Which TW Game do you like best?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I voted for STW:MI...to me the atmosphere and the focus on battles rather than the strategy map made it much more fun than medieval. Also it seemed more challenging, the AI was more agressive.

[ToranagaSama]

Shogun, of course, and I include MI in that. To me they're just the same game, as MTW and Vikings.

The best thing about MI was the Nagata (sp?) Cavalry, a well tweaked and placed unit.

I still find it an unbelieveable lack of foresight, that an Add-On for Shogun giving it MTW's features hasn't been done as yet. Incredible

Why Shogun? First, its truer to the original CA vision of the game. Second, all the historical backdrop, Shogun is, equally, educationally enjoyable as it is enjoyable as a pure game. I'm not aware of ANY other developer that has molded education and gaming so wonderfully. It's a crime that CA wasn't LAUDED (and exampled) by the Gaming Community, Educators and society as a whole.

I hope they get back to the FULL vision and stick with it, eventually, it all should come, including profits. Time Commanders is an indication.

I truly wish the original Shogun site could be put up again. Those who missed it, missed the best Game site ever created to introduce a game In viewing it, everyone could then see the Full vision CA had for Shogun. A lot just didn't happend...sigh...

The .Com site is a pale image of what could have been, in terms of Community.

Shogun is a Masterpiece, and the TW games even if they were to end today would live on for years

[frogbeastegg]

Without a doubt I choose Shogun with the Mongol Invasion add-on. I prefer the smaller campaign size as it allows the game to be finished in reasonable time even if you are quite busy. The shorter campaigns also help to prevent things from getting stale as there is less for you ton conquer, you spend more of the game in the 'fighting for survival' state that most players love.

I love the detail that has been packed into the game; Shogun can only be described as a labour of love. The movies that accompany each even, the throne room, the individual battlefields for each province, the cut scenes that accompany the assorted campaign settings, the artwork on the harvest and conquest reports, the way gunners armour lights up for a brief second when they fire their weapon, the music - the list can go on and on.

I love the relative simplicity, there are no vices and virtues so you don't have to deal with corrupt governors or watch yet another good general turn into a drunkard. There are no trade problems to deal with and no ships to shuffle around sea zones; this reduces micromanagement (I like micromanagement but I hate shuffling ships about and checking generals for bad vices) by a significant proportion.

I love the relative complexity; you only get money one in four turns in time with the harvest so you must watch your spending. You also worry about bad harvests as they can bankrupt you and start rebellions amongst your starving peasantry. You must juggle religion with real consequences, do to convert to Christianity for some more koku and early guns or do you stay Buddhist and hope you can counter your Christian enemy's guns successfully while waiting to get your own from the Dutch. Also the population were much more religion sensitive than in MTW and a converted Daimyo always ran into religious rebellions. Religion also affected the battlefield as Christians were no longer afraid of warrior monks, but at the same time they could not raise monks of their own.

I love the carefully honed battlefield. Each unit has a definite use and a definite disadvantage that must carefully be considered. You do not have multiple units filling the same role with slightly different stats like in MTW. An archer in Shogun is just that whereas an archer in MTW can be a vanilla archer or a Bulgarian brigand or a Genoese sailor or....

I loved the battlefield atmosphere. Anyone who has sat on a hillside with terraced fields staring out at the misty mountains to the rear of the field, watching the birds flying overhead and has not been struck by just how beautiful it is can only be called blind. The sound effects are much better as your Japanese soldiers are yelling, screaming and dying in Japanese unlike the soldiers in MTW - many of the Shogun sound effects have carried over so your English longbowmen shout their death cry die in Japanese. The horses’ hooves sound so much better as well, a cavalry charge does sound like rolling thunder and it strikes awe into your heart. The way soldiers move and fight is also much more interesting and aesthetically pleasing, they cannot hold formation when you order them to run so they spread out into a ragged line which in turn causes tactical considerations. Cavalry slowly break into a staggered line as they charge making them look much more like a real cavalry charge then MTWs cavalry ever do. When a unit is engaged in a fight they mix up with their enemy, there is no clear line dividing the two sides like in MTW. You can always tell when a unit is engaged in hard fighting because it is spread out through its enemy and all the men get to work unless you order them to hold formation and even then they would still get forced out of formation by stronger warriors. Fighting in Shogun is that little bit messier and it really helps.

I love the setting. Despite being an historian and archaeologist with a liking for British and Classical history I much prefer sending my ninja to assassinate some annoying punk over sending some generic assassin called -wait for it - assassin A shinobi sounds more interesting than a spy and a geisha has much more appeal than an inquisitor. Knights and swordsmen are more interesting to me than Samurai but these days it is a close call, the more I read about Japan's medieval period the more I like it.

