Shogun 2 :Total War - The Review

Creative Assembly made their debut in the Total War series with Shogun: Total War. This game was planned to be a 2D but in the way they changed it into 3D. Although in 3D I have to admit that was not one of the best graphically games I have ever seen. But graphics at the time were irrelevant with the basic idea.

The developers wanted to create a game that would not please the eyes of the gamers but to challenge their minds. And so they did. In that game you have to use your forces wisely. The archers or the gunmen can run out of ammunition , the weather can affect the course of battle , the terrain and other little and big things which in reality are really important but in games most of the times get neglected, were implemented in the game. And above all this game has nothing to do with numbers, meaning no matter if you or your opponent has greater numbers you/he can still lose or win the battle. It depends how you use your units .

So 10 years later and after many total war games, what really changed ? Better graphics and animations is one thing. More detailed units , buildings and terrain. More sophisticated and complex AI and more challenging battles. The only thing that remained the same was the basic idea of strategy and tactics. The idea that made Total War series big hits and great success in no time .

Sun Wu or Sunzi or Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher and is believed he wrote The Art Of War , a book about military strategy. His book has influenced not only China, but Japan and other Asian countries plus western civilization as well. The Art of War was introduced in Japan, in 760AD, and the book quickly became popular among Japanese generals. The work also significantly influenced the unification of Japan and mastery of its teachings was honored among the samurai.

The above paragraph was used to tell you that the developers have created the game according to Sun Wu's teachings and they are used excessively in the game by the AI. So if you want to complete the game with a smile you will have to surpass your opponent. Sorry that's the way it is. This game is not for weak minds. Moreover finding and reading The Art Of War will be good for you. The teachings of Sunzi do not only apply into war but into daily life as well.

You read it right and it is totally true. All the total war games were created with a focus on historical authenticity. To achieve that they asked for advice and guidance from real military historians through the whole development of the games. The games are historically accurate as much as possible and you can fight many historically battles which is so freaking amazing. The greatest thing and feeling is when you win those battles. battles that were lost in reality. Ok, ok a lot of variables are not calculated in the game so it is wrong saying that the in game battles are accurate simulations of the real ones. But still it feels so good.

A few years back when I was playing Rome Total War with the Greeks as my chosen faction, then Medieval II Total War I ve spent a lot of time staring like an idiot the little soldiers fighting. It was freaking, totally, incredibly fantastic, amazing watching those tiny digital soldiers fighting. The accuracy and precision of their moves were absolutely stunning. It was like I was watching a full size man fighting right in front of me. Imagine YOU are doing a really,really complex move. I mean really complex. How would you feel if you could see a digitized little person in your screen duplicating EXACTLY the same move. You would be far more than amazed right? I can not find another way explaining to you the accuracy of their moves.

So for a few years I thought that those animation designers, designed all those soldiers by hand with special animation programs. Well I still believe they are doing a great job but I discovered that nowadays, video game studios use REAL martial artists to perform all those complex fighting moves. Yup that's right. Real martial artists wearing MOTION CAPTURE suits. That made me want to play even more and got me so much more excited ( I was less excited at my first date ).

Let's start with the question what is Total War? According to the dictionary "Total War" is "a war in which every available weapon is used and the nation's full financial resources are devoted". Inspired by this, Total War games combine turn-based strategy on a campaign map with epic real-time land and naval battles.

Shogun 1 and Shogun 2 campaigns take place in Feudal Japan (1185-1868). The "feudal" period of Japanese history, is dominated by the powerful regional families and their clan leaders --- Daimyo --- and the ultimate military ruler of warlords and ruler of whole Japan--- Shogun --- . In particular Shogun 2 continues form where Shogun 1 stopped. The Shengoku period of the Feudal Japan period , (where our campaign takes place) is the most violent, bloodiest, with the most battles and wars in the history of Japan. A dark time for Japan. Millions of people died during that period and those who paid the ultimate price where the civilians.

The players will take control of a Daimyo (clan leaders ) one of the 8 most powerful clans in Japan at that period. Each clan has different characteristics, strengths and weaknesses so choose wisely. The goal of the game is plain and simple. Become the ultimate ruler of Japan. Become a Shogun.

