a military to expand, and have good enough generals to not only fight, but also advise, use diplomacy and rule a city well in peace-time - these are the core struggles of the game. The randomization of getting skilled officers is also a nice touch.
Story: 7
As this is from their historical simulation series, the game does a decent job of following the path of the mongol empire. You can play the first mode - which is a small map where Temujin must unite the warring tribes of Mongolia.. succeed (or just
select) the second mode to play against the world. The third and final mode is set in Kublai's time, after the Genghis' death. I would have liked to see some of Genghis' tactics or even some quotes from him used. The mode I liked best was the 2nd, where any army had a decent chance of winning, most in small one or two vassal states. However, other than his great stats and the chance to play him up from the beginning of the game in mode one, there isn't a lot of Genghis influence in this game.
Depth: 7
This is a strategy game, so there is many options for you. However, I wanted to compare it to its brethren, how does it stack against similar games in the same family? I've played a lot of KOEI games, and this is a more basic setup of commands than I'm used to. Some, like the diplomacy, could really use a shot in the arm. You get to make alliances, threaten weaker states, and thats about it. You can cannot use your adviser to try to convince two rulers to fight against each other, or tempt opposing generals to join your side with secret letters. Being this is a game about conquering empires, I found this lack of tactics glaring.
However, this game offers two features that almost make up for the lack of intrigue. One is the ability to have children and use them later to benefit your country. You can have many children or maybe only one, it all depends on the relationship with your wife, which sadly, you don't control (as far as I know). In playing the King of England, it seemed his wife was always mad at him, and had to visit her often just to have one heir. As opposed to when I played Emperor of Japan, and his wife was so happy they had 10 kids by the time the game was over! Your boys can be generals and girls married to your NON-family generals to make them 100% loyal. Having a family aspect is quite in line with a dynasty. I also liked if your king died, your next in line would take a wife immediately from whatever province he lives in, staying in touch with the conquered countries theme.
The second option, and one used very well, is the idea of traders from Europe, Araby, Russia, and China. Each territory makes a product, and you can sell it, or have them sent to other areas. The normal shops you deal with usually don't give you a great price for it, thats where the foreign trade comes in.
An example. You start your turn, and can see on a menu that Chinese traders have made it to Italy, where you are based. You also have European traders there. You have a lot of jewelry saved up to sell. Your home Italian traders, they see these necklaces all the time, so they offer you 100. But the Chinese trader, he loves that stuff, and will offer you 156 per unit if you sell them to him. This trade dynamic is not complex, but adds a lot of depth.
As far as depth in war, there are some elements. Your units take up a set amount of space, and have limited movement. You can charge an enemy and sometimes stun them, or trick them into coming out into the open where all your soldiers can gang up on them. Archers also have the option to fire from far away. There are no formations, nor a home advantage for being invaded - a lot more could have been done.
Difficulty: 6
Its all in the choices. Some rulers are better than others. I personally suggest if you don't want to be Khan, try being Japan or England/France. Its easier to start at one end than fight foes from all sides. Some is out of your hands, like the random generals you get, or where the traders go to. But once you get a lucky break with the traders, choosing your battles is critical. Sometimes you will get so big the enemy can barely keep up with you as you squash one country, then another.
I actually found the battles too drawn out and dull to put up with, so I've played the game twice with the computer making all attacks for me (skip all battles). This shows that the game is not too difficult, as long as you pick your fights wisely.
OVERALL 7.6
This is a good beginner entry to KOEI games, and not a bad game at all. It lacks the machinations and plotting of other games, but its solid and offers a lot of options. Also this is the only one on SNES that can give you global wars of knights vs. samurais, to finally put aside which troop is best.
