Kessen II for PSX2.
Written by Eagles' (eagles_999999999@hotmail.com)
Version 1.09 (11/10/01)
I added two more stages for Liu Bei.
Version 1.08 (11/03/01)
Finally, an update!!! School's been a killer, sorry for taking such a
long time to update. This time I have three new stages for Liu Bei.
Only three left!!!
Version 1.07 (10/06/01)
I added one more stage for Liu Bei in the walkthrough section.
Version 1.06 (10/05/01)
I added another four stages for Liu Bei in the walkthrough section.
Version 1.05 (10/04/01)
I added another two stages for Liu Bei in the walkthrough section. I
added some third party characters in the character section as well.
Version 1.04 (10/03/01)
I added and changed a lot in the basic game play and game control
section, now it looks a lot nicer. I also changed the enemy units
information on the walkthrough to make it easier to understand. Most
importantly, the formations part is up, huge thanks to Muni Shinobu.
Version 1.03 (10/02/01)
I added first three battles for Liu Bei in the walkthrough section.
Version 1.02 (10/02/01)
I added the tip, special abilities, and a little more on generals'
statuses. I'm going to send this in to help those who have troubles
fighting battles. I will soon start working on the walkthrough.
*Note: I expect there to be many stupid mistakes (spelling, grammar,
etc.) on this FAQ since I wrote 14 pages in three school days. But I
will soon find a time to go through it and find them all. Please be
patient with me: P. And if you think the character section is sloppy
(which I do), just give me some time I will add much more details on
each character.
Version 1.01 (10/01/01)
I added the character section; it's not yet completed.
Version 1.0 (09/30/01)
I just started this FAQ, and hopefully people who like the game will
like this. This is going to require a lot of work, but since my love
for the game is strong, I will do it!!!:)
*Note: this is a FAQ for the English version.
Everything is still coming up. I'm a full time college student, school
is tough, so I don't have much free time, but I will try my best to
upgrade this FAQ.
Kessen II ("Kessen" means final battle, I think in both Japanese and
Chinese) is a strategy game based on the historical Chinese story "The
Romance of Three Kingdoms". It's made by the mighty KOEI, which is
known for it's unique style of making historical strategy games
(Romance of Three Kingdom (1~9), Dynasty Warriors (1~3), Kessen, and
many other great games).
In general, Kessen II is a really fun game. If you have never played
any of the games above or never heard of the story of the Romance of
Three Kingdoms, it'd be kind of tough for you to understand it. But
still, it's pretty good, due to its one of a kind game play and amazing
graphics. I suggest you try it out, maybe you will be "touched" by its
storyline: P.
I just beat the game, since I like it so much, I'd like to write a FAQ
about it:).........
And, I must add this: I BEAT IT IN TWO DAYS (about 20 hours)!!!
WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
Anyway.
What does this FAQ have (or what will it have)?
1.    Basic game play and controls.
2.    Characters.
3.    Special abilities.
4.    Notes on the battlefields (tips, formations, special events).
5.    Walkthrough.
*********************************************************
*********SECTION 1: BASIC GAME PLAY AND CONTROLS*********
*********************************************************
Right after you start the game, you will have to sit tight for the
intro moive (or skip it by pressing "start"). Just relax and enjoy it.
The game will flow in this following order (except the first stage):
Power Status: the military situation will be explained.
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Political Policy: the purpose of the Political Policy is to strengthen
the army. This will be explained later on this FAQ.
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Drama: The CG movies bring the drama of love and war among Liu Bei, Cao
Cao and fellow commanders.
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War Council: you decide the plan you will use for your next battle. War
Council is also explained later on this FAQ and in the walkthrough
section.
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|
Battle: all of your units will go as planned in War Council. You can
also give them new orders.
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Postwar: when you win you will keep going to the next stage; if somehow
you lose you will be given the option whether or not you want to fight
the stage again.
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Save: you will go to the save menu and save your game if you want.
