This review was originally written on 02/01/2019.

Technical Information

Developer: Tecmo Koei
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: 19/Mar/2012

Pokémon Conquest is a tactical RPG that takes place in an era relative to Japan’s Feudal period.
The objective is to “recruit” trainers and conquer kingdoms.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

Very beautiful artwork, the 3D fit well into battles.
I loved the main art for each Pokémon, leaving most in action positions, which was super relaxed and natural.

I found the kingdom menu to be somewhat rough. I need to enter a specific option for equipment to equip items, but the problem is that I can only equip those who are in that realm. A menu for all trainers would be much simpler!

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

Excellent soundtrack and sounds. It maintained a very feudal atmosphere, using flute sounds. At least I felt well-ambiented in that era.

Gameplay

The structure of this game is very different from traditional RPGs in the franchise. As you dominate the kingdoms, you gain access to areas with different Pokémon and trainers.
Right at the beginning, you can choose whether to play as a guy or a girl, I chose the girl.
Each trainer can have a bond (measured by three levels of intensity) with certain types of Pokémon, and the intensity of this bond is essential for it to evolve. The stronger the bond, the faster it evolves.

As you conquer kingdoms, you can leave trainers stationed there. Each kingdom has space for six trainers, but you can move them between realms.
However, you can only perform one action per month (which is equivalent to a turn). If you leave a trainer to collect gold, you cannot move him to another realm or put him in a battle until the next month (turn).

I personally found the game to be quite confusing. At the beginning, there’s a tutorial explaining how to play, but some things didn’t become very clear to me.
For example, I couldn’t understand if it was really necessary to leave trainers in kingdoms, or if it was necessary to train them every turn to make them stronger.
This isn’t necessary. The focus should only be on your “main team,” i.e., the team you use to conquer other realms.

The game’s objective didn’t become clear to me from the start.
The gameplay progression didn’t make much sense to me, and it didn’t fit with the possibility of keeping other trainers in kingdoms – throughout the entire gameplay, only once did someone try to invade one of my realms – I found this somewhat useless and nonsensical.
Besides that, the game’s difficulty is quite easy. Approximately 12 hours of gameplay were enough for me to conquer all 17 kingdoms and complete the main campaign.

Replayability and Game Retention

The game itself didn’t really grab me much.
After completing the main campaign, you unlock other missions.