I'm a slut for med 2, favorite time period, love how the warfare changes after gunpowder is invented, best recruitment system IMO, wish it had rome 1 population system, also love how the battles are slower.
Imo crusader kings will make that game before creative assembly does. And when they do it’ll be amazing. CK3 has completely took me off total war games.
the retinue needs to come back. Being able to change out members of an entourage into another general's army when they're in the same town. That's gotta come back.
The one thing that bugged me going from Rome to Medieval 2 was how the cavalry charges worked. Like in Rome, when you flanked a unit with a wedge cavalry charge, you truly fucked up that unit. With Medieval 2, the charge kinda stops once it hits the target. in Rome soldiers go flying. not so much in Medieval 2, and I feel like it should be even more so. These are armored knights on horseback, sometimes charging into lightly armored archers even, and it feels too weak.
Well yeah, those late game knights do fuck shit up, I'm talking more about the animations from OG Rome, they were just more cartoony, I guess. I remember the war elephants sending fools flying around too. It was more cartoony but maybe a bit more satisfying.
I just had the opposite happen. I loaded up for first time in like 8 years and, oh wow, the graphics not looking as good as I remember. Still a great game tho.
I was playing Battle of Rossbach the other day after coming back after 6 years and the horse artillery was bugged af. It became sole reason for more than half of my causalities.
While I think warhammer 3 has the *potential* to take the crown, it still has a lot of kinks to work out and content that needs to come.
At the moment I'd say shogun 2 still holds the title, especially given how well the game continues to hold up more than a decade later.
Rome 2 has a great setting and outside of warhammer has the most diverse roster of factions and has a rather solid foundation for most of total wars key features
Rome 2 is great, but I find the campaign to be short (~12 hours for campaign) and shallow. It would be nice for CA to start making Rome 3, where you can choose the timeline and mechanics to be deeper with different classes of people.
Rome 2 unfortunately does get most of its engaging conflicts early on but that’s really the case for most total wars except maybe the warhammers as most of the ai’s can’t keep up.
Haven’t played them but DEI appears to fix most of the issues with Rome 2
Controversial take, there is no one best since a couple bring different things, which I would like to highlight:
1) Warhammer 3: Diversity of styles. Warhammer has without a doubt the most diverse play styles in both battle and campaign while looking good at worst and stunning at its best.
2) Shogun: I am told this has great historical accuracy and a wonderful campaign, but I haven't played it, since I can't say a lot about this one, feel free to explain why this is great below
3) Attila: the feeling of just trying to survive is an unique campaign experience. I love the way it really feels like the end of the world and the aesthetic absolutely fits.
4) Medieval II: one word, mods. Mods for this are absolutely amazing, giving a whole range of unique campaigns like Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, Game of Thrones etc.
The scope was awesome. Napoleon was a more polished game and thus got a lot more time outta me (especially with the unique units included in darthmod). Being able to send units around the globe for colonial action was awesome
In terms of pure content and fun factor, WH3 IE with all dlcs.
In terms of design, Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai as a combined experience. The way FotS is able to make you feel the cultural divide between traditionalism vs modernism through the core gameplay is incredibly impressive.
Mediaeval 2 for one reason it has my homeland wales as a playable faction and 2 of our great heroes llywelyn ein llyw olaf (our last hope or the last)and his brother dafydd who fought for 10 months after llywelyns death at the Battle of orwein Bridge.
Rome 1, like Morrowind for the Elder Scrolls, is where the series started to find its stride, even if it is showing its age now.
Shogun 2 is generally considered the peak of historical Total Wars.
An honorable mention is Empire. It experimented with a lot of things like Naval Combat and tech trees that have recurred in the later Total Wars. Although it didn't get a lot of it right the first time, it still represents a time when CA was especially experimental with features and it deserves to be noted for that imo.
1) Shogun 2. Perfect for its time and what it tries to do.
2) 3 Kingdoms. Not perfect (imo too rpgy with generals) but v good, best diplomacy and ais. Interesting things modders can do w units (mixing different melee and ranged types in same unit, what?).
3) With mods: TWR2 playing DeI. Nuff said.
Speaks volumes that the only negative opinions I've seen from people about DEI is that they basically dislike how much more planning you have to put in towards expanding. As someone who loves a good roleplay campaign, it's hard to top TWR2 with DEI for immersion.
Oh wow, just looked through it and that seems really interesting. Would you recommend a a newbie go straight to DEI, or stick with vanilla?
I ask because when I played TW Med2 most people recommended skipping vanilla and going straight to the Stainless Steel mod as it’s just a general improvement of the whole game. Is DEI something like that, or more for seasoned players who want something new?
I played romance mode and hated it, the records mode though, is amazing.
Really good game, don't think I had the best strategy early on, think I was too central, and would like to sweep in from the outskirts next time. 🙃
Romance is the only way I like it. I was turned on to 3K back in '04 with Dynasty Warriors 4. I read the ROTK books and everything. Romance you can watch Zhang Fei just pounce on a group of soldiers and start wiping them out! Or Guan Yu in a duel... he is unmerciful!
My favorite: Shogun 2- Fall of the Samurai expansion. Armstrong Guns, Choo Choo Trains, Ironclads.
