Shogun 2 Total War - confirmed

[edyzmedieval]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/109/1093664p1.html

Enjoy the article and the screens.
All I can say is - HURRAAAHHH!!!

[Reenk Roink]

I can't wait for some more screenshots.

[A Nerd]

I too was hopeing for some in-game screenshots! The description given by the link makes it seem like this game will be a great step forward for TW and the genre. I hope STW2 isn't a resource hog though. My computer is fairly new and I would hope it would run the game reasonably well.

[Shieldmaiden]

CA, do not botch Shogun 2 by rushing it. Take your time and retain your honour!

... and give me time to upgrade my PC.

[pevergreen]

Sounds like they stole a few ideas from Arthur the roleplaying wargame.

[Gregoshi]

Am I excited by what I read? YES I AM!!

[Monsieur Alphonse]

I hope this is true:

Add in support for up to 56,000 units in a single battle, and it's clear to see just how ambitious Shogun 2 really is.

[seireikhaan]

I've learned not to get my hopes up. As awesome as it would be for them to make a game that's actually fun to play, I'm not holding my breath. The fact that this is in the news so early after Empire/Napoleon does not give me good vibes.

[caravel]

One particularly novel development is the introduction of hero units. These are warriors who have perfected a fighting art and can carve their way through enemy armies without much trouble at all. Based on mythologized historical figures like the warrior monk Benkei, hero units are a nearly unstoppable force on the battlefield, capable of holding bridge crossings against entire armies, or smashing through a battle line to engage the enemy general. You can counter heroes with the right tactics, such as filling them full of arrows, or by having your own hero units engage them in duels.

[Veho Nex]

Second...

[caravel]

Well let's just pray that it can be modded - going by the last two titles in the series I'm not very hopeful...

[Beefy187]

Shogun

[Sp00n]

Great news I just hope there's an online chat section like the old game. Can we partition early for an online chat room for MP.

[Aradan]

Second...

According to this:

Hero Units: - These are not one man armies that destroy everything that opposes them. These are highly ranked elite units, available at the top of the tech tree who exemplify a mastery of a given martial technique (E.g. sword fighting). They are able to take on other heroes, and are naturally very powerful against groups of enemies but are not invincible game-changers. These figures are also based on true historical accounts of great fighters who founded schools of combat, not myths that take on whole armies and win.

In many ways Shogun is a great opportunity to finally see something good. Few(er) units, similar factions, limited timeframe, etc; generally a much more focused and tight game, so that hopefully means more focus on the essence of the game: gameplay, AI, immersion. Of course if CA manages to botches up this time with an armada of bugs, terrible AI and supermen-samurai...

WRT to moddability: It would be so very nice, but chances are slim. However if the game itself is good, it can be forgiven. STW was not more moddable than NTW, it became a huge success due its sheer vanilla awesomeness (and novelty, I'll give you that, which is not really there any more after 6 iterations).

[Furunculus]

great setting - one worry: get the modding tools right this time CA!

[gaelic cowboy]

Hup ya boy ye Shogun Totalwar 2

[Julius_Nepos]

Well I'll be passing on S2TW, or rather, I wont be getting involved until its priced at about $10. The setting is just so very limited and its in a time and in a place in which I just have not even a passing interest. Don't get me wrong, I am in fact quite interested in the affairs of Central Asia and India, so I'm not strictly a fan of European history, but I never really got into the far East, and Shogun promises to be a small, detailed and focused venture that's just not for me. Oh and I'm not at all confident CA will reverse its apprehensions towards modding either, so there's that too.

Still, there's no reason NOT to give it a go once its been out for a year+ and has been fully patched and reduced in price to a reasonable level. I never got to play STW (I had Mac back then) so I wouldn't be opposed to trying out the new release. I am disappointed, but I'll live. Watching the development cycle of S2TW should be interesting whatever the final result will be.

[Sp00n]

The simple setting is what made the first one so great, it wasnt over complicated so was much easier to pick up and just play. Fewer units also made the multiplayer simpler and more prone for people to try out new things, online battles always seemed more fun to me in Shogun than any of the other eras since, there was a lot more scope of tactics you coulnt take masses of guns you had to think faster.
I'm extremely excited that they are returning to the Shogun era, I just hope they can do it the justice it deserves.

[A Nerd]

The simple setting is what made the first one so great, it wasnt over complicated so was much easier to pick up and just play

I agree. I hope this will suit the AI as well. The larger maps can be a little overwhelming at times.

I just hope they can do it the justice it deserves

I have fond memories of the orginal. Would like the same of this one as well.

[Vuk]

Hero units? Boy I hope that they are not serious.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

YAY!!!!!


About time. I hope they make the MP good on this like the original STW MP was.

