Sengoku Dynasty News

Sengoku means "the country at war", a nation of warring states. It was a time when the entire medieval Japan was in a conflict. There was no single ruler, no Shogun, only clans, pirates, and bandits. Those who wanted peace struggled to find it.

In Sengoku Dynasty, your adventures happen far away from the daimyo territories, allowing you to enjoy bloodless gameplay, without the need for combat, conquering the map with peaceful methods only. You will even have the option to opt out of fighting entirely by choosing the chill game mode.



However, as the game's name suggests, the time has come to reveal more about what we intend for the release of the 1.0 version of Sengoku Dynasty. Playing "aggressive" game modes you find yourself in a land under the rule of various enemies and hostile factions. You will have the possibility to conquer the map region by region and bring peace to communities that live there.

And to do so, you will need to fight.

The combat system in Sengoku Dynasty will be focused on testing your skills and utilizing your gear. If you are skilled enough, you shall be able to defeat most enemies from the start. If you are extremely skilled, you will destroy them even with a wooden stick. However, if you prefer a more economical playstyle, you can invest your time to craft the greatest weapons and armors worthy of the best Japanese smiths and defeat opponents without panicking about your survival.



Combat mechanics were inspired, among others, by the Souls’ games system – so you can refer to it as a Souls-like – or as we call it, Souls-lite. They involve attacks requiring full-body movement that you can chain into cool-looking combos that can break your opponents' poise and knock them back or down. There will be quick and heavy attacks that could be interrupted based on your own poise level. Using heavier attacks, armor or weapons will make it harder to stop you, but you will also burn through your stamina faster.

Fighting powerful foes will require dashing, blocking, or parrying to avoid their damage. Performing perfectly timed parries is the fastest way to stop their combos, break their posture, and deliver the finishing blow. A variety of new weapons will have their own parry and block effectiveness, as well as different damage values, and will affect the encumbrance differently.



We are also working on enemy AI. Opponents will try to avoid getting stabbed and die stupidly, by spreading all around the player and attacking one by one. Fighting multiple adversaries at the same time will be much more challenging than a duel, nevertheless, there will be some mechanics to help you overcome the difficulty. More advanced enemies will require much more skill or significantly better gear, so be prepared.



This is not just a teaser. We are very excited to announce that a very limited, beta-version of this new combat system will find its way to the next Ikigai update, among other features. You will be able to fight some basic bandits (and maybe even find their large camp somewhere on the map...), wielding a yari or katana, and hone your parrying skills before we add more enemy camps and bosses to the game. Your feedback is crucial to us, therefore we want you to test an early version of this system so that we know what elements of it will require the most polishing before the 1.0 release.

Last week, we introduced our new perk-based progression system and showcased the first two paths to enhance your experience. Now, it's time to delve deeper. This week, we’re excited to reveal additional paths that will boost your combat abilities and spiritual growth. These new paths will offer unique skills and benefits, empowering you to master both the art of battle and the depths of spirituality.

[h3]Way of the Warrior[/h3]

This one focuses mainly on two aspects -- hunting and combat. You will level it up by defeating enemies and killing animals, which will make you more efficient in skinning (something you may already be familiar with). And as we introduce our new combat system, you will also get perks that unlock new fighting moves, make your weapons and knives more efficient, and make you more deadly in general.



[h3]Way of the Monk[/h3]

It’s more than a tribute to Japanese spirituality. In medieval Japan, monks were also warriors and administrators, so this path would include some jack-of-all-trades perks. One could focus on inward perfection, boosting your stats and making you more impervious to the dangers of the natural world, while another would improve your relations with traders and make exploration easier.



[h3]Additional features[/h3]

As a general principle, we wanted perks to feel meaningful, and make specific playstyles more tempting. Since it is impossible to make all perks equally powerful, we also want to balance them with two small features.

Apart from the current progression mechanism that allows you to unlock higher-tier perks only when you have unlocked a certain number of lower-tier ones, we want some perks to have other specific perks unlocked as requirements, so that you never waste a perk point on something that is not yet effective for your character.