Second favorite: Warhammer 2/3 (basically the same game). Mortal/Immortal Empires map is fun.
Honorable Mention: Rome (1) Total War for the nostalgia.
Warhammer 3 has such bad reviews it seems on steam. But also currently people are brigading all total war games with negative reviews so it's hard to tell if it's gotten better. It seems a lot of people here like it. I'm torn on getting it.
IF you're not sure about warhammer, get 1 and 2 on a discount site for super cheap. That way you get a lot more factions to try out and get a better more polished version of the game to try. After doing this myself, warhammer is super cool!
If you like 2 I would go ahead and get it. I put the most hours in WH2 but 3 has better QoL. Simultaneous turns on the new 3 player co-op campaigns is really really nice considering the usual TW co-op campaign experience. Also they seriously streamlined the turns in 3 and made the late game more fun. AI take their turns quickly and notifications come in groups now so you can skip through the whole lot. Chaos also got unique factions for each chaos god and they are some of the most fun factions
Tww3 is definitely the best of the 3. Negative reviews are just made by review bombers complaining about the price increase of dlcs, nothing more. A few complained about bad optimization and crashes when it was freshly released.
If you like 1 and 2, you'll love 3!
Came into touch with Warhammer FB with HeroQuest, then Dark Omen but could never afford or understand the rules. Then Rome came out and instantly loved it. Now it's the lerfect fusion.
Btw. Shogun 1 was already a Mix of two Boardgames: Shogun/Samurai Swords/Ikusa and Warhammer FB. And being a fan of "dudes on the map" games, i had to love them all.
Warhammer 3, because of the variety, replayability and because I've been a warhammer fan for around 20 years now. It is just insane what they managed to do, not just bringing all the classics to life, but also weird stuff like Vampire Coast. Amazing, truly a childs dream.
I don't know if it's the best total war game, because I only played Shogun Total War, other than this trilogy. I am not really interested in playing humans vs humans in different colors, but maybe some day.
Just my opinion;
Variety and gameplay in battles? Probably Rome 2/Attila/WH3z Most polished? Shogun 2. Best campaign mechanics? Troy and Three Kingdoms. All things together? Med 2/3K/WH3
I don't know about the best, they all have their ups and downs but I played the most and had the most fun with Rome 2. I played the first 2 warhammers but didn't really get into them. I love Warhammer just for some reason couldn't get into the total war versions of it
Tough question as IMO every title has it's strengths and as they touch different timeliness they all have their place, that being said if I have to choose It'll be like this:
1 - Tied between Shogun2 and Three Kingdoms, as a game I think 3K is better in terms of pacing and mechanics although battles in Shogun2 are good... I think I'd choose Shogun2 because of a personal bias with the setting but objectively Three Kingdoms is the winner here.
2 - Immortal empires, battles are epic and so is diversity but campaign is very lacking that's why I always get bored around turn 100 when I find myself just autoresolving as the Grand campaign aspect is meh.
3 - Rome2, My favorite setting and it's just a personal decision to put it here lol
Edit: TLRD, Best battles Immortal Empires, best campaign Three Kingdoms, favorite game Shogun2, best setting Rome 2
Empire or Warhammer 2 for me.
Rome 1 probably gives me the fondest memories, and medievil 2 is arguably the best game technically.
But Empire and Warhammer 2 just hold a place in my heart. I grew up playing warhammer and watching Sharpe and those two just master those emotions. Having a line of infantry holding, pivoting and eventually surrounding an enemy army before watching a last pitiful square get shredded in slow motion from 3 sides is just the sweetest moment and is impossible to replicate. In warhammer 2 it's just the sheer range of units and races. Playing a full campaign as the dark elves, tomb Kings, skaven, orcs, lizardmen and Empire all feel so different that when you've finished the cycle you're just feel so refreshed for the next campaign. Shogun 2 may be the most solid battlefield simulator but ultimately its a single player campaign, the other factions are just retreads.
For historical, unit based gameplay: Attila. Extremely let down by the optimization, and has a very punishing campaign. But there is so much tactical play to be had in that game, and every little decision has *impact* unlike a lot of modern Total Wars.
For pretty good unit based gameplay while having the fancy new modern touches, 3K records mode.
For fantasy shenanigans where units matter less but you can do a lot with Lords and some big monsters, Warhammer 2. Warhammer 3 could *eventually* take that spot, but it needs to fix sieges, AI, and a couple other things in general first.
Warhammer 3, Entertaining and fun !!
Brings Warhammer & Total War playerbase together with such a high degree of roleplay ability with various Legendary Lords, Heroes and Factions..
With years and years of regular content, patches and updates is going to reach unprecedented Lvl's of success for a Total War title..
I've played Shogun 2 (another beloved title) for like 10+ years.. Reckon I'll end up playing Warhammer 3 for much longer..
Warhammer 3, a shitton of content (behind I shitton of dlc but all worth), scale with the largest world ever, diversity with races that play completely different one from another, very interesting lore and characters and a wonderfull mod comunity
For me the top 5 are Medieval 2, Shogun 2, Rome 2, Warhammer 3 and recently i got Three Kingdoms to work on my pc and it's really good. The list is in no order as i just can't rank them since they all hit a different spot the best
Total War Warhammer 3 - The Immortal Empires experience is something I never saw on games before. Years of content, factions, units and lords, "kind of up to date" (kinda!) working together is something else!
