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]-[
]-[ Complete Walkthrough
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Kessen
Kessen Walkthrough FAQ
Version 1.0 (2/04/2002)
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Kessen Walkthrough FAQ
Ver 1.0
Everything is new. Complete? No, far from it!
For questions, comments, or correction please e-mail me at fei_603@yahoo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contents
I. Disclaimer
II. Updates
III. Introduction
IV. The Kessen World
V. Controls
VI. Officers
VII. Units
VIII. Unit Formation
IX. Special Moves
X. War Council
XI. Battles East
XII. Battles Wast
XIII. Codes
XIV. Q & A
XV. End Note
XVI. Thanks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I. Disclaimer
Copyright 2000 by Byron Hoy
All rights reserved
This guide may be distributed freely for non-profitable use as long as it is
unaltered and includes this copyright notice. You are free to use any part of
this guide in your own works or WebPages as long as I am credited. This guide
nor any part of it may not be used for profit without prior written consent
from me. This is MY work. If you rip it off, I will hunt you through the ends
of the Earth.
These things are very boring, I know, but the thing is though, I worked very
hard on this guide and don't wish for others to steal it. Here's the deal, if
you want to use it, go ahead. If you want to put it up, go ahead. If you
wish to print it, feel free.
Here's the thing, if you do any of the above, do this too:
D O N O T A L T E R !!!
G I V E M E C R E D I T !!!
Here's an idea; you could add a "credits" section to your work, whatever it may
be. This would make your work look ever so much more sophisticated. That is
a good thing, for both of us.
At this time, the only pages this should be on is:
Byron's Anime and Stuff at:
GameFAQs at:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
II. Updates
Ver 1.0
*Most basic grammar and stuff corrected
*Need to add strategy section, strength in numbers, wearing enemy down, etc.
*If general wants to fight, let him. Raises zeal and if he wins, moral too.
Ver 0.1 released 6-26-01
*Everything is new.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
III. Introduction
Hello everyone, a few of you may know me from my Genji Equipment FAQ, but for
all of you who don't, I'm Byron Hoy. This is my very first attempt at a full
fledged FAQ on an ENTIRE GAME. Wow, what a task. This FAQ was foever in the
making, but now at long last, the first presentable version of the Kessen
Walkthrough. I realize how very late this release is after the game came out,
please be forgiving.
What first drew my attention to this game was the Japanese characters that
said "Ready Battle"(Literatley Translated in Chinese, but it would mean deciding
battle or desicive battle if read the way its spose to). I thought cool, I knew
something about this game already, so I decided to buy it on the spot (being
the compulsive buyer I am. I thourghly enjoyed this game so I began to throw
to gether notes about the game. Eventually notes piled up and this is what
becomes of it. This is a complete guide to the game, everything from unit
descriptions to step-by-step battle walkthroughs, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IV. The Kessen World
I would like to start off with this quote from the creator Kou Shitusana.
"I have always dreamed of creating a movie that I could control. With Kessen I
have finally been able to realize this dream. I greatly enjoyed the creation of
this epic, and trust that you too will enjoy your experience with Kessen."
-Kou Shitusana
That is the creators note on this finely crafted historic strategy sim. In more
ways than one, Mr. Shitusana has suceeded. This stategy game will both draw
you into the massive world of fuedal Japan as well as the breath taking
cutscreens before, during and after the battle. In a game where decisions you
make before a battle can very well be at least as important as the one's you
make during it. A mistake in judgement befoe the battle can be quite costly
an hour in, when it counts the most. It can get quite frusterating to have to
redo that battle over for that sole mistake. Taking every aspect of war into
sight, Kessen, more than any war sim, is a world on its own.
I thorouly enjoyed this game and hope that you will too! I don't plan to
spoil the story, after all, the point of this is for YOU to live it, right?
History is in your hands, win or lose, the outcome is fate, isnt it?
So without further ado, we now enter the world of Kessen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
V. Controls
Before you go into a full fledged war, you may as well take some time to skim
through the instruction manual enclosed with the game. It will greatly help
a jumpstart into the game. Also, playing the very first few skirmishes will
acostom you to the many controls tactics and other such commands.