Strategy And Tactics In Shogun 2 Total War ♦ Shogun 2 Official Trailer♦ Sun Tzu Teachings♦ Military Historians And Martial Artists In Shogun 2♦ What Is Shogun 2 Total War♦ Gameplay of Shogun 2 Total War♦ Samurai Duel♦ New Features In Shogun 2♦ Playable Clans In Shogun 2
♦ Helpful resources♦ FREE DEMO♦ My DEMO Experience♦Personal Opinion ♦ Great Features Of The Game♦ Bad Features Of The Game♦ The whole lens in 2 videos

The gameplay is actually the same in all Total war games and THAT feature made the games really famous. The gameplay is divided into 2 parts. First we have the campaign map where the player plays the role of the leader. The heart and soul of the game. It is actually a turn based strategy gameplay. In order to fight your battles you will need money. Wars are not fought with soldiers but with money. In every turn you have numerous actions to perform. Development of settlements, military production, military marching, economic growth, and technological advancement plus diplomacy and political maneuvering will be the actions you will take during every turn. I will not excessively explain those features cause I will need 2 more lenses.

In the battle map you will have to deal with the consequences of your choices,decisions and movements. In this map the player plays the role of a general. The battles happen in real time so you must learn to think and make decisions fast because your opponent will not give you any breathing space. Of course you can pause the battle and evaluate the situation , make your moves and then unpause it but even then a lot of things can change in a matter of seconds. Learn how to adapt fast in every situation and overcome every difficulty and victory is yours. You can take control of huge armies and I really mean huge. The military numbers in every battle vary between a few hundred men to a few thousands. And I am not kidding. The battles are just EPIC. You will be able to fight in open planes or lay sieges on castles.

A lot of things are new in Shogun 2. Some are totally genuine and other redesigned with new mechanics. Let's delay no more.

Multiplayer

This a totally new in total war series and Creative Assembly is really proud of it. Individual battles and even whole campaigns can be played by more than 2 people. This is a cool feature, cause all the self proclaimed tacticians and strategists can test their brains and skills against other real people .

Naval battles

Actually naval battles were introduced in Empire and Napoleon Total War games. But European naval battles were very difficult and complex. The ships were full with cannons and they had to maneuver all over the place so they could hit their opponents without getting hit. Japanese ships were so much different. They were bulky, and more accurately looked like floating forts. They didn't have the ability to maneuver very often. Instead they had thick sides, short in length but really tall. They even had towers from where archers could launch fire arrows and burn the other ships. Hundreds of soldiers were staffed in the hauls and boarded the enemy ships.
As you can see Japanese naval warfare has nothing to do with European naval warfare. So the good people in Creative Assembly redesigned the naval battles creating something new. The mechanics of the battles had to be adapted to the new Japanese cultural data so in result those battles became far more simpler,interesting and addicting. And I haven't even said half of what it is going on in those battles. The sure thing is you will enjoy those battles whether you like fighting in water or not

Every battlefield is unique and important.

Terrain, weather conditions even time of the day affect the outcome of the battles. Let me explain. Let's assume in a particular province you have to fight a battle . You occupy a high terrain, it is spring and early in the morning, so temperature is not high so the soldiers are not getting hot. So they are in good mood with high morale. Now if the terrain was muddy, it would have a great negative affect in the stamina of your soldiers. When soldiers get tired can be easily routed by the enemy. If it was raining or snowing they would get cold resulting in low morale. Fighting in midday and especially when it is summer and it is hot also affects the morale of your soldiers, I believe you get the idea. If you have to fight 3 battles in the row in the same province. Every battle will be unique because it will be fought in different season, with different terrain conditions, different temperatures etc etc. As a result every battle counts, every battle is important and gives you a unique experience every single time. So every time you will have to use different strategy and tactics.

Strategy And Tactics In Shogun 2 Total War ♦ Shogun 2 Official Trailer♦ Sun Tzu Teachings♦ Military Historians And Martial Artists In Shogun 2♦ What Is Shogun 2 Total War♦ Gameplay of Shogun 2 Total War♦ Samurai Duel♦ New Features In Shogun 2♦ Playable Clans In Shogun 2
♦ Helpful resources♦ FREE DEMO♦ My DEMO Experience♦Personal Opinion ♦ Great Features Of The Game♦ Bad Features Of The Game♦ The whole lens in 2 videos

