Rising Sun Review - The Kickstarter Experience 

Just a bit of errata: the Koi clan is the one which uses coins as ronin, the Bonsai is the one that buys stuff for 1 or nothing. Enjoyed the video!

The key with all asymmetric games is it is up to the players to balance each other out, you need to make sure one player doesnt get to get his engine going to how he likes by using the alliance system etc.

Great review! I actually am in the camp that enjoys this game so far. I need 4 or 5 more plays to know for sure, but it is steadily creeping towards my top 10 games. We'll see if it keeps its luster.

On the flip side, I absolutely love the gameplay of Rising Sun. And those I have played it with also enjoyed it. We weren't hugely engaged by the negotiaons but enjoyed the alliance cooperation, and some of us got more into trying to work out a deal with our ally that helped us out more than it did them. Eric Lang's design philosophy, especially for this mythic trilogy, has been to give players the option for overpowered combos as well as the tools to prevent them. Being blindsided by them isn't fun, but striving for it can be, as can knowing you deftly stopped someone from doing so. With the dragon example, as I am sure others have mentioned, the first time you play with it, you may very well likely have it taken hostage, but then you see that if you push for taking hostages, you not only get the benefit of the hostage, you protect your dragon, likely winning the battle, which can be quite crucial considering region diversity can net you a lot. I can see it not being for everyone, but it can be an absolutely amazing experience.

Great review as always guys! While me and my group are on the spectrum of "we love this game" i totally understand where you come from with your criticisms. And as you put it, this is great with the same people, which thankfully is the case for us, so maybe that's part of the reason why we like it so much.

Thanks for the review. I'm not sad I didn't back it, I can just tell this is the sort of game I wouldn't enjoy, but it was nice to learn a bit about it and to see some of the components.

Great review, I played the KS version of Rising Sun a couple of times at a local meetup and definitely felt underwhelmed (purely from my own board-gaming preferences) at the final gaming product, as compared to the detail of the components. I'm glad you guys invested in the KS version, as its refreshing to have the KS side of board-gaming reviewed once in a while!

Love you guys' videos. Keeeeeep itup!

I love this video! Just found you guys. I can’t wait to see more from you. I got my fist KS game the other day (GKR heavy hitters). Felt the same way.

I rarely comment on stuff, but this channel is awesome.

Couldn't agree more. Also loved the "Lucky" tortoise reference.

"just hear these babies clack" - loved it

You two make some great videos! I don't always agree, but the last thing we need is one giant echo chamber. Thank you for helping keep the BG world diverse.

Best review you've done

I love u folks well done as always:)

Will I enjoy this if I thought Inis tasted better than Terra Mystica in my mouth, or if I haven't clacked in many months?

Ok, you got a new backer for your KS. I liked your review. I didn't backed Rising Sun last year because this area control, fighting, probably back stabbing mechanisms are not my cup of tea. BUT man am I jealous of this gorgeous peace of art. This looks so good. The artwork, the colors, the materials when you show it in close up, the money, yes the minis, the map, the player screens. I would instantly through my money at this thing if the gameplay would be anything i enjoy. But sadly this game is not for me.

Knowing cool mini or not they will probably release an expansion later with all the miniatures from the Kickstarter but in plastic

Great review.

Thanks for the honest review, but I couldn't disagree more. Rising Sun is so fun and different then any other game I have played. Yes there is a learning curve and subtleties. This is the first review of yours that I have disagreed with. You make really good and entertaining videos. Keep up the good work. I tried the Kickstarter search and npi nor no pun included came up in the search.

Great review even though I disagree with some points. This game is slowly creeping into my top 10 games. As a spiritual successor to blood rage, this game has much more in store for it than it's spiritual predecessor. Keep up the good work!

River dragon not actually any good and just sits there. Really? +5 force - you spend your coins protecting it - or you convince your opponents that's what you are doing. Or its just so overwhelming they chose Seppuku - either way the region is yours. River Dragon - like any of the others serves a purpose and you have to learn to use it well and to suit your ends.

