Whilst the fifth of September seemed like a poor day for VR, with the release of a much anticipated title that ended up being absolutely dreadful, there was a very bright silver lining that came completely out of nowhere. Whilst everyone was bemoaning the state of the Meta Quest 3, a game appeared on the store with no prior announcement and no marketing – one day it wasn’t there, and the next it was. That game was Shogun’s Empire, a VR port of a flat turn based strategy game, and it looked like it had come to save the day

Many thanks to the publisher for the review code.

HEX COMMANDER
As a VR port of the previously released Shogun’s Empire: Hex Commander, the plot follows the same basic premise. You are the leader of a clan, attempting to gain control over the regions and become the Shogun – the ultimate ruler of Medieval Japan.

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Upon starting the game and completing a rather straightforward tutorial, you’ll then be able to choose one of the many clans to control. Each one has their own goals, as well as overall difficulty; but don’t be fooled though, as even the easiest difficulty can be rather challenging when starting out. If you can achieve your set goal within the specified amount of years, you win.

Time plays out over months, with you being able to do a set amount of activities before having to progress to the next. Managing resources is a key component to keeping your population happy, but you’ll also need to assemble armies, do favours for the emperor, and try to sign peace treaties with neighbouring regions. Such a treaty though though is tenuous at best, which often means that you’ll have to resort to war.

These tactical battles are played out on hexagonal grids as you attempt to whittle down the opponent until they’re forced to submit. You’ll need to plan carefully, consider terrain advantages, unit types, and positioning in order to outwit your opponents. There’s a nice range of units, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, making army composition and strategy key to success. Sometimes you’re best off blasting away units with a distant cannon, but perhaps charging at them on horseback is better. Regardless, the game tells you of an attack’s effectiveness in order to make the fights as accessible as possible. 

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The battles may be simple in format, but they are far from simple in difficulty. As alluded to earlier, you really need to be on the ball to ensure victory. Sure, there’s plenty of time to plan out your moves, but you’ll also need to take into consideration how the opponent is able to move and attack to ensure that they don’t end up getting the drop on you instead. I have to admit that I failed on multiple occasions whilst learning the ropes until the game forced me to be tactical.

But the game is so addictive and wonderously crafted that it’s hard to put it down. Even when I failed, I still found myself going back to more. It’s a format that works so well in VR, and the simple controls means that you’ll only ever have to worry about your strategic planning. I do wish that you were able to restart battles from the start rather than simply the previous turn, which feels like a big omission, but it at least ensures that you need to be strategic and live with any losses you make. It’s a difficulty that may put many off, but it’s also one that’s worth sticking with too.

VERDICT
Shogun’s Empire dropped on the store without a word, but that only makes its quality all the more glorious. Sure, it may be a VR port of an existing game, but it’s so well done that it looks like it was made for the platform. If you have any interest in strategy games, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try!