But... for those of you whom lost your manual, are renting the game without it,
or went cheap and bought a preowned copy without one, I guess I will retype it
for you here. (Besides this is a complete guide so I supose that should put this
in for the heck of it if nothing else).
(The following is taken from the manual)
Menu Controls
Navigate the menus using these controls:
Highlight menu items D-Button Up/Down
Cycle choices/Move sliders D-Button Left/Right
Select/Go to next screen X button
Return to previous screen Triangle button
*These are also the controls to navogate through the tutrials.
Battle Screen Controls
L1/R1 button Select next unit
START button Access system menu
SELECT button Victory conditions
D-Button Select next officer
left analog stick Rotates camera angle
right analog stick Zoom Camera IN/OUT
L3 button Re-center Camera
R3 button Turn Mini-map ON/OFF
L2 button View Map Screen/Enlarge/Reduce Map
R2 button View controller Guide
Triangle button Cancel selection/Exit movie
O button Zoom in battle/Select general to be on camera/View
unit list
X button Give an order/View selected units orders/Select
unit with cursor
button Call up cursor/View Detailed unit information
Politics Screen Controls
D-Button D-button Up/Down selects officer
X button Seclect officer/subversion type
Triangle button Cancel selection/End Officer Review, Subversion,
and Choose Officers phases Modify Unit (advanced
levels only)
R2 button View Controller Guide
War Council Screen Controls
D-Button Move Cursor
L1/R1 button Select next unit
X button Next
Triangle button Exit to previous screen/End Review Enemy Deployment
stage/End Mdify Current Plan stage
button View Detailed Information
O button Display Strategy Menu
L2 button Enlarge/Reduce map
R2 button View Controler Guide
SELECT button Victory conditions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VI. Officers
In the world of Kessen, you control armys of people. There is no way for you
too keep track of all of them at any given time. Thats what you have officers
for. Offecers in Kessen ally you to control the masses and have a better
understanding of the current situation by just checking up with the head of
each party, which would be your officer.
In Kessen, there are two types of Offeicers
The Commander - Leader of all, this guy is one of a kind in genral, each side
will only have one. For the East, Ieyasu Tokigawa is the commander the entire
game; while the West will have Mitsunari Ishida or Yuki Sanada. With the
exception of beiong the only unit that can control your entire army on a large
scale, the donly diffence is that this is usually just a powerful version of
a regular unit.
The Officer - The head of any unit is an offecrer. There are also offecers
that arn't head of an army, those will be referd to as Candidate offeciers.
All offercers have attrubutes and ratings, these figures are what determine
how good any given offecier is. An offecer that controls only a small
army can still be very useful if his atributes are high. Those attributes
divide up into five categories, Battle, Intelligence, Charm, Insight, and
Fame.
Battle - This is how good an offecier is in battle and as head of one. If this
rating is high, he is more likely to be able to win one on one duels.
Intelligence - This is how smart your offecier is (no duh), what it does is
raise an offecers ablitly to pull off ambushes as well as avioding them. If
this ratings is high, there is a smaller chance of him being tricked onto the
other side by enemy lures.
Charm - This is the offecers charisma, having a guy with high charisma around
will prevent subversion. The higher this is, the sooner your troups will be
ready again after a retreat.
Insight - This is the offeciers ability to read a battle, the higher it is,
the better your odds againts larger numbers. If this is high, your troups
will be harder to trap and souround.
Fame - This is how famous your officer is. More often often than not, all
famous units are pretty good. But the downside to all this fame is that the
enemy will usually focus everything they got to take that unit out. In the
eyes in a skilled tactition, this COULD be used to your advantage...
What is to come in this section?
*The officers from both sides and stats (boy will that be a pain to type, my
spell checker is going to love it too). I've noticed that some other sources
have actual numbers,... where does that come from?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VII. Units
Well, you got your officers to control the "lesser" units. But what are they
really? These are the people the do a bulk of the acutal fighting, the
commoners. But don't look down on them, one may not make much of a difference,
under your control though, are thousands of them. Not only that, each can have
a multitude of skills, they can be learned in the way of a footman, bowman,
spearman, rifleman(sometimes woman), horseman, cavalry, lancer, or ninja.