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Next stage...
-------------------------------
---------Game Controls---------
-------------------------------
There are many views in this game, in different views different buttons
function differently, here's a list of all the controls:
MENU CONTROLS / POLITICAL POLICY / WAR COUNCILE
Directional buttons:
Highlight items
Select commanders (only in Political Policy / War Council)
Square button:
Army information (Political Policy)
Battle Map (War Council)
Triangle button:
Cancel
Circle button:
Re-explanation (Political Policy / War Council)
X button:
Select
BATTLE MAP VIEW (This is the map view where you see the layout of the
land and the location of your units):
Direction buttons:
Select units
Select items
Square button:
Unit information
Triangle button:
Army View (goes back to ARMY VIEW of pervious commander)
Circle button:
Combat order menu
X button:
Select
Army view (goes to the unit's ARMY VIEW that you selected)
L1 / R1 button:
Switch units
L2 button:
Turn on/off units' names
R2 button:
Displays control guide
SELECT button:
Function menu
Left / Right analog stick:
Rotate camera angle
ARMY VIEW (this is the overall view of a unit; you will get into this
view by pressing "X" button on any of your units in BATTLE MAP VIEW;
this is the view you are in when you start a battle):
Directional buttons:
Select commanders (goes to the OFFICER VIEW of selected officer; only
works when the unit is in combat)
Operate units (you can change the direction of which you units face;
only works when marching)
Square button:
Battle Map VIEW (this sends you back to BATTLE MAP VIEW)
Triangle button:
De-select unit (does the same as "Square" button, which sends you back
to BATTLE MAP VIEW)
Circle button:
Combat order menu (you can assign new mission for this unit, change its
formation from this menu)
X button:
Select
Select unit
Officer view (this sends you to OFFICER VIEW; only works during combat)
L1 / R1 button:
Select units
L2 button:
Turn the marks off (the marks are either red or green, it helps to tell
which soldier is on your side when there are tons of them around you, I
will talk more about it later on)
R2 button:
Display control guide
START button:
Pause the game
Left analog stick:
Control units (only when marching)
Right analog stick:
Rotate camera angle
L3 button (this is the left analog stick; instead of move it, you push
it):
Turn radar on/off
R3 button (this is the right analog stick; instead of move it, you push
it):
Re-center camera
OFFICER VIEW (you can go to officer view by pressing "X" button on the
general you desired in ARMY VIEW; in this view, you will be able to
fight as this general and use his / her special abilities):
Directional buttons:
Move generals
Navigate
Gather troops (by pressing "down" directional button)
Select special (include select abilities / target area or range in this
FAQ)
Square button:
Battle Map view (this sends you back to BATTLE MAP VIEW)
Triangle button:
Army view (sends you back to ARMY VIEW)
Circle button:
Select special abilities
X button:
Select
Rush enemies after gathering troops (see above about how to gather
troops in Directional buttons)
Select special abilities
Attack enemy soldiers (you NEVER kill enemy soldiers by pressing "X"
button in this view; however, this will greatly help to raise your
morale and it's cool: )
L2 button:
Turn the marks off (the marks are either red or green, it helps to tell
which soldier is on your side when there are tons of them around you, I
will talk more about it later on)
R2 button:
Display control guide
START button:
Pause the game
Left analog stick:
Move commanders
Navigate / gather troops
Right analog stick:
Rotate camera angle
L3 button (this is the left analog stick; instead of move it, you push
it):
Turn radar on/off
*Note: soldiers are stronger when they fight close together than when
they fight separately. This called "backup effect". The mark appearing
above the soldiers become brighter as this effect increases.
