2 
0 Open-world RPG city builder Sengoku Dynasty is back at Thumb Culture, now at full release as of November 7th this year. Developed by Superkami and published by Toplitz Productions, Sengoku Dynasty is currently available for £24.99 on Steam.
Forge A New Beginning
Sengoku Dynasty is back with features familiar to my first look at it, such as city building, crafting, and management. However, the brand new Daimyo conquering system is now implemented, which we’ll dive into later. The devs have also added support for female character customisation.
Gameplay
There are five modes to choose from; Creative, Chill Out, Normal, Hardcore and Custom. After customising your character (the customisation options are pretty light), you witness the story’s beginnings told through a beautiful painting style and hop straight in.
Feudal Japan is dangerous, and you and other people from your village decide to flee your war-torn village by boat in search of safer, greener pastures. After things go awry and you wash up on an unknown shore, you’re greeted by the legend you and the other villagers heard and dreamed of; the Peasant Kingdom. The Peasant Kingdom is a land where people live freely, unguarded by soldiers, unlike everywhere else. Build a new life, and community, become a leader and bring yourself and others towards prosperity in a new land.
Crafting, Tools & Cooking
As per the early access of Sengoku Dynasty, you need to gather materials to craft tools (which have durability, so stay prepared!) to begin your city-building journey. You can access all your crafted tools within your tool wheel, such as hammers and pickaxes. Better materials make more durable tools and also allow you to collect rarer materials. Conveniently, you’re able to craft on the go, which makes for a smoother start as opposed to traipsing back and forth to a workbench.
However, you will need a cooking station such as a campfire or Irori (sunken hearth fire) to cook food. While you can feed on berries, roots and raw meat, they won’t fill your food stat as sufficiently as cooked food. They also have a high chance of leaving you sick or poisoned.
Building, People & Villages
Having spaces for people to live and storage for resources is key to building up villages and communities. You can build living spaces, farming buildings, defence structures and more. Some buildings also require you to build mandatory furniture before they are fully complete. You won’t have to do everything alone, though.
Villagers are no slouches; you can assign them jobs such as foraging and blacksmithing. Provided they are happy and have a bed to rest their heads, they’ll head to work. Keeping workers happy is simple enough by making sure the General Storage has with plenty of food for them to take whenever they need. There are other existing villages out there. The people there have quests for you to embark on, and materials and goods to offer you. Goods are replenished for traders every season.
Skill Trees & Combat
There are four skill trees in Sengoku Dynasty. The Way Of The Leader helps make workers more efficient and offers bonuses for trading. The Way Of The Craftsman boosts the efficiency of gathering wood and ore by increasing the durability of tools and lowering stamina consumption. The Way Of The Warrior helps boost efficiency in combat and hunting. Finally, The Way Of The Monk. Monk is spiritual, increases how fast you earn XP for the other trees and adds bonuses to your stats.
Combat is a swing and hit, as it was during early access, and still fairly simple. I have yet to struggle with any enemies so far.
The Daimyo System
The newest, shiniest part of the 1.0 release of Sengoku Dynasty is the Daimyo system. On the map, you can track your progression towards becoming a Daimyo, achieved by liberating the regions of Nata Valley. To liberate regions, you must defeat faction members found either around or (more likely) at camps, and then their leaders.
Defeating the leaders grants a big one-time reward, such as unique recipe unlocks and a massive XP boost. Merchants return to the roads of liberated areas, and any workers living in these areas can attain unique resources, like ore to upgrade gear. Minor enemy activity remains even after liberating a region, so keep your guard up on those roads!
Graphics & Audio
The visuals and audio in Sengoku Dynasty are decent. While the textures may not be the most detailed or sharp, I think the bright colours, the lighting, and the reflective water more than makeup for it. The audio stings and sound effects sound clear, and the music is present but subtle, often fading in and out of notice.
Longevity
While open-world crafting games typically net a lot of hours, the developer’s additions to the 1.0 release of Sengoku Dynasty have bumped those hours up significantly. Besides the Daimyo system, the developers also added 40 achievements, perfect for the achievement hunters out there to sink their teeth into.
Final Thoughts
Sengoku Dynasty has a slow burn start, but as soon as things fall into place it’s quite a fun experience. My preference would be to play with friends and grow towns together, as being the only active player managing everything is slightly overwhelming sometimes. It’s improved a lot from the early access, however, and it’s a solid game. I’m glad to hear the developers have more plans with this game even after its current 1.0 launch and look forward to seeing what they have in store.
That’s why I award Sengoku Dynasty the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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