Total War: Fall of the Samurai, anyone else thinks it's awesome?

[hardcore_gamer]

I have been a big fan of the Total war franchise ever since the first Rome.

However, I felt that things have gotten really stale lately because I feel that the formula just hasn't changed enough. Right up until Shogun 2 the gameplay was still basically the same as it was 8 installments ago.

1. Create army.
2. Attack enemy army/city.
3. Have your forces zerg attack the enemy army.
4. Win.
5. Repeat.

Empire did change things somewhat by changing the way things work on the campaign map, adding sea battles, and having units use guns, but things still remained more or less the same.

The latest stand-alone expansion for Shogun 2 however feels refreshingly new in terms of gameplay.

Basically, it takes place in mid and late 19th century where Japan is split into many factions where each faction is loyal either to the Shogunate (people who favor the old ways of Japan) and the Imperials (people who favor more westernization). You then choose a side and then fight for domination of Japan.

There are 5 major reasons for why I feel this expansion is the best Total war so far:

1: Untit variety.

Do you want to embrace Western influence and modernization and start using guns and bombs for your army, or do you want to stick to the old ways and keep using Swords? The game is actually realistic in that it is MUCH more difficult to keep using swords and spears once the other side starts using guns and advanced weapons, but its not impossible if you are clever enough. Guns after all, are not that great in melee combat.

2. The game is actually hard to play.

In the typical total war game this is how a battle would play out:

You put your men into formations and then have them march towards the enemy, then at the last moment you order them to attack the other army and then perhaps if you pull off a few simple tactics like flanking with your horsemen then you have basically won.

However, because FoS enters further into the modern era then any earlier Total War game things are no longer as simple as that.

Here is a video of a custom battle where a player with only 4 Gatling gun units (who have admittetly level 9 EXP, something which is really hard to obtain in the campaign game) defeating over 40 enemy units all on their own:

Yea, things are no longer as simple as just marching towards the enemy. More advanced strategy is needed now. This is even more true when attacking cities with defences. The fact that the rate of fire amongst rifflemen is also higher means that battles are deadly and you have to make more rapid decisions. Battles in general are more tense.

3. Third person control mode of certain units.

For the first time you can now actually control ships and certain guns in third person mode.

It doesn't dramatically change anything, but this is still a really fun little gimmick that makes you feel more involved in the battle. Plus it can actually make a difference if you are more accurate then the AI at hitting things.

Manual control does make a very big difference when fighting naval battles however, since you can actually steer the ship you are controlling and fire all of its cannons manually. Its almost like your playing a more simplified Battlestations: Midway or something.

4: Naval warfare matter a lot now.

Besides being very important to secure your trade line, ships can now offer bombardment support during land battles with devestating results. They can even attack units and buildings on the campaign map. This means that having a good navy isn't just some bonus, you NEED to have one if you don't want to be at a big disadvantage.

5: The agent and character system is basically a mini-RPG now.

Characters like agents can be customized much more now, making each character feel important enough to be worth keeping safe.


Simply put, this game is awesome. It has made Total War feel fresh again. I also can't help but wonder if this push towards the modern era by CA is some kind of an experiment to see how well the Total War franchise might work in a more modern era, perhaps this is a clue of future things to come (World War 1 total war?)?

Anyone else going to check this game out?

[Quast]

hardcore_gamer said:

I also can't help but wonder if this push towards the modern era by CA is some kind of an experiment to see how well the Total War franchise might work in a more modern era, perhaps this is a clue of future things to come (World War 1 total war?)?

I have my doubts about ww1 total war ever being a thing. I mean, how to you really capture the essence of weeks long battles where nothing happens in a total war game? With that said, even though I was really excited to see the imperial era in total war, I wasn't very impressed with the gameplay in empire and napoleon. Not to mention the insane loading times.

Anyone else going to check this game out?

No, sorry, waiting for rome 2 and hopefully medieval 3.

[hardcore_gamer]

Quast said:

I have my doubts about ww1 total war ever being a thing. I mean, how to you really capture the essence of weeks long battles where nothing happens in a total war game?

You say that as if CA has ever attempted to make the TW games realistic in the first place.

Medieval warfare is nothing like the kind of warfare you see in Medieval: Total war 1 and 2. Real medieval warfare was largely a matter of nearly constant negotiations between the fighting sides, but that would have been boring to have in a game so instead CA just made the battles be about full scale confrontations and assaults instead.

I fail to see why CA can't ignore a few important historical facts in order to make a playable World War 1 Total war game since they were able to do so with their other Total war games.

[Seeker_of_Truth]

I've only played (and own) Rome and Medieval II, but I've enjoyed them both quite a lot. I'd like to play the later games, but I don't know if my system will be able to handle it.

It would be interesting if they went more modern with it, but I don't think I would like it as much.

[Sharessa]

I'm a fan of the Total War series, though I've moved on to greener pastures now with the Paradox grand strategy games.

Empire had really awesome campaign map gameplay, but it was ruined by the terrible battles. Granted, in real life, battles of the time WERE just lines of troops standing there and shooting at each other until someone ran away, but it's a bit dull for a franchise where the selling point is having fun planning out epic clashes between units. The sea battles were luckily pretty fun, though.

I've only played a little of Shogun 2, but it seems like they took all the good points that Empire and Napoleon had going for their campaign map and used it while also having fun battles in the same vein as Rome and Medieval 2.