Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai

Blog Post: Standalone expansion that can actually stand on its own

ferretbacon — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 05:19:00 GMT

Autumn, 1871. We are clan Tosa. We were the Emperor's favorite sons, named his Imperial Vanguard. Our wealth was spectacular, our might terrifying to the Shogun's hosts. Now our home island of Shikoku is bombarded by enemy ships, besieged on all sides. The seat of our power, Tosa Province, is the only region of Shikoku still under our direct control. Shogunate forces and discontent peasant rabble have taken the rest of the island. We have but one battered ironclad guarding our harbor, a harbor that is on fire and too expensive to repair. Because we cannot trade, we have only 11 gold in our treasury and a measly 23 gold income every two weeks. Our proud troops are now deserting us, as we don't have the money to pay them for their service. The son and heir of our daimyo is surrounded on all sides in Kyoto. We are proud to say that, despite his circumstances, he continues the fight. He has a regiment of hardened U.S. Marines, eight regiments of Tosa Red Bear Infantry, some cannons, and a francophile foreign veteran named Hugh Banneker who has drilled his troops into ruthlessly efficient killers. They take enemy bullets, chew them up, and spit them right back at the enemy. There is still hope, but we must plan our next moves very carefully over the following weeks. The winds are chilling and the leaves of autumn are falling. Whether we will see the spring is wholly reliant on our resolve.

This is Shogun 2: Total War's standalone expansion, Fall of the Samurai and, as you can tell, I'm just a little bit into it. This expansion fast forwards about 200 years after the time period of the original campaign, introducing such technological marvels as rifles, steam powered ships, and railroads to the Total War series. The expansion retains most elements from the original campaign, but differentiates itself by introducing a technology tree that forces the player to strike a balance between technological advancement and honoring the old ways. Barreling down the tech tree will put you at a significant advantage both on the battlefield and in the administration of your government, but will cause great discontent among your populace. This system succeeds in tempering a natural inclination for rapid expansion and aggressive foreign policy with a need to pace technological advancement so that your provincial holdings don't fracture under the strain of civil unrest.

Another change and, if I say, a great improvement, is the naval aspect of the game. The original campaign's naval engagements were fairly one dimensional - board enemy vessels as they boarded yours until the last man was standing. Frankly, I usually auto resolved naval engagements in the original campaign. Fall of the Samurai rectifies this with the introduction of cannon armed ships, reminiscent of Empire: Total War and Napoleon: Total War. I now find myself manually directing naval engagements, not just because my chances of success increase, but because it is a lot more fun than before.

Naval units also provide artillery support to land armies within their sphere of influence, giving the player the option of bombarding an are of the battlefield twice per battle, which opens up a new facet of strategy while reinforcing the importance of naval support, as the ability is quite powerful and has been responsible more than once for turning the tide of a battle going against me. Poor naval supremacy is what landed me in hot water, as described in the introduction; I didn't give enough precedence to my naval development, while at the same time I was wholly reliant upon my advanced trading port for nearly all my income. A superior enemy navy floated right up to my harbor and bombarded it and my economy into kindling in one fell swoop. Lesson learned.

Diplomacy is a somewhat simplified affair; whereas the original campaign pitted every clan in a free-for-all battle, Fall of the Samurai splits the clans between pro-Shogunate and pro-Imperial forces. I say somewhat simplified because, upon further reflection, diplomacy might actually be more nuanced than ever before. There exists a mechanic whereby you or an AI faction can switch sides. This takes careful consideration and planning, as a switch in allegiance will alienate your former allies while causing former enemies to rally to your side. So while your large, neighboring ally may have your back now, there always exists the chance that they may backstab you and that a once peaceful border becomes a new front in the war.

A third course also exists, which opens up once you have amassed enough fame and prestige. You may declare yourself a third faction, separate from the Emperor and the Shogun. As a third faction, you can expect no support from the other clans, but, if you think your position and economy to be secure or if you're just seeking a challenge, it does provide an interesting option.

Fall of the Samurai retains the cohesive, unifying Japanese inspired art style, the minimalist score, and the polished UI of the original campaign while providing fresh game mechanics and an exploration of the most modern time period that The Creative Assembly has ever attempted. I would recommend this to any computer gamer who fancies themselves a strategy gamer and I would absolutely insist this expansion upon anyone who has every played and enjoyed a Total War game. Here's hoping this is Creative Assembly's test run for Civil: Total War.

