So coming back after posting my initial review which was about 50 hours game time, and now I've got a couple notches on my belt and a lot new releases of total war, I can say without a doubt this game is probably one of the best I've ever had the chance to play.
Total War Shogun 2 is an outstanding game that doesn't clobber you with the min maxing of the towns as the other games do, it's simple precise and forgiving if you mess up. Research isn't a real big hassle at all, it's also simple two trees, one is for fighting and the other is for civil upgrades and agent abilities, basically building passives and money. The game play is what you would expect in a total war game not going to go too much into it, but the units themselves are excellent. The variety isn't as intense as the other games though like Warhammer, but it gives you enough to play around with, including the special clan units and especially when you play Fall of the Samurai. Boat combat is technically simple, either burn the ships, board the ships, or kill all the people, it gets more fun in Fall though as you get cannon ships and torpedo ships.Trading is really a small trade boost, but grading the rare ports are usually a MUST for the money they rake in. Including Mods they usually make the game way more fun, as do mods do. Some mods may fix niches and make the game more challenging as the game itself can be a little easy.
Overall coming back to this game made me reevaluate how well this game was. It had great content and great game play and still can hold up when compared to some of the newer total wars. It's a game that I can play endlessly time and time again as I had done so without the feeling of boredom or unfairness as other games.
(12/10) A timeless masterpiece

So coming back after posting my initial review which was about 50 hours game time, and now I've got a couple notches on my belt and a lot new releases of total war, I can say without a doubt this game is probably one of the best I've ever had the chance to play. Total War Shogun 2 is an outstanding game that doesn't clobber you with the min maxing of the towns as the other games do, it's simple precise and forgiving if you mess up. Research isn't a real big hassle at all, it's also simple two trees, one is for fighting and the other is for civil upgrades and agent abilities, basically building passives and money. The game play is what you would expect in a total war game not going to go too much into it, but the units themselves are excellent. The variety isn't as intense as the other games though like Warhammer, but it gives you enough to play around with, including the special clan units and especially when you play Fall of the Samurai. Boat combat is technically simple, either burn the ships, board the ships, or kill all the people, it gets more fun in Fall though as you get cannon ships and torpedo ships.Trading is really a small trade boost, but grading the rare ports are usually a MUST for the money they rake in. Including Mods they usually make the game way more fun, as do mods do. Some mods may fix niches and make the game more challenging as the game itself can be a little easy. Overall coming back to this game made me reevaluate how well this game was. It had great content and great game play and still can hold up when compared to some of the newer total wars. It's a game that I can play endlessly time and time again as I had done so without the feeling of boredom or unfairness as other games. (12/10) A timeless masterpiece