Recent reviews by Caesar

Having been waiting for a historical Total War title for a while, I was happy to see the Three Kingdoms period.

This game introduces some new features, revises some old and tries to glue the TW playerbase, which has been somewhat split since TW: Warhammer by giving players the option to both play with 'heroes' who can take on whole (or multiple) units on their own, or the more classic 'general with bodyguards'.

So first, the pros:
+ Recruited units take time to completely form into complete units. I know this was introduced in the (generally disliked) Thrones of Brittania, but I like that they kept that going. Nothing is as frustating as defeating a huge army and having to face another one before your units have even recovered.
+ The visuals. I mean this is the best looking tw ever. The map gives great detail and makes it a whole lot more immersive.
+ The retinue system. When playing in de romance version of the game, the retinue system is a great way to make internal politics and other characters feel like a great addition to the game, as well as the 'special' units certain kinds of champions can recruit.
+ More variation in villages. This makes fighting in different villages fell at least a bit more refreshing. Since the newly introduced fog of war can make seeing and incoming army a bit hard, you'll be fight a lot of battle like these. So it's nice they're made maps that respresent the building that is in said port/mine/farm etc.

There are also some thing that are in this game that are... I'll say devisive. Things that may differ by taste and by playstyle.
+ The different 'currencies' some factions have. This can be a fun way to make playthroughs of different factions somewhat refreshing, as it might force you to play differently. That being said; Playing as a small faction, which can be hard enough even without these things, it can sometimes feel like you're playing the game with one hand behind your back. It also limits the way you can play the game the way you want it.
+ Diplomacy. The game tries to put a greater effort into diplomacy than earlier TW titles, by making certain decisions only unlockable in a later stage and having factions go further than just trade, alliance or war. However, if you dont like this way of playing and just want to fight ♥♥♥♥. Well though ♥♥♥♥, because you're gonna be looking at the diplomacy screen a lot. The AI can still do weird ♥♥♥♥, like declare war while they're halfway across the map, only to go by river and suddenly show up with 3 full stacks. Personally; if I liked diplomacy that much, I'd go and play Europa Universalis or Chrusader Kings.
+ Events. The game gives you 'random' events that can influence your campaign in a number of ways; you can gain court nobles, generals, ancilleries, friendships and rivalries between court nobles or generals etc. These can be fun, but the ones where you have to choose can feel meaningless. Gaining a character because 'my faction leader liked his fighting style' isnt fun when I HAVE to pay him a salary and have no use for him/her.


Now for the cons:
- For a game that's supposed to be a historical title it gives very little actual variation in units and playstyles. You're fighting vs a 'bandit queen'? Have fun fighting the exact same units as you would vs Cao Cao, but now with a different name.
- Great map doesnt translate into great battlemaps. While the campaignmap is beautiful and detailed; the battlemaps are a bit different.... While they're equally beautiful, things like rivers and mountains become little streams and hills on the battlemap. Tought you manouvered your army geniously to force the enemy into a rivercrossing battle? Nope, its more like someone left the gardenhose open too long. Infantry might walk a little slower, but since half of every army is spear units, it's not like you'll be able to take advantage with cavalry.
- Too focused on the Romance version. While it is a great idea to have the two options, the game i obviously centered around the Romance version. Certain game mechanics feel out of place or are way to strong/weak in the record version.
- Battles last very short. This is great when you only want to see cool duels, not so much if you want strategy to count. Sometimes the best way to win a battle is just Cntrl+A and attack. Wait 2 min and you've won this siege... Yay!
- Bugs. I have to say it. A year after release the game still has some bugs. You're playing records? here's a general on his own like you're playing Romance... It luckily not as bad as some other games nowadays, but I believe it had to be said.


There are way more thing I could put in both the cons and pros of this game, but generally, I think they did a good job of reintroducing TW to historical titles. That being said; I personally wouldnt buy the game, knowing what i know now. The game can be frustating to play, as it can feel like playing a normal TW game but it's rigged against you. I've played lots of TW games in legendary difficulty, but never have I felt like the AI had it in for me like in this game. I mean, at war with every faction you know of on turn 6? A nice challenge once you know the game, not a great way to get introduced to a game.

As someone who is a fervent fan of everything roman and strategy, this game seemed to be the perfect combination for me. I've played EU4 and Crusader Kings II in the past, as well as many Total war series, so i knew what to expect, and what to hope for.
At first I was pleasantly suprised to see details in map lay-out and other charateristics you're used to in Paradox games, ones i always found annoying or lacking in the Total war series (like arbitrary regions, and punishing for not controlling the entirety of them, and the few actual cities you can control). But the longer I've played this game, the more i become dissapointed. There's none of the empire building that makes EU4 so great, none of the family (or maybe party) building of CK2, and none of the things that makes a roman republic stand out from others like the athenian or cartheginian. Nor do any of the unit templates, which is in my eyes the gravest mistake to make in a game like this.

Lastly, for those still willing to play it despite these lacking features (or maybe banking on them getting fixed with patches, DLC's or mods) I haven't even started about the bugs that prevent you from claiming any provinces after a war (which is quite frustating, as you can imagine.

There's a lot of work yet to be done on this game, and until the most important facets are fixed, I wouldn't buy it. Not because it's not enjoyable, but because it's not what it could be.

My advice: Wait.