Verdicts on Medieval II

[Quickening]

Now that CA are working on the next Total War game Im wondering what everyones take on Medieval 2 is.
We've been through quite a bit since it's release (the shield bug, no more real patches after 1.2 etc) but now it seems the game is definately in its final official state. I was away for a few months and missed the whole Securicom thing with Kingdoms (which Im getting for Christmas) so I don't know what that's about and Im aware there is another update planned for Kingdoms. But this is just about vanilla Medieval 2.

This isn't meant to be about the games technical issues but about how much enjoyment (if any) you get or used to from Med 2. This is about where it stands with you in the present day.

You know in a way I kind of wish I had never read this forum up to and after Med 2's release because then I would have been blissfully unaware of the games problems Because knowing that there was some invisible mechanic screwing up ruined my enjoyment up until patch 1.2.

But I love this game, I think the biggest problem for me with it is its repetitive nature. I mean Im on turn 141 of my Spanish campaign just now and all Im doing is going through the boring process of taking castle after castle. I mean those multi layered bastions are a nice idea but in practise they are just so boring for me to take again and again.

The highlights of this game for me are in the little incidents. For example I just had a powerful witch wondering around Iberia who succeeded in killing two of my priests and an assassin before mysteriously disappearing.
Or like my assassin Sebastian the Killer who lived in the lands around Rome, killing any Pope who wasn't going along with the Spanish agenda. Things like that make the game fun for me. In fact, I have more fun on the campaign map than on the battle map.

I tend to have periods of playing this game intensely before taking a few months off. To date Ive played this game for two weeks of my life in total according to X-Fire and I know I'll play it much more to come. I think Medieval 2, despite it's buggy flaws, is an awesome game.


So what are your thoughts on it?


P.S: Oh yeah I will say however that Rome had a real spirit and feel to it which I find Med 2 sadly lacking in. It's hard to explain.