as a new Total War player, why are many recommend War 2 Over War 3?

[GD2X]

I have read a bunch of people when asking what's a good TW game to start with, and they all recommend War 2. Isn't War 3 going to best for a new player as it has (I assume) all the learnings from the previous games, as well as better QOL and user friendly features?

I own all 3 games (mainly for ME and being a huge fan of the warhammer universe) and I look forward to learning how to play these incredible games, but I am just curious why War 2 is considered the better game than 3.

[yuzhonglu]

Everyone is waiting for immortal empires. Warhammer 2 has had years of development and patches that 3 doesn't have.

[Ardariel]

New =/= better. It is very common delusion and pretty much the whoel reason why "progressives" are so regressive.

Games these days tend to release in unfinished state, cause most of players eat it up. THye buy stuff, leave angry comments or just rumble under breath and move on wiht their lives, bying next game from same developer, doing same rumblings and so on. That creates incentive for publishing unfinished game.

Next reason is - there are no combined map in TWW3 so far. When it would be released things could change.

And last but not least for veteran players, battle systems are much more polished in TWW2, while TWW3 have very questionable decisions in it. THey COULD be polished to have different, but still good, gameflow and gameplay in general, but right now TWW3 offers worse experience, than TWW1, and DEFINETLY worse than TWW2.

Wait for 6 moth or so, things could change. BUt so far TWW2 is best game gamplay-wise of franchise.

[Testikles]

Let's just say that TW:3 has currently a lot of issues and is pretty much still work in progress. With 2 you get a complete experience with plenty of things to explore, 3 will take a while to reach that. 3 at the moment is more of an experiment with many patches on the horizon which will change larger parts of the game significantly - and we all hope those changes are for the better.

One thing 3 does better is the tutorial which is much better than 2, so here a new player might get a better grip on the game.

ME for all 3 games is still work in progress, so just try out 3 and 2 and see for yourself :- )

[GD2X]

Originally posted by Ardariel:

New =/= better. It is very common delusion and pretty much the whoel reason why "progressives" are so regressive.

Games these days tend to release in unfinished state, cause most of players eat it up. THye buy stuff, leave angry comments or just rumble under breath and move on wiht their lives, bying next game from same developer, doing same rumblings and so on. That creates incentive for publishing unfinished game.

Next reason is - there are no combined map in TWW3 so far. When it would be released things could change.

And last but not least for veteran players, battle systems are much more polished in TWW2, while TWW3 have very questionable decisions in it. THey COULD be polished to have different, but still good, gameflow and gameplay in general, but right now TWW3 offers worse experience, than TWW1, and DEFINETLY worse than TWW2.

Wait for 6 moth or so, things could change. BUt so far TWW2 is best game gamplay-wise of franchise.

I will say this, after dipping my toe in War 2 and War 3 to see which I one I would like to start playing the campaign for, and the game does run much better in 2, especially the world map. It feels so much more smoother and polished.

I would imagine like you said, in time War 3 will probably be considered as the better title once the map merge and updates have been completed.

[Sazzbot]

Personally I do not like any type of forced timer gameplay in Warhammer 3. So I wait until they release world map and better performance.

[Chozer]

Originally posted by GD2X:

I have read a bunch of people when asking what's a good TW game to start with, and they all recommend War 2. Isn't War 3 going to best for a new player as it has (I assume) all the learnings from the previous games, as well as better QOL and user friendly features?

I own all 3 games (mainly for ME and being a huge fan of the warhammer universe) and I look forward to learning how to play these incredible games, but I am just curious why War 2 is considered the better game than 3.

3 is better in almost everyway when it comes to diplomacy sieges, and i would say also nation building. however without immortal empire and blood dlc still not there for another month i will not return to 3 until i see those

[GalloglassCA]

2 has had years of content and refinements. 3 is new and still has years of content ahead. So currently 2 is ahead. Immortal Empires and the massive changes coming is going to massively improvement Warhammer 3.