I love the AI. The rebels and Ronin team up against you – once you attack one set of rebels they are all out for your blood. This makes games against a majority of rebels (for example when all the Daimyo are dead except for yours) very challenging as they can out produce and out manoeuvre you very easily. The AI would also exhibit a brain in bridge battles, instead of marching straight across the bridge you were guarding it would attack across all of them. If you were foolish enough to leave one unguarded the AI would nip across and attack you on an equal footing. In MTW the AI only attacks one bridge and it often ignores the unguarded ones.

I shall end my misty eyed rave there before it gets even longer I shall add that I do like Medieval, especially now there is the Viking add-on as the Viking campaign comes much closer to the game I was hoping for (that is the actual Viking one set in Britain, not the main campaign) and it is much more enjoyable. Any sequel to Shogun was always going to have a tough time as the original was so brilliant it is hard to top but I have always felt deep down that MTW was a disappointment, a game which needed much more time devoted to it so it could receive the same polish and love Shogun received before it. I feel that CA were encouraged to finish the game too quickly in order for the publisher to make some cash. I am glad that Rome seems to be getting the time medieval didn't have, maybe CA will replicate that feeling of wonder Shogun created in me. I hope so.

I think I shall take the evening off from working on my secret project and continue my Shogun campaign, it’s been 7 years and 2 seasons and the Hojo under my leadership have pushed the Uesugi all the way back to Sado. The koku are beginning to cover the losses of the famine in the second year, my armies are holding my borders against the Takeda and ronin and soon I shall build warrior monks. Ah the good life

[ToranagaSama]

Nice Post

Though, I most not be like most, as I love the micromanagement in MTW and wish for the same (and better) in Shogun.

I love the game that is MTW and loathe the Medieval subject.

[Marshal Murat]

What I enjoy is the NTW mod for MTW.

[DemonArchangel]

MTW with V/I.

There's is no way shogun can compete with Varangians

[Sjakihata]

stw:mi

the atmosphere.. says it all really.

[Gregoshi]

STW for its mystical and captivating atmosphere. I see I'm not alone in that regard. I went with STW over STW:MI mainly because the MI battle speed seemed to be a bit faster than in STW - it appeared a bit unnatural and a little uncomfortably fast for me.

[Shahed]

When MTW came out I thought it's the better game.
I still think so in terms of features. MTW has many improvements over STW. Alas it also has many screw ups over STW.

Froggy has summed it up so nicely that I can't really add anything. I'll now go for STW as my preferred game of the two.

[Rocket_Boy]

MTW VI- has its problems but is an absolutely cracking game: large and small campaigns, huge depth and replayability. Also the patch will be a boon.

[Mount Suribachi]

MTW:VI, mainly cos its turn-based side is much more in depth than STW and I love all the different factions.

Having said that, I think STW has a much better atmosphere to it (tho MTW is still good) and I much prefer the battles in STW with only around a dozen units, all of which have their uses. I get a bit lost with MTWs pantheon of units. However STW really, really doesn't like my gfx card, so I never play it any more http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

[bighairyman]

MTW:VI, there's nothing more beatiful than a blizzard or sandstorm map. or see hundreds of camels charging at ur knights in the desert and get slagutered. i loved STW though , all those peasant spearmen running away at the same time http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif .

but serious, an unit of peasant spearmen in STW can't beat a unit of archers while in mtw u can.

[ToranagaSama]

Quote[/b] ]but serious, an unit of peasant spearmen in STW can't beat a unit of archers while in mtw u can.


Quite sensical, sense in STW, Archers would be Samurai

In MTW, its just peasants against peasants...yawn....

[Ironside]

MTW with VI
I prefer the more complicated campaigns and the amount of different units. STW got somewhat boring when my armys were consisted of WM and SA until I had conquerd most of Japan. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif
The atmosphere was better in Shougun though.
And you could produce WM after you converted. Belive me on that, I repelled the reigious rebellions with newly trained WM http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif. But I belive you couldn't build more temples.

What was naginata cavalry good for anyway? The died alot against SA.
But the horror when one of your YS had chased a SA over the entire map and the SA got up on a hill and then turned on your YS and beat the crap out of them is a fun memory.
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
Bridge battles in STW also had one big bug. If you assulted with an inferior force the AI assulted you instead, and often with the Daimyo leading the assult (cav first) over the bridge. It was good god way the reduce the army in that river province that always had a huge garnison (Edo was the castle name).
And a great sorrow was the fact that you couldn't lead huge battles because the time would run out http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif. I lost a battle 25000 (me) vs 4000 because of that.

Yes I really liked STW but MTW is a little bit funnier, atleast for me. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

[bighairyman]

i loved MTW:VI becasue of more choices of agents, princess and iquizitors. and the V&V. i love to laugh at the almohad king who is a hnhighed loon and is gay http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif . but i also study a lot of eruopean histroy, so i'm more comfortable with the map

[Lord Rom]

I chose mtw over shogun primarily because I like the knights and castles era better. Love the chance to rewrite the historical battles between the Lionheart and Saladin. I am still waiting for a decent castle seige tho. Are the seiges in VI much better? I want to put my men on the castle walls. INTO THE BREACH