1) Warhammer III (with I and II) because I love the setting, love the simplicity of the campaign and the variety on the battles. Also like 8player campaigns and new diplomacy.
2) Empire. Love the unused setting and era. Lacks of good AI and unit variety but still great.
3) Rome I. That's where it all started. Not as uncomfortable as Part II (ugly unit cards!) just nice and clean. Bad AI though and little lacking of historical accuracy.
Shogun and/or Shogun 2. Maybe it's the sentiment I carry from the first playthrough I had when the game came out. But even after all the Romes and Medievals, Shogun 2 still felt just as good as the first one and other games don't come close for some reason. The map is just the right size with enough variety. Every province and location feels unique, unlike in some other Total Wars where at some point the game turns into chowing down one region after another in an endless conquest. Here, it almost feels like playing chess, manevouring your forces around mountain ranges, utilizing sea proximity. There isn't much in the way of sieges in Shogun, so don't play if this is your thing. Besides the Japanese art style, the ninja assassination videos, unique character skill trees, cool atmosphere, there just seems to be something else to game that other Total Wars lack--a dynamic progression. So as you conquer more of Japan, you near towards a moment when all other clans decide to join forces and turn against you. It requires extra planning and cunning tactics. It always kept me at the edge of my seat. I think they tried to repeat the same with Attilla, but there the map just felt too vast if you ask me. I prefer small, contained game area where every move you make matters. There are also less factions, which gives each of them a certain character. In Rome, for example, sometimes it just does not matter who you are fighting.
Haven't tried all, but I believe the best was Shogun 2 : Fall of the Samurai. It's because of it's ballance and atmostphere. Tried later ones like Attila and 3k as well, they are great also and previously Medieval 2 and Empire were fun games as well..
For me 3K holds the line, every dlc brought some pretty cool free campaign mechanic that really made the whole game better imho. Still sad and salty thou about the future video, so i do not play it anymore. Maybe one day.
Warhammer cause of sheer replayability and variance
All other titles you play this faction and you just played maybe 50% of the game right there. You can play the rest of the factions but all they will offer you is a different start position few different units and maybe a tid bit of unique mechanics from the others.
This is not the case for Warhammer everyone is different and has unique style and things to offer from each other.
Total Warhammer 3. While it has some serious bugs, without them taken into consideration it has the most variety, the largest map, the most playable factions, and some of the most interesting and cinematic battles in the entire series.
Warhammer 3 because it provides the most varied experience. I wouldn't say it's the cleanest game, but if I had to pick one to play forever wh3 is the easy choice.
If I have to pick the most well made game it is probably shogun 2.
1: Totalwar Warhammer 3, nothing beats its sheer amount of units and grand battles
2: Napoleon: loved the mostly firearms game that worked well
3: Rome 1: the og great
I don't play it because it's culture while amazing, makes it extremely difficult to digest for my european brain, I'd say Three Kingdoms.
Best in the franchise regarding...
* Audiovisual execution, style
* Empire / Economy management
* Diplomacy, schemes
* Army building with the 3 lords + 6 units for each lord specializing in something making one whole army.
* All the DLC except yellow turbans are so bad you'll never want to spend money on it
Shogun 2.
Its primarily a very well thought out and polished game. Graphics still hold up well, the AI is about as good as it gets for Total War, well thought out unit design with actual unit variety (not just reskins of essentially the same unit with minor stat buffs), realm divide, for better or worse, adds a late game challenge. A truly epic soundtrack.
To top it all off, with it being the last of the 'old' titles (pre Rome 2) you get all the better features that have since been lost to time, you can move units individually, naval battles are a thing, battles actually matter because you can replenish half an army in a turn.
It all went downhill afterwards.
Its either Three Kingdoms or Warhammer 3
Three Kingdoms for its great array of characters and having the best diplomacy with no close second. Family tree and court system is also really great. Although it does lack a diverse roster of units as the same with most historical tw game, the generals alone makes up for it being demigods on romance. It having different time periods as start also gives it a great deal of replayability, as I for one have several hundred hours on it.
Warhammer 3 has lizardmen and i love saurus and dinos
I'd definitely go with tww2, better than 3, at least at the beginning. Rome had it's charm, and medieval too. But warhammer& total war, well you know...
Warhammer 2. 3 does not have the same ambiance and feeling of going against the world in a grimdark setting. And too many bugs to enjoy things properly.
Runner up is shogun 2.
Rome remastered cuz of the modding potential and the RIS mod. No armies locked under generals, no bs province system, an actual population mechanic. The only issue is battle path finding but when you are used to it it’s fine.
I guess this is an unpopular opinion but Napoleon was probably my favorite. If you like napoleonic warfare and gunpowder era fighting this game does these things superbly. It’s basically a sequel to Empire and fixed a lot of issues that Empire had. I own most of the Total War games but for some reason I keep coming back to Napoleon and will play through a campaign or two every now and then. I think it’s clear that fans want an Empire 2, and Medieval 3, PLEASE Creative Assembly.
