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0 Sengoku Dynasty started life in Early Access on Steam back in 2023. Thumb Culture even previewed it! Then — after a year of updates — the full game launched in November 2024. Now, developer Superkami have released their feudal Japan simulator for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Today we’ll be reviewing the PlayStation 5 version. Current Steam user reviews cite some technical and performance issues, but will that be the case on Sony’s hardware? Sengoku Dynasty is available from the PlayStation Store from the 21st August, priced at £24.99.
I Studied the Blade… and the Axe… and the Hammer.
Since I never played Sengoku Dynasty when it was in Early Access, nor its full PC release, this review won’t be comparing the two. However, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how the game has improved since it first launched. Let me know in the comments below!
Gameplay
After fleeing a war-torn nation, your created character is shipwrecked on their way to the fabled Peasant Kingdom. A place where people are free and life is good. Except that’s not quite how it turns out! The kingdom — actually named Nata Valley — isn’t quite as peaceful as once thought. With rogue samurai and bandits threatening the land, many villages are left in ruins. Thus, you’re quickly put to work! Tasked not only with rebuilding the land for its citizens, but also with liberating various regions of the world.
You’ll have a few things to focus on in Sengoku Dynasty. These boil down to several gameplay mechanics, such as crafting, management, combat, and exploration. Before going into detail with that, let’s look at the main mechanic used to progress the story: the Daimyo system. This sees you journeying across the map to free areas from various bandits and bad guys. Each region will need a specific goal to be achieved before being able to reclaim that section, with bonuses and new recipes earned each time you’re victorious. It’s a simple system, but one that gives a satisfying sense of reward as NPCs start treating you with more respect, and you start to see more merchants travelling the safer roads.
Reclaiming land will mean you’ll be seeing your fair share of combat. Which, in Sengoku Dynasty, is relatively basic. It’s fine, offering up a few combos and a variety of weapons. The main issue stems from enemy AI. In short, it’s pretty underwhelming. There’s little strategy involved aside from mashing the attack button and blocking incoming strikes (when the enemy decides to retaliate, that is). It’s not terrible, but it does feel a tad floaty, and I much preferred the building aspects of the game over combat.
Crafting a New Life
If you’ve played a survival game before, then you’ll get the basics of Sengoku Dynasty quickly. Gather materials in order to craft new items, weapons, and structures. Starting equipment will be basic, but you’ll eventually learn how to craft sturdier gear as you progress.
Of course, you’ll need something to build with all these tools, and there’s certainly no shortage of that here! Within minutes of starting a new game, you’ll be tasked with building your first house, and things only get more elaborate from there. Building works the same no matter what it is you’re constructing. You’ll place a blueprint down in the world, then use resources collected to build it. Simple! I loved seeing the game’s first village transform from a burnt-out husk, to a bustling area full of people.
Speaking of people, you can’t be expected to do all the heavy lifting yourself! You’ll be able to recruit villagers from all over the map, and from there you can put them to work. Certain buildings will need people to run them; you can assign people to forage the nearby areas for supplies, and so on. Assigning villagers to jobs isn’t the most intuitive of menu systems, but once you’ve got a fully functioning, self-sustaining settlement, it’s a genuinely rewarding feeling.
Whilst the gameplay is mostly enjoyable, numerous technical issues hamper it. For instance, when trying to select a quest from the menu, on occasion I was instead only able to see a quest I’d already finished. The physics would bug out and send a freshly chopped tree flying off into the sunset. In combination with the slight clunkiness when using a controller, Sengoku Dynasty doesn’t feel quite as polished as it could be.
Graphics & Audio
It’s rather impressive just how pleasant Sengoku Dynasty looks in places. The sprawling open world is lush and vibrant with some great weather effects. There’s great attention to detail to really make the world feel like feudal-era Japan.
That said, texture pop-in is a common occurrence, as are some rather stiff animations. Frame rate drops are also rather frequent, although it never got so bad that the game was unplayable. These don’t completely ruin the immersion, but a bit more optimisation would have been nice.
As for audio, the music is very subtle and will fade in and out depending on the scenario. The traditional music combined with some very peaceful ambient audio goes a long way in immersing players into the world. Unfortunately, voice acting is limited to one or two lines of dialogue from the same handful of actors. NPCs will talk to you at length via text boxes, but the Japanese-only voices are few and far between.
Longevity
This is a game that will take a long time to fully complete! The large amount of landmass you have to be able to build on will have those of you who love building towns and settlements satisfied for dozens (if not hundreds) of hours. I don’t feel anywhere close to completing it, and I’m not sure if I ever will! Definitely a game that requires a lot of time to sink into it.
Not only that, but there are four game modes/difficulties to choose from. Whether it’s the relaxed Creative mode, or the ruthless Hardcore mode, there’s something to for everyone. Plus, you can even customise your settings, with things like season duration and health modifiers.
Final Thoughts
Sengoku Dynasty has many positives going for it, so much so that I’ll absolutely carry on playing after I’ve finished reviewing it. There are, unfortunately, several issues that stop this from being a must-play title. Despite that, seeing your settlement slowly expand, crops grow and ripen, and planning what to build next is a rewarding experience. If you can look past some of its rough edges, there’s a decent survival/city building game here!
So, with all that being said, I’ll be giving Sengoku Dynasty the Thumb Culture Silver Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
Looking for an open world with a bit more sci-fi to it? Why not check out our review of Star Overdrive!
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