Toplitz Productions today announced Sengoku Dynasty, a survival-slash-town building sim set in feudal Japan. Now you can whack people with a hammer under the cherry blossom. The game’s teaser (above) doesn’t show any in-game action but there are screens, showing a first-person view of a very pretty oceanside settlement and lots of lovely Japanese buildings.
The press release alongside the teaser calls it a “vast city builder” with RPG and survival elements, and the whole thing is playable in co-op. The medieval setting is war-torn and ravaged with famine: the Sengoku period is a roughly 150-year stretch of Japanese history where states were at each others’ throats.
The city building and survival does seem to be at Sengoku Dynasty’s heart, with the promise that as your towns grow they will begin to attract new inhabitants and thrive. Various biomes are promised from the usual ancient forests and snowy mountain peaks, to Japanese cherry groves and mist covered hot springs. The game features an in-depth crafting system covering food, weapons, and buildings, plus you can ‘cultivate land’ which I think means farming. It’s all starting to sound a bit Sengoku Valley.
You start as a lowly peasant and, of course, aim to be the ruler of all you survey. There are four character paths to choose from: leader; craftsman; warrior; monk. The publisher’s press material makes it sound like these are pretty divergent playstyles, with the leader path allowing you forge alliances, take on quests to expand influence, get involved in trading, romance and marry, and manage villagers. The warrior, on the other hand, seems to just stab people and hunt food for the village. It’s unclear whether you have to just pick one or whether the disciplines can be mixed-and-matched in a given character.
The game can be played in story or sandbox mode, and the best bit of the announcement is about its historical accuracy. “Every part, from the tiniest stones to culture and politics should be historically correct. Only some lacks of information in Tokyo’s university libraries push us to historical limits and challenge our creativity.” Take that, Tokyo university libraries.
If all this is sounding slightly familiar, it may be because Toplitz also recently published the surprisingly decent Medieval Dynasty. That game has a different developer but they definitely look alike, so if the Sengoku setting particularly appeals then this may well be one to keep an eye on. Sengoku Dynasty releases in 2022.