[Dalai Llama]

Let me put it this way:

Would you rather go to an ice cream palor that just opened? They have 4 flavors and they're still experimenting what works and what doesn't.
Or to one that has two dozen flavors and has continuously refined their process over several years?

[Father Ribs]

Ignoring how people feel about the game "feel" in 3, the second game has a lot more factions that are "easier" to wrap your head around and enjoy.

Most of the demon factions force you to play in a very particular style, and the only way to get flexibility is to ally with other factions and recruit their troops.

The second game also has 3+ years to shake out the bugs, work on balancing, fine tune the systems. Three is improving, but there are a large number of folks who vocally aren't happy with certain aspects of the game. It will get there, but it still needs some time in the oven.

That's not to say 3 doesn't do a lot of things really well. Even if you're more "traditional" player, the two human factions and the ogre factions are all fun (though Cathay is a bit easy due to location...until the map expands). Plus, there are a lot of UI improvements that are great for QoL...like how easy it is to manage the dozens of magic items and ancilliary characters you get over the course of a campaign, plus some nice streamlining in the diplomacy screen, and other do-dads.


I'd totally recommend 2 over 3 to a new player because the number and variety of factions is so much larger/wider, but by the fall sales 3 will be in a good place to add to the collection.

Grab 1 as well, you'll want it even if you just buy 2, for the megamap...plus any DLC for factions you want to play. It can wait though...the base game can keep you busy for many, many hours.

[veracsthane]

Originally posted by Ardariel:

New =/= better. It is very common delusion and pretty much the whoel reason why "progressives" are so regressive.

Games these days tend to release in unfinished state, cause most of players eat it up. THye buy stuff, leave angry comments or just rumble under breath and move on wiht their lives, bying next game from same developer, doing same rumblings and so on. That creates incentive for publishing unfinished game.

Next reason is - there are no combined map in TWW3 so far. When it would be released things could change.

And last but not least for veteran players, battle systems are much more polished in TWW2, while TWW3 have very questionable decisions in it. THey COULD be polished to have different, but still good, gameflow and gameplay in general, but right now TWW3 offers worse experience, than TWW1, and DEFINETLY worse than TWW2.

Wait for 6 moth or so, things could change. BUt so far TWW2 is best game gamplay-wise of franchise.

stop giving people who hate you war funds. tww3 will be great. in 3 years after $100s in dlc and fixes. if they wanted your money they wouldnt release faulty product.

[Roninman]

Originally posted by GD2X:

I have read a bunch of people when asking what's a good TW game to start with, and they all recommend War 2. Isn't War 3 going to best for a new player as it has (I assume) all the learnings from the previous games, as well as better QOL and user friendly features?

I own all 3 games (mainly for ME and being a huge fan of the warhammer universe) and I look forward to learning how to play these incredible games, but I am just curious why War 2 is considered the better game than 3.

Because of Immortal empires not released yet, main campaign is not fun. Game is quite new so waiting for 5-10 patches still. WH2 is still best and will be atleast awhile

[Hieronymus]

Total Warhammer 3 has problems that were fixed or not present in Total Warhammer 2, without the variety Mortal Empires brings its not worth it.

[rubyismycat]

Warhammer 2 is a finished game that CA have worked on for years and modders have had years to make awesome warhammer 3 is not remotely finished yet

[SpeaksTooFast]

Right now optimization is the biggest issue for me. 3 runs warmer and worse on lower settings. It basically turns my PC into a space heater and I'm not planning to reinstall it until it cools off outside enough to run the actually heat in my house so I don't mind. Hopefully by Nov/Dec the game will have had enough time to improve.

[GD2X]

Originally posted by SpeaksTooFast:

Right now optimization is the biggest issue for me. 3 runs warmer and worse on lower settings. It basically turns my PC into a space heater and I'm not planning to reinstall it until it cools off outside enough to run the actually heat in my house so I don't mind. Hopefully by Nov/Dec the game will have had enough time to improve.

I too noticed this. After going to play War 2, it's night and day. War 2 is BUTTERY smooth both on the world map, and during battles. War 3, same specs, even lowered settings, feels sluggish.