Different types of upgradeable castles

The upgradable castles is not something new. All the castles and forts in the previous games were upgradeable and with every level they were more complex with stronger and thicker walls, more gates, better and deadlier defenses, multiple wall layouts etc... That was for the European castles. Like I have already said Japanese used different warring styles and patterns adapted to their needs.
So there were 3 different types of castles according to the area the wanted to defend They had different castle types for seashores, valleys, mountains. They used the terrain to their advantage meaning that whole cliffs or hill sides could be the walls of the castle.
The layout was similar of the Mesopotamian Ziggurats. This way they created a complex maze of death. Also they didnt need to have siege weapons and machines to destroy or breach the walls of the castles to get in. Instead they were capable , thanks to the way the walls were build, to climb the walls and enter the castle from all sides . It is a totally a new way of attacking and defending a castle and to tell you the truth it is more difficult for me and more challenging.

Smaller map and fewer unit types

That does not mean less gameplay hours. not at all. Since the campaign is about the Sengoku period of the feudal Japan it would be historically inaccurate to add more countries in the game. The map is smaller in comparison to Europe but Japan had so many provinces (i read somewhere it had more than 200 provinces but I do not know if that is historically accurate) . Let me explain. Let's say that, the 15th-16th century England, France, Germany etc , had 5-6 provinces each, and every province covered a huge area. So you had to fight with more different countries but with less provinces. Now you have to fight one country with dozens and dozens smaller provinces. Does it make sense,it is not that hard right? Still not convinced? Let me tell you that. Each province doesn't matter how small it is, has a castle. Each castle has a controlling army. You may have to fight for this province much more than 1 time. So everything adds up. Ok enough said I believe you got it.

Now what about the fewer units thing? Well in previous Total War games you could find literally hundreds different military units. Each country had some unique units but the rest of the units across all countries were either the same or with different appearance but they had similar roles. So now we get only 30 different unit types but each and one of them is unique. Each and one of them have a unique role which another unit cannot replace it.
In conclusion in Shogun 2 smaller map and fewer unit types mean more depth, more uniqueness, and much more detail.

Better graphics and visuals

You have no idea how many conversations this feature has triggered. There are people saying that Strategy games do not need SOOO elaborate graphics. It is not a shooter game or something similar (and I agree with that). Although I have to admit that it looks sooo amazing advanced graphics produce more problems and make a lot gamers unhappy. Why in addition to play a game a player has to upgrade his machine?
Graphics in Shogun 2 are incredibly fantastic. There is sooooo much detail in everything units (damn they look so wonderful), buildings, environment, terrain. It has the most advanced graphics and designing than any other Total War game. I can't say much more you have to see for yourself.

Advanced A.I.

So Artificial Intelligence has changed? Ohh yeah baby !!! But I do not know if that sometimes is a good thing or a bad thing. AI is more aggressive, complex, challenging and more....intelligent !!! Every game that i play I set the difficulty in the highest level. If there are too many levels I set it at the level before the last one. But now after the better AI I do not know if I will be so willing to face a machine thinking like a human.

Rpg elements

For me this is the greatest of all the new features. In previous total war games the only figures which were really important were the family members. Now family members, agents, generals, and hero units have their own background history, characteristics and personality. All military units depending their involvement in the battle gain experience. When they have gained enough experience they earn a new level or higher rank if you like which makes them more deadly. When the special characters, I have described above, gain a rank they can learn a new skill,ability ,trait which all that are really powerful in battle. The player decides which skills and abilities will be appointed to every character.
Isn't it cool or what?

That's all I hope I didn't forget something.....

There are 10 playable clans in Shogun 2. Nine of them are included in the standard edition and the 10th is included in the limited edition. None clan is superior than any other clan. Every clan has its strengths and weaknesses. If you choose a clan and you lose the campaign it doesn't mean that clan sucks it means YOU chose the wrong tactics and you haven't mastered the way that clan is handled. It is a fact that some clans can be mastered and handled easier than others and are more suitable for beginners or for novice players. And there are clans they need special tactics and handling in order to finish the game with a smile.

Do not worry though that's why I am here. I will provide some resources to help you with your decision.

Mori can read the waves and move their fleets further than other clans, and their shipbuilding skills make the construction and maintenance of ships cheaper too. They can also build some rather superior vessels as well.

Clan Traits

Increased campaign map movement range for all ships
Reduced recruitment costs and upkeep for all ships
Can recruit superior ships

U esugi are proud of their Buddhist faith. They can recruit and maintain warrior monks far more cheaply than any other clan. They can also recruit much better fighting monks and more effective monk agents than any other clan.