*Note: this game's battles proceed in real time. The time WILL stop
temporarily in the following cases:
*Under the BATTLE MAP VIEW
*Under the given order menu (displayed by pressing "Circle" button
under ARMY VIEW)
*When you choose your special abilities
*When an event occurs
*When you paused the game (by pressing "START" under ARMY VIEW OR
OFFICER VIEW)
Here's how are the three views (BATTLE MAP VIEW, ARMY VIEW AND OFFICER
VIEW) related to each other:
By pressing "X" button:
BATTLE MAP VIEW ---> ARMY VIEW ---> OFFICER VIEW
By pressing "Triangle" button:
OFFICER VIEW ---> ARMY VIEW ---> BATTLE MAP VIEW
By pressing "Square" button:
ARMY VIEW        ---|
|---> BATTLE MAP VIEW
OFFICER VIEW     ---|
That's all for the game controls. Now let's move on.
-------------------------------------
---------Officer Information---------
-------------------------------------
Your army has many officers. You may get more officers as the game
flows. Each unit shows on the battle map has at least one or more
general in charge. Each unit consists five squadrons. If you have more
than one generals in one unit, those generals (except the commander)
will each lead his / her own squadron.
There are six statuses for each general:
War:
This is the general's psychical strength. This affects the offense,
defense, and morale of the unit this general's leading.
Magic:
This is the general's magical power. This affects the power of this
general's magical attacks and his / her unit's resistance to magical
spells.
Fame:
This is how famous the general really is. This affects the max number
of troops you can have in this general's unit. You can increase this
status by making enemy units flee.
Experience:
This is the experience the general has. This affects the general's
unit's promotion. Gaining more and more experience can learn new
special abilities for this general. You can increase this status by
making enemy units flee, destroy enemy storehouses (which barely
happens if you don't have special plans for it), or simply survive a
stage.
Troops: the class of troops led by the commander.
Special Abilities: the available special abilities.
Before each battle, you will enter two main events. They are Political
Policy Meeting and War Council.
------------------------------------------
---------Political Policy Meeting---------
------------------------------------------
Before each battle, you will go to a political policy meeting, three of
your generals will suggest you three different things to do. You can
only choose one of these three things. You should make your decision
based on your army strength or just do whatever you feel like. Troop
Strength (number of soldiers), Supply (number of supplies), and
Technology (abilities of your troops) determine how strong your army
really is. You can check your and your opponent's stats by pressing the
square button every time you go to policy meeting.
Here's the list on what ideas might come up in political policy
meetings:
*Note: all of the following may come in different forms, depends on
different stages and different rulers. For example: in recruit troops,
one general might tell you the people would like to follow you so
they'd like to join, and later in the game, another one might tell you
that you can use prisoners to fight. Either way, you will get new
troops.
A. Recruit troops: generally you are adding new force to your army.
Result: usually this will get you anywhere between 600~900 troops, not
that great, but if you feel like you are too few in numbers (which most
of times you will), this is not a bad option at all.
B. Train troops: you train your current army. Actually, you are really
training your generals.
Result: your generals get stronger (the results may very, depends on
who's doing the training).
C. Kill man-eating tiger: you go and lay the smack down on a tiger: P.
Result: your fame will go up.
D. Getting supplies: in general, you are getting more food by doing
this.
Result: your supply will go up.
E. Research weapon: you research new weapons to improve the strength of
your army.
Result: there're two of situations under research weapon:
1.    You will get a special type of weapon. This weapon will
automatically be assigned to one of your best generals and it
will be automatically used on battlefield. These kinds of weapons
are: Tiger Canons, Catalogs, Hawk Troops, and many others.
2.    You will hire blacksmiths to upgrade your weapons, many of your
generals' troops will upgrade.
F. Allow some general to train: one important general in your army
wants to train by himself / herself.
Result: this general will GREATLY improve himself / herself.
G. Form a special unit: you will form a special unit for a specific
general.
Result: this general gets an UNQIUE and POWERFUL unit.
H. Making plots on the enemy: there are many smart guys under you, they
thought of a way to mess with your opponent without fighting.
