- Polished and immersive gameplay experience
- Best Total War game in the franchise
- Distinct and balanced clans mechanics
- AI cheats and unfair behavior issues
- Broken diplomacy system frustrates players
- Frequent crashes and stability problems occur
Emotions
Players experience significant frustration due to persistent technical issues, including frequent crashes, multiplayer instability, and performance problems on various platforms. Additionally, gameplay mechanics such as inconsistent AI behavior, unbalanced diplomacy, and overpowered agent systems disrupt strategy and progress, making the game difficult to enjoy or complete.
Players feel satisfied with the game's strategic depth, balanced mechanics, and immersive historical setting. The blend of tactical battles, well-designed units, and smooth performance, particularly in large-scale engagements, contributes to long-term enjoyment and replayability. Many appreciate the game's accessibility and refined gameplay compared to other entries in the series.
Excitement stems from the game's dynamic and challenging gameplay, including immersive battles, strategic depth, and the unique Sengoku period setting. Players highlight the thrill of tactical victories, engaging multiplayer, and the addition of powerful mechanics like naval bombardment and Gatling guns, which enhance the overall experience.
Players express disappointment due to the game failing to meet expectations, particularly in terms of technical stability, faction diversity, and multiplayer functionality. Many feel let down by unresolved bugs, poor AI behavior, and a lack of depth in diplomacy and naval mechanics, which detract from the overall experience.
Admiration is directed toward the game's polished design, attention to historical detail, and refined gameplay mechanics. Players praise its balanced battles, immersive aesthetics, and the quality of expansions like *Fall of the Samurai*, often describing it as a timeless masterpiece in the strategy genre.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 77% · Negative 23%. Score: 23 / 100
Positives:
- The game is widely praised for its smooth, refined, and deeply satisfying gameplay, with tight tactical battles and a well-balanced pace. Players highlight its elegance, precision, and ability to remain engaging even after years.
- Many reviewers consider this the pinnacle of the Total War series, citing its near-perfect blend of turn-based strategy and real-time battles, historical respect, and unmatched replayability. It is often called the best or most polished entry.
- Each clan offers unique strengths, playstyles, and bonuses, adding variety and strategic depth. The balance between clans ensures diverse and replayable campaigns without overpowering any faction.
- The Fall of the Samurai expansion is frequently cited as one of the best DLCs in gaming, introducing gunpowder warfare, steamships, and a fresh take on the era. It enhances replayability and tactical variety.
- Many players argue that its mechanics, such as clan management, unit balance, and tactical battles, are more refined and enjoyable than those in newer Total War games like Warhammer 3 or Empire.
Negatives:
- The AI frequently cheats by spawning overpowered units (e.g., 'Maō Zedong 5-level armies') without economic support, exhibits anti-player bias, and employs illogical tactics (e.g., sending archers to die). This undermines gameplay balance and fairness, particularly in battles and diplomacy.
- Diplomacy is inconsistent, unpredictable, and often illogical, with AI factions frequently breaking agreements or declaring war regardless of player actions. This frustrates long-term campaign planning and immersion.
- Siege battles suffer from unrealistic castle designs, limited destruction, and ineffective defensive walls. AI struggles with siege logic, further reducing immersion and tactical depth.
- The base game lacks unique faction units and strategies, with repetitive unit rosters (e.g., over-reliance on Yari Ashigaru) and minimal differentiation between factions. This reduces replayability and tactical depth.
- The game suffers from persistent crashes, especially on modern systems, during campaigns, battles, and even at startup. These issues render the game unplayable for many users, regardless of hardware or patches applied.
Gameplay:
- The game combines turn-based empire management on a campaign map with real-time tactical battles, offering a layered strategy experience. Players make strategic decisions each turn while engaging in dynamic combat scenarios.
- The game is set in feudal Japan, particularly during the Sengoku Jidai, Gempei Wars, and Meiji Restoration eras, featuring samurai, ninjas, and other period-specific units and mechanics.
- Players engage in complex diplomacy, including alliances, vassal management, and political marriages, alongside managing clan intrigues, family trees, and faction-specific bonuses.
- Battles emphasize terrain, morale, unit matchups (e.g., rock-paper-scissors), and formations like the Yari Wall. Players must leverage positioning, flanking, and unit abilities for victory.
- The game includes naval battles with ship management, boarding tactics, and bombardment, alongside land sieges with castle defense and assault mechanics.
Performance:
- The game crashes or fails to launch on newer hardware, including Windows 11, high-end PCs, and Mac devices with M-series chips. Issues are linked to architecture incompatibility and missing dependencies like older C++ versions.
- The game may require launching directly from the game folder or running in windowed mode to avoid crashes. Some users report needing better graphics cards than advertised.
- Users experience long loading times, glitches during loading scenes, and extended delays after crashes. Some report hangs during installation.
- Sound stuttering occurs even on high-end rigs, while menu options (e.g., single-player campaigns) are grayed out due to technical issues, limiting functionality.
- Mod compatibility issues and conflicts with mod managers are common. Multiplayer sessions suffer from crashes, incompatibility between macOS/Windows, and general instability.
Recommendations:
- The game is highly recommended for strategy game enthusiasts, fans of Japanese culture, and those interested in historical settings. It offers deep tactical gameplay and province management, making it a standout for the genre.
- This game is widely regarded as the best starting point for newcomers to the Total War franchise due to its accessible mechanics and strong gameplay. Veterans also praise it as one of the series' strongest entries.
- Many players strongly recommend the game for its depth, replayability, and multiplayer competitiveness, even though it has some technical issues or minor flaws.
- The Fall of the Samurai DLC and other major DLCs are frequently recommended as must-buys for adding modern battles, unique factions, and overall value to the game.
- Several reviews advise against purchasing the game until online functions, crashes, and sound issues are fixed, as these can significantly impact gameplay.
Miscellaneous:
- Players frequently discuss detailed mod installation, troubleshooting, and community templates, indicating strong engagement with modding. This suggests the game’s modding ecosystem is a major draw for long-term playability.
- The 16th-century feudal Japan setting (Sengoku Jidai) and attention to historical parallels (e.g., Opium Wars) are praised for enriching the game’s strategic and narrative depth.
- Players express interest in expanding the game’s scope to include additional historical regions like Korea, China, and Eastern Russia, reflecting a desire for broader strategic depth.
- Language localization problems are noted, which may hinder accessibility for non-English speakers or disrupt immersion for players relying on translated content.
- Discussions note how modern Creative Assembly (CA) policies affect multiplayer and modding communities, suggesting these aspects are critical to player satisfaction.
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