I giggled out loud. Twice. Thanks!

You guys are getting really good at this :) What was the seppuku thing about?

It doesn't feel good when you fawn over all the 22 monsters with amazing sculpts for several months and learn after one playthrough the river dragon is so vulnerable compared to yurei (usually a much better investment of your coins). However, I have never once thought, "I wish this monster didn't exist." The KS exclusive monsters are just extra trinkets and not the reason my group wants to play this game over and over. While the inclusion of so many monsters can feel like unnecessary bling, I think the shear amount truly unique and interesting content, the incredible depth for an area control game, and how much fun we have will keep this game hitting the table for many game nights. I have never bought a game that has been as much of a universal hit with my game group. Plus, with five sets of season cards, 7 non-exclusive clans and 7 kami every game feels different enough to rethink my strategy. This was 100% worth it for my group, but I question if the retail version is worth the msrp. I think the core box alone is enough for most groups, but can CMON ask that much for miniatures that are higher quality than needed and cardboard strongholds that get lost in a sea of miniatures?

Thank you

Just for the NPI song this video blew my expectations away! Instantly went and backed the NPI Kickstarter!

would you rather play battle for rokugan? :)

Why is there a blood rage frost giant on your board?

Oni of Spite is exactly what happened to our first game. A lot of other completely overpowered combinations too. So I guess it somehow balanced out? Scores were all over the place in the end though, so it probably didn't. I still won together with my "ally" eking out just enough points to catch up to him (he had left anyone else in the dust with his teleporting Oni of Spite while I was protected by being lowest on the honor track after betraying him twice in the first two seasons) in the last battle in the game :D Playing was mostly enjoyable just to watch all the crazy stuff happening, not so much for "solving the puzzle". So imo the game is best when combined with drinks and food and good company as a piece of entertainment, much weaker as a 'serious', competitive game. Also don't play with 6 players, it took us forever to finish.

Clacking could be one of those things that gets misconstrued, sort of like our 70s style plush carpet does for you all. But I guess the joke is just low hanging fruit, sort of like your pronunciation of CMON. Great overview of Rising Sun , but only if Rummikub's clacking was as exciting as Rising Sun's clacking.

Love you.

What game is that at 5:52 ?

I've played 5 players games a couple times and the issue is first and second player teams up and gets 4 powerful actions the first round and player 3 and 4 team up to get back to back picks as early as possible. Second round players 3 and 4 team up and get 4 powerful actions and players 1 and 2 team up to keep the momentum going. Round three player 5 finally gets to team up with someone because they are SOOOO far behind that they can't win and are just used to help someone else win. I guess I'm saying, play 3-4 players only. Anything above can feel unbalanced and any actions you do feel very limited if you aren't one of the first players.

I love radiohead references.

good to see you guys have a positive relationship with shut up and sitdown, without whom i never would have chosen to watch at length people talk about board games. i have more to say but there is too much information incoming as i attempt to form a thought while i watch…..more later should life not intervene and if this much effort garners a response. 🙂

Good review, but I do not understand the math for the Oni of Spite. Shouldn't it only get ten possible points if moving into an area with five higher honored players? So, if that perfect double move moment happened should it not be, at most, another ten or 15? Just considering the possibility of two armies with max players near each other as unlikely. Also, its a Autumn card for the last round, its not that great. Its exactly like the River Dragon.

22:24 its the Bonsai not the Koi, keep up nice review :)

This reminds me of my mixed feelings about Dinosaur Island. The current Kickstarter for the expansion, 2-player game, and X-treme edition of the base game has carved out a space in my brain due to all the hype. Despite this, I have some reservations about whether or not it is my kind of game. I like the individual mechanics but unsure if the whole package would click together for me.

Hi NPI! I was looking for this video and wasn't able to find it when I searched for it on YT and only found it on BGG. Is there any reason why this video went unlisted?

