Another week, another Rewind Review! This one just barely qualifies having been released way back in 2013! Back way before the flying cars, insta cleaning clothes, and weather control that Back to the Future II promised us this year. Though it’s not as old as some of the other games I have featured so far, this is still a great game to pickup on play if you get the chance.
A 2D tactical RPG, Skulls of the Shogun takes inspiration from other classic games like Final Fantasy Tactics, and Advance Wars. Taking place in a colorful cartoon world, Skulls of the Shogun takes this inspiration and rolls with it in all sorts of fun and intuitive ways.
Set in ancient Japan, you take the role of a recently deceased Shogun. Killed by his own lieutenant during battle, he is relegated to the afterlife as a skeleton. Faced with waiting in line with thousands of other fallen soldiers to the end of time waiting to get into the afterlife, the general instead decides to take matters into his own hands and raises an army to push his way to his rightful reward.
The playful art style mixes well with the almost constant shade of humour in the game. Dialogue and character choices are both funny, and light hearted. The third wall is broken often as the characters question not only the game mechanics, but the player’s actions. This cleverness tends to fade a little as the game proceeds, but not so much that it isn’t still funny at times.
Each character class has a unique look and animations. The only fault visually is occasionally the screen becomes crowded with units and objects and it can be difficult to pick out the object you want, though the game does try to assist with a pop up when several items are selected close together.
Each battle is a 1v1 turn based affair. The game starts you out with very basic commands and units and does a good job of dishing out new elements with each new battle. Every different unit comes with it’s own stats and abilities. Infantry have solid defence and good knockback, but are slow and don’t deal that much damage. Calvary have long movement range and high attack, but no knockback. There are various other units like archers and magic casters to fill out the ranks. Your general is also controllable in battle and gains new abilities as the story progresses.
Each of these units can be upgraded during any single battle in the unique manner of eating the skulls of fallen foes, even though as they will tell you themselves, it’s pretty gross. Each skull adds hit points to your units including your general, and when 3 skulls are consumed your unit becomes a demon and gains an extra action each turn. This extra action can be extremely useful in most battles. Along the way you will also find various potions and power ups to assist you in winning.
On later maps you will also be tasked with some minor resource management. Rice paddies can be conquered to give you rice to pay for new troops at barracks. There are also other buildings to be conquered to give you access to more powerful units. Rice paddies are limited, and each one including the other buildings can be conquered by the opposing force at any time. Controlling the map becomes very important on these levels.
Each map has different objectives, and several can be won in different ways. Defeating the enemy general, defeating all troops, or moving a unit to a specific marker may all be ways to win. Several maps have multiple stages and differing objectives in each stage. This with the overlapping humour keeps the game fresh and fun throughout.
This is a fun game with a long campaign, multiplayer options and a ton of laughs. With a regular price of $10.99 on Steam it’s definitely a bargain, and will fill up hours of your time. If you are a fan of strategy games, good humour and want a game that is easy to get into, this is a great one for you.
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Missed last weeks Rewind Review? You can catch it here!
MicBeMac Games 