GamesRadar writes: "It's Japanese chess, if you're wondering. Whatever possessed Rubicon to choose an ultra-obscure game like this for their debut is beyond us, but they've done a great job of making it, and of teaching you how it's played. It'll be big in Japan; over here, not so much. A great way to meet Japanese people?"
You'll love
* Well executed
* Nice tutorial
* Meet Japanese people!
You'll hate
* Ultra-obscure
* May hurt your brain
* Who will play with you?
Even after completing all of the tutorials and investing hours of play time, defeating any of the AI opponents is still a difficult prospect. At 800 Microsoft points, the price tag is cheaper than moving to Japan and training with a grand master, but the difficulty and absence of adversaries online make this a tough game to recommend to anybody but the most devout tabletop-strategy-game players who are willing to hone their talents through the game's excellent tools.
Shogi is the kind of game that you can get hooked on. If you enjoy chess, playing and learning this variant will be right up your alley. However, the 800 Microsoft point ($10 US) price tag will have you wishing more effort would have been put into the presentation and game options.
Presentation - 3.0
Graphics - 4.0
Sound - 4.0
Gameplay - 7.0
Lasting Appeal - 6.0
Overall -
Unfortunately, there's a distinct lack of tools to help you improve your game - it would've been huge if there was a coaching system, practice-mode threat diagramming, or a library of tsume shogi and hisshi puzzles to improve gamers board-analysis skills. With only 16 progressively harder A.I. opponents, Shotest Shogi is a sound introduction to an intellectually challenging game, but it'll leave you wishing for more.
