Worth the wait, and well worth the money.
Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power is a welcome return to an excellent franchise that is at the very root of Koei's Historical Simulation Series. Predating even Romance of the Three Kingdoms, NA set the standard for this genre and this title does not disappoint. Those familiar with ROTK may be disillusioned somewhat with the micromanaging aspect, or the fact that you may only play as a Daimyo, but overall the experience is similar enough that even the most biased ROTK fan should be able to enjoy this game.
Graphically we are reminded that this title did come out 4 years ago in Japan, and practically nothing has been changed about it, however they are sufficient for this style of gameplay. Units are able to be diffirentiated even from the highest camera angle and little nuances of your growing villages are nifty enough to make most players spend a little time just 'browsing' their fief. Battle animations are too distant for any kind of satisfaction due to action but you'll likely be too busy directing units to really care. Character portraits are clean, well-drawn, and numerous enough to rarely duplicate.
Musically this title has gotten a LOT of praise. However in my experience you will pay little attention to it and it may even become repetitive. Although the classical score is high quality the title probably would have gained benefit from the addition of period music in addition to the original score.
Gameplay is a sticking point for some players who have felt the battle system would play out better with mouse support. While it does offer a click-and-drag-box style similar to Warcraft it is completely optional. The ability to pause the real-time action to click through units with the control pad is actual preferable in this format and a player familiar with it can quickly divvy out orders on a moments notice. The simulation part of it plays well and all gameplay comes on a rapid learning curve due to an excellent, if not too long, tutorial.
The AI can be a bit moronic at times, especially when ordering a unit to withdraw. Unless you tell a unit to enter a friendly structure you will often find them confused and wandering in circles while the enemy chews them up. A quick remedy is to order a withdrawl to a fortress then pause once they are clear of battle and redirect them. AI on delegated fiefs seems to be ineffective as compared to earlier installments of this series. You can no longer direct them in which way to grow (Military, Production etc) so if you don't check on them periodically you may find a rear fief with 10,000 soldiers and no commerce or a front line fief with high agriculture but little defense. In all those who prefer to micromanage will benefit the most.
The addition of both historical and fictional events adds a huge dimension to the game. It can seriously alter the landscape and is intriguing from the point of japanese history (but if you leave fictional events on you may learn a revisionist history!). You may find yourself playing a variety of Daimyo just trying to make sure you've seen all of the events.
The Create an Officer mode is absolutely spectacular. You are able to customize even blood relations as well as a range of stats from the humble to the deific. (Although serious players would refrain from making an army of perfect officers) The only point lacking is the inability to customize Items that your CC begins with and the inability to direct the CC's future decisions such as future name changes and adoptions. Also it would be nice if you could CC a Maiden but they are completely random.
The learning curve and difficultly level is simple for fans familiar with ROTK and earlier NA installments. Like most Koei games if you love one then learning another is easy fare. For a brand new fan the tutorial should eliminate most puzzles and the rest is easily picked up as the game itself provides no rush to move into more serious concepts like battle. The difficulty system ranges from an overly easy level to a seriously aggressive expert. For a complete rookie there is no reason that the easy difficulty could not serve as an extended tutorial or even God-Mode.
The complexity and depth will keep diehard fans of strategy coming back over and over, especially if they are fans of Sengoku Japan. What it lacks, in comparision to elder installments, is lack of multiplayer. For a series that always boasted 8 player games reducing it to single player is a crippling flaw, restricting it to a solitary experience. Also the ninja in the game are no longer capable of assassination missions, even if the prior versions had them rarely successful. Early in the game you may find yourself sacrificing Orders for lack of things to do. It takes too long to build up commerce and in the absence of the old command of Train there is little to do in early seasons. However on the plus side the extension of 8 'Seasons' over the former 4 gives you ample time to become attached to your game feeling it to be a real investment. The Vassal and Joint commands are a welcome addition and the new Ally is MUCH more useful in that they will actually help you from time to time. Performing wars of attrition against the peasant populace can be especially rewarding, producing gold, food, and items, which are often exclusively expensive.
Overall, flaws considered, Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power is an outstanding installment to an already venerable series that has held it's appeal almost two decades after it's release, The updates to the series all add to it greatly and the two reductions, Multiplayer and Assassinations, are not serious enough to tank its appeal. Fans of Strategy, Japanese History, or Koei would be remiss to skip out on this one. With a retail of 39.99 it was worth every penny.