Who is excited about the Pharaoh and why?

[Legata Flavia]

I kinda dont see any reason on buying this one, so... anyone who dont consider Egypt boring as hell can explain me why getting this one should be a good choice?

[Yews]

✓ New game by Creative Assembly: 25 points
✓ No single-entity units: another 25 points!
✓ Set in the Bronze Age Collapse: 50 bloody points, that seals the deal!

P. S. Minus 20 points because of the Warhammer engine (as opposed to the Three Kingdoms engine) and minus another 20 points because no naval battles and also questionable design decisions...

But the setting itself is pretty much the entire appeal of the game, I know no other attempt by any other developer to throw the player into the Bronze Age Collapse setting and one that attempts to be historical at that.

[XIII]

Originally posted by Yews:

I know no other attempt by any other developer to throw the player into the Bronze Age Collapse setting and one that attempts to be historical at that.

It doesnt though. The Bronce Age Collapse had three major factions, Egypt, the Hittites and the ancient Greece. (Theres some seafaring people and others too)

But the greece are missing. Like, its literally three factions and they couldnt fit it into a Total War game? Are three factions actually too much to botehr with now?

And yes, they dont have single piece units, but they have stuff like elite infantry that cant break. Litterally magic super soldiers, completely negating the moral system of the game. The battles look bad.


Edit: Also, in this era theres factions like Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, etc. All of those great cultures, none of them in the game.

[Welsh Dragon]

Originally posted by Germania:

I kinda dont see any reason on buying this one, so... anyone who dont consider Egypt boring as hell can explain me why getting this one should be a good choice?

I'm looking forward to it a lot, probably the most I've looked forward to any Total War game since Rome 2, which is my favourite Total War.

To me there is a lot to like about Pharaoh from what's been shown so far, including:

* Interesting setting that Total War hasn't explored before.

* Good variety of cultures, with playable Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, non-playable Sea Peoples, and other cultures featuring as local units like Libu, Kushites, and Nubians.

* Good variety of factions, each with their own playstyle and unit style.

* Good variety of units, with a mix of weapons, armour, weights, as well as each culture and each regional recruitment area having its own strengths and weaknesses.

* Large campaign map. The in game areas shown have been huge (especially Egypt,) with lots of settlements, but also big open areas which should lead to more field battles too.

* Interesting sounding battle mechanics, including unit stances, degrading armour, and a weather and terrain system that means changes in weather aren't just going to offer minor debuffs, but can fundamentally change areas of the battlefield. e.g. that dry river bed you could easily cross when it's sunny will become a muddy quagmire in the rain.

* Interesting sounding campaign mechanics. A civilisation collapse system that means player and AI actions affect the state of the world, as it goes from Prosperity, to Crisis, to Collapse. But also has the possibility to prevent the world falling into darkness, or rebuild it even if it does collapse. Internal politics of the court, the possibility to try to become Egyptian Pharaoh or Hittite Great King, or forge your own path. Being able to choose the legacy you want to leave, and have that open up options to different mechanics and playstyles.

* Specifically designed as a historical title, rather than trying to go for a hybrid approach like Troy or Three Kingdoms. No legendary lords, single entity units, or magic/god powers.

* Generals have bodyguards again, and also seem to be closer to normal humans, with only the faction leaders getting a degree of extra protection (they are only wounded if they fall in battle as long as their faction lives, similar to Napoleon and some of the Rome 2 DLC campaigns.) The bodyguards are also customisable, meaning they'll change depending on what weapons, armour, or shield they have, or whether they're equipped with a chariot.

* Lots of customisation options, including random start positions.

* Etc.

As you can tell, I'm quite excited. :-)

Pharaoh won't be for everyone, which is true of any Total War games as we all have different likes and dislikes. But I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

All the Best,

Welsh Dragon.

[Yews]

Originally posted by XIII:

The Bronce Age Collapse had three major factions, Egypt, the Hittites and the ancient Greece. (Theres some seafaring people and others too)

But the greece are missing. Like, its literally three factions and they couldnt fit it into a Total War game? Are three factions actually too much to botehr with now?

And yes, they dont have single piece units, but they have stuff like elite infantry that cant break. Litterally magic super soldiers, completely negating the moral system of the game. The battles look bad.


Edit: Also, in this era theres factions like Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, etc. All of those great cultures, none of them in the game.

‘Greece’ is the unplayable antagonist in this game, unbreakable super soldiers are a thing in the original Shogun Total War, battles looking bad is subjective, and it’s been confirmed that the factions the game releases with are not all the factions that are going to be available.

[XIII]

Originally posted by Yews:

‘Greece’ is the unplayable antagonist in this game, unbreakable super soldiers are a thing in the original Shogun Total War, battles looking bad is subjective, and it’s been confirmed that the factions the game releases with are not all the factions that are going to be available.

That only makes it worse.

The great thing about Total War is when you can play most of the major factions, so Greek being some unplayable antagonist is boring. Also kinda absurd in a historical sense.

Unbreakable units in Shogun 1 was a bad thing too, good thing they got rid of that in better games like Medieval 2. Because it breaks the games moral system, which is such a core thing to historical battles.

