Total War: SHOGUN 2

It's such an awesome experience. If you include mods, there's almost infinite playtime in this game.

I played this game a bit some time ago and then it stopped working. It would crash on start, it would hang up on install. Finaly, I got it reinstalled after removing it completely form my PC. Now that it starts up, all the options to play a single player campaign are grayed out and I can find practically nothing online that will help me fix this. The same advice always comes up. Verify the files. Reinstall the game. Delete specific folders in specific places in the game files. Nothing works. It seems to be a very common problem as I can find people all over with it, but nothing they suggest has fixed in on my PC. Incredibly frustrating. I think I will give up and delete it for good this time.

This is a good game from the series, decent game play on macbook air m1 also. if you are fond about the feudal Japan this would be great game to play.

its easy to pickup and learn and also alot of fun to play different faction

it pretty cool but gets boring after a while i love the minute details but there just isnt enough there too call it a full game

Total War: Shogun 2 masterfully immerses you in feudal Japan with its spectacular artwork, spanning from stunning GUI, building, character, and unit cards, to detailed armor sets. At its core, the game is an epic of empire building, where every strategic decision is weighed to push your clan towards dominance. The combat is smooth and responsive, driven by an uncountable number of diverse units with varied roles, experience levels, and sizes; all contributing to truly engaging tactical battles. Nothing beats the thrill of watching your dwindling forces bravely fending off enemies in an epic, last-man-standing battle. Banzai!!!

I've played a lot of Total War but missed this one. I played it for the first time 10+ years after release and it's still aged very well and was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the multiplayer ran like garbage and me and my friend couldn't make it through a campaign without constant crashes and disconnects.

Have played this game over and over since lunch, and still a great game one of the best total war games ever, a must play for any fan

Shogun 2 is an amazing game and, despite being over 10 years old, it arguably ranks as one of the best titles within the Total War franchise.

The game comes with 3 campaigns: Shogun 2; Rise of the Samurai; and Fall of the Samurai (essentially a standalone version of the game). The game offers many well-implemented features that have been traditionally found in the franchise: agents; building and settlement specialization; general traits and loyalty; culture/religion. Additionally, the game offers naval combat with an interesting mix of cannon and arrow tactics.

The campaigns themselves are fun and relatively quick; most campaigns can be resolved within 100-200 turns, or sooner if played optimally. The campaign map allows for a variety of strategies; players can use agents & culture/religion to usurp enemy held territory or distract and wear down enemy armies.

The tactical battles are fun, albeit somewhat fast-paced compared to other Total war games. The game's meta relies heavily on unit counters; ensuring the right match-up for opposing units is essential to a successful battle. The combat is heavily influenced by tactics; morale shocks, terrain advantages, unit abilities, general sniping and flanking/rear attacks all have a decisive impact on the flow of combat. With the right tactics, weaker units are able to overcome and defeat units with stronger stats. The game offers a refreshing and intuitive take on combat this I've found to be lacking in more modern Total War games where unit stats are the primary determinant of battle outcome.

The battle & campaign AI is decent. While the AI is somewhat predictable, it does seem to employ more aggressive, though somewhat blunt, tactics at higher difficultly levels; the stat boosts/cheats that are so prevalent in Total War games are a lot less obvious in this game. This means that players can actually fight the AI at higher difficulty levels and not feel that his/her units are at a severe disadvantage from a huge stats disparity.

The game is well optimized and runs very smoothly for +10 year old game. In the +130 hours of gameplay under my belt, I've yet to have one crash.

The graphics, visual art and music is very thematic and immersive. While the game does not compare graphically to newer Total War games, it still does have a very beautiful presentation that holds up well in the current day.

Overall, I absolutely love this game. I would highly recommend that anyone considering entry into the Total War franchise start with this game before progressing to newer titles.

最高の戦国ゲームだけど……正直、もっと「ブチギレ侍」が見たかった！

戦も外交も面白いし、グラフィックも明瞭！（また使った）でも、敵に城を取られた時に「バカヤロー」とか、もうちょい侍がキレてもいいんじゃない？
リアルな戦国時代なら、絶対もっと悪い言葉言ってたでしょ？（笑）

The last Creative Arts game before the "change."

