I can't stop playing the SP campaign of this game !

[Gregoshi]

This is not a bad thing. You are certainly getting your money's worth.

I was the same way when the original STW came out - I had little interest in medieval Japan. The game play intrigued me and after playing the game, I became more interested in the history of the Sengoku Jidai.

Since R2 is out I have this feeling, FOTS is the swan's song of the Total War game style we all enjoyed.

In another parallel, there were many here at the Org that felt the same way when the original RTW came out. Substitute "R2" with "RTW" and "FOTS" with "MTW" and you pretty much have it.

I really should get FotS (I only have TWS2) - I've read a lot of good comments about it.

[Alcibiade]

I can't say I played more FOTS than RTW of course but it's the first time I come back on the unmodded version of an old CA title. I've started EB campaign s again and again but never did I play RTW or M2TW vanilla after putting it back on the shelf.

I would advise to buy FOTS but I don't know how it plays to somebody who started with S1. My first CA game was RTW and it was only 4 years before (though I remember discovering S1 on a friend's computer 10 years before and it really caught my attention evenif I wasn't playing computer games at the time).

But there is really something special in FOTS that keeps you playing till the end.

EDIT : Not so special in fact, it's just its own version of realm divide.

[easytarget]

At 1300 hours just playing Shogun 2, I can wholeheartedly agree that I could not stop playing it. I've never modded it.

I just played in rotation, a ROTS campaign, then S2, then FOTS, rinse repeat, each has it's own interesting aspects for me.

While I've been on a bit of a break lately as I played a couple campaigns in Rome 2 that were quite time consuming affairs, and more recently I've been completely sucked into the world of MTW2, which I never played when it initially released, I know eventually I will play yet more Shogun 2.

Everyone has their favorites, I doubt I will ever love anything as much as I do Shogun 2 and MTW2 (I can't wait to see what EB2 ends up like).

And yes Gregoshi, I would definitely recommend picking up FOTS at the next sale, it is just so much fun. And as Alcibiade makes mention, the realm divide is vastly different than in the other two variants of S2/ROTS.

[Alcibiade]

Maybe I have to give another try to S2. I never played with the Otomo. And ROTS too, but in my memory it's the one I appreciated the less. I remember a very slow campaign start.

[easytarget]

Otomo are a blast, Nanban ships, guns, canons, and priests inciting riots in the streets of your enemies, it's a fine campaign.

As for ROTS, one of the most under rated games CA has made, the subtleties of that one were lost on most I'm afraid and it was quickly forgotten midst it's more bombastic sibling FOTS that released not all that long afterwards. It does have a slower start as you begin in basically in a 3 way power struggle and using agents to flip some early provinces is one of the only ways to avoid expanding your base early w/o immediately starting a war you really can't afford to start in earnest yet. Give it another go!

[BroskiDerpman]

I do like RoTS especially since it addressed some issues from vanilla campaign (ala a more balanced general skill tree) but FoTS felt much more action packed and had a loud bang to everything which gave me a good feeling. The deadly volley of the weapons makes the game full of carnage in literally seconds.

[easytarget]

Yeah, it was great fun to get some cannons going, the AI just had no hope of figuring out a way to cope with it, and I just could not stop myself from abusing the crap out of them with it.

Probably the single most entertaining thing I did in that game.