SHOGUN: Total War™ - Collection

bermain sekaligus belajar sejarah jepang masa sengoku jidai

It's the most basic Total War, but also quite flavourful. Training up immortal geisha assassins feels very good.

An old one but still great - lots of style and atmosphere, and not too far off Sun Tsu's principles of War at work either. Immense replayability.

Tactical battle are optional, design strategy is in play.

Good

Most of the cons of this game have to do with its age. It was clearly never intended to run on current hardware/software, but it works well enough. It's a lot simpler than earlier Total War games and sometimes I prefer that simplicity. Moving my armies around like chess pieces is pretty cool and I wish this game had a modern equivalent, but as it is, 25 years on Shogun: Total War still fills a gaming Niche for me.

For story the game has a little cut scene when you start a new game and a little cut scene when you manage to win a game. It's not a whole lot to speak of honestly and this game leans entirely into its mechanics. There's a lot I'd wish I'd known beforehand like how to retrain units, that one was big for me.

The game does have some software limitations. In RTS mode you can only have so many units on the battlefield at once, however their are no limitations to how many units you can throw into a single engagement. This, combined with a time limit, leads to certain battles where if there are too many enemy units then you'll have no way of actually winning the engagement since units will just keep flooding onto the battlefield and run out the clock, and so have to be auto resolved. Not the biggest problem in the world but would've been cool to be able to RTS mode a whole game on the hardest difficulty if that's how I chose to play the game.

Overall for recommendations, for any new players, it's hard to recommend because there are plenty of newer options out there that weren't made 25 years ago, and what used to be good game design then are going to be hurdles today. My recommendations for anybody who wants to try this game out today, this game may be the first in the Total War series but don't make it the first Total War game you play. I personally still really like this game, and it still holds a special place for me. It really does have some timeless game design elements that can still be appreciated today, and so for that niche of gamers who, for one like strategy games, and two can get over the hurdle that comes with running 25 year old software, would recommend.

The game is amazing if your looking for simple strategy games and want to make it just a bit harder with adjusting the difficulty makes it fun. Great game from the 90s

AAA

great game as old as it is. beware though ports allow for invasion of anywhere with a port..

I still have the discs for this amazing game! No matter how old it gets, it's a fun strategic game.

Yeah like most commenters, you just can't do anything but tell your troops to move forward in battle. Can't reposition them at all. For some reason the mouse just moves the camera. Really dumb.

I played thousands of hours of this game until I enlisted in the military and misplaced it. I was under the mistaken impression that it was not available on Steam until today when I logged in to play Shogun Total War II ~ and saw this gem on the list of games I could have; and I bought it - immediately - without question. It still hits the same sweet spot it once did. I will play thousands of hours more, I've already played a few hours.

Everything about this game is minimalist, simple, and Zen in the best of ways.

love it this game just take my mind away lets me reset

fun

You can't move units.

Love it.

Let Total War Begin!

Shogun: Total War starts up with little fanfare – no cutscene, no company logo, no hint of the 25-year franchise that would follow. The main menu unfolds to the rattle and crash of taiko drums as armed figures gather on the horizon. It’s minimalist and laser-focused on the coming carnage, a suitable introduction to very different kind of Total War.

The year is 1530 (or 1550 or 1580; the game offers multiple start dates and situations). Japan is in turmoil following the collapse of the shogunate, the military dictatorship that rules the land. Seven powerful clans are poised to clash for the title of shogun and claim rulership over all Japan in this Sengoku Jidai – the Age of the Country at War.

If you come to Shogun as a Total War veteran, as I suspect most of us do, then the gameplay should be well familiar. On the turn-based campaign map you oversee the military and economic development of your clan, manage diplomacy with your neighbours (read: sworn enemies), and assign missions to your agents, while in real-time battles you lead your forces across 3-dimensional battlefields where formation, terrain, weather, and the common humanity of your soldiers are the deciding factors.

Naturally, the formula is stripped down for the debut – almost to the bone. Diplomacy is no more complicated than allies, neutrals, and enemies. You have your faction leader in the daimyo as well as his family and other generals who serve him, but characters have no real character beyond their Honour, their command ability. The single biggest change is the campaign map itself, reduced from a living, breathing landscape to a 2-dimensional map, with armies and agents appearing and moving as playing tokens.

Battles are likewise slimmed down, if to a lesser degree. Units can still adopt some tactical formations and form larger army groups but there are no innate unit abilities as in later games. Terrain and weather still play their parts; troops struggling to march and fight uphill vs. downhill, forests providing opportunities to ambush the enemy, and rainstorms dampen the effectiveness of archers or shut down firearms entirely.