It takes you through a lot of different time periods with the DLC, and the it has some very good siege mechanics. In fact this is pretty much the last game where the AI will even attack a settlement with a garrison, and you don't have to just auto-resolve the dozens of same/same minor settlement battles.

Basically what I am saying is if you haven't played this game play it, if you played the newer stuff and saw past the graphics and needed more substance than this and Napolean are basically the end of the series.

Fall Of The Samurai is probably the best gunpowder Total War game. A fun mix of different types of units. However, tech takes too long to research and you'll have won the game before you get to use really cool units.

One of the best Total Wars ever made. Very difficult in-comparison to later titles. Faction/unit variety feels lacking at first glance but the differences become very apparent after you boot up your first campaign. Has its flaws but its pros heavily outweigh them. Anything you don't like can be easily tweaked by mods. If you buy the base game it's worth grabbing the Fall of the Samurai DLC, although it's labeled a "Saga" it's well made and just as fleshed out as base game campaign.

Even though it's completely abandoned by the devs, and quite old at this point, this is, in my opinion, the best Total War of all time in terms of battles

THE best Total War game hands down. This is also my favorite strategy game. Its a lot more simple and enjoyable than the other TW games IMO. Highly highly recommend this game!

I’ve had a blast with this one! The strategy is intense, and the battles are epic. It can be tough to master, but once you get the hang of it, it’s incredibly rewarding.

It is a great game but I experienced a bug where I couldn't play the game anymore, I tried de-installing and re-installing but nothing worked out. I could only experience 9 hours because of that. I still don't know how to get the game to work :(

I've never been any good at TW, but of my collection, Shogun 2 is my favorite. They hit the mark, even ten years later.

been playing for about a day and its amazing tried downloading total war empire and it wouldnt launch deffinetly dont regret getting shogun2 tho this game is amazing

It's the Skyrim of strat games. Endless replay value, if you have mods. 10/10, would unfiy Japan again.

Coming from Warhammer 3 this is a big shake-up. DO NOT TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS OR YOU WILL GET WIPED!!! After learning the mechanics I can say it is a nice change of pace. I am in a normal campaign and it devolves into me shooting at units inside of their strongholds and diplomacy is a joke. I need to do a harder campaign difficulty to hopefully get the full effect. Get it on sale and it's not money wasted.

Coming back to this after some more time and it just doesn't have the staying power and diversity of Warhammer 3. Every faction is just bow and yari ashigaru spam until you win. It would be nice if each clan had their own unit roster but the only difference is which units get buffed.

Amazing game, easily top 3 best Total War games. The melee mechanics are great, same with arrows, I love the one hit kill system compared to health based total war titles, and the gun-play is the best, I would expect the gun-play to be good, just because an entire DLC is about it. Speaking of DLC, this game has 2, one is amazing, the other is garbage. Fall of the Samurai is based in the Boshin War, so you're using muskets and actual cannons. Steamships are hella cool. Worth every penny(on sale of course, even off sale I would say it's worth it, however I would wait for it to be on sale for money saving). Rise of the samurai however, not worth it. I would get it, however don't expect super complex combat, it's just foot samurai and naginata attendants that you would use. The base game is great though, sure Yari Ashigaru are the main unit, however there is still tons of variety in it, I would get the game if you want a good RTS game, Even if you aren't interested in Japanese history(like me), this game is still recommended. Get it, 10/10 game.

probably the first and the last total war game u'll ever need. Tho the political and management aspect is pretty lukewarm.

All campaigns are greyed out, I have tried various internet fixes and workarounds and it still doesn't work - I see many other users with the same issues. Pathetic. (Yes I tried running it as a non-administrator, reinstalling, and deleting the appdata folder).

Possibly one of the greatest RTS games ever made. They really don't make em like they used to.

Great campaign strategy game. Lots of replayability. Art and overall syle is excellent.

The tootle-dootle-doo music when you win a battle is actually government-made ear crack. Please help; it's been days since my family saw me

It's somehow very simple and very engaging. Wide instead of tall is how critics might describe it...

Keeping this short and sweet: Crusader Kings, any of them, would be better than getting any of the Total War games. It just doesn't have the depth that I'd expect for games of its type. Crusader Kings fills every niche of the genre where Total War manages to miss the mark in almost every way excluding open battles.