Wiki: Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai Guides

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 23:14:00 GMT

Guides for Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai

Blog Post: nothing really

arthufart — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:22:00 GMT

i just gave it a 10 to be nice anyway can someone lend me Halo Reach

Blog Post: Shogun 2

Ezio Auditore — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:24:00 GMT

This game was full of action and suspense. The game was certainly a great gaming experience for me. It kept me on the edge of my bed constantly playing it all hours of the day. No question about it you will enjoy this epic game. This will be one of the most action packed games you will ever see in store. Great Story Line with interesting characters.

Blog Post: A Changed Battlefield On Land And At Sea

Adam Biessener — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:10:00 GMT

The original Total War: Shogun 2 is a triumphant balance between complexity and elegance, a strategy game that offers players meaningful interactions with economic development and warfare alongside a diplomatic metagame that is second to none. The one area where that game tripped up was in variety; many of the one-off units were nearly indistinguishable from the baseline infantry/cavalry/archers they modified, and it was easy to fall back on static tactics and unit compositions. This standalone expansion retains everything that made the original great while rectifying that shortcoming with style. [Excerpt]Every clan in Japan now has to straddle the line between traditional spears-and-bows units and modern firearms and cannons, and all of the diversity that the influx of new weaponry provides.

From a wider strategic perspective, the new system where each clan is loyal to either emperor or shogun is a massive change to how diplomacy works out and the larger war takes shape. The significant modifiers to diplomatic relationships based on loyalty mean that every clan is more or less sorted into one of two buckets when the game begins. Being friends with like-minded clans is easy, while the penalty for having an opposite alignment makes talks frosty at best. You can still declare war on whomever you like – which is handy when a one-province minor who happens to be aligned your way is sitting on a nice rich resource.

The change makes diplomacy simpler overall, which is a shame, but it also opens up new gameplay on the strategic map. The alignment mechanic replaces religion from the original and can be similarly influenced by agents. Just don’t box yourself in with friendly clans all around like I did in one game, forcing a long-distance naval invasion to continue expanding.

The good news is that Fall of the Samurai’s naval game is vastly improved over the original. Every ship packing cannons makes the spectacle that much more impressive. The de-emphasis of boarding is a very welcome balance change for sea battles, but vastly more important is the expanded role of navies on the strategy layer. Not only can they drop devastating supporting fire in land battles within their firing range, but they can bombard enemy buildings and castles as well. Getting a port blockaded in the original was annoying; having another of your farms burned to the ground every turn by a loose enemy fleet is a crushing blow to your economy. The importance of naval supremacy (or at least rough parity) cannot be overstated.

The land battles are still the main event in many ways, and they are better than ever in Fall of the Samurai. I’ve won and lost engagements with dozens of combinations of spear-toting armed peasants, conscript riflemen, elite snipers, traditional samurai, and a wide variety of cannons. The fact that bows and swords can win even late-game battles despite the prevalence of firearms is a testament to Creative Assembly’s outstanding balancing efforts. Extending the unit pool beyond Shogun 2’s basic mix is a wonderful way to convince players to shake up their tactics, and I was constantly engaged in solving the latest tactical challenge brought on by a unique force composition.

The AI has always been a strength for Shogun 2, and by and large it remains so in Fall of the Samurai. I would have loved for a few wrinkles to get smoothed out, like its tendency to swap provinces by failing to defend its holdings when it goes on the offensive, its confusion when its intended target castle gets reinforced, and its poor handling of sieges. But on the whole it’s a decent effort. It knows how to use the new units well enough, and when the forces on the field are relatively even it can put up a reasonable fight – though any competent tactician will win handily unless badly outnumbered. I strongly suggest for experienced players to try the hard and very hard difficulty settings once they have a campaign or two under their belt.

Multiplayer enjoys a similar implementation as the original, just with the delightful new unit mix. I’m still not a fan thanks to cumbersome battle controls, not being able to pause and issue orders, and the extreme downtime involved with playing a multiplayer campaign, but I can’t see any reason that gamers who already enjoy them won’t continue to do so here.

Fall of the Samurai, like the original Shogun 2, is good enough that I heartily recommend it to everyone who owns a PC regardless of their experience with or opinion of the grand strategy genre. If you’re coming into the series for the first time there is a lot to learn, but you’ll be amply rewarded with hundreds of hours of top-notch entertainment should you make the investment.