Great review guys - you covered a lot of stuff and it never felt like I was going to skip to the next section. What’s also good, is I disagree with lots of stuff - but I still really enjoyed it. My only criticism is, I was hoping for some insight into the experience of the base game - especially during the week it hits retail. The big question was for me Is just how much am I missing out getting the regular version? Is it still worth it?

Impressed with your careful observation that more introverted people that might not want to engage in the same agressive social strategy might not enjoy themselves and feel isolated.

lol. Cool video and the review was good as well.

Is it pronounced see-mun because you splurge out so much money?

First time suing your video , already subscribe , and the main reason isn't the way you present the game , or how you making a good jokes , but for not selling away your souls instead you prefer to tell the truth, your not trying to sell but to do exactly what review should be , an honest and neutral from all points of view, i see you point here , i see a good components , very beautiful miniatures , but there something missing ... if i loved the age and cultures of Japanese samurais and fantasies i would defiantly buy this even for 200 :)

I'm a real fan of area control games and Rising Sun is my favorite game of all, at the moment. Played 15-20 times and find it extremely balanced, even the 'broken' strategies (Fox Clan Righteousness/Sepukku combo, and Oni of Spite/Fujin combo) are counterable (and in case of Oni of Spite combo, it is there to give a desperate player who is very far behind a chance to still win the game). I do think there are some 'underpowered' cards (like the River Dragon, for example), but even this is very situational. Buying the dragon may mean not only 3 VP, but 13 (if you had like, 4 provinces and the one you win with the dragon will be your 5th, you win 10 more bonus VP at the end of the game), all of this for the cost of (probably) just having to win the Take Hostage bidding. If you have a lot of spare cash (or can take it for free, like Bonsai can, if he's already acquired his mandatory cards) it can pay off. I'm yet to see another game with so much interaction between the players, with all the active bribery and resource exchanging during the seasons. You can always bribe or intimidate someone to do something for you, and with the right people playing this will happen ALL the time. I've played with people who were not on this negotiation/bluffing thing and yes, they can feel underwhelmed, but even this adds more flavor to the game, because the 'smarter' players will then compete for their attention to try to make everyone in check, and this in turn can make the players with no skill in negotiation ending with more advantages (that they didn't even had to negotiate) just because they are a disputed 'resource'. The interaction between players in all phases is insane for both euro and area control standards The alliance system is a more delicate issue. In the first games there's a chance of the same player being alone 2 (or maybe even 3) seasons, because players instictively will tend to keep alliances that gave benefits to them earlier. This can generate a large gap and make the game less fun for the lone player, specialy if he is not the negotiator type, to bribe/intimidate for an alliance. But players soon learn to rotate their alliances every season, so mostly someone will only be lonely for 1 season (not creating a significant gap). It CAN be a noob friendly game, if the experienced players know how to check each other and not let just one monopolize the noob's attention. With the expansions the replayability is almost infinite. There's a ton of sets of cards, optional monsters, new clans and the kami miniatures on the board. The clan combinations chance the whole game since it will chance starting locations and mandate orders (not mentioning the clan skills). I found the kami expansion to add much more complexity and imprevisibility to the game, and it can be a little overwhelming to some people. It can be highly rewarding tough, with the right people, since it opens up so much more possibilities for me the perfect Rising Sun game is 5 people, random clans, random set of cards = 3 hours of pure joy and laughs

I played some rounds with the Kickstarter Version of a friend and because of the haptic feeling of the components i would never buy the Retail Version. It would feel cheap.

Not sure I understood the criticism that “the monsters do different things and some aren’t good if you don’t play smart.” Kind of a silly point to make and you spent several minutes on it, but that being said it was a pretty entertaining review.

Love the video. Did anything weird happen to occur with this video's rendering or anything? It just seems like it is ever so slightly sped up. It could just be something with my connection.

Nice review, but I felt like there wasn't a conclusion or recommendation or final word, it just ended.