I mean, it looks really cool when you watch someone else play. Almost certainly, I was fooled by all of the cool Youtube videos that initially inspired my interest in the Total War series. It's actually better that way, though, watching someone else make the game interesting as opposed to spending my own money to try to contrive some fun out of it.

The real nail in the coffin for me was massive enemy armies spawning inside my territory with no warning, and no war occurring prior. One second I'm at peace, thriving, and the next there are three enemy armies with unrealistic numbers and boosts spawned right on top of my cities.

Where'd they come from, how'd they get there so fast, why are they so much more advanced than me, how do they have so many more troops when their cities are struggling economically, why are all of their generals a minimum of tier three when no one has been fighting?

This just isn't the kind of game I can get into. Heck, even if it's my fault for not paying attention I'd rather play a game that has its mechanics more clearly and readily accessible for my understanding. Definitely refunding and will stick to watching Youtube videos.

Best 4X game there is, beside the Samurai era is really fascinating.

Great game. I am a huge fan of feudal japan though, so i possibly am a little bias. I have played Medieval 1 and 2, Rome 2, Shogun 2 and Shogun 2 is by far my favorite. Game was fairly easy to learn. Huge time gap between Medieval 2 and Shogun 2. Still picked it up easily though. Some factions are extremely easy which i recall in medieval as well. Same as in medieval when realm divide hits it really hits hard. I noticed in Shogun 2 though, you could buy your allies for a bit to stave off total war.

best total war game to date. probably have another 500h on a torrent i ripped when it first came out.

Game crashes constantly and is extremely frustrating when you fight a 20-40 minute battle only for the game to crash after the battles completion!!! Gameplay is fun but there is a lack of re-playability with all the cultures and troops being the same. The Rise of the samurai is a bit boring as the tech and units are so primitive. The shogun 2 campaign is fun. I was not the biggest fan of Fall of the Samurai as its a little too modern for my taste but I can tell it has A LOT to offer. Diplomacy is excellent across the board. I would give it a 3.5/5 rating, but with the constant crashes its a 2/5. Pretty ridiculous that a game that came out 14 years ago still has crashing issues. I play MTW2 without crash issues and I have a brand new computer that can handle the game so I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm playing on the Mac OS version of the game so I have limited options for mods but I'm sure they can make a MASSIVE difference to gameplay.

The game is good but you need the DLC for fun. Don't buy the single game.

Got me feeling like a top general on an hourly basis, units inspired left and right especially if i take it there on the battlefield, really about it.

Fun and pretty simple, economy is very simple but learning tactics and stuff takes a bit, i'm still not great at it. Guns are fun to use so are cannons especially when your enemies still have cavemen technology, graphics are pretty good considering when it was made, still a good game now def has some stuff that its not that great in though, sometimes troops just ignore orders or just go a completely different direction then demanded to. overall like 8.7/10

Shitass game solely due to the fact that whenever you try to fight an army, (even if the strength is comparable to your own), they run away. And in my case 9 times out of 10 that will be right into my undefended settlement; which I won't be able to catch up to till 2 turns ahead. By that point I have to face a full stack atop my castle. Totally frustrating and makes the game unbearable. Most likely a mod for that exact reason but I haven't looked into it.

This game is amazing, one of my favourite total war games

The campaign is simple and straight forward

The battles are quick-paced, and feels fair, the use of tactics is rewarded, and even on legendary difficulties, the AI armies can still be beat if you know how to use your units

Playable in pc, much better than etw and its ntw, junky lovers of them will never change to suck in them :))))))))))))))))))))))

This game is an absolute must try for any strategy game enthusiast. I must admit that 95% of my game time has been spent in FOTS, but all of the modes including avatar mode are worth investing some time into. The game masters the art of chaotic, fast-paced gameplay that rewards learning the mechanics and pushing some systems to the edge to gain an unfair advantage of sorts when you can (think Ishin-Shishi conversions).