Clan Traits

+2 % to the success chance of monk actions
Increased trade income
Reduced recruitment costs and upkeep for warrior monks
Can recruit superior warrior monks

For Shimazu, loyalty is everything, and their generals are less likely to develop ambitions of their own. Shimazu katana samurai are cheaper to recruit and maintain in the field than those of other clans; they can also recruit superior katana-armed samurai.

Clan Traits

Increased loyalty for all generals
Reduced recruitment costs and upkeep for katana samurai
Can recruit superior katana heroes
Can recruit superior katana samurai

Takeda have mastered diplomacy as well as horses. They can recruit and train cavalry much more efficiently than other clans. They can also produce a superior class of horsemen .

Clan Traits

Improved morale for cavalry
Reduced recruitment costs and upkeep for all cavalry
Can recruit superior cavalry

Hattori can recruit ninja warriors more cheaply than any other clan, and their ninja also have more expertise, both on and off the battlefield.

Clan Traits

+2% to the success chance of ninja actions
Specialist Hattori units can hide effectively in battle
Specialist Hattori units possess kisho training

A week after the game got published I had it in my hands. I was so happy. I felt like a little child getting his first present ever. It has been so long since the last time I ve played a Total War game. Medieval Japan is one of my most favorite periods and Shogun 2 Total War was more than enough for me.

It took me a week to complete the game. Almost 50 hours of gameplay. Yeah. I confess I was playing like crazy most of the hours of the day. Actually I have to say I overdid it at some point. I know it will sound like a cheap excuse but I just couldn't stop. I know it sounds crazy but I had this problem with all the Total War games. They are way too good to stop playing.

It has been 6 weeks since I ve finished the game and the memories and the feelings are still so fresh.
I will try to be as objective as possible but I have to say from the beginning that I loved the game before I started playing. Ok this is going to be hard. But enough bubbling let me give you the pros and cons of this magnificent game.

Like I have said before a few times I am a really picky guy and not easily pleased and excited in general. I am always looking for something more than the average and if possible with high quality.

You want some reasons why to get it ? I ll give you some reasons.

Awesome main menu

The moment the game finishes with the cinematics you find yourself in the main menu saying something like ...Aaaaaahhhhh.....woooow....or something like that. At least I was making those sounds, I ve never said any words. I was just making those weird sounds of excitement and surprise.
Most of the times it is the little details that can make a big difference. One of them is the main menu. And Creative Assembly played their cards right on this one. The appealing and elaborated main menu is a must for a game. It gives you an idea of what to expect when you will push the "play" button.

Extensive tutorials.

This is another great feature. They have designed the whole game with the perception that non strategy players will want to play it. So they have provided with so many video tutorials and even with short missions and battles to help you explore all the aspects of the game. To tell you the truth I was really surprised with the quantity of the tutorials. I have never seen (or at least I do not remember) another game providing so much help to the players.

Extensive Shogun 2 Total War encyclopedia.

This is something that I always loved since the first Total War game - Shogun 1. They have provided a detailed encyclopedia which contains everything you can thing of.
It contains information about the game settings, in game actions, units, buildings, clans, provinces, province specialties, arts and characters. I can not go on full detail here but I will try to provide the complete encyclopedia if it is possible. But when I say that is the most complete manual I have ever seen in a game I mean it.

Polished - Elaborated Graphics

Unfortunately my 7 year old moderate pc couldn't unveil the beauty of this game. So I was forced to play the game with the lowest settings. But I ve watched a friend playing with the highest settings and the only thing I can say, is that, I was literally drooling. The detail of this game is incredible. The buildings, the trees, the grass, the samurai (OH MAN THE ARMOR DETAIL IS SO AWESOME), like they were right in front of me. The developers have done such an excellent job. Congratulations to them.

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)

The AI of the game is much, much more improved than the previous Total War games. There were so many times that the battles were really challenging. There were many times that I ve said " I wish all this was real so I could shake the hand of the enemy general ". The enemy units were used with maximum efficiency. They will try to flank you when ever they see an opening or they will keep reserve units for later use. Plus they rarely will give you a chance to take advantage of their weaknesses (if you will find any). All that make the battles really challenging, they are a great exercise for the brain and make the game worth its money.