17:52 Yeah, I stopped playing MtG exclusively because of Blue. The closest way I can describe Blue is a whole deck of Take Hostage. Blue operates entirely by slapping the pieces of the board and saying "EARTHQUAKE!"

Interestingly, the Indian English term for both turtles and tortoises is Tortoise (it describes all Chelonians in Indian English). Though i am not going to tell you what Americans call Tortoises because I am sure Efka knows this already.

Wednesday livestream ?!!? I need to make a time machine!!!

Thank you for another verry cool review :D I have a little objection about 19:35 The Oni of Spite does steal 2VP from any player. Two conditions must be met. (1) Your Clan has to be lower in Honor-rankin than the player you steal from; (2) The Oni has to be moved into the region by any effect. In your example the Clan fielding the Oni is lowest on the Honor-track, which may happen fairly often and can be forced. That Clan is moving the Oni into a region where 4 other Clans have at least 1 Force, which happens seldomly and can not be forced by one (incidental). In this particular case the Clan who's fielding the Oni would gain 8VP (4 Clans times 2VP = 8VP) not 16VP as stated. Those 8VP may be raised to 16VP with the Fujin Kami by moving the Oni under the same conditions again in a new territory with 4 Clans having at least 1 Force there (even more incidental). Beside this (wieredematically) example, Rising Sun is a game of control and denial. It is mandatory for all Daimios to watch each step of all oponents, having a look at each card they buy. Social control is one of the best mechanisems to keep your oponents in check and push towards your own strategy. It is certainly edgy balanced if you let your oponents do waht they desire. It is balanced ok if you keep an eye on them. At least, this is my expireince so far. I agree that it is not a gateway and best played with a fix group of players :)

I don't think the game would be a much fun as watching this review. Having Elaine take such a prominent role reinforces one of the reasons why people should back NPI's Kickstarter (which may be the point of the video). Anyway, love the review, love the channel and greatly appreciate all you do (maybe giant plastic minis of the hosts?). Thanks (Whew that was long-winded)

I love NPI! Support them on kickstarter if you haven't already!

Efka in a bubble bath. Kickstarter backed.

Interesting .

Hello Efka! Actually I think you are spot on with this game. I’m not generally a fan of area control anyway so it was never going to win me over - but the overproduction feels like a detriment rather than a bonus to me (mainly because it’s paired with the price tag). I enjoyed my play of the game. But I don’t want to own it and while happy to play again I’m unlikely to request it.

No Cathulu wars review? :)

Hi, I wouldn't agree upon different clan abilities - there are only 7 political mandates in each season. That means, if you're playing by 4 players, there is a chance you'll use your ability only once. Even if you're going to use it more often, it's less meaningful move if your opponent choose political mandate relative to your uniq clan's ability. I can remember the game, in which i've been leading Dragonfly clan, and there were only two recruiting actions that I benefited from more than other players in the whole game.

Who's Dan?

Genius

you can tell that 4 million (kickstarter) dollars did good as we can see the quality of the product ... thou the gaming board could be abit thicker.

Second review I watched and I'm kinda surprised you say there is nothing in this game...

It was my first play of Rising Sun which spawned my Dominant Species Test™, which is: If it was all reduced down to wooden cubes, and drab graphics, would it be as good? The answer here, even with the price aside, is clearly no.

Yankee Candles FTW!

But... I wanted you to recommend this game! What am I going to do now?

Ankh on April 14th...

Hi there, enjoyed the video, don't share your opinion (after just a couple of plays). Would you mind sharing how many plays at what player counts you managed to play before the review? Also, did you have a look at the extra clans available? My feeling is that with CMON, the game is best out of the base box. Not taking into account the "bling" of course...

So when can we expect a review of Feudum?

Turtle is generic, Tortious is specific to just land based turtles....but they all are turtles.

Cherries are delicious.

the thing i learned at rising sun school IS...