I say balanced because the game is absolutely brutal with diplomatic trust, requiring you to rely on skill to win multiple engagements while also outnumbered 4:1 by Obama's army printing machine. At times I spent half my income on diplomatic alliance tributes to ensure I had a one-front war against Obama, only for a trusted long time ally to immediately betray me on queue because the game does not like you doing that. This is where Shogun 2 can overdo it, as the game should be difficult but in a realistic/natural not manufactured way. Luckily, all those fun hidden mechanics can make this a fun challenge to overcome not being able to use diplomacy and statecraft to minimize frontlines as in other Total War titles.

The unit diversity is also lacking somewhat but that can easily be fixed with mods. I would give a shoutout to Strongholds of the Samuraii for having some of the most fun siege battles out there. Every siege defence tends to feel like an epic last stand and I would advise not auto-resolving when terribly outnumbered, as the game can surprise you.

The battles in this title are extremely well-balanced, with each unit having tactical uses and strengths. This game gives you the tools to be a strategic genius in a lot of different ways, whether fighting as a imperial gunslinger or traditional follower of Bushido. The combat is quicker than most Total War titles. As a player who likes watching engagements this is not preferred; but the fluidity, lack of bugs, and balancing more than makes up for that regardless.

If you are reading this and wondering whether to give this game a chance, go ahead and get ready to create your own tasteful slice of Japanese history.

What can be said about total war SHOGUN 2 ?.

Its a pretty good RTS with a smart AI that makes the battles satisfying and dynamic.
It has good graphics and a nice skill system, Clan system and diplomacy system.
plenty of units to have fun with and try a plethora of ways to beat your opponents and keep things interesting.

this is by far my favourite total war but it needs optimising or looking at the stuttering is unplayable during battles ill put it down until it gets updated or something

Used to be one of my favorite games, but sadly they did the thing where they intentionally made it unplayable after a while.
The game launches, but the campaign options are all greyed out. This is clearly intentional.
I have no idea why in the world anyone would decide to do that, but well, here we are I guess.
Thanks for taking away the game for me that I used to love to play, and which I paid for, back then.
This is just the ultimate slap in the face. The software still WORKS, it launches, they just actively prevent you from playing it.
Why??? I mean, I bought it. It's not like it's a pirated version.
Seriously, this is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me. I bought games that just flat out didn't work counteless of times, that's nothing new. But this one USED to work.
And I googled it. Many people have the same issue.

Well, I will actively avoid any titles from this dev from now on, and tell everyone. I honestly feel insulted.

I hope I can pirate this game (which, again, I officially and legally BOUGHT, with my own money, I BOUGHT this game, and it used to work!) so I can have the same experience again. Prolly won't work, since I don't really have much of a clue about how to do it.

You know, this could have been avoided if the game that I did buy and that did use to work (for well over 100 hours, no less) just wasn't taken away from me.

This is just such a huge FU to my face. Man. In light of this, I am actually glad the series went to sh**.
I was so excited to play this again, but not, can't have that.

One would think the risk of PC games just flat out not working over console ones would have finally died out, but no, we are here in 2024 with a game that came out... like, more than 10 years ago...?

Emulation is king. Yeah, I'm going back now to playing some GBA games. At least those WORK.

You know how the AVGN once so wonderfully put it? What's the most important aspect of any game? Being able to FU**ING play it! And this game fails that, nowadays, sadly.

So yeah. Ultimately, it's less than anything. Can't even play it. 0/10, as much as it breaks my heart to say it.

Absolutely the best Total War series game, once I learned how to play it, and added immersion Mod (12 turns per year) The Mod includes a garrison with purchased forts/castles and improves the game flow. It also, limits the agents and enhances the general's upgrades nicely.

I respectfully recommend to not play this Game because it has no players online and the gaming mechanic are really complex and confusing.

I am sorry but I don't like how the game is presented, I would prefer an improved version of Shogun Total War, I think this implementation lost the soul of the game. At least leave as an option to be played in map mode, but no, here you are forced to play in this pseudo-realistic confusing terrain mode...

its really good and realistic, always fun, especially when you make your own battles. these are the kinds of games i love!

The last good historical total war game and probably the peak of the franchise in matter of authentic simulated warfare. Also the only total war game with an AI that can sometimes actualy act smart.

One of the best strategy games of all time. Excellent mod community as well. Still good 10+ years later.

best total war but buggy af