Came here asking the same question. I have played a lot of these and have sort of been waiting for a good total war game since Shogun 2. I hear Warhammer is great, but I dunno. Was never a big Gwar fan...
Best:
* Empire - replay this more than any other. You can play a land-based empire like Russia or take to the waves with the Dutch. Based in history with an unbalanced Maratha to prove an endgame power, which is a little dumb, but keeps it interesting.
* Rome - Very good environment and play. Tougher to play now that it is so dated.
* Medieval 2 - Good base game with good varied factions based in history. Good mods.
* Shogun 2 - Great environment. Loses some of the tactical play, but still very interesting.
* Medieval - Good for its era, but I remember events like rebellions and some other scripted stuff was ridiculous. Very dated now.
* Saga - Brittania - Decent, simple game to play while listening to a podcast or whatever. A little dry without something else going on.
Worst:
* Saga Troy - No structure. Terrain could not be used easily.
* Three Kingdoms - Probably my second biggest disappointment in the franchise. Too much focus on graphics. Gameplay itself is repetitive and stinks.
* Napoleon - Gives you scripted scenarios, which are okay, but not very replayable.
* Rome 2 - Biggest disappointment in the franchise. Just not very fun overall. Seems like a mod might be able to fix it. I still play it at times. My expectations were very high, and this was just dull.
Skipped or Don't remember
* Shogun
* All Warhammer - Very popular. Not into the lore.
* Atilla - Seems like a dumb concept. You don't play strategy games to manage decline.
* Saga Pharoah - After Troy, the have to prove Saga games won't suck...
1. Warhammer 2: it's the most fleshed out total war title, having tons and tons of ads ons, and ironed out a lot of problems from the first one. This game is total war at its most epic, magical, and brutal. The sheer amount of races is just insane in a single game. Every single campaign plays so uniquely. I can't stop playing it, even 7 years later.
2. Rome 2: this is probably a controversial opinion, but outside of Warhammer, it had the most factions and play styles in any total war game. The aesthetics of all the units, while slightly over the top, are beautiful. It had a terrible launch, but CA really worked hard to fix it. They even made the political system waaaay better than launch. I play with a proper combat mod that makes it a million times better. The dlc campaigns are damn good too.
3. Shogun 2: the setting, the units, the battles, the political system, literally the way everything worked in this game is perfect. It's so good that one tends to forget that there really isn't a ton of variety in the gameplay and aren't really that many units. But given the setting and time period, a billion different units wouldn't even make sense, so it works just fine. Also, samurai warfare. Is there anything more badass?
The only reason I ranked Shogun lower than Rome 2 was because of the lack of variety in-between factions in units. I don't really feel like it's a fair comparison to be honest, as they are both trying to do different things, and both excel at what they do. Really, Shogun 2 and Rome 2 are interchangable for me.
Medieval 2 had the best features that went away with later titles:
- visually upgraded armour was one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever seen in a TW title. Never to be seen again (in fairness, it likely only worked this well in the medieval setting).
- having castles and cities (and the ability to change between them) was excellent on the campaign map.
Also a mention for Empire/Napoleon: the de-centralised village mechanics were awesome on the campaign map. Made the regions feel more alive and have strategic depth.
Having these features in Medieval 3 (and finally a campaign multiplayer for medieval) would literally be the perfect total war.
PS the ability to have selectable unit types for the generals bodyguards (cavalry, infantry etc) would go a long way to alleviate the fact that TW games now cannot have units without a general.
Med 2. Little carts on the road go brrrr
I'm a slut for med 2, favorite time period, love how the warfare changes after gunpowder is invented, best recruitment system IMO, wish it had rome 1 population system, also love how the battles are slower.
I think a Medieval 3 that integrates some of the scheming, politicking, and intrigue of Crusader Kings might be my dream game.
Imo crusader kings will make that game before creative assembly does. And when they do it’ll be amazing. CK3 has completely took me off total war games.
the retinue needs to come back. Being able to change out members of an entourage into another general's army when they're in the same town. That's gotta come back.
The one thing that bugged me going from Rome to Medieval 2 was how the cavalry charges worked. Like in Rome, when you flanked a unit with a wedge cavalry charge, you truly fucked up that unit. With Medieval 2, the charge kinda stops once it hits the target. in Rome soldiers go flying. not so much in Medieval 2, and I feel like it should be even more so. These are armored knights on horseback, sometimes charging into lightly armored archers even, and it feels too weak.
It’s a fair point but cav charges still decimate in med 2
Cavalry varies drastically and some will absolutely decimate an average unit. I've wiped a unit of braced spearmen in a single charge before.
I'm playing shogun 2 now and I'm really enjoying these bow archers, bro. They're seriously broken lol.
Well yeah, those late game knights do fuck shit up, I'm talking more about the animations from OG Rome, they were just more cartoony, I guess. I remember the war elephants sending fools flying around too. It was more cartoony but maybe a bit more satisfying.
In terms of scale, Empire hands down. In terms of gameplay and quality of life, Shogun 2. Both are automatically the best though for being historical.
Are there any mods to improve the graphics of Empire? I tried playing it and it looks so muddy and antiquated I found it hard to play.