Architecture Of The Castles

I was really amazed by how the castles were designed. Whenever I was in a siege before I push the start button I was spending at least 10 minutes staring the castle from wall to wall. The magnificent Japanese architecture and the way the castles were designed. They were actually a huge maze. A huge human trap. You could easily get in (by climbing the walls) but most likely you wouldn't get out alive. Multiple ground levels (up to 3 levels) were responsible for that defensibility.. Archers could decimate the enemy trying to climb from level to level. Absolutely amazing.

Naval Battles

To tell you the truth I haven't fought as many naval battles as land battles. I didn't really care to establish a huge and strong navy. It was absolutely necessary for protecting the trade routes against the Wako pirates and the other clans. But a huge fleet would never make you a Shogun. Plus its upkeep was way too high (for the most advanced and strong vessels). But my impressions from the battles I did play are really exceptional. It is a fact that Japanese had a unique way of fighting at sea (almost too unique or weird).Naval battles in Japanese style were something new to me and I really liked it. The models of the ships were so beautiful with a lot of detail, you could see the sailors and soldiers running up and down the deck and of course fighting. You could see the big chunks of wood flying all over the place when the ships got hit or when they were on fire you could see the soldiers jumping off the ship. So funny and realistic. Moreover something that got my attention was that the ships which got destroyed did not disappear after a while as it usually happens in other games (even at this one) but they stayed on the surface of the water half sank. You have no idea how much I liked that. It was so realistic.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer feature is something that Creative Assembly is really proud and happy for importing it in the game. I can't give you my honest opinion on this one because I haven't tried it and I nor I will ever try it. Personally I do not like playing strategy games on the net. But it is more challenging facing a human brain than facing the AI. So why I ve put this one on the good list? Because I have heard other people saying the best about it. Sorry I cant anything more.

Strategy And Tactics In Shogun 2 Total War ♦ Shogun 2 Official Trailer♦ Sun Tzu Teachings♦ Military Historians And Martial Artists In Shogun 2♦ What Is Shogun 2 Total War♦ Gameplay of Shogun 2 Total War♦ Samurai Duel♦ New Features In Shogun 2♦ Playable Clans In Shogun 2
♦ Helpful resources♦ FREE DEMO♦ My DEMO Experience♦Personal Opinion ♦ Great Features Of The Game♦ Bad Features Of The Game♦ The whole lens in 2 videos

Family- Clan members , Generals , Agents

I was so in love with all 3 of them. This is one of the strongest parts of the game. All and each one of them have their own personality. Family members can be generals but generals cannot be family members (only via adoption or marrying the daughter of a clam member). When they have enough experience they can be trained to obtain new abilities, skills (which can be used during the battle ) and over the time they gain some traits. Those abilities-skills-traits can make a huge difference during the game. Their effectiveness and the balance between win and loss is based on those skills and traits. Participating in every battle or putting them in charge in a province (so you can put in good use of their skills) is a must. Each one of them has his special position in the game so use them wisely according to their abilities.

Now about the agents. The agents are ---> Ninja, Geisha, Monk, Missionary, Metsuke.

Ninjas can be used for spying, sabotage buildings or armies, assassinations (he can not be detected easily and can not be seen by your enemy under certain circumstances)

Geisha can be used for spying and assassinations (she is always seen by your enemy but she is really effective and has a great rate of success)

Monks can be used for increasing - decreasing the morale of an army, affect the religion levels of a province, cause a political or a religious revolt.

Missionary can be used for the same things as the monk (I think, I never used him) and he can be obtained if a Daimiyo of a clan starts trading with the europeans and accept christianity.

Metsuke is the secret police force. He can be used to keep the riot levels of a province low, he can detect ninjas, and he is the anti counter agent for all the above agents. Meaning that if he will not be killed early, he can arrest, send to trial, imprison or even execute all the above agents. Even enemy metsuke (personally I didn't put them in great use not until after the middle of the game)

All the agents when they get experience they acquire new skills-abilities-traits which make them more effective.

Pheeew that was a lot of stuff. My opinion about all that. First of all I was stunned with the complexity of the generals and the agents. And with the tremendous effect they had in the game.
Use your generals in every battle, never fight a battle without them. Use your agents at all costs, use them during the peace times use them during the war times. Use them before every battle. Learn by heart what and each one of them do in detail. Study their skills before you train them. This is really important. I didn't use the agents from the beginning as much as I should but when I found out what their capabilities were then the whole game turned on my favor. Use your armies for defense and your agents for attack.

