<!--
	Title: Shogun
	Author: Dave Arneson
	Source: Computer Gaming World, v9(7)
	August 1989
-->

<div class="float-left article-sidebar-dark" style="border: 3px solid;">
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>TITLE:</td><td>Shogun</td></tr>
<tr><td>SYSTEM:</td><td>Apple IIGS, IBM, Amiga, Atari ST, C-64-128 Macintosh</td></tr>
<tr><td>REVIEWED ON:</td><td>Machintosh</td></tr>
<tr><td>PRICE:</td><td>$59.95</td></tr>
<tr><td>DESIGNER:</td><td>Dave Lebling</td></tr>
<tr><td>PUBLISHER:</td><td>Infocom<br>Menlo Park, CA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>

*Dave Arneson is the co-designer of Dungeons & Dragons" and founder of Adventure Games, a board
game company. He is currently involved in an RPG campaign based on 16th Century Japan.*

## It Was a Dark and Stormy Night . . .

*A great storm batters your ship. After months at sea and a heroic crossing
of two oceans, it looks like everything will soon be ending.*

As **Infocom**'s *Shogun* opens, you find your player character standing
at the ship's wheel in the midst of the storm. Talk about starting right in the
middle of things!

In *Shogun*, the player adopts the persona of the English Sea Pilot, John
Blackthorne. The game begins on board the Dutch Privateer, *Erasmus*,
during the most intense portion of the aforementioned storm.
On board with you is a deathly ill Captain, half-dead mate, and an almost totally
debilitated crew.

Dave collaborated directly with James Clavell, author of the novel, in designing
the game. It should come as no surprise, therefore, to realize that Shogun requires the
player to act and think like Blackthorne would have.

Puzzle solving is non-existent. In the first sequence,
the player is presented with a situation that a real ship's
captain would have to solve. This is good! The bad part
is that you have almost no idea what to do! This is not
good. Here, success is determined by how well you, as
Blackthorne, thinks and acts, as compared to Clavell's
novel.

Therefore, the first job is to get your ship safely into a
small harbor. The ship may still be "wrecked," but you
do not necessarily die! Once ashore, the intrepid Englishmen
must make his way in a mysterious, war-torn land
towards his goal.

<img class="float-left" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-shogun-review/shogun-cover.jpg" alt="Shogun cover">

## Is It "Shogun"?

Nope! It's close, but no cigar! I've read the novel,
waded through the mini-series, and even read the biography
of Will Adams, the "real" pilot that Clavell based
his novel on. In fact, reading the novel will certainly provide
the player with some valuable tips on what he/she
should do. The game, however, differs considerably
from the novel.

Literary license aside, however, there is another question
which should be asked. Is Shogun, the game, true
to 16th Century Medieval Japan? Ah, well, "would-be
Anjin-Sans" (Honorable Needle Watchers), it does not
taste like Sushi to my humble palate.

Perhaps, an altogether more relevant question would
be, "Is Shogun, the game, exciting?" Well, yes and no!
Hark, Hatamoto! Is that a waffling noise I hear? There
are some exciting situations, but rather than the stimulation
of thinking one's way through to a logical solution,
one is continually forced to play . . .

## Guess The Parser!

Failure to make the proper decision (note the singular!)
means that death follows soon after. A wrong
guess? DEATH! Deviate from the path? DEATH! Take
too long to come up with the right verb? Death!

Ah, Anjin-San, you may have noticed a subtle pattern
emerging. Ah! You are wise in the ways of "The one
true way" type of game. Thankfully, there are . . .

## Hints!

When is a hint not a hint? When it doesn't help! One
hint, two hints, four hints, six hints! If you haven't gotten
it by the end of the list, the last hint should tell you exactly
what to do. If you can't figure it out by then, you
can't figure it out!

To me, a hint is supposed to be a little shove in the
right direction. Additional hints for a situation should
add to your knowledge. In *Zork Zero*, the hints built on
each other to the point of telling you exactly what to do.
Well, at least *most* of the time. This brought about a
low frustration level because players could get quickly
back into the game. In *Shogun*, there were way too
many occasions when the last hint was no clearer than
the first one was. This brought about a very high frustration
level.

