The rise of the samurai review thread

[Hamata]

Please write your reviews of rise of the samurai here.


Here is mine: this has got to be the best dlc ever i give the campaign map 10/10 and i give the new influnce feature a solid 9/10 way to go CA. ps couldent think of other things to score

[d1ng0d0g]

I've been playing one campaign, using the Taira family with naval superiority. I just reached the Realm Divide event. And I'm playing in normal difficulty.

I conquered both Islands, which actually was the result of some well placed alliances, and one very nasty broken alliance on the island you start out on. My sister clan was destroyed in the first 20 turns, with no chance for me to assist, because I wasn't called into that war and wasn't strong enough to join it at that time.

The units are fairly bland, but, at the same time, they have more personality, as the Levy's are really crap, the Attendants are quite good, and the Samurai are .. about as good as the attendants due to lack of numbers. Even with a good general, holding the lines is difficult, and while, as someone posted here on the forums, it seems that the AI has only one tactic, which is to charge, strange as it may seem, the impact of a good charge is actually very useful.

I love castle sieges, now, as there basically aren't any real castles (at least I haven't seen any yet), just a town with some walls. Yet, the Town Guard building line, providing a hard challenge against any early Levy Armies, as well as some useful benefit on defense.

Naval combat also seems to have been improved, ships in my opinion being really worth using, considering you can make allies all over the map of your family supporters early in the game. Keeping attention to the web of alliances is also important, as one mistake can cause the entire alliance web to collapse.

The visible and less visible results of a lack of respect to your family also is a nice touch in diplomatic issues, but I feel it's only partially finished, like other parts of the game.

The building trees are absolutely fantastic and they should have used similar options for the original game.

All in all, it gives Shogun 2 a brand new coat, unfortunately the coat appears to have been made in a hurry.


All in all, I do feel that this DLC has a lot of potential, but I also feel that it will need a patch to truly shine (and be without sloppy rushjob errors). For those playing, encyclopedia, and the AI in some manners will probably show what I mean.

So, hoping for a patch to this DLC, I'm only giving it a 7. Worth playing, even without, but it could get a 9 or even a 10 with a good patch (where I give Shogun 2 without DLCs a mere 7 in total)

[Madae]

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?138238-Rise-of-the-Samurai-is-now-available!&p=2053380444&viewfull=1#post2053380444
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?138276-Something-s-wrong-campaign-AI-and-dodgy-battles-in-Rise-of-the-Samurai&p=2053380933&viewfull=1#post2053380933

These are my two posts, in order, about what I think of the game. I also think it deserves a 7, maybe 7.5. It's buggy in a few ways, but it hasn't crashed, and the game is still entertaining even with the bugs it has. With a patch, it could get to an 8 or 9.


as someone posted here on the forums, it seems that the AI has only one tactic, which is to charge, strange as it may seem, the impact of a good charge is actually very useful.

Sure, it happens, but this isnt the only thing I've seen the AI do. They've dueled my archers before moving in, and also rushed for the high ground when they could. The difference in tactics has a lot to do with missing a variety of cavalry. Generals can't flank - they are weak, fragile and now archers, so it's limited in what an army can do in a reasonable amount of time. By the time one of my units gets around to the back of a line to flank, or one of his tries, the battle is practically over and decided anyway. With foot samurai being both archers and melee, most of these battles end quickly because the AI doesn't have the archers to compete with me, and his troops get cut down before they even reach me. You can argue that it's stupid that the ai will just throw itself at you, but when you attack and chase him down - he can't flee. There is nothing he can do but die in one glorious charge. Good tactics or not, most of these battles are hopeless for them, being the superior and more intelligent creatures that we are.

If anything, I would say foot samurai are a bit overpowered. They are waaaay better than attendants, despite having fewer troops, because they can crack down on anyone with a hail of arrows, and then take the charge like a champ and fight back in melee until the enemy break. I have 6 of them in my army, and they are my front line every time. With their bonus abilities (whistling and flame arrows), most troops break and flee before even getting halfway to my line. Attendants will make it, but the front units will be tattered and wavering, and anything behind them can be held by my samurai until I can send my reserve units to flank (again, if I can even do that before the battle is over).

Actually, I don't think they have whistling arrows. I think I'm carrying around some monk archers that do... but whatever. Flame arrows and commendable melee ability is enough. More than half of my army can shoot arrows, so I forget what has what. This is my main army makeup;

3 Cavalry (general, hero, samurai - all bows)
4 Sword Attendants
3 Naginata Attendants
6 Foot Samurai
2 Warrior Monk Bows
2 Naginata Levies

Most of them also have +5 to melee, +1 to armor and 4+ experience.