Game feeling - STW vs S2TW

[edyzmedieval]

After I purchased the RoTS DLC package I watched the trailer of the pack and it reminded myself how amazing and staggering the opening video for STW was, at least for me. It awe struck me, I was glued to my monitor every time to listen to the narrator and the animation. Which brings me to my question, which has a more immersive, feudal Japan feeling to you - STW or S2TW?

To be honest, I can't pintpoint exactly.

I love it how both games connect on the historical aspect and on the interface and everything that makes you feel as if you are part of the era. Each game has it's own strengths on this part, so in the end it all boils down to preference.

Bear in mind, this is very subjective, so if possible try to give some explanations. :yes:

STW's feeling vs S2TW's feeling?

[frogbeastegg]

It's hard to say as I'm having to balance fond memories against a current gameplay experience. I have not been able to get STW working for around 8 years now. The two Shoguns are the only TW games which I have found to be atmospheric, the others always felt rather generic and gamey due to the need to cover multiple cultures.

I'm able to name many examples of what worked for me regarding STW's atmosphere, and most of those carry over to S2. In some cases it's a modernised version, like the agent movies, interface visual design and unit artwork. In other cases it's an exact copy, like the samples of STW's music on the battle loading screens. There are a few cases where each game presents an individualised piece of atmosphere, such as STW having its campaign map laid out on a table and S2 having its fog of war act like a brush painting. In those cases each presentation works well.

There's only one case where I can think of something STW did better, and that's battlefield mists. Modern fog effects don't quite have the same look to them as the effect is processed differently. There was something haunting about a foggy battlefield in STW ...

[edyzmedieval]

There was something haunting about a foggy battlefield in STW ...

A perfect point, Froggy. I loved how some battles were recreated in STW, and I loved how STW played in winter time because of the whole concept that replicated the winter seasons in the game.

[frogbeastegg]

STW had amazing thunder storms during battles with heavy rain. It was very rare. The final battle of my first campaign was fought in a storm and it lent an incredible sense to the occasion. Other TW games either don't have thunder or have made it rarer still; I recall a single thunder battle in MTW, and that's it. I wonder if S2 has thunder?

[Sp4]

It does. Only seen it once though. At first I was thinking what is that, thinking someone brought cannons or something =p

[edyzmedieval]

The new patch improves the autumn/winter season campaign map textures, making them somewhat resemble those foggy battlefield mists...

[Marshall Louis-Nicolas Davout]

To be honest, I think Shogun 2 is an improvement over Shogun, And it def gives me a Japanese feeling. Napoleon was an excellent game, bought back Napoleonic wars(but historical accuracy) Shogun 2 anyway is too good.

[Vladimir]

Napoleon seemed like an inferior game to me.

I fondly remember the lightning flashes and weather in M2 but haven't seen them much in S2. The only time I attack in bad weather is when my archers are outmatched of I'm going against a lot of bow ships. Fire arrows can ruin your day. The music in S2 is excellent and it really helps get me into the game.

[frogbeastegg]

It does. Only seen it once though. At first I was thinking what is that, thinking someone brought cannons or something =p
Ah ha! So it is there. Perhaps one day the game will be kind enough to thunder on me! :gring:

[Nowake]

An almost guarantee for lighting & thunder effects is to choose to conduct battles during night time. In 90% of the cases with night & rain conditions, be it during Naval or Land battles, I experienced fantastic thunderstorms. A lot more scenic at sea than on land on occasion. Enjoy it in Custom if during your campaigns would be too much of a chore to experiment with (prevents reinforcements, thus your generals will not gain experience etc.)