Way back when Nintendo initially revealed the Switch 2 and its sleek announcement video showed off those whizzing Joy-Con appearing to act like a mouse, it was inevitable the Japanese gaming giant was catering for an increasing accommodation of strategy titles. Yes, there had been a few on the original Switch – Sid Meier’s Civilization VI a notable stand-out – but like with all the consoles, the barrier of using analogue sticks and buttons always stands in the way of matching a true PC-like strategy experience.
Well, step forward Koei Tecmo, with the first early test case on what the Switch 2’s Joy-Con can do as mice, with its port of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition – billed as the DLC-included definitive release of 2022’s entry in the long-running historical series charting the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. Fans of Koei’s Samurai Warriors franchise will be well versed in the story here, taking place in the 16th century when figures like Nobunaga Oda (and many, many others that are all part of playable clans) vied for control of the entire nation.
Unlike Koei’s action orientated Samurai Warriors franchise mentioned previously, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is a grand strategy game tasking the player with navigating their economy, diplomacy and – when the time comes – warfare, all to capture territory by force or coercion. Civilization VI might be the most recognisable strategy experience for many playing their Switch, but in terms of sheer detail and things to consider every in-game month, Nobunaga’s Ambition is simply in a different tier of complexity.
Where 2K’s vision of strategy lays its information out in bite-sized and aesthetically approachable chunks, Koei’s mammoth historical simulation is packed to the rafters with lists and information. Cities on the map become sprawling as they develop. There are numbers all over the screen with everything from troops to gold. Information is thrown around more than the arrows fired on the battlefield. That’s not to make a judgement on which approach is better; both cater of course for different play styles and moods. However, it does make the case of just how detailed Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening truly is. Even after dozens of hours of play, the surface is still being scratched teasing out the entirety of this behemoth.
As an example of that scope, there are more than 2,200 officers, each with their own stats and traits. As part of the gameplay loop, those officers can be hired, trained and given their own castles and dominions to look after. An officer with good leadership and civil skills will thrive at autonomously developing their assigned region, streamlining the process and leaving the ruler to deal with more pressing issues. Any fans of either the Nobunaga’s Ambition series or its adjacent Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise will be familiar with the general pattern of play.
The games usually fall into two general gameplay camps depending on the specific entry. There are the individual officer orientated versions, which could best be described more as an RPG than strategy. Then on the other hand (and where Awakening mostly falls) are the ruler orientated versions, taking control of a faction’s leader, with less microscopic character development and instead a broader empire development focus.
Awakening does an admirable job, however, of straddling both camps. While much of the time playing the game will be spent as a ruler developing towns, building crops, trading posts to increase gold production and land development, and pumping all those earnings into the act of diplomacy and war, there are a significant amount of historical and personal events that do a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life, despite what – on the face of it – could be interpreted as a dry and boring simulator.
Where Awakening maybe doesn’t hit the mark as much as some of those past Koei entries is in combat. From a presentation point of view, it is a high watermark for the series in showing little armies fighting one another across the battlefield, as opposed to bland icons some previous entries used. However, while streamlining some aspects of such a complicated overall experience in Awakening is a wise move, the combat unfortunately feels a touch too ‘hands off’.
Officers make their own independent moves as they rush across maps capturing points and fighting the enemy generals. Those officers will have their own sets of abilities that can be activated, but again they do this automatically, and often the ultimate outcome of any battle doesn’t feel like it relies on that much specific user input. While it is still possible to directly control each unit – unlike, for example, the highly regarded PS2 classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII – battles don’t tend to feel as strategic and engaging as they could do, although siege battles are more fun than the typical land engagements given they naturally set up more structured combat scenarios.
Equally, despite the colourful history, beautiful character art and event cutscenes, there is no doubt about it, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is not for the faint of heart when it comes to learning the mechanics. The tutorials and recommended starting rulers do a creditable job in introducing some of the bare bones, but this is a game that requires the commitment of dozens of hours before even being able to work through one of the handful of scenarios and historical starting points.
At some points it is a real slog – there is just no two ways about it – and many important aspects of gameplay are simply not explored in an accessible way as part of the tutorial. Unfortunately, a lot of the learning experience is trial and error. Equally, despite designing the experience to work adequately on consoles, there is still a significant challenge to overcome while using traditional console controls and working on a TV.
Given the Switch 2’s screen resolution combined with the number of menus and lists to jump through – scattered across a whole variety of button presses – it would be very hard to persuade any true fan of the franchise to choose this version over PC. However, this is where the Switch 2’s trump card comes good. Change to mouse controls and suddenly the right Joy-Con acts as a traditional PC mouse. It allows clicking across menus with ease, and zooming in and out of the map is made infinitely easier. There’s no fix for the resolution and screen size obviously – particularly playing undocked – but there is no doubt the ability to utilise mouse controls is transformational in terms of the overall enjoyment of Awakening.