Critical Decisions

While you are in the campaign map there will be many times where a window will pop prompting you to make some critical decisions. You will have 2 choices. You can study what those choices are, what will be the negatives and what the positives of each decision. Those decisions will play a crucial role in religion, politics, economy, culture etc. Some of those decisions will affect future events which will begin a new cycle of critical decisions. This is so exciting and adds so much variety. It makes you feel that you really are the clan leader and you are the only and one person who must make those decisions. I really loved this part.

Heroes

Heroes are elite units. They are highly trained, experienced, with an exceptional morale and can do a lot of damage. They can make a big difference in the battlefield and a lot of times they can be the only way to win a battle. Only the most advanced and rich clans can recruit heroes as advanced structures are needed after a lot of research. Plus their recruitment and their upkeep are really high.
Having a hero in the battle most of the times can be enough. He doesn't even have to fight, his presence can be enough to increase the morale of the rest of the units. Most of the times when I had my heroes charging at the enemy was enough to make 2 or even 3 enemy units rout at the same time. They didn't even have to fight. It was incredible Heroes are a must have for the daimiyo who wants to be a Shogun.

The Peaceful Ways

Shogun 2 Total War is not just fighting all the time. In order to reach your final goal, that is to be a Shogun, except the art of war you have to master the art of diplomacy - trade - religion. Religion is not an art but it can be used to control the low intelligent masses and keep them happy so you an tax them heavily. Trade agreements, military access treaties, alliance treaties, marriages, and much more can be used in great success to achieve what you want. Be careful though the sneaky moves behind the scenes. Always keep track of the "peaceful" moves of the other clans because believe me when I say it this is not a game for innocent minds. You have to be clever and cunning and anticipate the moves of your opponents. And also keep this in mind. The friends and allies you have right now later it absolutely sure they will be your enemies. Do not make the mistake to think they will honor the alliances, trade agreements and piece treaties.

Animals

This is a small detail that most of the gamers may not even notice. But while in campaign map and then in battle map you can find a few animals wondering around doing their thing. You will able to see eagles, sea gals, deers, and some other birds which I do not know their names. Some people have said they have even seen whales during the naval battles (????). I haven't. This was such a nice touch. It made you feel that the world was alive even though you were prepared to kill everything walking on 2 legs. I really liked it and I though I should mention it.

No battle limit

Actually it would be more accurate to say that the player defines how long the battles will last. There can be no battle limit at all and the battles will last forever if the player allows it. Or you can set a battle limit of 30 or 20 minutes or something like that. I can't give you an advice on that, it depends on the skills of the player and what he wants. Realism or to get on with it. But I can tell you what I did. At first I was like " I want realism, I do not want any stupid battle limit, there was no pathetic battle limits in real battles why I should use it?" Baahh...me and my ideas. There were times that a battle could last for 1 hour....that was really mentally exhausting...I mean really. But I enjoyed it I won't lie. The problem was that the game was progressing too slow. At some point I realized that I had to finish it, I had to get back to my real life. It was fun and stuff but it was taking too long. So 20 minutes battle limit for me.
Use the battle limit with caution. It is a double edge knife. It can help you and it can destroy you so be careful

Weather

I have talked about weather here

Rpg Elements

I have talked about the rpg elements here

Complex Battles

I have talked about complex battles here

The list below is about things I hated during my gameplay but most of the times they are not noticeable by most of the gamers.

Disappearance Of The Dead Bodies

This is something so unrealistic and you cant imagine how much I hate it. After a big battle where 6000 7000 soldiers participated and most of them died, you expect to see huge piles of bodies all over the place. For 5 minutes or something this is true. You can see dead horses and soldiers of every type and rank dead everywhere. The sight of all those dead bodies and animals sent shivers down my spine every single time. I had an expression on my "Did I do that? Did I kill all those soldiers?". That was the shock of the first sight. Because after the 5 minutes, maybe less, the bodies were gone. Magically they were disappeared. And then I got really angry and I was screaming " Where are the bodies?" It makes me so mad. They did all this hard work to add so much realism in the battles, animations and bla,bla,bla,bla....they provide with all those tools of death to kill all those poor bastards but then they do not want you to see what you ve done. Maybe they did it on purpose maybe not. The small details are the ones that can make something memorable.