File: Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai Review

Adam Biessener — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:09:00 GMT

A few screenshots to go along with the review of the standalone expansion.

File: Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai Review

Adam Biessener — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:09:00 GMT

A few screenshots to go along with the review of the standalone expansion.

File: Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai Review

Adam Biessener — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:09:00 GMT

A few screenshots to go along with the review of the standalone expansion.

Blog Post: Five Major Ways The Fall Of The Samurai Changes Shogun 2

Adam Biessener — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:20:00 GMT

The standalone Fall of the Samurai expansion will change the way we play Total War: Shogun 2 when it comes out in less than a month. Read on to find out how you'll have to modernize your strategies to come out on top of a rapidly changing Japan.[Excerpt]

[click on any of the images to view the full-size version]

Manipulate The People
Instead of the Shinto-Buddhist/Christian religious rivalry in Shogun 2, Fall of the Samurai concerns itself with allegiance to either emperor or shogun. Unlike religion, which tends to only affect a few areas of the country, political allegiance is a critical system that every clan needs to concern themselves with. Your shinsengumi agents (or ishin shishi for Imperial-aligned clans) will move a province's needle in your direction every turn they are present, as does the "propaganda" chain of buildings (which allow you to recruit those agents in the first place and also boost the tax rate in that province). Like spreading Christian or heretical beliefs in Shogun 2, this dramatically increases civil unrest in the target province and increases your chances of inspiring revolts with those same agents. Because this sort of thing isn't considered a hostile act, it's a fantastic way to weaken a nearby clan that you don't want to declare actual war on yet. Just make sure that you do unto them before they do unto you – and make doubly sure that you convert the people of any newly conquered territories so that they don't rise up in revolt as soon as your armies move out.

Listen To The People
You don't want to listen to your subjects so much as get the other clans to listen to theirs – after you've converted their populace to your way of thinking. The diplomatic modifier for being aligned with the same political side as a rival clan is significant, as is the penalty for having different allegiances. It won't happen often, and when it does it'll be after a serious investment, but you can gain an ally without firing a shot if you can convince a rival to switch sides. Because of allegiances' effects on inter-clan relations and the way that Shogun 2's diplomacy system works, two fairly calcified sides tend to form in Fall of the Samurai as like-minded clans band together and fight opposite-aligned rivals. Adding a clan to your column while removing it from the other is priceless.

[Next up: Guns and more guns][PageBreak]

Arm The People
Basic peasants remain militarily relevant throughout a vanilla Shogun 2 campaign. That seems true from the limited preview version of Fall of the Samurai I've played, but comes with one important caveat: You may not need to train the peasants into elite warriors, but you need to get them guns sooner than later. Fall of the Samurai takes place much later in history than Shogun 2, and the increasing importance of firearms in the timeline of historical warfare is reflected in the game. You must consider all kinds of small details when deciding how to balance your army – is this primarily a siege or field stack, what are the strengths of your general, what techs have you researched, and more – but in general, it takes a lot to tilt the "spear versus gun" equation toward the spears.

Bombard The People
Just like in real life, the appearance of the cannon on the battlefield changes warfare forever. Field-capable artillery pieces don't show up immediately in Fall of the Samurai, but it doesn't take long for the AI's common (and logical) beeline to building cannon to pay off. However much of a priority you want to put on creating your own big guns, you need a plan to deal with enemy cannon or your armies will quickly find themselves outclassed. Whether you build lots of cavalry, try to ambush the enemy in terrain that makes it hard to use cannon effectively, or just build more of them than the other guy, you need to come up with something.

Bombard The People More
Navies are primarily useful for protecting trade routes in Shogun 2. While that is still a vital function for your ships to perform in this expansion, the new capabilities to bombard armies and castles as well as add fire support for land battles is extremely powerful. As great as it is to use field artillery to rain down destruction on your foes, being able to call in off-map barrages is awe-inspiring. Timing it can be difficult, since there's a delay between giving the order and the shells starting to land as well as a large radius in which the shots randomly fall, but a well-placed naval barrage will turn the tide of many battles.

We have a lot more to talk about with Fall of the Samurai – Total War didn't get where it is by being a simple game! – but these top-level differences should give you a sense of how this standalone expansion alters the formula. My time with the early build Sega provided left me gushingly enthusiastic about how it changes dozens of systems and concepts for the better while still remaining recognizably Shogun 2. I'm hopeful that I don't have to eat any crow when Fall of the Samurai comes out on March 23.

Group: Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai