HaloS ひかる の最近のレビュー

With all the experiences I've had with the game, I think it's really underrated compared to the exciting experiences it offers.

As a game I played over 20 years ago, Stronghold Warlord still delivers the enjoyable experience of the series, with strengths in creating a city with various spaces including agriculture, craftsmanship, weapon production, residential areas, recreational areas, military camps, etc.

In the comments, I see many complaints about the following issues:

The wheat-flour-bread production chain being replaced by rice: I agree with that, but overall, the game compensates for it with other experiences like tea production, strawberry farming, silkworms, and clothing, etc.

The meaninglessness of the lord system: Personally, I don't think it really improves the experience (but it doesn't make it worse either). You can choose to ignore it and play the way you have for the past 20 years.

The weakness of AI: I completely agree with this opinion. If you can build a castle in the first 10 minutes, you'll definitely win. The AI is fast in sending armies to your castle early on but has no concept of development.

You only need 5 samurai to capture a small lord's castle and 20 samurai to win the game. This makes the use of various weapons and unit coordination pointless. You can even play the game for 100 hours without ever producing a mace or a bow because swords and armor are the most powerful weapons in the game. If you evaluate the game solely on the movement and unit coordination mechanisms, the game is worth a 2/10 (if you consider Total War or Company of Heroes a 10).

It will be suitable for those who like city-building and simulation games, observing the daily lives of their city's inhabitants from all angles. You will find a woman raising pigs in the fields, a young man drinking under the cherry blossom tree, a herbalist brewing medicine in a small alley, or children playing in the villages and along the walls - all the scenes of an East Asian city are wonderfully displayed (as a Vietnamese, I highly appreciate that).

It won't be suitable for those who want an economic and military RTS game like Starcraft or Age of Empires. Honestly, with Starcraft or Age of Empires, we seek ways to optimize the economy, produce military forces as quickly as possible, and throw them into battle with special unit control skills, whereas with Stronghold, these aspects are not emphasized as much as the experiences of construction, architecture, and planning. Stronghold is more of a city-building and defense simulation game than a basic RTS game.

Overall point: 8/10