Skulls of the Shogun

I picked it up expecting something shallow and cartoonish, but the turn-based combat has real depth once you start managing skull eating, spirit walls, and monk shrines all at once. The dialogue is genuinely funny in a way I wasn't expecting from a strategy game, and it kept me entertained through all 20 levels of the campaign. My one gripe is that selecting units with a mouse gets fiddly when things get crowded on the battlefield, which is a clear sign this was designed for touchscreens first. Still, if you enjoy games like Advance Wars and don't mind a slightly clunky UI, this is absolutely worth grabbing on sale.

Skulls of the Shogun is one of those games that your friend breaks out at a sleepover and then becomes a staple for every sleepover thereafter. At least that's what this game was for me. In my quest to 100% a majority of my steam library, I had a mostly positive time with Skulls which I will reflect on below. Bare in mind also that Skulls is a party game and my rating will reflect that fact. Story: 4/5 The story of the campaign was as lighthearted and funny as a parody of the Japanese afterlife can be. It's a quest for simple revenge between two separate narratives that act as a framing stage for tutorials. Which is essentially what the campaign is. Its a long and extended tutorial of how to play the multiplayer component of this game. Because of that, It is hampered with constant prompts and interruptions that can be annoying for trophy hunters but overall, its fine for what it is. Gameplay: 10/10 This is the absolute strongest part of the game. Turn-based strategy is not my strong suit so the fact that I fell in love with this is a testament to just how approachable and fun this game is to play. It also scales with you. It is an easy game to pick up, not too hard to get good at, but a challenge to master. It's agame that I can easyily play with my wife, my parents, and my best firend who each have different gaming backgrounds and have a blast. Achievements: 3/5 The achievements for skulls of the shogun are great in that they ask you to display gameplay mastery and endurance. Beating all the campaign levels while attempting to meet challenge requirements, beating them in a timed manner, and beating them while retaining a certain amount of troops provides an honest challenge. It does require multiple play throughs of the same few levels which does feel like a grind. The worst part of the achievements is the achievement that requires you to get a gold emblem by playing the game relentlessly and praying that RNG gives you what you need to craft the emblem. I wasted 3 hours playing the same few rend rounds of a sequence to grind this out and it seemed like it really existed to bump up my playtime artificially rather than provide a challenge. That is disappointing considering how fair and skill-based the rest of the achievements for this game are. Art Design: 5/5 The art design of skulls of the shogun is inspired and decidedly retro. For an older game, the sound design is cartoonish fun, the character style is somewhere between anime and American, and the landscapes are picturesque. I can't think of how it could have been done better. Story: 4/5 Gameplay:10/10 Achievements: 3/5 Art Design: 5/5 Final: 88% B+ I would recommend skulls for anyone who wants a great couch co-op game for a party or for achievement hunters who don't mind moderate RNG grind.

Highly recommended if you're looking for a casual turn based game with a good sense of humor and a fun little story. I really appreciate the free movement system they have implemented instead of the classic grid based movement. You can move, take an action and use any movement left afterwards. The AI is a bit braindead, but the game throws some pretty crazy challenges your way if you're trying to get all skulls for each level(by beating the level a certain way). So this balances things out... Kinda? Multiplayer is dead but that's to be expected.