I disagree with some points in the review. The first is about the dragon and war tokens. The river dragon is usefull when your strategy is aimed to the war tokens set collections. Getting different regions tokens will give 10-30 points in the end of the plus the points on the war tokens. Basically, if you have 6 war tokens that give you 12 points together you also have more 20 points at the end of the game. And, of course, when you win, you keep your minis on the board and maximize the power of the harvest card, wheh the dragon agains can be very usefull. Second point is about the clans abilities. Although it seems very powerfull, all clans have powers that are very helpfull in the game. Dragonfly Clan's ability is strong, but, since you are prepared for this, you may try to read his intentions and prepare for it. One way to make it is using betray againist this clan or taking the two marshal action cards and forcing him to move before the other players do. But I really liked the video and subscribed to the channel anyway. Very good work. ^^

Now you did it, boardgames are no food is my favourite song now :|

I didn’t back it’s Kickstarter, but was fortunate enough to get the Kickstarter version from my FLGS. I read the rules and marveled in its splendor! Then I watched your review and started to feel a little nauseous. No offense, but I hope that l, after playing, I can disagree with you and enjoy this for years to come.

I never fancied this game, as much as I love all things Japanese. So I didn't bother, despite the beautiful minis. Zombicide Invader, however, I snapped up, because its fun tp play with your mates and even has a decent solo mechanic. If anything, the minis were less important - the quaility was OK, but hardly anywhere near minis by the likes of GW, Warlord etc, and thats fine, overall, the quality was excellent. CMON, and I'm not here to defend them at all, do make some good games. I just picked up The Grizzled, turns out.. CMON.

Dude kinda looks like young Peter Jackson

So funny 🤣

Greatest song on RU-vid, everyone else should just take down their music now.

I'm still waiting for my Kickstarter. Very frustrating experience. Now your telling me the game sucks. Great.

I don't even care about the games anymore. Just want my popcorn and listen to the commentary :D lmao

i paid $100 for my base pledge and received an insane amount of goodies. Probably 90% of available content was included. I still have yet to play Rising Sun but this review makes me want to play it even more.

Interestingly enough all the things they didn't like are why I love this game. I suppose I'm one of those diehard fans

Note to self, do not attend weddings NPI attends. Ever.

CLACK ATTACK! (nice review; also agree)

A tortoise is a type of turtle...sorry.

Great video as always but I feel that even the base game of blood rage is an amazing game without any of the kick starter benefits so I am not sure how you had a bad relationship with the mechanics of what is a fantastic game.

My takeaway from this review: this amazing game could have been even better. How exciting is that!

Unfortunately very first time i do not like your review :( after watching i have this feeling like RS is just an empty but beautiful shell. IMO (just IMO) it has a lot of content, strategy potential and negotiation aspect is great. BTW - allowing to take the big monster as a hostage is just a stupid mistake of the player not a game flaw. who knows, maybe thats just me. i love mythic japan. nontheless appreciate the effort guys! :) cheers

fighting by bidding? I'm out.

BOARD GAMES ARE NOT FOOD

Assuming that 'Dan' is me..Hi Efka. 2 birds with 1 stone (Is there a phrase in Lithuanian for that?) Take on an over-hyped game and raise money. Nice!

has Efka lost weight? looking good man!

Why ur hair look like dat

"Board games are not food.." Good job y'all I said GOODDAY SIR & MADAM!!

I kickstarted this but haven't played my copy yet. I have played other friends' copies. I enjoyed it to a point, but just like Blood Rage the cards and monsters feel like some are borderline useless while others are possibly OP. The clans were asymmetrical but nowhere near as much as Cthulhu Wars which I find far more enjoyable.

I agree with all your comments on the game. By the way, Kemet is still the best game of the genre.

Rising Sun is an **amazing** value in plastic miniatures. If you want them to paint and make them look pretty in your cupboard, this is by far the best CMON has ever done. Consequentially, because this is a CMON game, the underlying game is forgettable and frankly there are far better ways to spend the time. It's not *terrible* IMO, just not good or even average, either. Play it once for the splendor, then paint things and put them on the shelf. It's super pretty. That's it.