The second improvement will make some perks upgradeable -- you will be able to invest in specific bonuses, making them better, as an alternative to dipping into other aspects and unlocking completely new perks.

As you can see one feature introduces necessary limitations while another expands the flexibility.
You can expect dozens of perks and their upgrades in each Way of Life to be gradually added to Sengoku Dynasty in the coming updates.

We hope you will be here with us for the ride!

PS: Please also have a look at our No Better Neighbourhood Contest on Discord. We are looking for beautiful villages in screenshots and/or video clips! Prizes to be won!

Our next update will be called Ikigai, which is Japanese for “a sense of purpose” -- and that’s exactly what we hope it will offer, with the introduction of a more complex progression system based on perks!

You may have already seen our Legend tab, currently just a proof of concept that we always intended to greatly expand upon. The time has come to shed more light on how it will work.

First of all, we want to support all of the four paths you may wish to take to turn your character from a rag-tag peasant into a legendary figure. And today we will present two of them.




[h3]Way of the Leader[/h3]

Players focused on their Dynasty will be able to level it up by acquiring Dynasty XP, which unlocks benefits for all players in a co-op session. As you progress, expect to gain perks that provide new and unique crafting recipes, lower villagers’ consumption of resources, and modify their happiness or productivity. Additionally, you can earn various other permanent global bonuses that enhance the overall experience for your entire community. These benefits not only improve individual gameplay but also foster teamwork and collaboration in co-op sessions, making the Dynasty system a central aspect of the game’s progression and strategy.



[h3]Way of the Craftsman[/h3]

As a hardworking person in medieval Japan, you’ll be able to level up by crafting, building, and acquiring resources. As you progress, you can expect to receive rewards that enhance various aspects of your productivity. For example, you'll get boosts to wood production with supercharged axes, access to richer mining deposits, faster construction speeds for building, and improved yields from harvesting and farming. These rewards will make your efforts more efficient and fruitful, helping you thrive in the challenging world of medieval Japan.

Next week, we will unveil two additional paths that will enhance your combat abilities and spiritual growth. These new paths will offer unique skills and benefits, allowing you to master both the art of battle and the power of spirituality. Stay tuned for more exciting details!

See you there!


PS: Read more on our Discord in #sengoku-announcements - https://discord.gg/toplitz

A Character Editor is one of the most requested features of Sengoku Dynasty. We plan to add it this year – but in order to get there, we must lay some groundwork first. Some of the necessary changes are already visible in the game.

First of all, in Kaizen Pt. 2, we made significant improvements to the lighting system. Getting the light right is especially challenging in a game like ours, which features a day-night cycle, various weather conditions, four distinct seasons, and unique lighting conditions in specific locations like caves. Ensuring consistent and well-lit environments across all these scenarios requires meticulous effort. Hopefully with improved scene colors the game will better reflect the atmosphere of Sengoku-era Japan.



We've also undertaken a major character overhaul. Completely new, optimized skin materials provide more freedom for future character customization. You'll see significantly more detail on bodies and, most importantly, faces. Currently, this rework applies only to male characters, but female characters will receive the same treatment soon.



We hope you’ll enjoy this first step towards character customization. We’ll be taking many more very soon!

Youkoso!

Summer will be over before you know it, honestly! Be prepared for autumn!

That's why we recommend medium and long-term provision with games! So it's handy that the huge Steam Summer Sale starts today and numerous bargains await you! Stock up on games!

In Sengoku Dynasty it's also nice in autumn, in winter too and spring and summer either. Build one or more villages, ensure the utmost happiness for the villagers and get involved in the development, because we are in the middle of Early Access and would love to hear your ideas!

Use the power of the Wishlist and put Sengoku Dynasty on it OR get it DIRECTLY at the STEAM SUMMER SALE!

Edit: Epic users can enjoy the latest update 0.3.4.2 - Games can be hosted and joined from both sides again.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1702010/Sengoku_Dynasty/