James Clavell's Shogun

James Clavell's Shogun is a video game in the adventure genre developed by Infocom, Inc. and published by Infocom, Inc. originally released in 1989. It is currently playable on DOS, Amiga.

Shogun, a faithful adaptation of James Clavell's successful novel of the same name, puts you in the role of Blackthorne, an English sailor who hopes to make his fortune in 19th century Japan, but must earn it the hard way by gaining the acceptance and respect of the suspicious Japanese.

Shogun captures the plot and atmosphere of the novel almost perfectly, with excellent writing, well-paced plot development, and gorgeous Japanese art graphics. The game is divided into chapters, each of which is self-contained (i. e. all the items you can find and use are only for the current chapter) and moves the plot forward bit by bit. The puzzles are definitely up to Infocom's usual standards, in particular, the puzzles that require you to figure out how to communicate with the natives are brilliant.

Being based on the same engine as Zork Zero, Shogun also follows that game's lead by offering new types of puzzles to make the game more varied. In this case, there are some timed sequences, and an arcade-like maze navigation in which you move Blackthorne with the arrow keys.

Overall, Shogun is a forgotten Infocom masterpiece that belongs in every gamer's collection. Although the game would appeal more to Infocom veterans, novices should not be discouraged from trying it, as the built-in online tracks are excellent.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.