Honestly an astoundingly great game, and I've yet to try every faction, but the majority by far have a joy to play. Though the only other total war game I've played was the first rome total war, from what I've heard this is probably the best the series has to offer currently. The campaigns are quite unique and each is quite interesting. The game doesn't force you (as far as I know) to do the story quests, but rewards are well worth it and often go hand in hand with the play-style of your faction which some lords have significant changes to for their unique campaigns. The units are interesting I even occasionally lose focus in fights just zooming in on the carnage, the presentation is among the best I've seen.

My main problem with the game is probably the AI, they aren't really smart, but seem to be focused on making the game as tedious as possible for me. They let me take their territory with minor resistance then bring some death-stack armies that only target non-garrisoned settlements or weaker armies, and when I do defend all bordering settlements hey run around trespassing against other factions with no real repercussions before popping up on the other side of my nation even if they have to sail around the whole thing. Sieges are very repetitive with flying units and certain massive creatures usually being the best way to mix things up. Unless it looks like it will actually be a cool battle or I am low on time, I prefer to starve out the garrison until I can auto resolve without many casualties.

Overall, I am enamored with this game, though it pisses me off at times I can't bring myself to stop playing it. People seem to have a problem with the dlc policy but most of it isn't necessary and there is usually free stuff that comes along with updates. Other than that, the price may scare people off for all of the content, but I do think it is definitely worth it with how much time you'll get out of this game.

Honestly an astoundingly great game, and I've yet to try every faction, but the majority by far have a joy to play. Though the only other total war game I've played was the first rome total war, from what I've heard this is probably the best the series has to offer currently. The campaigns are quite unique and each is quite interesting. The game doesn't force you (as far as I know) to do the story quests, but rewards are well worth it and often go hand in hand with the play-style of your faction which some lords have significant changes to for their unique campaigns. The units are interesting I even occasionally lose focus in fights just zooming in on the carnage, the presentation is among the best I've seen. My main problem with the game is probably the AI, they aren't really smart, but seem to be focused on making the game as tedious as possible for me. They let me take their territory with minor resistance then bring some death-stack armies that only target non-garrisoned settlements or weaker armies, and when I do defend all bordering settlements hey run around trespassing against other factions with no real repercussions before popping up on the other side of my nation even if they have to sail around the whole thing. Sieges are very repetitive with flying units and certain massive creatures usually being the best way to mix things up. Unless it looks like it will actually be a cool battle or I am low on time, I prefer to starve out the garrison until I can auto resolve without many casualties. Overall, I am enamored with this game, though it pisses me off at times I can't bring myself to stop playing it. People seem to have a problem with the dlc policy but most of it isn't necessary and there is usually free stuff that comes along with updates. Other than that, the price may scare people off for all of the content, but I do think it is definitely worth it with how much time you'll get out of this game.