Result: there are many different plots as the followings:
1.    Persuade the enemies: the enemy troops number will lower by 10%
2.    Fake an attack: enemy will send troops to wherever you fake an
attack to; therefore, these enemy troops cannot fight you in the
next battle (this is a great plot).
3.    Spread rumors in enemy army: this will lower the enemy troops
morale by 10.
Special cases: I've only seen one special case in the game I played;
however, there might be more since I've only beat the game once. In the
battle "Showdown of Chi Bi", if you are playing Cao Cao, you will have
the option to write poetry for your troops.
Result: your troops will be inspired by your poetry and their morale
will go up by 10.
That should be all for political policies, if I find anything else I
will add it up.
After you finish your political policies meeting, it's most likely the
current situation will be explained and a CG movie will be shown
afterwards (Best part of the game!!!). After that you will go the war
council. In there your generals will lay out the ideas on how you
should fight this battle.
-----------------------------
---------War Council---------
-----------------------------
In war council three of your generals will suggest three ideas on how
should you fight this battle, and you will then decide which strategy
you would take for the upcoming battle. None of them is really wrong,
but sometimes (most of the times) one strategy works way better than
the other two. I will state the strategies of each battle as I go over
the walkthrough.
That's about all you need to know before you go into battles. In the
walkthrough I will state everything you need to know for each stage.
I will also put tips in the NOTES ON BATTLEFIELD section.
**********************************************
*********SECTION 2: SPECIAL ABILITIES*********
**********************************************
Special attacks are really powerful, if you use them right. Most of the
special attacks have ranges. Try to move around so you can get more
enemy soldiers inside your range. The BEST TIME to perform a special
attack is RIGHT AFTER you get into fight with an enemy unit (the time
when your soldiers just contacted with your enemy's). At that time, the
enemies are still in groups, which makes it really easy to target.
-------------------------------------
---------Strategic Abilities---------
-------------------------------------
Physical commanders use this kind of abilities.
Duel: ****
Your enemy general goes one-on-one with the great one.
If you win, the enemy unit's morale will drop and your own will
increase by 30; if you lose, your morale drops and the enemy unit's
will increase by the same amount. You can refuse to duel someone by
press triangle; however, your morale will decrease a little bit.
The range depends on the general's war ability.
Volley: ***
Shoot arrows at the enemy unit. All troops who have bows can use this
ability. It is more powerful than the normal shooting.
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range.
The range depends on the general's war ability. This cannot be
performed once the archers drew out their swords and go into the
battlefield.
Snipe: ***
This is a more powerful version of Volley.
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range.
The range depends on the general's war ability.
Iron Wall: *****
All of your soldiers build an energy shield, which defend against ANY
magical abilities. If you are watching a battle, and an enemy general
in this fight uses a magic, and you have this ability, simply press x
(which you can see on the right bottom screen) to perform this ability.
Battle Cry: ****
Weaken the enemy soldiers for a little while; also decrease this unit's
morale.
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range.
The range depends on the general's war ability. Make sure they are not
too close to the end of your range.
Rally: ****
Strengthen the ally soldiers for a little while; also increase this
unit's morale.
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range.
The range depends on the general's war ability.
Raid: ***
Charge through the enemies all by yourself.
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range,
general's war ability, and how many of them you hit. There's a limited
time for this attack, it's shown as a bar on the right bottom corner.
Before the time runs out, you can move to anywhere and hit your
enemies.
Charge: *****
Charge with mounted troops (does NOT include mounted archers).
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range.
Rush: *****
Charge with foot soldiers or lance troops (does NOT include archers).
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range.
-----------------------------------
---------Magical Abilities---------
-----------------------------------
Warlords use this kind of the abilities:
Meteor Shower: ***
Drops huge meteors from the sky.
The effect depends on how many enemy soldiers are inside the range and
the general's magic ability.
The range looks something like this; try to put more enemy soldiers at
the position as shown("*"). This only works better if your magic
ability is decent.
G