When you have thousands of such units to help your cause, even the lowly
commoner should be given some thought.
I guess I'll call them say... your Army. Well your army is a very unique
creature. It has many qualities that you have to be aware of too. A lot of
this comes from common sense, if you walk too far your men get tired, if you
are losing your men get scared and weak. If your army is fatigued your units
will die easier. That kind of thing. In the next update, I'll try to list all
problems with this and what to do about each situation.
Here is a descrpition of each along with thier strengths and weaknesses:
Footman - The base unit, they are guys with swords. Good for ambushes, these
units are strong vs bowmen and riflemen. However do not send them vs lancers,
horsemen or ninja though.
Bowman - The guys with bows, though they are not really stong, you can not do
a ranged attack like "Volley" without them. Only use them vs other bowmen or
a group of riflemen.
Spearman - These are like footmen except they carry a spear. They allow for
special moves that require spears, like "Spear Wall." They are good vs bowmen,
riflemen, or the cavalry. Don't send them vs horsemen, lancers, and ninja
because they will be missmatched.
Rifleman - These guys got guns. But do not forget that guns were not
contermerized unlit the 19th centery, back then they were quite cumbersome so
riflemen weren't the strongest units around. Of couse like every class, you
needed them for one special manuver or other. These guys are fine vs bowmen
and other riflemen. Lancers, horsemen, and ninja will clean house vs them, so
obviously, avoid these match ups.
Horseman - Now these are the powerhouses of most units. Thier biggest advantage
being that they can surf the map at twice the speed of any foot soldier. These
guys allow for they really cool "Raid" special manuver which lowers enemy morale.
These units dominate heavily over most units except for other horsemen, cavalry,
and ninja. The only units that have an advantage over them would be the ninja
and lancers.
Cavalry - Guns and horses, like horse men, they benifiet from double speed and
thus have a serious advantage over all foodmen. Still equiped with a cumbersome
gun, however, will still set them back. They don't beat out horsemen, lancers,
or ninja.
Lancer - These are ultimately the best units to have. They completely own all
other units expect for ninja. Armored spearman on horses make for quite a
deadly adversary. The ONLY matchup you should avoid while using them are those
annoying ninjas.
Ninja - The strongest unit availible. The only small hampering they have is
the fact that they travel in smaller numbers and that they don't ride horses,
so they are slower than lancers. But besides that, these guys just don't
lose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIII. Unit Formations
Wow, so now you got an army... what do you do now??? Well, as great as an army
is, they are all unorganized to the extent that there is no point running them
to thier deaths in war. What is the solution??? Unit Formations! Yes, this
will allow you to better organize your army of commoners under your officers.
But there is a cetch here too, not every officer knows how to control units in
all the different formations, so you will have to adjust to the abilities of
each individual officer.
Do remember that the game starts you off with a formation selection that can
already win and unless you plan to take this war sim to its utmost potential by
controling yet another aspect of the game, there might not be enough of a reason
to change setups every battle.
There are nine of them as follows:
Pincer
Wedge
Snake
Horns
Lance
Arrow
Anvil
Reef
Block
*Make note that if you do not have enough units to make the entire formation,
it will only fill as far as you have units to divide up.
**I'll add a description to them when I better figure a way to describe them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IV. Special Moves
These are your power attacks. When your zeal is at 80 or higher, you can spend
some of it to use a really cool attack that has potential to kill from just a
few to well over a 1000. They range from an organized raid to high-end
cannoning. Keep in mind the formation you have can affect the effectiveness
of a given attack.
These such moves are as follows.
==Name== ==Cost== ==Descrrption==
Escape 10 You know the saying, "live and let live" right? Good
if you are losing
Flying Fusillade 25 Just a regular attack, pretty cool looking.
Mounted Barrage 30 Alittle stronger than the previous move.
Ninja 40 Truely a very cool move, you ninjas do so much damage.
