Lords of the Rising Sun --- need advice!

[wolfman]

I have been playing this game for 2 days now and I am having troubles getting into it. The manual doesn´t really help me in understanding it better either.

This are my problems:

-I almost never find the main hall in conquering cities. Is there a trick to that in finding it before sundown? My army gets almost completely depleted without being hit by soldiers or arrows  by the end of the day... 

-I am losing battles all the time (only win 1 in 10 if I am lucky), I always end up having the weaker armies.

I stuck to the suggestions of the manual, but there is no advance in getting further like I am used to from other strategy games. What am I doing wrong?

[Black Tiger]

If I remember correctly, in battles I usually draw them in and then chomp them like a pacman.

For invasions, you just have to get the hang of it, begin to recognize patterns, be able to tell if you are heading towards a dead end (weigh your progress against the layout) and always look at it with the frame of mind of someone trying to trick you.

[wolfman]

If I remember correctly, in battles I usually draw them in and then chomp them like a pacman.

How would I do that with only half of the men the computer has? I mean I never have an army that compares in size to what he employs...

[wolfman]

I managed to defeat 1 Army and kill its General after endless reloads. This game is really really tough 

What puzzles me is that for some reason I am not able to win the "Besieged" sequence...I tried every trick to hit as many men with my bow, but I lose on every attempt. In a walkthrough that I found on the net it says that a battle would ensue right after that, but instead I see the losing screen. No matter how many enemies I have killed (they´re never enough it seems).

Anybody with a hint or explanation?

[esteban]

STATUS: I guess this reveals how few have us have made much progress in the game.

[wolfman]

STATUS: I guess this reveals how few have us have made much progress in the game.

 

O.k. I didn´t know that. Thought its either so simple that nobody wants to answer me (and I am so terribly bad playing it that it would be insulting to anybody else answering me), or hardly ever played by someone....

[TheClash603]

STATUS: I guess this reveals how few have us have made much progress in the game.

I've been caught.

[Black Tiger]

If I ever have the free time, I'll try playing it again to get the basics of starting out down again.

I believe that if you play as the third character, the flute loving lady, you start with less, but in more of a secluded section of the map and that it's easier to begin building up forces there.

[wolfman]

If I ever have the free time, I'll try playing it again to get the basics of starting out down again.

I believe that if you play as the third character, the flute loving lady, you start with less, but in more of a secluded section of the map and that it's easier to begin building up forces there.

Are you sure it´s a lady? In the selection screen they all look like men...

What REALLY sucks is that there some castles where it´s almost impossible to find the main hall to finally conquer the city. Been running around on the entire city map with endless dead ends...no paved road that would lead to the hall grrrrrrrr 

[Black Tiger]

If I ever have the free time, I'll try playing it again to get the basics of starting out down again.

I believe that if you play as the third character, the flute loving lady, you start with less, but in more of a secluded section of the map and that it's easier to begin building up forces there.

Not the father or son. It's the one where the cinema starts out with:

"Huh? A flute? A womah? Nuuuh. Hey yuh! If you want to pass here, you must leave your sword! Then, I must kill you. Hooh, huh, haaaw."

Sounds like all you really need to do though, is learn how to conquer cities.

Are you sure it´s a lady? In the selection screen they all look like men...

What REALLY sucks is that there some castles where it´s almost impossible to find the main hall to finally conquer the city. Been running around on the entire city map with endless dead ends...no paved road that would lead to the hall grrrrrrrr 

[wolfman]

I DO know how to conquer cities, and I did quite a few so far. But this parcitular on is a big pain in the ass....

[Black Tiger]

I DO know how to conquer cities, and I did quite a few so far. But this parcitular on is a big pain in the ass....

Although learning patterns and judging on the fly if a particular branch is appearing too early or late goes a long way, one of the biggest things to clearing the mazes is getting good at dodging and avoiding engaging enemies as much as you can. I think that even if you choose the shortest path through without any errors, it is literally impossible to finish in time if you kill all the enemies.

[wolfman]

I DO know how to conquer cities, and I did quite a few so far. But this parcitular on is a big pain in the ass....

Although learning patterns and judging on the fly if a particular branch is appearing too early or late goes a long way, one of the biggest things to clearing the mazes is getting good at dodging and avoiding engaging enemies as much as you can. I think that even if you choose the shortest path through without any errors, it is literally impossible to finish in time if you kill all the enemies.

I know that, but what kills with this particular city is

1. its huge
2. I don´t find the paved road

and I have been trying for 2+ hours... 

[mitsuman]

I was going to write a post about this, but searched first and found this.

It seems maybe I one of the few on here that enjoy this game. I played it pretty much all weekend.

As mentioned before, if it is your first time playing, start as Kiyomori (a dude, not a flute lady). It is a bit simpler.

Also, there is more to the game than just destroy all of the other generals/armies. You have to either keep Antoku from being kidnapped (playing as Kiyomori), or free Antoku (playing as Yoritomo/Yoshitsune), keep or get a special jewel (Yoritomo has it at the beginning of the game, Kiyomori has to steal it by killing Yoritomo). Then also destroy all the other opposing forces.

For the issue with having small army, combine with one of your other generals. I marched around yesterday with two groups of 4 generals. My army numbered nearly in the 600's. Then when I had them all as standby at a castle, they were up near 800 to defend the castle.

As for getting through the cities, just find the pattern, and hurry. Unless an archer or samurai is in my way, I do not worry about killing them. I just chop down the doors and run. Also, the time you have is based on how large your army attacking the castle is.

I love this game. Even when I was losing some this weekend, I was still having a great time playing. I got up off the couch and cheered when I killed Yoritomo yesterday. I had tried maybe 10 times to kill him during the horse chase. Then when I finally succeeded, it was awesome!

I feel I am about to finish the game with Kiyomori. Maybe a few more weekends. Once I do that, I may move to one of the other more challenging scenarios and see how it goes.

[wolfman]

Thank you all for your help. I finally managed to beat the game after a few weeks pause.

Great game, such a shame that the manual is so badly written - I think this is what keeps a lot of people from playing this awesome game!