How I feel about this game after 700 hours of game play since release.

[楊玄。杨玄。LangrisserWWE]

FIRST IMPRESSION.
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Well, to be honest, when the game first came out, it received a lot of flack. Some criticism came from fans of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, while others were from people who preferred traditional, hero-less Total War historical games. Additionally, there were Eurocentric individuals who knew little about Chinese history, culture, or literature and imagined that China was some backwater civilization that fought solely with sticks and stones.

As for me, I simply dislike the game because, while the artwork may appear Chinese, it looks warped and wonky. I believe they initially got a lot of it right, but then decided it was too authentic and distorted it with their skewed Western perception of Chinese culture, making it look more "Fu Manchu" for some strange reason, so that their American or Western audience would recognize it as Chinese.

I also don’t like the Romance mode. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, if you've ever read it, epic duels take place between great warriors who are also generals on horseback—not some Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee nonsense on foot.

However, to Creative Assembly's credit, they did what they could and ultimately made this game really awesome. Now, it is my favorite game in the Total War series.

[楊玄。杨玄。LangrisserWWE]

OPINIONS ON UNITS TYPES AND GENERAL GAME PLAY
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Just remember this as you read on—if you ever decide to read on! (LOL, a wall of text is not fun.) I love this game, but I do have a few gripes with the gameplay. I know it will never be fixed because a few years back, the developers stated that this would be the final version, with no more patches.

First of all, I now play the game mostly on Legendary mode because, after understanding the ins and outs of the game, it's the only mode that keeps older players like myself interested. This isn’t me bragging; it’s just how people who have spent too much time on their favorite games operate, regardless of genre or title. Still, I don't increase the battle difficulty, as it isn't necessary since the AI is already quite dull in battle. Giving them extra stats to prolong or complicate a battle would only turn it into a boring grind. The AI already throws stacks of armies at you that you alone cannot handle, like brood mothers from Zerg in StarCraft. It's not fun unless you enjoy needless repetitive grinding.

What I am trying to "whine" about is that, in most cases, you have to build up your economy first before you can have a proper army to grind your way to victory, which makes certain in-game units less relevant.

What do I mean by that? Just take some units like Heavy Cataphracts or Heavy Ji Infantry, for example. I think these are really cool units that can be researched by any faction other than the Nanman, but they are hardly ever relevant. For instance, you would most likely skip Heavy Armored Ji Infantry or Cataphracts because there are way better units available in the beginning and mid-game. I’m not sure how others do it, but I generally research my way to a booming economy, and when that happens, many of the units we are supposed to take advantage of after unlocking those technologies become outdated or simply useless compared to what we already have or are about to acquire.

So, my question is, if anyone bothers to read this wall of text: how often do you use, or how much would you consider researching units like Heavy Cataphracts or Armored Ji in your grand plan during your playthrough?

I personally find Heavy Armored Ji really cool, and Ji was supposed to be the backbone of armies during this period, just like crossbows for the Qin Dynasty. Perhaps I am wrong, but I am interested to see if anyone feels the same or has a very different opinion on this.

[NvMe 令]

Heavy Cataphracts make up the staple of my cav forces if my faction dosent have unique cav units since they are one of the few heavy version of units that are actually better than their normal variant.

Pretty much most of the infantry (that isnt super late game hard unlocks) like the Armoured Ji on the research tree is extremely meh for the amount of time needed to get them since other basic units can do their job but cheaper. I tend to have spear guards as my main infantry and 2 units of whatever i want as flank guards (and to attack enemy units engaged with my frontline), this pretty much worked for me in my 500 hours of gameplay.

I was not around when the game first came out but iv heard Ji wielding troops used to be actual good all rounders before all of them got nerfed which is dissapointing since i wanted to use the Ji more since like you said its more historically accurate

[楊玄。杨玄。LangrisserWWE]

Unfortunately there are way too many options to skip both Ji infantry and cataphract.

Also, unit balance in this game isn't tuned in a way to make economical sense, it just a way to unlock something into the collection of "Cool Pokemon" cards to make you feel good but not going to use.

Well, it is going to stay that way regardless. A shame since the military research tree isn't really that useful in comparison or crucial. You can skipped it entirely and still proceed to destroy the rest of China.

[NemesisLeon44]

it's sad how lazy ignorance leads to inability to appreciate truly epic works of art.

any "eurocentric" who doesn't know at least a little about Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a downgrade in my book.

[Klutch]

I am a top player in Apex Arena and I can appreciate both art styles. I've never seen a non-fu manchu Guan Yu. That'd look ridiculous.

[楊玄。杨玄。LangrisserWWE]

Originally posted by Klutch:

I am a top player in Apex Arena and I can appreciate both art styles. I've never seen a non-fu manchu Guan Yu. That'd look ridiculous.

I have never seen a Fu Man Chu Guan Yu made by Chinese artist or Japanese for that matter.

Its not about the beard if that is what you are thinking.

By the way, what is Apex Arena?