Consider using a formation that surrounds the enemy.
Raid 30 Not too strong but one of the best looking moves. It
hurts enemy moral (its main purpose).
Spear Wall 25 Pretty weak attack, use against mounted units in
general.
Triple Barrage 40 Very good damage, use this often if you can.
Volley 25 Arrows and guns are really weak in this game, what can
I say?
Rally 15 This is a really cheap (zeal wise) move that powers up
your army. The price is that only the highest ranking
group of your army can use it (usually commanders unit).
Always use it if you have the chance.
Artillery 45 Really good damage, this takes out many many units, make
sure to use it when your zeal hits 80.
Avoid 20 This make it so the enemy can't target your unit.
Ballista 30 Cool looking but not that good. Not bad either.
Cannonade 55 Pretty much the strongest move you got. Defend the unit
that can do this and let him do it often. Remember,
cannonade can NOT hit close enemies. keep that in mind.
Drum Roll 10 Raises morale of your army. Use it at the begining of
battle, you will probibly regain the used zeal by the
time you engage in a fight.
Barrage 30 Average attack, if its the only thing you got, use it.
Charge 45 This attack is good with lancers, but its really
costly zeal wise. I usually stay away from this but
if you're desperate, charge away!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
X. War Council
Even before the battle you must make many decisions on the skirmish ahead. Make
any wrong moves here and you can severly regret it 20 minutes into the battle.
If you really get into this part of the game, you could have so much fun here.
There are three sections to the council. The part where you choose your
officers, who you'll try to defect, and unit placement.
When choosing your officers, its a good idea to both look at stats and unit
number. Most the time the best bet is to go with the happy meduim and have
a good amount of both. Make sure your general's and officers aren't rooting
for the other side if you know what I mean.
When it comes to defecters, the best bet is just to go for the officers that
have the most tendencies in your favor. Don't even bother with high ranking
officers because more often than not, you have no chance with them.
I find that unit placement is a lot of fun, you can set up forts, ambushes, and
further your stratagy. There is so much to do here, and to avoid spoiling it,
I'll give you guys a chance to explore this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XI. Battles East
To be added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XII. Battles Wast
To be added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XIII. Secrets
In this ever so grand a war/strategy game, there are yet still bundled some
secrects. Here are some:
Comanding the West - Beat the game with the East, when you start again, you
can select to use Mitsunari Ishida.
Change difficualty level - Beat the game with the West, when you select "New
Game" you will also beable to select the difficulty level from 1-5.
Reslect senario/warpath - Beat the game with the West, back the the menu
screen, you will have a new option "History." There you will beable to
renact your previous battles, see your hi-scores, and see what branches of the
game you have yet to complete.
For those of you who paid for a Gameshark2 for the PS2, then this is for you:
Oh wait, nothing yet, nevermind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XIV. Q & A
This FAQ has not been up long enough to have questions mailed to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XV. End Note
Just flavored text from here on out. You have my permission to stop reading.
Thats to everyone for helping me along the path of another completed FAQ. But
don't worry, this FAQ is still in its infant stages, I'm sure there are many a
changes to do, corrections to be made, and other such notes. I'd be grateful
if you send me questions, corrections, and comments. As my calculus teacher
always said "Don't sit in silent ignorance," in other words, ask questions or
you won't get anywhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XVI. Thanks
Thanks to all of those that inspired me to write another FAQ.
Thanks to my dear and loving family, be it not for thier support, I may not have
had the will power to finish this FAQ.
Thanks to Kou Shitusana for creating this masterpiece.
Thanks to Koei for bringing this game to the US.
To Sony: Thanks for a great system, now if you had only made the emotion engine
easier to program in... Then again, this could just be a rumor that lazy
programmers spread as an excusee for making games of lesser quality...
Thanks to CjayC for having such an awesome site such as GameFAQs for the
convience of the entire gaming comunity.
Well, that's about it, hope you enjoyed your time with this FAQ, thank you all
for reading to this point. Until next we meet again, best of luck to all of you!
This unpublished work is Copyright (c) 2002 Byron Hoy. All rights reserved.