Many crashes

Maybe this should be the first on the list of bad features as it was the worst but I didn't want to scare the people. Imagine that you are defending a castle. It is a high tier castle and you are really proud of it as you are the first damiyo having a castle like that and it was built in a province where if you lose it then the rest of your provinces would be defenseless. So it was an important battle. Ok %u2026.Now imagine playing that battle for 4 times in the row. Imagine that battle lasting for 2,5 hours.
Imagine experiencing 3 game crashes in the row. The stupid game did not want me to defend that province. That was one of the issues I had to deal with. There were also frequent crashes from time to time that really got on my nerves. Playing something again and again is not something that enjoy very much.

What makes me so furious are not the crashes. No not at all. Shogun 2 Total War is a very complex program and it is really hard not to have a problem or two. The thing that makes really mad is that the companies before they release a game they test it for a long period of time, they correct theproblems , they release it...and when you pay a handsome fee to buy it because it is not a cheap game, it still has problems. How the hell is that possible. Would it be my fault to take the game and shove it somewhere that it will hurt really bad. I can't accept that a product is problematic after so much testing. And then they complain about the piracy. Well that serves you right morons.

Very Hard To Acquire Wealth

Wars were never fought with soldiers.....but.....with money. So if you are planning to become a Shogun you need money. And tons of it. The currency of Feudal Japan was the----koku. .
1 koku is the amount of rice a man needs for a whole year. That's pretty vague if you ask me. What kind of man? A man like me who eats at least 4 times per day or like my skinny cousin who eats 2 times per day. Anyway.
So you get money from taxing-trading-farming and a few other ways that were never explained by the game. They are just described as---other ways or sources (or something like that). But it never is enough. You can't tax the people too high because they will revolt. Only the most advanced farms produce high income and it takes time and money to research and make the buildings. You can get a lot of money from trading but you need a trading fleet plus a fleet with warships to protect the trade ships which all that takes also time and money. And it is never enough.
And the whole process is so slow. It takes too damn long. And the worst thing is , if you recruit too many units to protect your lands you will get a negative balance which it will destroy you.
It doesn't only takes too long to get a good amount of money so you can recruit a good and strong army, but the military units are expensive to recruit and to upkeep. I didn't find any balance to all that.

Now let me tell you something really weird that happened to me while my gameplay. There are 5 trade sea routes in the game. I had under my control 4 of them and I was getting ready to acquire and the last one but since I needed some TIME to build my fleet I decided to raid the trade line until then (yes you can raid the trade routes and get a large proportion of the total wealth). So the moment I started raiding the trade route my wealth balance skyrocketed. At first I though there was something wrong with the numbers and it would be all right after a couple of turns. But no !!! the balance in every turn went higher and higher like 1,000,000 koku...then 10,000,000 koku and something like that. In the end I managed to gather 800,000,000 koku !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could get some more but I got greedy because I though if raiding the trade line I could get all that money...then if...I would own it I could get double than that. And I was wrong. In the end it proved to be a bug-glitch- little window in the code...of the game. Did I care? Hell no !!!! With all that money I went crazy. I recruited the most advanced soldiers and built the most advanced buildings....plus...i had the most powerful and advanced fleet in Japan. After that I had already won. I could have done it without all that money but I would need triple the time AND I would have to take huge risks. And taking risks in Total War it doesn't always end up good.

Unreasonable Diplomatic Responses And Demands

There is a time whether you like it or not that you will have to walk the diplomatic path. Unfortunately the other daimiyos think they are gods or something. They are very hard to please most of the times and in order to agree with you they will have to see the scales lean towards their side even if it will be just a bit. There will be times that they will ask from you way too much in order to agree with you or even when you will offer them more than they could ask they wont agree with you. There is an option where if your clan is much stronger than theirs you can intimidate them to agree with. Whenever I used this option it never worked. I do not know why give you an option that it never works. Furthermore whenever you sign an agreement always be prepared for war. This is true and as much as I do not like it most of the times the other daimiyos never honored our agreements. This is so sad actually not being able to depend on your allies. But there can be only one Shogun.

The Supporting Siege Armies Do Not Move

From the entering map point. During a siege an attacking army can have as a support 1,2 or even 3 more armies attacking at the same time. This can be devastating for the defenders in the castle. The problem I have faced is that when I was defending in my castle after I had defeated the primary attacking army then I was getting prepared for the second assault. I waited and I waited and I waited but they just stood there at the entering point (?????????). In order to finish the battle at the same day (!!!!) I had to get out of the castle and attack them. I say, what?

