The increased scope in time also gives Medieval the advantage of illustrating the evolution of warfare during the Middle Ages in several stages, giving the game a greater sense of evolution and historical progression. Using an updated engine, Medieval refines and builds upon Shogun’s successes by adding siege battles and representing a greater variety of cultures and political actors. Medieval follows in Shogun’s footsteps, but shifts the setting to Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Nonetheless, Shogun has the bones that would lead to Total War’s rock solid foundation.ġ3.

They are undoubtedly vital to its very existence, but compared to where the franchise is now, they are more of a novelty that has better relevance in discussion rather than in gameplay.

However, I almost don’t want to put this game on the list as Shogun and its successor are what I would classify as historical artifacts of the Total War series. The compelling historical setting only served to ground the series and explore a less represented time and culture in military history, setting itself apart from many other strategy games, historical or otherwise. It was further enhanced by the Mongol Invasion expansion a year later, which added a new culture to the mix, pitting hordes of horsemen against the budding Samurai class and their retainers. The turn-based strategic layer gave context and an overarching goal to the player’s unification of Japan. Shogun, released in 2000, was a first of its kind unique take on real-time strategy games with formations of units taking center stage in battles rather than single entity command a la Age of Empires or Starcraft. Yet, amidst Troy’s safe mediocrity (even compared to its Thrones of Brittania predecessor) and scant innovation, the franchise’s core remains and helps prop the game up. Worst of all, Troy’s tactical battles, which the series built itself on, are unfortunately its weakest aspect. There are certainly interesting ideas present in the game, such as the multiple resource cash system, resource limits, and weapon mode switching, but their implementation and impact leaves much to be desired. The first game on the list, Troy, is one of the safest Total War games and as a result is one of the most disappointing games in the Total War series.įollowing Three Kingdoms’ example with the interesting and legendary Homeric Trojan War taking center stage as the game’s setting, it ends up feeling like a chopped up, compartmentalized, and lighter fantasy version of the more successful Warhammer sub-series (not surprising since it uses the same engine), albeit with a stunning and colorful presentation of the tail end of the Bronze Age. Total War Saga: Troy A Total War Saga Troy

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