GameShark | Features | Sengoku Q&A with Producer Johan Andersson

Interview by: William Abner

Immediately after the announcement yesterday, gamers and members of the press drew a correlation to Sengoku and The Creative Assembly’s Shogun 2 which is set to release in March. Considering Paradox’s past with grand strategy games like Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron and Victoria, do you consider Shogun 2 direct competition or are they two entirely different games despite the similarity in setting?

We don't view them as direct competition, as we aim for slightly different markets. We focus on a deep campaign, where strategic decisions are the most key aspects to win the game, while Total War is a game where tactical decisions matter the most. Setting alone does not make games similar, if they have fundamentally different concepts on how the game is played. After all, Company of Heroes and Call of Duty are not direct competition to each other.

Can you explain how combat works in Sengoku? Will it remind players of Europa Universalis 3 in terms of its interface?

Combat will be very similar to how it worked in EU3, with both interface and mechanics similar to that, as it is the same time-period, and the same type of weapons and tactics. There are some slight differences, depending on access to weapons and strategies. There will be regiments fighting each other, with infantry, artillery and cavalry type units giving various bonuses to the battle.

The press release sounds somewhat similar to the old classic Crusader Kings. Are there any similarities between those two designs?

You could say that Sengoku in several ways is "Crusader Kings in Japan". We always felt that the Sengoku Jidai would be a brilliant setting for a character driven strategy game, and now we are in the process of making it. We want to have a game where you really are a Japanese noble and have to interact with other people instead of just marching armies about.

How many different playable clans are available? Will each clan vary in terms of strengths and weaknesses, based on their real life situation at the time?

There are about 50 different clans at the start of the game, and also over 150 different nobles that you can start playing as. The clans are setup as the historical setup of 1467, just as the Onin Wars start. This means that some clans are stronger, and some are weaker, just as in history. New clans can also be formed during the game. Each clan will have a unique flag and colors.