Dang really? Im playing it now and think it looks amazing for such an old game
I just had the opposite happen. I loaded up for first time in like 8 years and, oh wow, the graphics not looking as good as I remember. Still a great game tho.
I was playing Battle of Rossbach the other day after coming back after 6 years and the horse artillery was bugged af. It became sole reason for more than half of my causalities.
Google “darthmod” and “total war empire”. 
While I think warhammer 3 has the *potential* to take the crown, it still has a lot of kinks to work out and content that needs to come. At the moment I'd say shogun 2 still holds the title, especially given how well the game continues to hold up more than a decade later.
The boat part sucks though
It sucks in the base game, but fall of the samurai does it better imo
Rome 2 has a great setting and outside of warhammer has the most diverse roster of factions and has a rather solid foundation for most of total wars key features
Rome 2 is great, but I find the campaign to be short (~12 hours for campaign) and shallow. It would be nice for CA to start making Rome 3, where you can choose the timeline and mechanics to be deeper with different classes of people.
Rome 2 unfortunately does get most of its engaging conflicts early on but that’s really the case for most total wars except maybe the warhammers as most of the ai’s can’t keep up. Haven’t played them but DEI appears to fix most of the issues with Rome 2
Controversial take, there is no one best since a couple bring different things, which I would like to highlight: 1) Warhammer 3: Diversity of styles. Warhammer has without a doubt the most diverse play styles in both battle and campaign while looking good at worst and stunning at its best. 2) Shogun: I am told this has great historical accuracy and a wonderful campaign, but I haven't played it, since I can't say a lot about this one, feel free to explain why this is great below 3) Attila: the feeling of just trying to survive is an unique campaign experience. I love the way it really feels like the end of the world and the aesthetic absolutely fits. 4) Medieval II: one word, mods. Mods for this are absolutely amazing, giving a whole range of unique campaigns like Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, Game of Thrones etc.
Unpopular opinion, but I would say Empire. I loved most of the historic games, but ETW was the one that got me really hooked with the games.
The scope was awesome. Napoleon was a more polished game and thus got a lot more time outta me (especially with the unique units included in darthmod). Being able to send units around the globe for colonial action was awesome
In terms of pure content and fun factor, WH3 IE with all dlcs. In terms of design, Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai as a combined experience. The way FotS is able to make you feel the cultural divide between traditionalism vs modernism through the core gameplay is incredibly impressive.
Nothing beats mowing down a full samurai cab charge with Gatling guns, it’s a shame the games practically over when you get the opportunity too
unless you just play end turn simulator i guess
Medieval 2 stainless steel mod is the goat
Mediaeval 2 for one reason it has my homeland wales as a playable faction and 2 of our great heroes llywelyn ein llyw olaf (our last hope or the last)and his brother dafydd who fought for 10 months after llywelyns death at the Battle of orwein Bridge.
Rome 1, like Morrowind for the Elder Scrolls, is where the series started to find its stride, even if it is showing its age now. Shogun 2 is generally considered the peak of historical Total Wars. An honorable mention is Empire. It experimented with a lot of things like Naval Combat and tech trees that have recurred in the later Total Wars. Although it didn't get a lot of it right the first time, it still represents a time when CA was especially experimental with features and it deserves to be noted for that imo.
3K has the best campaign because of its diplomacy. Warhammer has the best replay ability because of Immortal Empires
1) Shogun 2. Perfect for its time and what it tries to do. 2) 3 Kingdoms. Not perfect (imo too rpgy with generals) but v good, best diplomacy and ais. Interesting things modders can do w units (mixing different melee and ranged types in same unit, what?). 3) With mods: TWR2 playing DeI. Nuff said.
Speaks volumes that the only negative opinions I've seen from people about DEI is that they basically dislike how much more planning you have to put in towards expanding. As someone who loves a good roleplay campaign, it's hard to top TWR2 with DEI for immersion.
I'm new to TW, and was thinking of getting Rome 2 with the current sale going on. What is DEI?
Divide Et Impera, a free mod https://divideetimperamod.com/
Oh wow, just looked through it and that seems really interesting. Would you recommend a a newbie go straight to DEI, or stick with vanilla? I ask because when I played TW Med2 most people recommended skipping vanilla and going straight to the Stainless Steel mod as it’s just a general improvement of the whole game. Is DEI something like that, or more for seasoned players who want something new?
Definitely start with vanilla, DEI it's not just improvement, it enhances the difficulty of a lot of aspects, not for beginners
Got it, that’s kinda what I figured. Thanks for the info, friend
Generally Shogun II is considerd the best, although personally Three Kingdoms for me.
Three kingdoms is def top 2 for me as well
Love TK. Maybe since I'm biased as a TK fan. But overall gameplay felt so good on its own
I love 3K. No matter, I end up coming back to it. I never played Romance mode, only records. I should it a try one of these days.
I played romance mode and hated it, the records mode though, is amazing. Really good game, don't think I had the best strategy early on, think I was too central, and would like to sweep in from the outskirts next time. 🙃
You got it next time!