Graphics 5 Sound 8 Addictive 8 Story 7 Depth 7 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 08-16-14
Review Replies: 0
7.5
Genghis Khan II: Truth be Told Fireproof
I was exposed to Genghis Khan at a very young age. While other children were playing toys and enjoying the classic Mario, I was stomping whole nations to conquer the world. I always loved the platform Mario and Link were built upon but I always loved platforms Strategy games were built from as they supplied multiple ways to play the same game. Genghis Khan 2 gave me something to look forward to by supplying multiple ways to play the same game and from different viewpoints. I could play the game as Temujin, also known as Genghis Khan, where the game was built somewhat in favor of the Mongol king or I could choose other great nations like Japan as Minamoto or England as John I. As an avid fan of true strategy, I've enjoyed many long years with Genghis Khan and even though it's not my favorite, it is a true strategy classic in my eyes.
Overall: 7.5
Taking into consideration that the game is moderately difficult and there's a short learning curve, it deserves a solid 7.5 rating. There's several options within the game that can change your experience making it better or worse. As a fan, I've always like my variety in options and the more in depth they are, the happier I generally become. One thing I like most is your ability to play as multiple nations, however, there's about 30 in total and you can only play as 6 or 7 different nations depending on the scenario. One of the things I dislike the most is how long it takes in-between turns. Playing the game legitimately from the actual Super Nintendo would take eons because you may need to wait a minimum of 1 minute to 15 minutes to get your next turn. Of course this varies by the settings you choose and whether or not you utilize the fast forward offered by the SNES emulator effects the overall outcome of the game. Other aspects like Graphics and Sound actually hinder the strategy game's quality. Knowing that Genghis Khan 2 was made by Koei truly represents quality strategy despite it's lack of quality in graphics and sound.
Graphics: 6
As you can very well see by looking at the game's screenshots or video, the game is somewhat square overall. Unlike Civilization, (another game published by Koei) where all units are square, Genghis Khan did take it a little further. I can't say that I enjoy many of the graphics because most of them are pretty similar and you see only a few of the same animations throughout the entire game. Usually it's an army moving across the screen or it's units in combat. When you're not in a war you don't see many animations at all. These are limited to diplomacy and weather, which don't happen very often. Sometimes while on the battlefield you may witness a Typhoon crossing the play area but this is uncommon and only happens when a coastal nation is effected by Typhoon (Which is also uncommon). One thing I can say I like is the portraits of the various characters. Unfortunately, there's a limit to the number of good generals you'll come across and eventually you'll only have generic pictures which have different names and different stats (if you're lucky). I'm pretty disappointed in Genghis Khan for only providing a
select few generals with actual talent and even more so disappointed that enemy nations don't actually use their good generals.
Sound: 6
The graphics and the sound are actually on the same level. I feel like the music truly represents the game and makes the game feel like it's actually during that time period. I really enjoyed the music for a few years but it will become annoying after awhile. The most played music is either the battle theme or whichever nation you take your turns in the most. There's a little variety but there's some moments when you play the game you just can't progress further and you're caught listening to the same thing over and over.. I can deal with listening to some of it but it might frustrate you after some point. Some of the songs are limited to a few areas of the world while others span a larger region. I can't say there is anything that really stands out involving the game's sounds.
Addictiveness: 8
I've played Genghis Khan 2 more times than I can count or estimate. I've owned the game since about the time I was an infant is as far back as I can think. Despite the game's lack of sound and graphics, I've always been entertained by it's depth. It's very likely I'll continue to play this game for years to come but as time progresses I've grown a little away from the game and it's become less fun. Of course, I've also played this game for close to 20 years in total. As someone who likes to explore options, I've had to find my own ways to challenge myself because there's no options to change the game's difficulty like there is in Civilization. Unfortunately, this is one aspect of the game that has limited my time playing the game. Once you learned all there is to learn about it, there's less reason to play it and less fun to follow. Knowing what the AI will do every game because tedious and boring after awhile. That's ultimately why I play the game less and less.
Story: 5
Story in a game based on historical events is a really odd rating to give because I don't know whether or not I should rate the game high because it's realistic or rate the game low for lacking imagination. Genghis Khan, Temujin, is a man who united the tribes of the Mongolian Steppes then proceeded to invade China and conquer a majority of the known world. Instead of following the real story, you're able to take over any kingdom during this time frame and proceed to conquer the world if possible. Unlike Mongolia, other nations don't have access to as many good generals. Unfortunately, the story starts in the Mongolian Steppes and proceeds through the World Conquest scenario as Mongolia only. You can play as other nations but you don't need to unite any other nations and therefore you have what the game starts you with and that's sometimes too little.
