Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first few moves feel inviting if you know chess: take turns, develop a position, protect your king, and look for a decisive attack. Hon Shōgi quickly asks you to stop relying on that familiarity, though. Shōgi’s central tension comes from captured pieces returning to play under the other side’s control, so a trade that looks clean can become the beginning of your opponent’s next assault.

That makes the game satisfying as a thinking exercise. You are not just counting material; you are judging what a piece may become once it changes hands, and whether your king has enough room to survive the consequences. When a plan comes together, checkmate feels earned because it grew out of several careful turns rather than a single lucky exchange.

The available modes give the straightforward format some needed flexibility. Difficulty choices let you work upward, timed games create welcome pressure once you understand the basics, and letting the computer move first is a practical way to practice responding rather than always building from your own opening. Frustration will set in if you want the game to teach you shōgi from the ground up: this is more rewarding when you are willing to learn through repeated positions and hard losses.

Graphics

The focus stays on the shōgi board and its pieces. That suits a game where you need to study lanes, defended squares, and the immediate shape of an attack without being distracted from the match.

Story

There is a small but real drama in every match: the quiet opening, the moment a piece is captured, and the sudden realization that it may return on the opposite side. Hon Shōgi finds its stakes in that back-and-forth rather than in a separate tale.

Because each side is trying to checkmate the other king, the board produces its own reversals. A position that seems secure can turn anxious in a few turns when a captured piece reappears as an attacker.

If you need a game to provide characters or a plotted reason to continue, this will feel sparse. If the story you want is the one that emerges from a close strategic duel, the format has plenty of tension.

Overall Experience

Hon Shōgi: Naitō 9 Dan Shōgi Hiden is a narrow but honest strategy game. It wants you to play shōgi, think carefully, lose when you misread the board, and come back with a better answer. There is value in that directness, especially for a game built around a board game with serious depth.

The computer options matter because they change the kind of pressure you face without changing the rules you are learning. Start at a comfortable difficulty, skip the clock until the board starts making sense, then use timed games to find out whether your plans hold up when you cannot calculate forever.

The payoff is worth it for shōgi fans and curious strategy players who enjoy studying a system rather than being ushered through it. Everyone else may find the focus severe, but that focus is also why the game works: every meaningful moment comes from the choices you make on the board.

Retro Replay Score

6.3/10