## Artistic Backdrop

The graphics in *Shogun* are quite intricate, stunning,
and beautiful. The pictures are used as borders around
the text, providing a very nice touch, and as part of the
story line itself. Some pictures show the rewards
received for successfully handling situations.

Well, the pictures are certainly nice to look at and they
do show what is happening, but they also carry almost
no intrinsic information about what is happening. They
are simply there to break up the text. They simply provide
a backdrop and enhancement to the information
conveyed in the text.

Now, if the designer really wants to make optimal use
of these illustrations, they need to convey some additional
information beyond what is covered in the text. They
should, in a phrase, provide clues and hints! In *Shogun*,
unfortunately, they simply provide a nice atmosphere.

## Honorable Mentions

Fortunately, there are some very nice facets about
*Shogun*. First, there is a lot to the game. Players will not
win the game without putting in several weeks of game
play. There are plenty of items to locate, but the good
news is that you do not have to find every item in order
to win.

Second, it is easy to save the game as you go. It is
also, of course, a very good idea to do so. The nice fact
about *Shogun* is that the game is presented like "Chapters"
in a book. Therefore, there are enough logical stopping
points that players will rarely need to stop "in the
middle of things." There is also no problem about putting
the game on your hard disk for easy saves and access.

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-shogun-review/shogun-screen-shot.jpg" alt="Shogun screen shot">

## Wisdom for Anjin-San (General Hints)

Once you get the drift of which verbs the parser is looking
for, write them down. It will save trying to recall
them and similar situations will tend to use the same
command sequence throughout the game.
Once you have figured out a "Chapter" (situation), it is
time to save (immediately). This will save considerable
grief.

When a situation is described, pay close attention to it.
Those seemingly meaningless details are *important*. For
example (**specific information follows**), as the game
opens, you are HUNGRY and NEED rest. So, you better
get something to eat and manage to get some rest. Of
course, there is also a raging storm about. Therefore,
the ship's crew will have to man their stations before
you go below. If no one is running the boat while you
go below to snooze, the next sound you hear could be
waves beating against the rocks ... ROCKS!! Not so obvious
is getting something to eat. It is also not obvious
that you cannot come back at a later time to eat the
apple. The same is true of getting sleep and saving the
pilot's log.

Now, I have no trouble with a mistake in the middle of
a storm resulting in a rapid demise. It is, after all, a
crisis situation. However, my character is *supposed* to
be an experienced pilot on a ship that he actually
knows. Why don't I know anything, then? Not to mention
the possibility of collapsing from lack of food and
sleep, why don't I know how close my character is to
"the edge?"

This lack of knowledge is invariably fatal. It also means
doing the same scene several times before solving it correctly.
Further repetition is often required in order for
players to acquire all the items in a scene which can
score points.

## Which Way to the Emperor?

Making your own inquiries is difficult, time consuming,
and, many times, profitless. Assuming that everyone
who plays the game has read the book seems a bit
much to ask. Of course, having seen the mini-series
helps, but reading the book is one's best bet with
regard to finding a great deal of information. Players
should keep a copy handy, along with a paper and
pencil.

Frankly, *Shogun* loses a lot of excitement from the
book. There is no wandering off the beaten path to explore
the land. Shogun is very linear. There is only "one
true way" to success. Ah, yes! Once you succeed
as Anjin-San, you can go back and get all those points you
missed the first time. In the end, however, your path is still the
same. Your major choices are unchanged.

As text games go, however, *Shogun* is only
mildly interesting. Nevertheless, messing around in 16th
Century Japan should be "more than interesting!" This
game could have been exceptional. Instead, it is merely
ordinary. Fans of text games will probably like Shogun
simply for the fact that it is a far different setting from
the run of the mill fantasy or detective genre they are
used to seeing.

For those readers who are still unsure about the entire
genre of text games, pass on *Shogun*. In this reviewer's
opinion, *Zork Zero* offers a much more satisfying experience.