No politics, no role-playing, no monsters or magic – this is Total War in its purest form. But that is not to say Shogun is simplistic. It is a deceptively rich and potentially difficult experience even for series veterans, not so much for the depth of its mechanics (or even lack thereof) but for requiring a totally different strategic approach than its descendants.

This primarily stems from the “tabletop” style of the campaign game. Rather than traversing terrain in detail and playing in turn, armies in Shogun move province-to-province per turn and all moves are resolved simultaneously - requiring anticipation of the enemy’s moves which might interrupt your own plans. There is no trading land for time, and because the pace of movement so outpaces that of recruitment (everything takes at least two turns to train) any defeat in battle can lead to a swift and final death.

And in Shogun, defeat in battle is always a possibility. The mechanics of battle may be comparatively thin, but they are undeniably ruthless, even the slightest gradient is enough to give troops the impetus to charge down enemies, or grant archers incredible range. The player can certainly harness these advantages too, but it does feel like your enemies consistently get that little extra something, whatever the circumstance. Battles are also saddled with a stiff camera view and aggravatingly outdated controls relying on left mouse button for move and attack orders – be prepared for mis-clicks galore.

When I first played Shogun, I hated it. It was impossible to expand in any direction without other clans jumping all over me, and even early battles proved so challenging and bloody that even victory crippled my forces and simply delayed the inevitable. But with one last attempt and a fresh approach, everything suddenly clicked. Shogun is not a game of throwing yourself into the attack from turn one – the high stakes battles vs. the pace of the campaign makes that too risky. It pays to play defensively: build up your strength, consolidate your territories, launch and call off attacks to buy time, steal territory wherever possible, fight only when necessary, and never leave yourself open.

If you can get on its wavelength, you’ll find Shogun is a rare case of a debut title that still has plenty to offer (read the manual – it’s genuinely impressive how much The Creative Assembly managed to pack in under the hood). The real-time graphics are undeniably dated but battles are also complemented by Jeff van Dyck’s excellent use of traditional Japanese taiko and woodwinds, ratcheting the tension before unleashing percussion appropriately evocative of clashing swords. Throw in The Mongol Invasion and historical battles, and there’s plenty of challenge for newcomers and Total War veterans alike.

The first and still the best. The simplicity and map graphics make situational awareness easy to comprehend unlike all the other total war games. Updated graphics and more intricate scenarios without changing basic game play would put this game over the top

I wanted to know the original total war experience with the game that started it all. For a 20 century game it really gives you that Shogun japanese strategy vibe. To be able to control hundreds of units with a really deep combat system is a blast. Also, killing generals with my geisha, brilliant mecanic.

Crashes on game launch.

i give this game in 2025 : 0/10.
===
i played medieval total war 2 a lot when i was a kid, and i really enjoyed it.
i never played this one as a kid, but i imagine that even if i did i would not have enjoyed it even back then !
medieval total war 2 was made 6 years after this one but it's miles better than this one.
the UI is bad, the controls are bad, the AI is bad, basically the whole thing is very bad.
I can imagine that people who played it back then might have enjoyed it because there was nothing like it.
honestly i think big companies should make games this old FREE for everyone since it is UNPLAYABLE now.
these kind of games should be called MUSEUM games and be free for all to try.
i just wanted to see where the total war games started from, which i did.
i finished one campaign in like 4 hours and it is really not fun nor entertaining.
i was basically TOLERATING the whole thing just to see what it is like.
even if you played this very game as a kid i don't think you will enjoy it.
if you buy this game it is like you are paying to be annoyed, lol.
===
reviewed by IMMORTALEADER
if you read this until here i made a game for iOS called "FatHatBoy" please check it out <3

Wanted to see how the Total War series started out. Its really quaint seeing the 2D soldiers march around the primitive 3D landscapes. But the combat is a bit janky. There's no indicator for morale so troops may suddenly run away for seemingly no reason. The unit roster is very limited.

Province loyalty is mostly decided by military presence. Economy is mostly decided by farms. Its neat to deploy spies and counter spies. And its neat seeing the cutscenes for certain events, like assassinations, or a soldier becoming a legendary sowrdsman.

It was nice to try out but I can't rightfully recommend it to modern players.

One of my all-time favourite strategy games with it's blend of turn-based decision making andl real-time battles, it was unique when it was first published and played it to bits back then, still worth your time now. A lot more basic than most of it's Total War franchise sequels, including SHogun 2, but this was the first and still a great game to play.

"SHOGUN: Total War" is a groundbreaking game that set the standard for historical grand strategy games.

The game's accurate portrayal of feudal Japan is both fascinating and educational.

