It’s crazy to think that it’s been nearly two years since Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening came out and we got to review it, but what is time anyway? The fact of the matter is that it’s one of Switch 2’s launch titles, so we’re here to tell you what there is to expect in this second coming to Koei Tecmo’s traditional and most long-running franchises to date. Has it changed much with this transition to Nintendo’s newest hybrid console?
The simple answer is: quite a bit, actually. First and foremost, it makes use of the system’s most innovative features out of all: the Joy Con’s mouse functionality, and it puts it to its paces by having you basically play the game as you would on a PC. Easily the most annoying part of playing the original version was having to fiddle with layers upon layers of menus by using a controller, now it’s all much simpler and straightforward.
A game like Nobunaga’s Ambition thrives on providing a realistic historical simulation, it’s been the basis of this 40-year old franchise up to this point, and in that, Awakening shines. You don’t have to limit yourself to playing the game as the titular figure, in fact, the best ways to enjoy the game are challenging yourself to go outside that box and see what it throws at you at every turn.
Japan back at that time in history was fractured, split among the many lands that now are part of what it is as a country, but that back then were the warring regions that the Oda clan, Nobunaga especially, was vying to control. That in mind, you have to imagine how different the values and morals of each individual location were like, and those aspects are brilliantly portrayed in this game.
As I’ve said previously in my original review of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening, it’s easy to get lost in its menus and thanks to a general lack of in-depth tutorials, it’s a challenge to figure out just exactly what to do at any given point. In this regard, the game feels like a From Software title, where the minimal bits of information thrown your way have to be decompiled and interpreted as much as possible in order to squeeze what you need out of them. Or not.
It’s in its trial and error nature of gameplay that Awakening surprisingly shines. It’s so deep and complex that at times you’re better off not knowing all that is going on in favor of having a good time letting the innerworks do their thing and seeing what comes out the other end. For as pretty as it now looks – and DAMN, this is a nice upgrade graphically from the Switch 1 edition, with much smoother performance and more detailed models and textures – this still feels like the game that started it all back in the NES days thanks to its layers of complexity and overbearing difficulty.
While that might come off as a negative, seeing this from the angle that games nowadays tend to hold your hand way too much, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening drives the opposite way, and even with its many Switch 2 improvements, most notably its controls, it’s a title that doesn’t go out of its to try and make you like it. Sure, Koei-Tecmo does try that a bit by offering fantasy-themed DLC for it, it’s a far cry from other products in their line, like, say, their muso Dynasty Warriors.
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is through and through a hard cookie to wash down, but it’s one that you’ll be rewarded for your efforts in doing so. No amount of hot milk will help you, though. It requires dedication, patience, and most importantly, perseverance. But in the end, if you make it there, you’ll find a gem, for however rough it still is years later, it’s still a very worthwhile endeavour. And as this new Switch 2 version shows, at least you can now gasp for air amidst so many menus with its new mouse function in the hundreds of possible hours you could spend playing it.