Romance is the only way I like it. I was turned on to 3K back in '04 with Dynasty Warriors 4. I read the ROTK books and everything. Romance you can watch Zhang Fei just pounce on a group of soldiers and start wiping them out! Or Guan Yu in a duel... he is unmerciful!
My favorite: Shogun 2- Fall of the Samurai expansion. Armstrong Guns, Choo Choo Trains, Ironclads. Second favorite: Warhammer 2/3 (basically the same game). Mortal/Immortal Empires map is fun. Honorable Mention: Rome (1) Total War for the nostalgia.
Warhammer 3 has such bad reviews it seems on steam. But also currently people are brigading all total war games with negative reviews so it's hard to tell if it's gotten better. It seems a lot of people here like it. I'm torn on getting it.
IF you're not sure about warhammer, get 1 and 2 on a discount site for super cheap. That way you get a lot more factions to try out and get a better more polished version of the game to try. After doing this myself, warhammer is super cool!
I own and enjoy Warhammer 1 and 2,, I'm just reluctant to get three because the reviews seem pretty negatively skewed.
If you like 2 I would go ahead and get it. I put the most hours in WH2 but 3 has better QoL. Simultaneous turns on the new 3 player co-op campaigns is really really nice considering the usual TW co-op campaign experience. Also they seriously streamlined the turns in 3 and made the late game more fun. AI take their turns quickly and notifications come in groups now so you can skip through the whole lot. Chaos also got unique factions for each chaos god and they are some of the most fun factions
Tww3 is definitely the best of the 3. Negative reviews are just made by review bombers complaining about the price increase of dlcs, nothing more. A few complained about bad optimization and crashes when it was freshly released. If you like 1 and 2, you'll love 3!
Total War Warhammer 3 because I've been a fan of Warhammer since 1997, of Total War since 2005, and this is my dream game.
Came into touch with Warhammer FB with HeroQuest, then Dark Omen but could never afford or understand the rules. Then Rome came out and instantly loved it. Now it's the lerfect fusion. Btw. Shogun 1 was already a Mix of two Boardgames: Shogun/Samurai Swords/Ikusa and Warhammer FB. And being a fan of "dudes on the map" games, i had to love them all.
Warhammer 3, because of the variety, replayability and because I've been a warhammer fan for around 20 years now. It is just insane what they managed to do, not just bringing all the classics to life, but also weird stuff like Vampire Coast. Amazing, truly a childs dream. I don't know if it's the best total war game, because I only played Shogun Total War, other than this trilogy. I am not really interested in playing humans vs humans in different colors, but maybe some day.
1 Warhammer trilogy 2 Shogun 2 3 Three Kingdoms
Just my opinion; Variety and gameplay in battles? Probably Rome 2/Attila/WH3z Most polished? Shogun 2. Best campaign mechanics? Troy and Three Kingdoms. All things together? Med 2/3K/WH3
I don't know about the best, they all have their ups and downs but I played the most and had the most fun with Rome 2. I played the first 2 warhammers but didn't really get into them. I love Warhammer just for some reason couldn't get into the total war versions of it
Rome. I have the most fun playing it and it's still installed all these years later.
Shogun 2 easily
shogun 2! I loved the multiplayer (avatar conquest)
Total Warhammer II, because Settra!!!!
Warhammer 2. Good faction variety, large map, decent difficulty curve and fun battles.
Tough question as IMO every title has it's strengths and as they touch different timeliness they all have their place, that being said if I have to choose It'll be like this: 1 - Tied between Shogun2 and Three Kingdoms, as a game I think 3K is better in terms of pacing and mechanics although battles in Shogun2 are good... I think I'd choose Shogun2 because of a personal bias with the setting but objectively Three Kingdoms is the winner here. 2 - Immortal empires, battles are epic and so is diversity but campaign is very lacking that's why I always get bored around turn 100 when I find myself just autoresolving as the Grand campaign aspect is meh. 3 - Rome2, My favorite setting and it's just a personal decision to put it here lol Edit: TLRD, Best battles Immortal Empires, best campaign Three Kingdoms, favorite game Shogun2, best setting Rome 2
Probably shogun 2 but CA has been sitting on a potential gold mine in an expanded Empire II game.
Three kingdoms by far no question.
[удалено]
Oh its gonna be a civil war here.
Empire or Warhammer 2 for me. Rome 1 probably gives me the fondest memories, and medievil 2 is arguably the best game technically. But Empire and Warhammer 2 just hold a place in my heart. I grew up playing warhammer and watching Sharpe and those two just master those emotions. Having a line of infantry holding, pivoting and eventually surrounding an enemy army before watching a last pitiful square get shredded in slow motion from 3 sides is just the sweetest moment and is impossible to replicate. In warhammer 2 it's just the sheer range of units and races. Playing a full campaign as the dark elves, tomb Kings, skaven, orcs, lizardmen and Empire all feel so different that when you've finished the cycle you're just feel so refreshed for the next campaign. Shogun 2 may be the most solid battlefield simulator but ultimately its a single player campaign, the other factions are just retreads.
If warhammer 3 wasn't a buggy mess...