Depth: 8
Always my favorite section of every review. Genghis Khan 2 provides a variety of tools to look forward to. Unlike most strategy games, Koei's games, usually offer a loyalty system. If you treat your people right, they'll work harder for you or even help you in some instances. Unlike other Koei games, Genghis Khan 2 only offers a population loyalty that you can change based on certain actions. There is loyalty for your generals but you can't see it and you probably can't change it either. Other tools the game offers involves the game options "View Combat" "View Wars". These 2 options allow you to watch all wars with all "Legions" and it doesn't matter who is fighting who. When you remove these 2 options you'll get different battle results. I noticed that by watching combat, sometimes you'll capture the Leader and the war immediately ends. When you capture the 1st Legion and there's other Legions owned by your enemy, they'll sometimes join you and add to your army. This changes how far some attacks will go compared to not watching.
Some aspects of the game's incorporate tactics in war, like Ambush or resupply. When you ambush, you command your Legion to hide in a forest and attack an in-coming enemy Legion. This attack causes considerable damage to the ambushed Legion. Supply allows you to take food from your people while out on the battlefield to keep your army morale higher and from taking heavy losses but at the cost of your people's loyalty. Other options allow you to hunt in the forest to resupply and feed your army. Sometimes, a nation will have a low population loyalty and they'll revolt. Even though it's rare and revolts generally never work, they may conquer a territory (Especially a territory that is not defended). Depending on the loyalty of your generals, if you made an unloyal general a governor of a territory, they may proclaim their independence and remove that territory from your nation becoming a new target. If you're really unlucky, you'll have stationed 20 units in that territory and they become a major thorn in your side, sometimes in the center of your nation. One last look at the game's depth offers the ability to make a Prince a general and marry off your daughter. While you war, lose generals, conquer land etc. You'll want to visit your family on occasion. Doing this often enough usually results in a child that you can use. Princes are always loyal and if the Leader (for example: Genghis Khan) were to ever die, you'll want a heir to the throne. If you get a daughter, you can choose who to marry her off to, making that General impossible to leave your army, unless they die.
Difficulty: 8
Even though the game is not entirely difficult to play, 8 is a solid base. War is never a difficult thing to understand, if you don't have enough strength to conquer an opponent, you don't attack. In many possible situations you may find yourself defending or you might find you can't get a good rate on the market to sell goods. Other situations make it difficult for you to find trustworthy and skilled generals which ultimately defines your true strength, not just by number of units. Some factors like Policy and Labor effect what you produce or even invest in. Depending on which routes you decide to take and how you play the game makes the game somewhat difficult in different ways. You're limited to a certain number of "Action Points" per turn. By performing an action like "Training" or "Battle" the cost is deducted from your total Action Points. Different leaders have different costs and amounts of action points so it really effects what you can do and how often you can do things. Some games your difficulty might be a 9 or a 10 and it's impossible to play while other games you'll find it much more in your favor. It's very unpredictable.
Conclusion
Strategy gamers should take a look at this game because it represents what I'd consider a quality strategy game of it's time. There's many options in the game you can explore and if you're like me, enjoy playing different nations under different circumstances, you might find this enjoyable. At the same time, you may find the game annoying or eventually frustrate you depending on it's difficulty/sound/graphics. Some games you'll love, other games you'll hate. There's no way to change the difficultly and no matter what you do, the computer tends to try and copy you. If you acquire 9000 gold, they'll somehow have about the same. If you acquire 20 units, they'll quickly acquire 18. There's a balance to playing the game and it doesn't take too long to learn it all.
Graphics 6 Sound 6 Addictive 8 Story 5 Depth 8 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 4/5
Submitted: 09-11-11
Updated: 10-05-14
Review Replies: 1
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