Preview: Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Puts Your Skills to the Test

From tip to tail, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening requires strategy. Every aspect of the game was mine to control however I wished in an early preview build, including the time period I started in and the clan I played as. And every aspect requires you to think ahead and plan for all sorts of possibilities. It’s a game that really makes you flex your brainpower, which is fantastic for a strategy game, but it can also be a bit tough to get the hang of and follow.

To start off with, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening gives you a very information-heavy tutorial. You’re run through everything and shown text explaining how each new element works, so you’re definitely given plenty to help you out, but there is a lot to learn. There is a lot of info to absorb in a short period of time, and it almost felt overwhelming to keep track of it all. That said, it was nice to get everything I needed right up front, especially since much of the game feels like something you really need to play and figure out for yourself. The explainers help, but learning by doing is by far the best way to pick things up.

Screenshot via Siliconera

The reason for this is that Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening has three major gameplay systems: Dominion, War Tactics, and Battle. Each one has a lot of depth, and they require you to be tactical because they’re all interconnected. A great job was done with these systems both on an individual level and as a whole, but it does make for a lot to learn. The more I played, though in this early build, the easier it got. It took a while, but I eventually got things mostly figured out, and by then I found myself getting very engrossed in the game.

For example, the Dominion system has you managing all the territories under your control. By taking over a castle, which is done through the Battle system, you gain command over each of the several counties under that castle. Counties each have farms and fairs to take over, which increase your monthly crop and gold yields. Crops are your soldiers’ provisions and are necessary for when you march to battle against other daimyo, and gold helps with everything from taking over these farms and fairs to instituting Policies as part of the War Tactics system. Each county also needs to be assigned a land holder, and each of the many options will provide different benefits to their county as well as the castle it serves under.

Screenshot via Siliconera

What I found to be the most enjoyable part of my initial Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening experience was the Battle system. You control your army as you attempt to siege castles and fight against enemy regiments, and you really feel like you’re in the driver’s seat. Each of your battalions moves independently and at your discretion, with skirmishes taking place in real time. This gives you plenty of ways to approach a siege, with options like executing pincer attacks to give your side the upper hand and taking out important equipment and units to keep your company’s morale high. There are lots of ways to go about each battle, and everything happening in real time makes it feel like one of the most strategy-necessary parts of the game. You even get to take part in historical battles that actually took place during Japan’s Sengoku period, also known as the Warring States period, which is just plain neat.

One of my favorite little features in Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is the Proposal button. Trying to get the hang of things can be confusing, and since all you really get to work with is that your end goal is to take over all of Japan, you’re mostly left to your own devices. If that becomes a little too much, clicking the Proposal button will have one of your officers tell you what they believe to be the best course of action. The lack of direction otherwise provided is great for a strategy game like this, but having a completely optional way to get an idea of how best to move toward victory can be a massive help.

Screenshot via Siliconera

There’s a ton to like about Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening in its early hours. I felt like it started to offer me the freedom to play however you want, the multiple deep game elements that all tie together very well, and everything happening in real time make this game a fun and challenging experience. Learning the ropes is a bit difficult in the first few hours and takes some time to get a firm grasp of, but the more I played, the easier it got. You might even learn a little something about Japan’s history along the way.

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening releases for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam on July 20, 2023. Pre-orders are open.