Ok so I had a little time to look around in ToB, play a couple of battles, and see how the game feels.
So first the battles.
They look amazing. Everything felt great, the units looked gorgeous, ran very smoothly on high. I can definitely up the graphics from what they are now without losing framerates. The maps look gorgeous. Unit collision could be weightier but still better than Rome 2. Cavalry charges feel appropriate, as you have to micromanage them well otherwise they will be cut down easily. General units arent sledgehammers and you have to be careful with how you use them. My biggest criticism though is that its very hard to see units through thick forest. Like almost impossible. Cant see the banners or anything. Other than that though it was great. AI actually seemed ok. Like once I marched my guys into archery range they charged in to close that distance. They tried to flank with their cavalry but I caught them. Biggest issue though I saw with the AI is that while one cavalry unit tried to be smart, the other galloped their way to the edge of the map and just kinda sat there for a while and eventually came back when they were the last on the map.
Some screenshots (pic of custom battle between Circenn and the Normans (who are super strong):
As for the campaign, I played a turn or two on it. It also looks amazing, though I need some time to digest everything as its different to what I am used to. I also haven't played TW in a while. I like how they no longer have that online encyclopedia anymore. The map is gorgeous, I love the art style, with plenty of details and it just looks great. I don't think I have much in the way of criticism yet since I haven't played much of the campaign and haven't seen the AI act one way or the other. I like how the family tree looks, but some of the stuff needs a "are you sure you want to do that?" button because I accidentally divorced my wife with a mis-click. The new tech system is interesting, and I'm interested to see how it plays out in a full campaign. Haven't really looked at the estate system but it looks similar to what Crusader Kings 2 has, sorta? Really looking forward to getting into this campaign once some patches come out and maybe some mods. Oh, and a blood & gore pack of course.