And lack of content isnt excused by "maybe its better with future DLC". Thats a rip off, firstly. And with Three Kingdoms they didnt even bother filling the map, they just cut support after the mandatory DLC.

[XIII]

Originally posted by Yews:

None of these issues make the game inherently bad though.

Is lack of content, battles with painfully obvious problems, and not doing the setting properly really not an issue to you?

I mean you do you, I find that stuff pretty disappointing.

And honestly I see zero appeal in literal pirates who the Greeks were at that point IRL as well as in the game. Also no one says they are not going to be patched in because there is already talk of an add-on campaign.

Its a bit rough to denigrate eg the Mycean Greek as "litteral pirates" lol. Even calling most people "litteral pirates" is probably kinda racist. Not that Im offended about insults to ancient civilizations, but still.

No, it was a high culture and an important part of the pre-bronce collapse setting. Ancient greece didnt just appear out of nowhere. Not having them as a faction means the game fails to actually represent the bronce age collapse civilizations.

And frankly, I think its pretty bad when were supposed to wait for and buy a DLC just to have even the basic factions of the settings. How about CA actually delivers a complete and quality product first? This is a 60 Dollar game.

[svlla]

yep I am excited. Yews and Welsh get it

[svlla]

it seems like ppl are just triggered because no euro representation...oh well hope for inclusion in the DLC

[Yews]

None of these issues make the game inherently bad though. And honestly I see zero appeal in literal pirates who the Greeks were at that point IRL as well as in the game. Also no one says they are not going to be patched in because there is already talk of an add-on campaign.

Honestly I do not consider this game a masterpiece on the level of Shogun 2 or Attila and only hope that its setting will make it enjoyable. Because while the foundation, the engine the game is running on is solid, they also for some God-awful reason decided to build it on the outdated Warhammer version, which tremendously cripples what the game can do and how good it plays. Also the UI looks worse than in the Age of Bronze mod for Rome II. Also the naval battles are missing.

Originally posted by XIII:

Is lack of content, battles with painfully obvious problems, and not doing the setting properly really not an issue to you?

The content there is is already a lot to me, my biggest issue with the battles is that they look inferior to Three Kingdoms and I fear Sofia also decided to return to the obnoxious Shogun-style unit flags, and the attempt at the setting looks alright so far. At least better than nothing. That is a lot nowadays.

Originally posted by XIII:

Its a bit rough to denigrate eg the Mycean Greek as "litteral pirates" lol. Even calling most people "litteral pirates" is probably kinda racist. Not that Im offended about insults to ancient civilizations, but still.

Their great national epic from a bit earlier than that era describes a society of bloodthirsty raiders willing to sacrifice hundreds of each other in order to get a particular berdoom toy (who is meanwhile an actual person who does not want to be there). During the Bronze Age Collapse, even that society disintegrated into warring villages. I dare not imagine what the people became like, if the decpition of their precursors in Homer is any accurate.

Originally posted by XIII:

And frankly, I think its pretty bad when were supposed to wait for and buy a DLC just to have even the basic factions of the settings. How about CA actually delivers a complete and quality product first? This is a 60 Dollar game.

The basic factions are in there, and the ones people often complain about are either not appealing or will definitely be patched in.

[Kendji]

1. Return of some old features plus new ones
2. New historical content
3. Interesting historical setting

[Machine Spirit]

I really want a myth mode like Troy, but the IGN preview today has made me consider a purchase regardless. Here is the preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhrmXNHX2-0&ab_channel=IGN

[Yews]

The ‘myth mode’ in Troy is a silly cash grab for the ‘I want a minotaur army’ maniacs, and the standard Truth Behind the Myth mode (which is actually what an actual Ancient Greek would deem the mythological mode) is justified by the fact that the game is based on an epic and that mythology is literally our only source on what was going on around there at that point. In Pharaoh, for a mythological campaign to be viable, you’ve got to go back to the era before the first pyramids were built.

Originally posted by Machine Spirit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhrmXNHX2-0

Well hell, they’ve actually improved the game a lot since I last saw it, that’s for sure.

[Kendji]

Originally posted by Yews:

The ‘myth mode’ in Troy is a silly cash grab for the ‘I want a minotaur army’ maniacs, and the standard Truth Behind the Myth mode (which is actually what an actual Ancient Greek would deem the mythological mode) is justified by the fact that the game is based on an epic and that mythology is literally our only source on what was going on around there at that point. In Pharaoh, for a mythological campaign to be viable, you’ve got to go back to the era before the first pyramids were built.

Originally posted by Machine Spirit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhrmXNHX2-0

Well hell, they’ve actually improved the game a lot since I last saw it, that’s for sure.

Yes I noticed that improvement too, settlements have sounds reminiscent of Rome 1 and battle flags of Rome 2.

[BestCopperNoob™]

I am see a gamepaly on youtube. This is broing same as Troy. Yeah Troy reskin.

[LordAtrox]

I am excited because:
-it is a new historical title
-I am a big fan of the bronze age and its cultures and kingdoms. This point is very important, because I am personaly invested in this age and have studied it since some time now.