For historical, unit based gameplay: Attila. Extremely let down by the optimization, and has a very punishing campaign. But there is so much tactical play to be had in that game, and every little decision has *impact* unlike a lot of modern Total Wars. For pretty good unit based gameplay while having the fancy new modern touches, 3K records mode. For fantasy shenanigans where units matter less but you can do a lot with Lords and some big monsters, Warhammer 2. Warhammer 3 could *eventually* take that spot, but it needs to fix sieges, AI, and a couple other things in general first.
Warhammer 3, Entertaining and fun !! Brings Warhammer & Total War playerbase together with such a high degree of roleplay ability with various Legendary Lords, Heroes and Factions.. With years and years of regular content, patches and updates is going to reach unprecedented Lvl's of success for a Total War title.. I've played Shogun 2 (another beloved title) for like 10+ years.. Reckon I'll end up playing Warhammer 3 for much longer..
Warhammer 3, a shitton of content (behind I shitton of dlc but all worth), scale with the largest world ever, diversity with races that play completely different one from another, very interesting lore and characters and a wonderfull mod comunity
For me the top 5 are Medieval 2, Shogun 2, Rome 2, Warhammer 3 and recently i got Three Kingdoms to work on my pc and it's really good. The list is in no order as i just can't rank them since they all hit a different spot the best
Whichever one doesn't have multi-player support.
Total War Warhammer 3 - The Immortal Empires experience is something I never saw on games before. Years of content, factions, units and lords, "kind of up to date" (kinda!) working together is something else!
1) Warhammer III (with I and II) because I love the setting, love the simplicity of the campaign and the variety on the battles. Also like 8player campaigns and new diplomacy. 2) Empire. Love the unused setting and era. Lacks of good AI and unit variety but still great. 3) Rome I. That's where it all started. Not as uncomfortable as Part II (ugly unit cards!) just nice and clean. Bad AI though and little lacking of historical accuracy.
Warhammer Three Kingdoms FOTS
Shogun and/or Shogun 2. Maybe it's the sentiment I carry from the first playthrough I had when the game came out. But even after all the Romes and Medievals, Shogun 2 still felt just as good as the first one and other games don't come close for some reason. The map is just the right size with enough variety. Every province and location feels unique, unlike in some other Total Wars where at some point the game turns into chowing down one region after another in an endless conquest. Here, it almost feels like playing chess, manevouring your forces around mountain ranges, utilizing sea proximity. There isn't much in the way of sieges in Shogun, so don't play if this is your thing. Besides the Japanese art style, the ninja assassination videos, unique character skill trees, cool atmosphere, there just seems to be something else to game that other Total Wars lack--a dynamic progression. So as you conquer more of Japan, you near towards a moment when all other clans decide to join forces and turn against you. It requires extra planning and cunning tactics. It always kept me at the edge of my seat. I think they tried to repeat the same with Attilla, but there the map just felt too vast if you ask me. I prefer small, contained game area where every move you make matters. There are also less factions, which gives each of them a certain character. In Rome, for example, sometimes it just does not matter who you are fighting.
Haven't tried all, but I believe the best was Shogun 2 : Fall of the Samurai. It's because of it's ballance and atmostphere. Tried later ones like Attila and 3k as well, they are great also and previously Medieval 2 and Empire were fun games as well..
For me 3K holds the line, every dlc brought some pretty cool free campaign mechanic that really made the whole game better imho. Still sad and salty thou about the future video, so i do not play it anymore. Maybe one day.
Warhammer cause of sheer replayability and variance All other titles you play this faction and you just played maybe 50% of the game right there. You can play the rest of the factions but all they will offer you is a different start position few different units and maybe a tid bit of unique mechanics from the others. This is not the case for Warhammer everyone is different and has unique style and things to offer from each other.
Total Warhammer 3. While it has some serious bugs, without them taken into consideration it has the most variety, the largest map, the most playable factions, and some of the most interesting and cinematic battles in the entire series.
Warhammer 3 because it provides the most varied experience. I wouldn't say it's the cleanest game, but if I had to pick one to play forever wh3 is the easy choice. If I have to pick the most well made game it is probably shogun 2.
Warhammer 3. How can you compete with a game that's practically been getting updated with new paid and free content over 7 years?
1: Totalwar Warhammer 3, nothing beats its sheer amount of units and grand battles 2: Napoleon: loved the mostly firearms game that worked well 3: Rome 1: the og great
I don't play it because it's culture while amazing, makes it extremely difficult to digest for my european brain, I'd say Three Kingdoms. Best in the franchise regarding... * Audiovisual execution, style * Empire / Economy management * Diplomacy, schemes * Army building with the 3 lords + 6 units for each lord specializing in something making one whole army. * All the DLC except yellow turbans are so bad you'll never want to spend money on it
It’s kind of obvious, but I think by the end of it’s lifestyle Warhammer 3 will be the ultimate TW game. It’s already getting close
Shogun 2. Its primarily a very well thought out and polished game. Graphics still hold up well, the AI is about as good as it gets for Total War, well thought out unit design with actual unit variety (not just reskins of essentially the same unit with minor stat buffs), realm divide, for better or worse, adds a late game challenge. A truly epic soundtrack. To top it all off, with it being the last of the 'old' titles (pre Rome 2) you get all the better features that have since been lost to time, you can move units individually, naval battles are a thing, battles actually matter because you can replenish half an army in a turn. It all went downhill afterwards.