I would recommend playing this game at least once if you are a Total War fan. My personal recommendations as to what to complete in the game: Sengoku Jidai Campaign, Mongol Invasion Campaign, all 4 Historical Campaigns.

What surprised me is how many features this old game had. When I was buying it and wanted to try the first Total War, I was expecting it to be a mess, but surprisingly it turned out to be a complete game with a lot of mechanics, challenges and creative ideas.

Now, don't get me wrong, the graphics and controls on the battlefield are absolutely horrendous, but after ~10 hours you get used to it and suddenly it becomes very playable. I was actually outmaneuvering AI on the battlefield, which seemed almost insane at first, but then it became clear how to play fights in this game and how to control your army.

Historical Campaigns deserve to be mentioned separately. I am absolutely amazed at the level of design for such an old game. A lot of interesting objectives in certain missions. A lot of complicated battles which require player to think outside of the box and try to find a creative way how to solve a fight. Now, unfortunately 5 missions in the historical campaigns are crashing. To fix it, please read the following post https://steamcommunity.com/app/345240/discussions/0/485624149160085779/

I would also recommend reading through the Game Manual that is installed together with Steam version of the game. I have found it to be a motivation burst and an inspiration going into the samurai world. An interesting read.

Classic. The precusor to Rome Total War and the subsequent Total War series. One should use the cheats or the game, like the other games in the Total War series will take forever. If you are a kid, try not to use cheats because you will have the 50 years to complete it. I use cheats in all the Total War games if I can find them on the web, because although they are magnificent, they progress very slowly because of the time to build the buildings one needs to suceeed.

Awesome game with high replay value! I prefer the map; turn-based with very good level of control of your army. A five-star game.

One tweak, please: when you cancel a geisha mission the pop-up shows as "giesha".

Incredible game for being so old

Although it's pretty old game it can still give few hours of joy.

A true classic that started it all with the Total War series. Albeit it isn't the best Total War game series but it's still a fun one to play.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. -Sun Tzu

First I want to lay out my personal history with Total War up to the moment I first played this. The order I played them in is: Medieval 2, Rome, Shogun 2, Medieval and finally the OG after finding it at a flea market. I saw it more as a curiosity back then, but still I saw the framework of the games that I adored. But years later I decided to get all the classics on my Steam Account (As even back then running my physical copies would sometimes not go smoothly)

So it came to pass that I played the classics ones more. And something strange happened. Invading into enemy territory I matched upon their meager force. Only to be confronted by a Victory screen before even a single arrow flew, let alone a clash of steel. The enemy had fled the field of battle. Another battle followed where I was on the defense taking the high ground peppering the advancing force from afar and charging an isolated archer unit with cavalry. Some time later the units still far aback the enemy line retreated and I'm almost certain this was not a mass rout for these detachments were fresh and some distance away. Then it started to hit me and it made me smile. The AI knows the battle is unwinnable and is able to retread to save the lives of its soldiers. This is so deeply entrenched into its logic that this will even happen in custom battles. Give your enemy one unit and yourself a massive horde + castle and they will just say “NOPE” to your shenanigans. I even went to boot up Medieval too because I do not remember this happening there (Spoiler: it did not withdraw its troops). What it did do (like in this game) was claim the high ground instead of just standing in its original starting area when defending.

But yea that was the moment my eyes were opened and I understood. When you read in article’s that the devs used elements of The Art of War for the game's AI you better believe It. Because it takes into account that losing one battle is nothing if it eventually wins the war. This game has aged way better than you would think and is dirt cheap on a sale. So I say give it a shot, even if it's only to see how it all began.

This was an awsome game and its still very playable

Would be nice if I could move any of my units.

I loved this game when I was younger, but its too old now. CA won't fix so expect to dig for community patches. This thumbs down is a warning. Otherwise, an easy recommend.

old school classic for all those who like single player off line games

Still my favourite game years on!

Honestly, seems like the only part that is working correctly and at normal framerate is menu. Game is playable, if you stretch the definition of "playable" and do not include "enjoyable" as part of the assessment. Good for nostalgia I guess, but newer games run much better.

I would recommend this game to people who like/love strategy games + you have more other strategy games on the game start menu. Love the game.

It is still good and playable but too old for today.

There are several qaulity of life improvements that were implemented in later titles that you won't see in Shogun Total War. But the same can be said about poor choices that later titles have and Shogun doesn't. It's a very challenging-but-fair game. The battle AI (somehow) isn't terrible. It's actually MUCH,MUCH better than Rome 1, and I can't understand why.

I do Recommend this game. In fact, I recomend it more than many of the more modern Total War games.
The downside: I only wish there were mods

the history of the game the lay out of the game the way it follows history

Where it all started.

didn't like it