Anyone here interested in Shogun 2: Total War?

I was massively into Medieval 2, and Napoleon, so I'm very excited for Shogun 2. It continues in the same vein as the previous Total War games, with large scale turn based gameplay and battles being big realtime beasts, to satisfy any kinds of gameplay preference.

Apparently production was excellent, with a really solid art style thats integrated seamlessly, as well as fun, non intrusive music in traditional style. Also, its fucking devilishly hard, which was always my favourite part of these games.

So what does DLP think?

http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/115/1156095p1.html
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/06/shogun-2-total-war-the-difference-a-decade-makes/

(two reviews to take a look at)

 

I've only played one Total War game, the original Shogun, and I played the living fuck out of it. Tried the demo off steam and liked it, so I plan on getting #2 soon.

 

Being a big fan of Shogun I tried Shogun 2 yesterday. Fine game. Absolutely magnificent artwork. Really if there is no other reason to play this game the graphic interface is so compelling you have to get immersed.

Didn't play much, so I can't truly comment on the AI, but from what I've seen it isn't any different from Empire, so still shitty. But my Shimazu No-Dachi will sweep all the opposition!!!

Nothing like a fine re-imagining of a great game.

 

Bought it on release and spent the last two days getting my ass handed to me on normal... gotta work on my long term strategy

 

I downloaded it, and actually really liked it. Just ended up deleting it though, I've already got a bunch of strategy games that I only half know how to play, don't have time for another.

 

Nice. Obviously you haven't played this game very much at all, because I've been playing Shimazu for 50 turns now, and I'm pretty sure there's no Shimazu No-Dachi. Shimazu Katana Samurai exist, and are bosses, but its the Date who specialize in No-Dachi Samurai.

This game was a birthday gift, and is awesome. I got through most of a campaign with Chosokabe, and my last 15 turns were basically me epically haxing with 7 ninjas, stopping every army and destroying two clans at once. THEN THE SHOGUN FUCKED ME HARD. Within 6 turns I was down to my starter provinces.

So now I'm Shimazu, who start furthest away from the Shogun, and specialize in cutting off the faces of their enemies. I've learned several important lessons through the course of this play through. For one, when your territory is one big island, keep a fucking competent navy around. Two, having massive, professional samurai armies may make you mighty, but it will cost you a buttload to maintain. Three, It is exeptionally annoying to spend two years gearing up for a major attack on a weaker enemy only to have all of their territory taken by someone too powerful for you to attack. Four, when your territory is one big island and you're trying to expand, make sure to bring both of your massive armies along, as it might take a little too long to move one to the mainland. Five, ninjas are fucking awesome. Six, the AI is gigantic bastard. Just when you defeat the alliance of assholes, one of which had a penchant for landing troops in the back of your territory and inciting rebellion or looting your fucking trade routes, and the other owning unique ninja spawning sites and how the fuck thats not considered wtfhax Ill never know, (Tokugawa and Imagawa, for anyone wanting to fuck some annoying fuckers up) the Shogun declares war on you, as does every other clan in Japan. FUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

The game has it's moments. Sometimes I'll be so frustrated that I could scream, and others I'll spend the whole day gloating over a particularly nice victory. To put it simply, its an excellent game.