[monkian]

I guess they will be similar to the Kensai(sp?) Sword Saints in Shogun- Total War. Doesn't sound too terrible to me

[Ser Clegane]

Welcome back, monkian - have not seen you for quite a while in this realm

[gollum]

This is great news - Asai i can count at least 5-6 encouraging focal points in the article - the smaller rosters, the smaller setting, fewerfactions, the seasons, the focus on artwork, the return of the personal element (you are made to feel the daimyo), the RPS element in agent warfare (about time), the naval battles without the (non-existent) sailing mechanics, STW with proper sieges. Of all those you chose to mention the... negative one. It will be some sort of more personalised kesnai character i guess, nothing to worry about if you ask me.

The fact that CA went that way ie towards its roots and decided to cut off the feature exlposion/complexity fanboy concept is no less than a sort of victory for the many voices that praised the merrits of the original STW around which TW in general was conceived and designed. CA had the easy, commercially viable choice: Rome2 and passed by for the time being. I feel that this alone is to their credit, no matter how it turns out.

Thank you CA. To all you fanboys that Shogun, RPS gameplay, small rosters and samurai are not your cup of tea: tough :)

[Tsavong]

I enjoyed the original when it came out I can only hope the new one works out as it will be nice to play a Total War not set in Europe again heh.

[andrewt]

I'm actually excited for this one. CA has been disappointing me ever since Rome but I'm looking forward to this one. Back to basics is what the series needed.

[Thermal]

This is great news - Asai i can count at least 5-6 encouraging focal points in the article - the smaller rosters, the smaller setting, fewerfactions, the seasons, the focus on artwork, the return of the personal element (you are made to feel the daimyo), the RPS element in agent warfare (about time), the naval battles without the (non-existent) sailing mechanics, STW with proper sieges. Of all those you chose to mention the... negative one. It will be some sort of more personalised kesnai character i guess, nothing to worry about if you ask me.

The fact that CA went that way ie towards its roots and decided to cut off the feature exlposion/complexity fanboy concept is no less than a sort of victory for the many voices that praised the merrits of the original STW around which TW in general was conceived and designed. CA had the easy, commercially viable choice: Rome2 and passed by for the time being. I feel that this alone is to their credit, no matter how it turns out.

Thank you CA. To all you fanboys that Shogun, RPS gameplay, small rosters and samurai are not your cup of tea: tough :)

Well said.

[Mailman653]

I suspected that teaser trailer was TW related, I see I was right. I never played the original Shogun, only the demo and that was only a battle or two. Looks interesting although as someone mentioned earlier that ETW and NTW aren't as mod friendly as old TW games, I hope it's a trend that won't continue.

[Vuk]

Thank you CA. To all you fanboys that Shogun, RPS gameplay, small rosters and samurai are not your cup of tea: tough :)

lol, we are the fanboys?
You know why they do not include Korea and China don't you? Because any of the kingdoms in Korea or China would have whooped the Japanese! Seriously, I am not a big fan of the Japanese military at this time. I don't like their weapons or their armour or their tactics. I don't like ninjas and I don't like Samurai. Throughout history the Chinese and Koreans had arguably far superior fighting styles, weapons, armour, and tactics.
I don't mean to start a huge debate here, but in my opinion, the Japanese military I honestly think was far behind most people of their time, whether in the West or the East. That is why I don't understand making a game including only them and no other options. (that has never been done with any other Total War game...for a reason) That kills support from a lot of the fanbase. If it was the Chinese mainland, Korean peninsular, and the islands of Japan I could understand it, because then if you are not interested in one military, culture, kingdom, etc, you have choices. With Shogun Total War, you are removing them.

[gollum]

Well, your opinion is to be respected of course, but the Japanese were, are and always will be, a skilled people for whatever has to do with war. During the Sengoku period this trend was sharpened to new heights.

I understand the point about being confined to styles, however i would equally welcome a TW game during the Romance of the three kingdoms in China. I know very little about Korea - other than the fact that it was under the heavy shadow of China in the medieval era and later during the modern times under the heavy shadow of Japan. Its national martial art tae kwon do - is nearly a renaming of Okinawan karate that Korean immigrants brought from Japan pre WW2, but could not practice with a Japanese name due to the national issues against Japan in Korea - not exactly a great martial tradition when you compare it to Japan's.

As far as weapons are concerned, japanese swords - katanas - are the highest quality hand-to-hand weapons ever produced - metallographic analysis in the highest quality european swords (from Toledo) showed about 200,000 layers of iron/carbon in the steel alloy. The equivalent number for a katana is 1,500,000 - making it a killing tool that hasn't been repeated. Other Japanese blades for yaris (spears) and naginatas (halberds) were of comparable quality.

For me only a single "style" is not a problem especially now that i know a lot about this particular one - although again your assumption is misleading - Sengoku Daimyos were particularly imaginative when tactics and strategy were concerned and were keen inovators in many instances. It was also not a problem in the past when i knew nothing about japan, its history and its warring tradition.

Perhaps your opinion is based on a misunderstanding or lack of understanding - in that case S2 provides a great opportunity to sort this misunderstanding for you - you never know.