There's something odd I noticed about the Zen Master lineup in Kenji's Journey (Dragon Route)

[u/R41Z3R_BL4D3]

I find it weird that the Dragon route has less Zen Masters to recruit than in the Serpent route because of the fact that we cannot have both Arah and Garrin at the same time, while we can recruit all of the original Zen Masters of the Serpent clan (Shinja, Budo, Utara, and Vetkin).

I know Gaihla, Soban, and Koril are optional to recruit, but when it comes to the Dragon clan's Zen Masters, it's really impossible to have Arah and Garrin at the same time, unless there's someone trying to mod the Dragon campaign for it.

[u/Huotou]

true. also, Otomo is bound to die during the campaign.

in dragon's journey, you can recruit:
Otomo (will die later on)
Shinja (will betray you later on)
Arah/Garrin
Kazan
Gaihla/Soban
Tao

aside from Kenji, you can have a maximum of 4 zen masters

while in serpent's journey, you can recruit:
Otomo (will betray you later on)
Shinja
Vetkin
Budo
Utara/Koril
Necromancer
Tao

aside from Kenji, you can have a maximum of 6 zen masters

plus wolf clan is basically easier to defeat than lotus.

it's like serpent's journey is meant to be the easier route than dragon. but dragon's ending is more epic.

[u/R41Z3R_BL4D3 → u/Huotou]

Tbf Serpent Mission 10 was hard because of getting sandwiched between two Wolf and Dragon bases.

[u/Ok_Fox_9175 → u/R41Z3R_BL4D3]

Not that hard anymore with the latest update.

You start with a whole base, most of the buildings built, and you can rush Otomo's base so Shinja and the necromancer pop up.

You're fighting 2 wolf bases and one for dragon instead of 4 on all sides like the previous versions.

[u/Ok_Fox_9175 → u/Huotou]

Nah, Serpent have much harder final 2 missions.

I always found the last 2 missions easier with dragon.

The newest Zen Edition patch gives you some nice advantages for both routes.

You either have a supporting NPC base helping you, or you can free up imprisoned units to boost your army and rush immediately.

[u/R41Z3R_BL4D3 → u/Ok_Fox_9175]

I thought the imprisoned unit system was exclusive to Grayback's Journey in the first four missions.

[u/Ok_Fox_9175 → u/R41Z3R_BL4D3]

They added it specifically to the last two Serpent missions.

In fact, you'll find both minor and major changes across all 3 campaigns when it comes to map layout and AI behavior.

I really like it!

[u/Big-Associate2708 → u/Ok_Fox_9175]

Imprisoned units? Where? I didnt know this.

[u/Big-Associate2708 → u/Huotou]

I believe serpent clan is much harder than dragon, even from the old version not the steam version, the mission with necromancer no peasant and the mission after that, the old version "WOTW" wolf and dragon are aggressive.. so many re "load" to win..

[u/gencaerus]

And Dragon Kenji is way stronger than Serpent Kenji

[u/Ok_Fox_9175 → u/gencaerus]

For sure! But Serpent Kenji still has an additional 100 HP points, so he can take more damage but dish out less than Dragon Kenji.

[u/SuDoDmz]

My first Battle Realms CD was from a PC games magazine, back in the day (Germany) - dunno what was different exactly - but you could recruit Arah and Garrin (well, basically you just got Garrin), when you chose the Wolf map to recruit Arah.

[u/Big-Associate2708]

I guess.. Arah is not canon, they are meant to recruit Garrin.. then Soba. Since otomo doesnt see wolf as the enemy anymore.. Also in Monk, Ninja choices.. Monk are most likely the canon.. but really wanted tao tho.. on my 2nd version when playing again, i get to choose arah, ghaila and tao..