Warlord: Awaji ▶ Trailer
Warlord: Awaji screenshot 1Warlord: Awaji screenshot 2
ActionAdventureIndieStrategyHistoricalOpen WorldSandboxSamuraiBase Building

26 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 31

Peak in the last 7 days: 52

Warlord: Awaji Steam store

Game description

Lead a samurai invasion into the mysterious island of Awaji! Recruit, promote, and upgrade your warriors while navigating the ancient world of feudal Japan. Use samurai weapons and strategies to conquer the entire island and become Warlord!

Basic info

DeveloperDarkmatter Games
PublisherDarkmatter Games
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckUnsupported
Release dateSep 9, 2026
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10 64-bit
ProcessorIntel i5 9th Gen
Memory16 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA Geforce GTX 2060
Storage6 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 233 reviews from the past 1 year

74.6/ 100
Bottom 40%

Steam rating: Mostly Positive (79%)

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 20, 2026)

Players get to rule as a samurai lord in Warlord: Awaji, a strategy action game that scores 74.6 from 233 analyzed reviews.

👍 Strengths

98 reviews enjoy the feeling of rising as a warlord through fun conquest and army upgrades, and some love it as history fans. 18 praise the strategy layer, such as the feudal system of land grants and ranks, formations and diplomacy. 17 like the visuals, citing armor, architecture and scenery that feel true to the era, and Visuals & Sound ranks 986th of 1249. Story & World ranks 780th of 1096.

👎 Where it falls short

35 find the loop repetitive, with little variety beyond capturing, camping and upgrading. 33 report poor performance, and some mention long loading times and frame drops in large battles, while Tech & Support ranks 1117th of 1399. 22 say the strategy lacks depth, and some add that commands are limited to charge or hold and that most choices have an obvious right answer. Content Volume ranks 1228th of 1351, Gameplay ranks 948th of 1396, and Pricing & Fairness ranks 948th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“felt like a real Japanese warlord, immersive roleplay” · 98 reviews
“performance tanks with 50+ units in combat, traversal, and loading” · 33 reviews
“improved graphics over predecessor” · 17 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 60% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Progression +0.89 · Leveling, unlocks and gear — is growth rewarding or a grind?
Positive “love upgrading troops by giving them land” · 7 reviews
Negative “army scaling is poor, promotion costs don't match unit capacity gains” · 5 reviews

Difficulty 8% · Onboarding 7% · Freedom 24% · Strategy 39% · Controls & feel 12%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 22% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

World +1.87 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “good atmosphere and historical background explanation” · 13 reviews

Story 2% · Characters 2%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 39% of reviews · Bottom 10% of the games we've analyzed

Variety -2.67 · Fresh content and situations versus repetition
Negative “repetitive gameplay with limited AI interaction and exploration variety” · 35 reviews
Positive “opens up into large scale warfare by fourth region with expanded gameplay” · 1 review

Volume 25% · Replayability 1%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 18% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +1.84 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “improved graphics over predecessor” · 17 reviews
Negative “lacks immersive first-person perspective and body visibility; corpses and arrows disappear too quickly” · 1 review

Audio 2%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 2% of reviews mention this.

Playing together +3.60 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals

Community 0% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 16% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.25 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “allying factions not worthwhile, taking land fiscally superior” · 3 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 7% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 43% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Performance -0.52 · Frame rate, optimization, and loading times
Negative “performance tanks with 50+ units in combat, traversal, and loading” · 33 reviews

Stability 11% · Developer support 18%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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