Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) has been a popular feudal Japanese tabletop setting since the mid-90s as a collectible card game and roleplaying game. Both have seen several iterations and the license has changed ownership from the original developer. Both the CCG and RPG were unique in that they didn't purely focus on combat, and the social elements played a huge thematic part of the games. They also featured an ongoing narrative, with tournament winners choosing how the story developed.
When I heard that the first L5R video game was being developed, I stepped away from the tabletop, picked up my controller, and stood ready to judge Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings as only a tabletop gamer could. It must be noted that I've been playing both the L5R card game and roleplaying game since 1995. I've played through all versions (reviewing the latest versions of both here on TechRaptor), and I've read all the published tie-in fiction, as well as being a huge samurai and ninja nerd (and Japan in general). So I was going to be a tough audience for this.
As with all my tabletop reviews, I judge theme pretty harshly. If you're going to throw a setting in your title, you better live up to it, rather than it being a paper-thin layer on top. So I was always going to judge it on theme before how good it actually was. If it lived up to the setting, I could forgive poor gameplay, but never the other way around. I got to test Shadowveil with a preview code, so not all elements of the game were available, and some things may change by the time the game releases fully on Mar 04.
My concerns about theme were immediately alleviated, as soon as the first dialogue box opened. The L5R setting features several clans, all vying for power with different strengths and goals. The Crab clan, who are the focus of Shadowveil, guard the rest of the empire against the Shadowlands, a corrupted realm filled with demons, evil spirits, goblins, and other creatures, are unique in their outlook in that they don't care for honor or social politics. Victory is simply everything, and the methods are immaterial.
This stoic realism was captured immediately, and also told me that I wouldn't need to worry about how Shadowveil would deal with the social politics of the different clans, this was going to be war, the part of the empire that didn't care for etiquette or courtly virtues. But that element wasn't written out, as it could easily have been. It's obvious that not all is as it seems as the lead pair of characters, a brother and sister pair of Crab clan samurai reach a walled outpost in need of repair, and some internal politics are obvious from the off.
In the full game, you will be able to choose between 2 famous characters from the setting, Hida O-Ushi, a berserker warrior, and her bother Hida Sukune, a more thoughtful and tactical samurai. Our build saw us taking O-Ushi, and leading our warriors to war. The first few dialogue boxes take you through the setting introduction, not drawing it out, but giving those new to it enough to go on, and then you're off on your first outing, beyond the wall, and into the shadowlands.
After going through the gate, you're into the game, which features roguelike runs, with you choosing the path of progression. You can select cards for abilities and items for your fighters and choose their placement in combat, but the battles happen automatically, with your fighters attacking as per their class. You start off with your main character and 2 basic samurai, but you can unlock other classes like the scout and witch hunter on subsequent runs, along with upgrading your basic samurai into formidable fighters themselves.
During the run you collect cards, which unlock abilities. These are either generic or class-locked, and duplicate copies can be combined into a more powerful version. You can also collect items and other resources to unlock further elements as you progress. Some only benefit you during that run, like jade, which is used when you rest to heal and gain temporary boosts, others you take back with you, unlocking character classes and items. Side quests are also available, with some key unlocks early in the game's story. throughout it all, your characters gain experience, which levels them up for subsequent run attempts, and later levels.
The leveling-up screen gives you a whole host of options, from core stats, specific masteries and traits, unlocking more item and ability slots for cards you collect on the way, and also upgrading the core ability itself. When you upgrade stats, you get several stat package options that allow you to focus the character the way you want. The upgrade package was a lot more detailed than I thought, and really gave me a roleplaying feel that captures the the L5R RPG.
The roguelike runs are handled very well, with branching level selects with the side quests highlighted further down the route. Each failed attempt isn't death, but a withdrawal to recuperate and rearm, before heading out again, with some friendly banter from your sibling after your failed run. It took me 4 runs on my first go to finish to defeat the first boss, and I'd unlocked 2 other classes, taking 5 fighters total to battle in the last mission. I focused on gaining command points, which lets you deploy extra fighters, rather than upgrading abilities, but it looks like either option is viable, either taking a small force of starting-level abilities or a couple of super-samurai.
The second level was a lot harder, and I hit several walls early on and had to upgrade a couple of times to even make it halfway. Tactical resting became key, and positioning choices at the start of each battle really started to matter.
Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings Final Thoughts
Thematically, Shadowveil nails it. It captures the setting very well, even with the limited single-clan view, which allows them to focus the gameplay on the combat side of L5R without feeling like it's missing the social side. Yet it still captures the politics, even the internal politics of the very unpolitical Crab clan. The RPG elements had surprising depth, and the blend of permanent development you can control, to the random party development in the runs works very well. As a tabletop gamer of all genres, I love turn-based strategy, but honestly, the auto-battler is doing pretty much what I would be doing only faster, which lets you focus on the overall strategy of the run.
L5R fans would obviously love to see all of the clans represented, across the full setting with all facets of what we love about the CCG and RPG, but the depth of that game would be huge, and probably not for the mainstream market. What Shadowveil does is capture what's important for L5R, in a perfect mix of theme and gameplay, that while might not be for everyone, looks and plays great and may introduce more players to a deep and incredible setting that tabletop gamers already love.
TechRaptor previewed Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings with a code provided by Palindrome Interactive.
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Adam is a Tabletop Specialist for TechRaptor. He started writing for TechRaptor in 2017 and took over as Tabletop Editor in 2019 and has since stood down… More about Adam