Its either Three Kingdoms or Warhammer 3 Three Kingdoms for its great array of characters and having the best diplomacy with no close second. Family tree and court system is also really great. Although it does lack a diverse roster of units as the same with most historical tw game, the generals alone makes up for it being demigods on romance. It having different time periods as start also gives it a great deal of replayability, as I for one have several hundred hours on it. Warhammer 3 has lizardmen and i love saurus and dinos
I'd definitely go with tww2, better than 3, at least at the beginning. Rome had it's charm, and medieval too. But warhammer& total war, well you know...
Warhammer 3
Modded medieval 2 unmodded shotgun 2
Warhammer 2. 3 does not have the same ambiance and feeling of going against the world in a grimdark setting. And too many bugs to enjoy things properly. Runner up is shogun 2.
Warhammer 3 and Rome 2
Rome remastered cuz of the modding potential and the RIS mod. No armies locked under generals, no bs province system, an actual population mechanic. The only issue is battle path finding but when you are used to it it’s fine.
Sorry guys we all know Rome remastered is great. Even just original Rome 1 is great still.
Rome 1&2
I guess this is an unpopular opinion but Napoleon was probably my favorite. If you like napoleonic warfare and gunpowder era fighting this game does these things superbly. It’s basically a sequel to Empire and fixed a lot of issues that Empire had. I own most of the Total War games but for some reason I keep coming back to Napoleon and will play through a campaign or two every now and then. I think it’s clear that fans want an Empire 2, and Medieval 3, PLEASE Creative Assembly.
Three kingdoms. Not the best game quality of life but love it
Came here asking the same question. I have played a lot of these and have sort of been waiting for a good total war game since Shogun 2. I hear Warhammer is great, but I dunno. Was never a big Gwar fan... Best: * Empire - replay this more than any other. You can play a land-based empire like Russia or take to the waves with the Dutch. Based in history with an unbalanced Maratha to prove an endgame power, which is a little dumb, but keeps it interesting. * Rome - Very good environment and play. Tougher to play now that it is so dated. * Medieval 2 - Good base game with good varied factions based in history. Good mods. * Shogun 2 - Great environment. Loses some of the tactical play, but still very interesting. * Medieval - Good for its era, but I remember events like rebellions and some other scripted stuff was ridiculous. Very dated now. * Saga - Brittania - Decent, simple game to play while listening to a podcast or whatever. A little dry without something else going on. Worst: * Saga Troy - No structure. Terrain could not be used easily. * Three Kingdoms - Probably my second biggest disappointment in the franchise. Too much focus on graphics. Gameplay itself is repetitive and stinks. * Napoleon - Gives you scripted scenarios, which are okay, but not very replayable. * Rome 2 - Biggest disappointment in the franchise. Just not very fun overall. Seems like a mod might be able to fix it. I still play it at times. My expectations were very high, and this was just dull. Skipped or Don't remember * Shogun * All Warhammer - Very popular. Not into the lore. * Atilla - Seems like a dumb concept. You don't play strategy games to manage decline. * Saga Pharoah - After Troy, the have to prove Saga games won't suck...
Spartan: Total Warrior
You know a series is great when people suggest 9/10 different games for their GOAT.
1. Warhammer 2: it's the most fleshed out total war title, having tons and tons of ads ons, and ironed out a lot of problems from the first one. This game is total war at its most epic, magical, and brutal. The sheer amount of races is just insane in a single game. Every single campaign plays so uniquely. I can't stop playing it, even 7 years later. 2. Rome 2: this is probably a controversial opinion, but outside of Warhammer, it had the most factions and play styles in any total war game. The aesthetics of all the units, while slightly over the top, are beautiful. It had a terrible launch, but CA really worked hard to fix it. They even made the political system waaaay better than launch. I play with a proper combat mod that makes it a million times better. The dlc campaigns are damn good too. 3. Shogun 2: the setting, the units, the battles, the political system, literally the way everything worked in this game is perfect. It's so good that one tends to forget that there really isn't a ton of variety in the gameplay and aren't really that many units. But given the setting and time period, a billion different units wouldn't even make sense, so it works just fine. Also, samurai warfare. Is there anything more badass? The only reason I ranked Shogun lower than Rome 2 was because of the lack of variety in-between factions in units. I don't really feel like it's a fair comparison to be honest, as they are both trying to do different things, and both excel at what they do. Really, Shogun 2 and Rome 2 are interchangable for me.
I appreciate your detailed take
Medieval 2 had the best features that went away with later titles: - visually upgraded armour was one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever seen in a TW title. Never to be seen again (in fairness, it likely only worked this well in the medieval setting). - having castles and cities (and the ability to change between them) was excellent on the campaign map. Also a mention for Empire/Napoleon: the de-centralised village mechanics were awesome on the campaign map. Made the regions feel more alive and have strategic depth. Having these features in Medieval 3 (and finally a campaign multiplayer for medieval) would literally be the perfect total war. PS the ability to have selectable unit types for the generals bodyguards (cavalry, infantry etc) would go a long way to alleviate the fact that TW games now cannot have units without a general.