This game ruined TW's map design

[Akboris]

Shogun 2 started this new trend of making tiny little avenues separated by massive mountains for every single TW game to come.

Often singular roads lead from one copypasta town to another. How dull can this get? You cant flank anymore, and all advances are extremely predictable to go with the overly aggressive brain-dead AI. You can cut through an also choreographed and predictable forest lane that will quadruple the turns it takes to travel, though. Thats nice.

I almost forgot about how 90% of islands are now surrounded by hideous impassable cliffs thanks to this garbage fire, just in case there might be a small shred of unpredictability with shore landings!

I dont get how this slipped past everyone.

Shogun 2 created alot of other garbage trends that are to blame for the series deterioration, like the scammy DLC practices that this game truly pioneered by giving you a pathetic 5 identical factions to chose from, and then make you pay for all the interesting ones separately. Something that is seen in full force now with Warhammer, where you have to pay for both games to play the actual sequel, because otherwise Warhammer 2 is just Warhammer 1 but 'somewhere else'.

Alot of the people critical of all the recent titles cite Shogun 2 as being the series at its apex, when really, Shogun 2 is just as mediocre as the rest.

[Björn]

think you mean the game after this one, Rome 2... that game introduced the new hitpoint system making those damn heroes and lords possible...
Also showed CA that you can release a game full of bugs. It will still sell a lot...

DLC in shogun actually gives new units that change the way you play the game. Rome 2 DLC were just copying some units from other factions into a new faction and you got a DLC... They released some new campaign DLC´s to try and make up for that or to train new developers. New developers working with old technology to gain experience to release Thrones with the old 32bit engine... a joke...

[Red Spot]

I actually like the map design. Less bugs and less AI just running away. I am playing total war, not total hide and go seek.
One thing they absolutely got right in this game and in part, imo, makes up for the more competitive AI in this game compared to other TW games.

[Aaron]

DLC? Nah, that started with empire. But yeah, there are a lot things wrong with ALL the total war games that seem to be overlooked in S2.

Bugs galore, unbalanced formations, ai that doesn't know how to use half the games features. DLC whoring. Many things left unfixed years later. The audience for these games is just used to accepting half assed features and programming.

CA is the strategy equivalent to bethesda.

[Sn3z]

There is something to be said for the risk style strategy map that was in shogun 1 and mtw.

[Akboris]

Originally posted by Björn:

DLC in shogun actually gives new units that change the way you play the game. Rome 2 DLC were just copying some units from other factions into a new faction and you got a DLC...

Why are you finding ways to defend it? Its not justifiable. Why settle for worse when CA used to do us better?

9 identical factions in a game where faction diversity was going to be small anyway?
This game vanilla has possibly the worst replay value of all Total War titles. Its essentially 'start somewhere else'. There are barely any different units for each of them.

The game being chopped up into peices and sold back to us is textbook microtransactions. You are essentially paying for something that is already in the game, and its happened enough at this point that idiots have settled with it.

Why arent these factions already in the game!? DLC campaigns are an excuse because it is content clearly separated from the base game, (an actual expansion) and content that did not deliver with the game in the first place.

Next to CA, fans of the series are to blame for letting this slip past and into future games to come. Weeaboos were so satisfied by watching glitchy samurai NPCs teleport to fight eachother that they forgot they paid for half a game, and that is what we have been given ever since. Warhammer the worst of which. The amount of DLC for those games is putrid.

Medieval 2 and Rome gave you every faction on release, and then entirely different DLC expansion campaigns on the side. No microtransactions.

Originally posted by Jaguar:

DLC? Nah, that started with empire.

I dont even know if it did. Empire has microtransactions, but im pretty sure you got every faction out of the gate at least.

[Red Spot]

Originally posted by Akbarogo:

Originally posted by Björn:

DLC in shogun actually gives new units that change the way you play the game. Rome 2 DLC were just copying some units from other factions into a new faction and you got a DLC...

Why are you finding ways to defend it? Its not justifiable. Why settle for worse when CA used to do us better?

Did you actually read what he wrote or are you just so salty?

Originally posted by Akbarogo:

Medieval 2 and Rome gave you every faction on release, and then entirely different DLC expansion campaigns on the side. No microtransactions.

No they did not. Look at what they 'added' in Remastered; 'made all factions playable'.

If you wish to dislike something, go for it, but at least be factual instead of just being salty.

[Elitewrecker PT]

You could simply alter a txt file on Med 2 to play as any faction though.

[Wayne-O]

Originally posted by Elitewrecker PT:

You could simply alter a txt file on Med 2 to play as any faction though.

[Smoothhoof]

Medieval 2 factions? I seem to remember you unlocked them all by winning a campaign. No dlcs required.

[Elitewrecker PT]

Some remain locked, but you could just edit a game file for it.

[Smoothhoof]

Originally posted by Elitewrecker PT:

Some remain locked, but you could just edit a game file for it.

Which ones? I'm asking coz I don't believe it. Or do you mean the Mongols and Timurids?

[Elitewrecker PT]

https://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Factions_in_Medieval_II:_Total_War.html
Those, plus Papal States and the Aztecs (in base campaign at least).

[Smoothhoof]

The papal states were important for the whole crusades/excommunication mechanic, pivotal in the game. The other non playable factions emerged well into the game to try to wrongfoot your late game steamrollering. I think this is a duff criticism. Sorry

[Elitewrecker PT]

You can still unlock them by editing the factions file though.

[Smoothhoof]

Sure, but it was coherent game mechanic. It wasn't an attempt to set up dlc milking. That's all I was trying to say.