🚀 go-pugleaf

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:18:17 -0700, Sheldon England
<sheldonengland@netscape.net> wrote:

>Hi everybody!
>
>Released March 15th is the latest offering from Creative Assembly -- 
>Shogun 2 Total War -- the 2nd edition of their very first Total War game 
>from a decade ago. Now I have played the campaign through to my first 
>victory as Shogun and these are my rambling comments.
>
>For context, I have played all the Total War games except Napoleon (not 
>an era of interest to me).
>
>By fate I just missed Shogun even though it is one of my favourite eras. 
>The first TW game I played was Medieval, then Rome, then Medieval 2, 
>then Empire. Mid-last year advice in this forum allowed me to seek out 
>the original Shogun game which I ended up playing constantly despite the 
>age of the tech. This is in part due to countless hours of playing the 
>old Milton Bradley Gamemaster tabletop game Shogun (now discontinued). 
>The map is the same, the armies are the same, and the overall game-play 
>is the same. Suffice it to say, Shogun 2 - Total War is a game I have 
>anticipated for a decade.
>
>ob: This is a Steam-activated game so anti-steamies will want to give it 
>a miss. All the "exclusive Best Buy" perks I received seem to be for the 
>multiplayer aspect only which is a waste for me as I will not play 
>multiplayer. C'est la guerre.
>
>Comparing this game to the original is difficult because they play so 
>different. Similar theme: sengoku jidai era (time of a nation at war) 
>but now 1545 instead of 1530. The campaign map is vastly different with 
>terrain features and niceties like cherry blossoms blowing in the wind 
>or rainbows near waterfalls. I really like the initial 'fog of war' 
>where everything not discovered looks like a hand-drawn map until revealed.
>
>The old clans are still there as are several new ones. Now there are 
>navies and beach invasions! The Japanese ships are less like the 
>European ships with cannons and instead are floating platforms for 
>archers and soldiers. In fact, there are no admirals, just generals who 
>command the sea units. (The sea battles are the only aspect that bogs my 
>PC down to a crawl.) Unlike the bug in the first game, enemies will 
>invade you so don't ever leave your home base empty. No longer can you 
>instantly teleport from one end of the island(s) to the other.
>
>The economy works more like Empire. Each province has a keep and various 
>resources that can be upgraded in the usual fashion. Rice production is 
>critical as it is easy to use up all reserves and hungry people become 
>rebellious people. Some building upgrades (especially castles) require 
>significant rice available. I find the first few years a big challenge. 
>There's never enough money to go around. The enemy AI *seems* to cheat a 
>far amount in that they always seem to have half the provinces but twice 
>the armies and infrastructure. Maybe it just appears this way.
>
>Speaking of AI, it feels to me like the developers have really cranked 
>this up. At least a dozen times my cunning plan was thwarted by enemy 
>generals taking advantage of opportunities. Any game that can piss me 
>off that much yet still have me wanting to try again is a good challenge 
>in my books. It was a struggle of political, military, and 
>infrastructure balance to achieve the goal of conquering and holding 
>Kyoto for four seasons and, once done, EVERYONE declared war on me. I 
>don't consider this end-game -- just a new challenge. The fields will 
>run red with the blood of those who oppose the Chosokabe!
>
>Faction leaders have honour scores and his generals have loyalty scores. 
>They can have retainers and traits as before but you have more of a say 
>in who becomes a retainer and how his abilities grow. A general may have 
>an ambitious wife, for example, that reduces the general's loyalty and 
>increases the chance of rebellion. Otherwise armies work more or less as 
>before on the campaign map.
>
>Border towers, border forts, and shinobi have been replaced by metsuke 
>(secret police) and monks who travel around keeping the peace, spreading 
>religion, or even set up office in a particular province to keep an eye 
>on it. In the first Shogun game it wouldn't be unusual for me to have 
>dozens of shinobi spies, half a dozen ninja in key areas, and several 
>geishia. In this game you need a lot of land (and infrastucture) before 
>you have more than one of each unit. I have yet to see a geisha in the 
>game. Assassinations are possible, but also units can sabotage buildings 
>and resources. Sometimes your units are captured and imprisoned for a 
>season or two ... sometimes they are not as lucky.
>
>Foreign powers are occasionally seen as European traders (Namban) and 
>also there are half a dozen 'trade zones' surrounding Japan. By 
>occupying and defending these zones you can increase income and trade 
>silks with China, cotton with Korea, and spices and warhorses and iron 
>from various sources. Trade routes can be pirated. Sadly, you cannot 
>invade China!  :(
>
>On the tactical field maps are huge and it is so rewarding to command 
>all those little guys. Creative Assembly have this interface down to a 
>science. It feels solid yet flexible. New to Shogun are siege units. 
>These are not actually used like Asian and European devices that break 
>down walls. Instead, they are fixed in place anti-personnel devices. 
>Castle sieges on the tactical map now require the attackers to breach 
>through a series of defensive positions until they reach the donjon 
>(keep) at the inner core. In large castles this is a challenge! Fire 
>arrows help if you have learned the technique. Rivers can be forded in 
>certain places and some units can travel through woods and remain hidden 
>to sneak up on enemy flanks.
>
>I won't play the multiplayer aspect of this game because I am not an 
>online gamer per se. I play games when I have free time or the mood 
>strikes and don't see myself ever scheduling time to play a campaign 
>online. When a tactical battle is about to occur you can enable a "drop 
>in" player to take over the other side (instead of AI). By fighting many 
>of these drop-in battles you level up your "avatar" and increase his 
>abilities. You can just keep fighting battle after battle if the 
>tactical part is what you most enjoy.
>
>It goes without saying that graphically it is extremely pleasing, both 
>in campaign (turn-based) and strategic (RTS) modes. I'm really not sure 
>what they could do to improve the experience.
>
>Is Shogun 2 Total War a perfect game? No. But it sure satisfies all my 
>TW gaming needs in a fun and challenging way and will keep me pacified 
>for a few years while they (hopefully) work on Rome 2 Total War. I'll 
>give it a 9.5/10.
>
>Just ... one .... more ... turn ....
>
>
>   - Sheldon, Shogun


Darn, no strategy guide for 2. Just the first one.  I realize a bunch
of things have changed, but I wonder if the guide to the last one
would be helpful. My memory isn't the greatest, especially for complex
games like this one (plus I keep switching games).

I installed the limited edition version but the additional game
content download doesn't work.  It says to enter the registration code
in the jewelry case but installation already registered the game with
Steam.  The code on the card is not accepted.  How do I get the
additional content?

-pw