KOEI TECMO AMERICA ANNOUNCES WESTERN RELEASE OF NOBUNAGA’S AMBITION: SPHERE OF INFLUENCE – ASCENSION
Intricately Detailed Historical Simulation/Grand Strategy Title Brings to Life Machinations and Complexities of Military, Politics, and Civic Development of Japan’s Warring States Era
Burlingame Calif. – August 5, 2016 – KOEI TECMO America is pleased to announce today the upcoming release of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence – Ascension, the standalone follow-up to the critically-acclaimed historical simulation title based on the Warring States period of Japanese history. Headed to the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and digitally to Windows PC via Steam® on October 25, 2016, Ascension remains true to the long-running franchise’s Grand Strategy pedigree as it expertly brings to life one of the most provocative, complex, and dramatic times in Japanese history.
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence – Ascension highlights some of the most epic battles and notable events of Sengoku Era Japan, when myriads of military officers and lords fought for domination over the land. Players will be able to experience all the events that led from the fracture of the country to the establishments of clans and the forming of alliances before the inevitable clash that led to the emergence of the first Shogunate. Allowing for deeper immersion and insight into these events as well as providing a closer look at the development of strongholds and armies, Ascension provides players with the extra option to begin the game from the position of an officer and ascend through the ranks to become an important warlord—perhaps even the overlord of Japan!
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence – Ascension will also offer history aficionados the opportunity to experience that same era as a historically-accurate simulation game. Players will be able to take control of their favorite officers and lords, as Ascension boasts a massive array of over 2000 diverse characters to choose from. A number of well-known individuals will offer unique events and exclusive missions, with special attention given to Yukimura Sanada, the famous Japanese samurai whom many of his time heralded as the strongest warrior in Japan. Beginning his journey at the age of 16, players can follow the life of Yukimura and the challenges he faced during the Sengoku period until his eventual defeat at the Siege of Osaka.
Other prominent figures will also receive specially tailor-made content, including feudal lords such as Ieyasu Tokugawa, who rose to become the Shogun at the end of the Warring States period; Mitsunari Ishida, who played a pivotal role at the decisive battle of Sekigahara towards the end of the war; Masamune Date, the lord known as the One-Eyed Dragon; as well as individuals such as Nyosui Kuroda and Morichika Chosokabe whose intriguing stories unfold throughout the game.
With more information and assets following in the coming weeks, KOEI TECMO America today released a selection of screenshots featuring the officers within battle, alongside detailed portraits showcasing them in grand poses.
For more information and to stay up-to-date on the latest news for Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence – Ascension, including detailed descriptions of the historical personalities that shaped Sengoku Era Japan, please visit the official site at www.koeitecmoamerica.com/ascension, Like KOEI TECMO America on Facebook at www.facebook.com/koeitecmous, and become part of the #KTfamily by following KOEI TECMO America on Twitter at @KoeiTecmoUS.
ABOUT KOEI TECMO AMERICA CORP.
KOEI TECMO AMERICA CORP. is a publisher of interactive entertainment software for current generation consoles, handhelds and digital download content based in Burlingame, California. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of KOEI TECMO HOLDINGS CO., LTD., headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. KOEI is best known for its Dynasty Warriors® and Samurai Warriors® franchises. TECMO is best known for the Dead or Alive®, Ninja Gaiden®, Tecmo Bowl®, and Fatal Frame® series.
Her lonely lifestyle comes to an abrupt end when she is informed that her cousin Kirin, who despite the size difference is the same age as Ryo, wants to attend an art school in the big city in the future. With Ryo already attending cram school classes in an effort to make it into an art oriented school, it seems like a perfect fit since Kirin will be taking the same classes. While initially Ryo is a bit unsure of what to make of this arrangement, once she meets Kirin the two quickly begin to hit it off, especially when the first meal that she cooks for the two of them turns out to be the most delicious one she has tasted in a long time.
Shiina serves as a great addition to the trio by serving as something of a balancing act for Kirin. Kirin’s personality is full of energy and despite being the same age as Ryo, her impulsive nature mimics her smaller stature as she often plays the role of a younger child while Ryo takes care of her. As for Shiina, she is far more reserved and laid back when it comes to everything around her and also has a few little quirks of her own such as being from an incredibly rich family and getting sick whenever she happens to get splashed by rainwater of any kind.
Thankfully even with this issue the show stands out from the rest thanks to a certain element. That element of course is that every episode features food of some kind that Ryo or the other girls end up cooking and eating. While this wouldn’t really stand out in most other series, Gourmet Girl Graffiti sets up food as the focal point for many episodes, whether it is the girls bonding over a picnic watching the Cherry Blossoms, the three of them trying out various meals that they’ve seen on television, or even Kirin and Shiina stepping up to show that Ryo can rely on them in the kitchen as well, food plays a major role here.
Although his appearance is rather surprising for Sakura, it gets even more outlandish when she realizes that not only can no one else in the class see him, but that Rinne is dealing with an oversized spirit of a Chihuahua. The next day Rinne returns but this time everyone treats his appearance as something special since it is the first time that many of the classmates have even seen him. This leads Sakura to wondering what exactly Rinne is and after speaking with him and dealing with a fused evil spirit that results in the pair traveling through a realm between life and the afterlife, Kyoukai.
After this initial introduction, Rin-ne begins to settle into a fairly enjoyable pace of introducing various spiritual elements such as new ghosts or demons that need to be exorcised or bringing in people from the two main characters’ pasts. This means that the title settles for a more Ranma oriented pace than InuYasha as various characters are introduced and then appear as minor roles in later episodes. This includes the likes of an amateur exorcist who became infatuated with Sakura at a young age because she could see the same spirits he could, a demon that Rinne caused problems for as a child who now wants revenge, and eventually, near the end of this first half, introducing Rinne’s sleazeball of a father and another female Shinigami who will likely serve as a potential rival in the future.
This is due to the fact that her character so far is portrayed as being entirely nonplussed by any situation that comes her way. While she already has a thick skin to most of the supernatural world thanks to living with it for so long, no matter what happens the girl refuses to betray any type of emotion outside of the occasional spark. As for the rest of the cast, Rinne’s jokes come from the fact that he is incredibly poor and is a penny-pincher when it comes to using exorcism tools, meaning that he is often seen lamenting the use of cash to the point of crying blood, Rinne’s grandmother lashes out at those who call her old, an old demon from Rinne’s past is idiotic to the point that characters question whether or not anything he does is a trap or simply a mistake from his idiocy, and so forth.
This leads to a number of scenes that appear fairly generic and even though this Blu-ray release does increase the vivid appearance of the coloration used in most scenes they still feel a bit flat at times.
As far as the soundtrack goes, the background music is fairly standard for a series such as this and doesn’t really offer anything too surprising. The opening theme is “Riot of the Cherry Blossoms” by Keytalk while the ending theme “Ring of Time” by Passepied sound decent but don’t stand out in any real way.