I am in absolute awe, that a 20 year old game is better than every other preceding instalment in the franchise.

I first played this game 15 years ago, and picked up the remastered copy just 3 days ago.
I am going to list all of the insane / awesome mechanics in RTR, and explain why they rain superior to every other Total War Game (A joke? No i couldnt believe it either, this is absolutely ridiculous how Alpha this game is, difficulty is no joke and battles are hard core)

*** I am playing ROME EXPANDED Mod, and there is nothing quiet like it!!

MUST PLAY MOD: ROME EXPANDED (Makes the other mods look like absolute Rats ♥♥♥♥)
(Glory of Rome Mod was absolutely amazing, but I became suspicious when I noticed AI Armies standing still outside settlements after about 8 turns; I checked the faction charts to see what was going on and I feel like that mod is bugged.)

Rome Expanded is just gnarly, every faction if you are near Rome feels like what it SHOULD feel like being near Rome;
They just are so over powered and will rush and cleanse the Barbarians from northern Italy; the challenge is utterly amazing.
Being rushed on turn 1 as Illyrian Pirate Faction, or playing one of the Leagues of Greece and being invaded by Brutti Rome on turn 2; this is what Total War should be about. I've never had so much fun on a total war game;
More about the Mod Rome Expanded;

-- Population is a huge issue as Barbarians, it makes the game hardcore. Whereas technology comes purely from buildings, so you must buff your population to unlock units. Everything comes down to the race of upgrading your town centre to the next level to get better units.

-- There is an absolute PERFECT balance of More factions (not as crazy as these other mods) where the Dev has introduced heaps of new factions, and the map is massive, with all of these AI moving around the map like crazy it feels like an actual 264 BC Game, the first I've ever played.

NOW TO THE ACTUAL CLIENT PRODUCT ROME TOTAL WAR REMASTERED:

-- This is the best Total War game (with the above mod) of the entire franchise. It makes everything else look like dogs breakfast, here's why;

-- FACTION CHARACTERS HAVE INFLUENCE AS A STAT, THIS AFFECTS THEIR RETINUE SIZE!!!!!!!!!!!! I MEAN HOW EPIC IS THAT!!! Curse this company for ever taking away a mechanic like that (e.g a younger general, a new blood has about 61 cavalry, my faction leader might have 110 in his gaurd) XDDD
-- Dont need a bloody general to friggen move around armies!!! I mean who ever thought of putting that in! worst decision ever!
-- This is by far the best graphics (im not joking, it is absolutely sharp as hell)
-- This is by far the most insane cavalry mechanics (cavalry literally jump over allies and enemies, they charge and you feel it. Also your generals get absolutely randomly nailed; very symbolic of the age of having little armour on horse and fighter. It just feels so brutal and raw)
-- You can build watchtowers, which Total War should NEVER have gotten rid of (The AI Use this as if they are a player, Im up at the swiss alps as one of the local tribes, and its just an 8 front stand off with tribes everywhere in the snow with watchtowers)
-- The family tree system is beyond immersive / traits / character / than any total war game
-- The building management system is just dam addictive and is the main gateway to the game (no research, micro, realism, sim)
-- There is a culture system / religion system
-- The battles are now the biggest unit size basically in any total war game (300 units for Barbarians, 250 for Thracians in a unit, this is in vanilla, on extreme settings ---> I mean combined with the mechanics of the battles (see below) and the best mod (see above) this is just insane
-- The battles are absolutely sharp and brutal; projectiles HIT, lines hold, you hear the clutter of armour on sword and fights are brutal, quick, and ruthless. Units have realistic hp and go down quick. Cavalry is epic but also gets smashed easy.

-- The AI on the campaign is the best AI ive ever seen in any total war game (I dont know if its just this mod, but its legit insane. Rome systematically wiping out the Estrucians, Samarians, Venusians, and then stopping and building up diplo, while julii sends expeditions to help bruitii in Greece - this ♥♥♥♥ feels alive.)

-- I havent even played as Rome faction yet, loving this insane underdog play of the Barbarian Tribe in the Alps, war of the strongest, the alpha tribes, with really undercapped technology (spamming 300 size units of Warband Spears (blue paint, war cry ability / peasants / general cavalry -- > this is early game and it lasts 50 turns or so)

-- This ♥♥♥♥ is not for the weak, feint of heart, or people who want to win games.

-- Attrition (same as medieval total war 2) is amazing, whearas in the recent TW games, your guys just automatically Replenish which is just gross. In this, expect to see units constantly damaged on the field, stumbling accross an ai army with 192, 93, 204, 304, 98 , 120 men that have seen some action and have yet to make it back to a settlemen to retrain. There is never going to be clean 300 300 300 300 stacks on call in this, this is real total war. You must methodically send your troops back to the town that supports that individual troop type of recruitment to spend money to retrain them AND it takes it from your actual population.

- Ambush system is amazing

- Character portaits (as I said above) traits, breeding, family tree UI just flawless.

-- Unit roster very limited and realistic of the times. Hardcore vanilla tribe vs tribe combat. To see who is the alpha tribe who can last till next tech.

-- Finally, 6,000 vs 5,500 men battles on vanilla with 1 army, combat hack and slash, cavalry jumping over front lines and smashing right into men, demoralizing their batallion

- The best graphics ive ever seen in a strategy game even in 2024 on 1920 x 1080

This ♥♥♥♥ is 10/10

And its utterly, filthily, sacralidge disgusting how watered down and woke this franchise got. The difficulty level in this game right now is Knee and Knuckle scratching, Im scraping tributes for alliances just to get by to defend my lands and constantly spamming spear in LITERAL FEAR of Julii coming up. I will be ready for them. And we will fight the SPQR for our villages.

Seriously this is Rome Total War 3. 20 hours in 2 days I am going back in.
MOD: Rome Expanded