First of all I am defending. I have suffered losses and the archers are almost out of arrows. The garrisoned army in the castle was made for defense and not for offense (the consistency of a field army is different than the defending castle army or the attacking castle army).
Castles were built to protect an important area and in order to protect it you have to stay IN the castle. Not only that but why, why,why on heaven's glory would someone leave the protection and safety of the castle and fight on the field. I mean why? An attacker can lose his entire army in the attempt to conquer the castle and a handful of men defending from within the castle can kill thousands of soldiers. You never, for any reason leave the castle, never !!! You never abandon a highly defensive position. It is like you want to die.
A commander must have a mental problem to order his men to get out of the castle and fight on the field in the name of honor (this is historically accurate, Japanese commanders were taking their armies out the castle to meet the attacking armies for a field battle because it was more honorable ).

So what did I had to do to finish the bloody battles. I had to use 1 unit as a bait and lure them to an ambush. The good thing for me (but so unrealistic and idiotic for them) was that only 1 or 2 of their units were attacking every time. So I took them all out 1 by 1. it doesn't matter that it took me 1,5 hours to complete the battle (now does it? What a waste of time). And by doing that I could easily lose the battle which I had already won. The risk was very high. After I fought 3 -4 that kind of battles I ve decided to enable the 20 minutes battle limit and my problems were solved instantly.

Soldiers On Walls Could Get Killed Easily

Japanese wall castles had something really cool to protect their archers or other soldiers from enemy arrows. Above the soldier positions there was a small roof protecting them from arching arrows. So death from above was impossible and they were vulnerable only from straight arrows but it was very difficult for an enemy archer to hit a tiny spot from afar when at the same time the wall archers were firing at them.
Ok after all that can you tell me how the hell could the wall soldiers get killed like sitting ducks? This was really stupid. I could close in and I could see the arrows from above penetrating the tiles and the thick wood structure and then kill the archers or the other soldiers. What the f...k people ? Are you for real? They are just arrows not artillery shells. After all that testing before release you still messed it up. Damn it. This is a small detail but it doesn't mean it is unnoticeable. At least not by me.

The personal dislikes are little things even less noticeable than the bad things and are things that I do not like. They not necesarily mean they are bad.You may wander why in the dislikes list are features from the good list. Because every feature has a good side and a bad side. When somethings gets improved it has just been improved and not perfected. Read on and your questions will be answered.

A.I

I have already talked about the much more improved AI (artificial intelligence). And I am thankful for that as I had to fae a much more challenging opponent. The best example to use so I can tell you why this feature is here is a siege battle. During a siege the footmen must climb the walls, capture the gates, open them so the rest of the army get inside. That is the usual scenario. But there were times where I pushed back the first attackers so no gate was captured. And then all the rest of the army stands still outside the gates staring at the wall and doing nothing. That made me happy and scared at the same time. Happy because I could use my archers and it would be a huge slaughter and scared because if all of a sudden they would decide to attack I would overrun and there would be nothing I could do. This happened quite a few times and every time all the attackers got killed or routed. It worked in my favor....but I do not want favors from a game. I want realism and proper coding from the programmers.

Naval Battles

Actually this should not be here but I will tell why I put it. Naval battles in Shogun 2 are just awesome. I loved them BUT it was something new to me so it felt pretty weird. I just couldn't adjust. I didn't fight a lot of naval battle but the ones I did I lost most of them.
There are too many types of ships....arrow ships, ships full of soldiers for boarding actions, ships to hunt down other fleeing ships, light ships, medium ships, heavy ships,...too many ships.
I know what to do and how to handle european ships and how to fight those kind of battles but I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I followed the tutorial and the instructions and still I couldn't do it.

Strategy And Tactics In Shogun 2 Total War ♦ Shogun 2 Official Trailer♦ Sun Tzu Teachings♦ Military Historians And Martial Artists In Shogun 2♦ What Is Shogun 2 Total War♦ Gameplay of Shogun 2 Total War♦ Samurai Duel♦ New Features In Shogun 2♦ Playable Clans In Shogun 2
♦ Helpful resources♦ FREE DEMO♦ My DEMO Experience♦Personal Opinion ♦ Great Features Of The Game♦ Bad Features Of The Game♦ The whole lens in 2 videos