Originally Posted by Ldvs
I agree. The AI is the single biggest reason why I voted for Medieval.
Don't get me wrong. I like all 3 games, and I still have all 3 installed on my computer. I continue to enjoy Shogun for its elegant simplicity and its incredibly immersive atmosphere. And yes, Rome's graphics and UI are vastly improved over both its predecessors, not to mention a terrific soundtrack (although the musical scores for all 3 games are excellent). And I don't deny that Medieval tends to bog down in micromanagement more so than the other two games.
For all that, however, I still play Medieval more often than Shogun and Rome combined. Part of it is that I've always found medieval Europe to be one of the more fascinating periods in history. There's also the game's replayability, which is greatly enhanced by having the largest number of factions, plus being able to play during 2 different periods. The fact that religion has an increased role in Medieval makes it more interesting as well, despite the added micromanagement it causes.
But as I said before, Medieval's AI is what seals it for me. Yes, Shogun's AI every bit as good (if not better) than Medieval's. Unfortunately, Shogun's AI is also somewhat nullified by Japan's physical geography--the narrow Home Islands are easy to conquer as they have many chokepoint areas where you can concentrate your forces in just a few provinces. I therefore wind up following the same conquest pattern almost every time I play Shogun, which does get a little old after a while. On the other hand, Medieval has much greater unit variety, and the AI is still very good at kicking my arse (unless I'm careful and/or lucky), even just on Normal/Hard. Britain and Europe's geography also means that the main Medieval map and the Viking map are much more difficult to conquer--there aren't nearly as many chokepoint provinces to be had.
In short, Medieval is not nearly as formulaic as Shogun; and its AI is still good enough to give me a decent challenge, unlike in Rome. I continue to play Shogun and Rome from time to time, but Medieval is still my meat and potatoes.![]()
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