[azn]

How many of you AT'ers are playing it and what are your impressions?

Personally, gameplay-wise its probably the best and most balanced TW to date, though lack of variety of units and small scope kinda does ruin the "Total War" feel.

Love the new more aggressive AI though, so much better than the passive AI in Empire.

[DTryPleX]

I was planning on buying it at first. I've played a bunch of TW games and bought them all but nothing seems to capture me quite like Medieval II Total War did. So I figured, maybe I'll download Shogun 2 first but it seems that crackers are having a hard time on it xD

[solfire_13]

i planning to play it but whether i really play it will depend on the reviews.....
so, anyone that had play the game give your opinion....

[klaynne14]

I remember the first one, had me playing for hours on end lol.. trying 2 this summer, good thing I saw this, thanks

[Slush]

My younger brother is playing it, he seems to enjoy it quite a bit, although with his pirated version he can't save his games lol.

[ARTHURIUSS]

How's the diplomacy and micromanagement in this one?That's what breaks or makes a Total War game for me.
The last Total War Game with good diplomacy was Medieval2.I'm hoping it's more like that and less like Empire Total War.

[Earende]

It's much improved. But still wacky.

[azn]

Originally Posted by ARTHURIUSS

How's the diplomacy and micromanagement in this one?That's what breaks or makes a Total War game for me.
The last Total War Game with good diplomacy was Medieval2.I'm hoping it's more like that and less like Empire Total War.

Gameplay wise, its more similar to ETW in the sense that it uses 1 menu rather than diplomats. Though its more versitile, with new diplomatic features like the offering or demanding of diplomatic hostages.

Diaplomacy is what you would expect from Shogun era. You can't just make an alliance and break it without severe consequences. The game encourages you to stick to the deals you make.

Betrayals will make it difficult for future negotiations with an faction, as they won't be so trusting so you.

Which leads to micromanagement of the economy. Trade deals are vital in the early part of the game. You want as many trade partners as you can net and the fewest number enemies. Due to the smaller scale, making a successful domestic trade network is almost important.

The builidng style is more like Empire but you can manage everything from the region capital rather than looking for isolated trade hubs/research buildings scattered across the region. The a new world/management feature is food. Farms no longer just provide more growth percentage, they now provide food which is a important building resource. Upgrading castles, markets and ports all require good which can be acquired by building and upgrading farms.

And also, research/tech is like Empire as well,but you can only research 1 tech at a time but makes up for it by having less stuff to research, meaning less pointless filter techs (Empire pissed me off with the fact you had to research fire by rank :<).

[ARTHURIUSS]

For four glorious hours today I was Takeda Shingen running amok in the lush fields of fuedal Japan.Alas,it was not to last. A sneaky ninja poisoned my drink and my once majestic army got routed by the backstabbing Hattori.

The next time I'm in Sengoku Nippon,may God have mercy on the Hattori for Takeda Shingen certainly wont!

[Conduit]

Total War: Shogun 2 - Ninja Moe!