Langrisser/Warsong is a pretty cool tile-based strategy game that is surprisingly satisfying to play. It's right up there on my list with Phantasy Star IV, probably just below it if i had to rank them but above General Chaos and The Haunting. I found myself really getting into this game. I liked what i saw, but originally wanted to play the PCE version since it has anime cutscenes, voice, etc.... and i saw on youtube that the music in it is phenomenal. Unfortunately (at this time, likely forever) it is really only available on the Genesis for english speakers. I would have thought a game this good would be translated. Regardless, having played the genesis version i really am impressed. I think that most of the music actually sounds better on the genesis. I also was really given a lot for a genesis experience. I dont think i've seen a game soundtrack 'ported' into the genesis (or another platform) note for note like this, and it's an amazing rendition of a soundtrack prepared outside of it. I think this might be one of the few games on genesis i love the soundtrack (i dont particularly like the sound of sega for whatever reason) still I think that this is one of the best games i've seen on the genesis. There will be people who won't like a game like this, It's long, big, very mature for a genesis game, but it feels like a proper game and not a cut rate port (important!) I haven't played Fire Emblem or Shining Force (series' often mentioned as if to rub shoulders with Langrisser, so i should check them out!) but it's very akin to conflict or advance wars, however there is a bit more discovery in this game, and the combat is with more variables, and there were clever ideas done to make it a bit more like a classic RPG...

That is not to say it is over complicated. First, terrain affects your units in similiar way, however, some units such as horses do not fight as well indoors. The game doesnt outright tell you this and you have to figure a few things out for yourself. There aren't that many units. Remember how in heroes of might and magic you get a band of heroes and they recruit from a stack of say 7-10 creatures? This game is kind of like that (but in a very simplified manner) each hero can only have a single stack of 1 creature type (this might be a megadrive limitation, i say that because of the way the combat scenes unfold) there is also gear/equipment and each hero can carry one item, however the bonus from it is another modifier that is not outright mentioned.

These are minor annoyances, the game plays the discovery card really strongly and in my opinion the game is a pleasure to play without knowing everything under the hood, although i am curious a bit if it is a sega genesis limitation and you can recruit more unit types and carry more items per person on the PCE version. not knowing everything and figuring things out makes both for a bit of replay value and appeals to one's sense of discovery. The game experience feels something like a dungeon and dragon's type of game due to the way character leveling works and some deep dungeon delving atmopshere in some parts. the way levelling works in it is interesting. you evolve into other classes like pokmeon. my only complaint with the game is that is that at some point in the game (scenario 12) (about half way through the game) i couldnt get past it. I tried everything i can think of but suddenly the difficulty curve ramped up drastically when fighting other spell casters and there is simply no way to prevent them from bum rushing your heroes at that point. losing heroes can effectively 'stuck' you later in the campaign, this is a bit of a 'gotcha' and the only thing about this game i didnt like. in fact, i didnt see a single let's play on youtube for scenario 12. I am guessing most people quit at that point -_-

there are some game genie codes which will help alleviate this part though, and i'd reccomend them if you choose to play the game. other than that part and maybe a situation here and there it's really playable. Many describe warsong as very hard (before scenario 12), i dont feel that it is if you have some experience with TBT type games under your belt. a little bit more explanation (even if it is just flavor text about the units to give you an idea, or much more importantly the classes you can evolve into, since that is 'permanent') would be welcome.

if you want the RPGSHRINE has a nice section on it with the classes, items and unit types and thats enough. I think most people might just try to play it too fast. The game takes time. each scenario/level seems to last a good chunk of time, and really most of the game is a matter of patience. Winning is about slowly grinding them down and racking in the XP from killing every creature. This is an excellent game to leave in the background and come back to every now and then (a reason i love games like these) this might be the longest sega game i've ever played. it's certainly a huge game for a console of this era. (Remember that craziness called Nobunga's Ambition?)

graphics look nice. a bit fuzzy but it's a nice dark look. the color is great. detail is decent enough. i like the grid scan lines, and the look of terrain and everything else. combat screen is full of action and bounciness. as bodies and arrows fly, and fireballs roll past.

wheras in conflict you can make small choices to affect outcomes (or in godzilla 2, you can do a slot machine to shift your odds) this is completely static. your attack results are very random (in the sense that you can have really wide dice rolls on them) and defensive results (when enemy attacks you) are predetermined from some invisible formula under the hood.

there's no cutscenes but there is some decent (decently amusing) dialogue with retro character portratis.


As the game goes on it gets increasingly cheesy and laughable. overall it's nicely stylized and appropriate for the system in question.... still those cutscenes would be nice... as well as voice acting of said dialogue, no matter how cheesy, or even if in japanese

here are some tips:

Your heroes level up at level 10 and can evolve pokemon style into branching directions. Their level goes back to 0, but now stronger, they can evolve again when they hit 10 again. level seems to affect unit strength as well from what i can tell, oh and each evolution cycle brings various bonuses to your units, i definitely notice the improvement.

keep your units next to heroes to heal them at end of your turn.

heal your heroes with treatment, this takes a full turn (no moves/actions)

generally hitting an enemy hero with yours then sending in another hero or your strongest unit type is a quick assassniation method that works well (pay attention to their level and your heroes level!)

command lets you give a small bonus to your commanded units if they are in the flashing command area. if its working you will see the commander hero's portrait in combat, if not it says no hero/commander when they fight and you will know the difference

AI will use terrain/cover, healing and also assassination type tactics.

chokepoints are a great way to whittle down an enemy heroes army. send in a good units to the choke and put a hero next to him to heal him each turn. you can even swap your units in and out to heal. works great if you are patient.

when you kill an enemy hero their commanded army gets wiped. but you lose the XP of their creatures they control. Still you can do this a lot without major penalty but you can really evolve deeply in this game it would seem. depending on what path your magic users take.

friendly heroes lost in missions dont come back...

sometimes a mission is easier and less clutter/time consuming when you take just a few units, or even no units at all

sandwiching 4 units around a commander effectively shields them from an attack from that side.

this was a fantastic game that i only came across at some point having recognized the bits in it that were referred to in Evoland 2 It's most likely that the gameinspired all kinds of stuff from advance wars, godzilla 2, supposedly fire emblem (i havent played it) heroes of might and magic and tons of stuff i dont even know about. It even has a nice dungeon crawler kind of feel throughout it. that's a lot for a megdadrive game! Not sure if it's the most ambitions genesis game ever made, (Phantasy Star IV is a pretty mind blowing game, and well, if you want to count SEGACD... there is Snatcher...) but i havent' played anything comparable (yet) quite like this one. You generally do not see games like this on game consoles at all and certainly not for US audiences! I most certainly am going to be playing the sequeal for super famicom (the one most people like more) Der Langrisser, which is a rmake of Langrisser II (the sequel to warsong also on genesis)

highly recommended if you have the patience for it. In any case the soundtrack is really worth a listen: