Rome II

[Gusington]

That has definitely happened to me. Playing Shogun 2 now after long play of Rome 2, and even though I like Rome 2 a lot, IMHO Shogun 2 is still the better game. More variety and interesting things to do in Rome 2, but Shogun 2 feels more expertly crafted, for lack of a better phrase.

[Nefaro]

That has definitely happened to me. Playing Shogun 2 now after long play of Rome 2, and even though I like Rome 2 a lot, IMHO Shogun 2 is still the better game. More variety and interesting things to do in Rome 2, but Shogun 2 feels more expertly crafted, for lack of a better phrase.

Yeah.  I still think the gameplay in Shogun 2 was the best even though I much prefer the setting and unit variety in Rome 2.  Despite my love for the subject matter in Rome 2, I know that I was much more enamored of the gameplay in Shogun 2, since I played a long campaign non-stop all the way to the finish when I first got that one.  I had never done that so ravenously in any of the Total War games, going back to the first.

It's obvious that Rome 2 was released before it was finished, and there were some needless changes to the game mechanics since Shogun 2.  To add to that problem, I don't think some of the new mechanics were playtested and rebalanced enough.  Although they removed one such bad mechanic with those damn flags, there are other systems which need to be reviewed. 

It still hasn't quite captured as much enjoyment as Shogun 2 did, but I'm hoping they continue to improve it.  It's a playable and enjoyable game, now that they've updated it, but it still needs some refinement in areas.  I'm also happy that it's now challenging, although it's also frustrating because part of that challenge has come from the unfortunate practice of boosting the AI's extra "cheats". 

I'm not trying to stomp on anyone's sacred cow, I just wanted to express my opinion that it's still not quite up to Shogun 2 standards (mostly due to campaign-side stuff at the moment) and I dearly hope they don't drop further development in favor of their next title before this one is finished (like they did with ETW).

[Gusington]

I have a similar take. While I do love Japanese history, there is potential in Rome 2 to be greater than Shogun 2. Shogun 2 was great much quicker though, without the need of so many patches.

[mikeck]

I agree. I think Shogun 2 was at release- and still is now- more...."polished" and "refined". There is just something about the art and the flowers and such that is just beautiful. Rome 2 lacks that. I prefer the latter because I enjoy the time period. In contrast, I have no interest in feudal japan.

Alas, Rome 2 does have that "one more turn" feel to me. Every night I sit down for an hour or so of gaming I end up playing it. For the last 5 nights, I sat down to play Command and/or Flashpoint Campaigns" but ended up saying " I will just play a turn or two of Rome"...2 hours later...

I am probably the biggest advocate and fan of this game on this forum, but I acknowledge that it had issues at birth (although not as many as some made out) and will never have that feel and look that Shogun 2 has. Like all TW games, I eventually get tired of the lack of realism and true challenge.

Actually, the main reason I jumped to the games defense was that I thought- even at release- it was a good game with cool new ideas. Because it was different, a lot of people over at TWcenter and total war forums started attacking it and claiming that every bug was game breaking. Even at wargamer I got pummeled when I defended it. I didn't want people here to miss out on a game they would like because of a bunch of 15 year olds bitching about this or that.

[MengJiao]

Still, nothing is more annoying than realizing halfway through a battle, that two of your cohorts are almost dead...only to find that they were standing at attention while being pelted to death by peltasts or rock slingers while you attention was elsewhere on the battlefield.

This is one way that having a high quality force cause the enemy to ambush it is worthwhile:  the enemy is always right there and you just have to do some attacking and pursuing.  I usually don't have many missile troops in quality armies which sort of simplifies getting ambushed as well.

[MengJiao]

That has definitely happened to me. Playing Shogun 2 now after long play of Rome 2, and even though I like Rome 2 a lot, IMHO Shogun 2 is still the better game. More variety and interesting things to do in Rome 2, but Shogun 2 feels more expertly crafted, for lack of a better phrase.

Yeah.  I still think the gameplay in Shogun 2 was the best even though I much prefer the setting and unit variety in Rome 2.  Despite my love for the subject matter in Rome 2, I know that I was much more enamored of the gameplay in Shogun 2, since I played a long campaign non-stop all the way to the finish when I first got that one.  I had never done that so ravenously in any of the Total War games, going back to the first.

It's obvious that Rome 2 was released before it was finished, and there were some needless changes to the game mechanics since Shogun 2.  To add to that problem, I don't think some of the new mechanics were playtested and rebalanced enough.  Although they removed one such bad mechanic with those damn flags, there are other systems which need to be reviewed. 

It still hasn't quite captured as much enjoyment as Shogun 2 did, but I'm hoping they continue to improve it.  It's a playable and enjoyable game, now that they've updated it, but it still needs some refinement in areas.  I'm also happy that it's now challenging, although it's also frustrating because part of that challenge has come from the unfortunate practice of boosting the AI's extra "cheats". 

I'm not trying to stomp on anyone's sacred cow, I just wanted to express my opinion that it's still not quite up to Shogun 2 standards (mostly due to campaign-side stuff at the moment) and I dearly hope they don't drop further development in favor of their next title before this one is finished (like they did with ETW).

  I agree that Shogun2 was pretty astounding.  In fact, having played EmpireTW, I was going to skip any more TW games.  Then for some reason I played the Shogun2 demo and I was converted instantly into a raving fanboi of TW.

   I agree that Rome II has a long way to go, but it has lots of potential.  I hope the Totally Punic War DLC is better than the Gaul DLC.

[Sir Slash]

I loved Shogun except for one thing, the dreaded Realm Divide. Darthmod tamed it quite a bit but vanilla I couldn't handle and quit. I miss being able to destroy my enemies regional buildings in Rome 2 the way you could in Shogun as well as using an agent to bribe a whole enemy army over to my side.

[mikeck]

Lol...I do miss bribing armies. However, there are several manipulation options I like in Rome also...like scaring the enemy army, ambushing a unit on patrol, etc

[Nefaro]

You can still bribe enemy agents over to your side, and with the amount that the AI can spam at you that (or assassination) is recommended in liberal amounts.

[Sir Slash]

Patch 11 out today and after some new hoops to jump through, is playable in vanilla. Radious mod is dead again even though it was just updated today also. 2000 New changes according to him and after some more work will again be playable soon. Good thing his mod is worth the wait. For now it's back to my vanilla saves. Is this now officially the most patched game in history? >:( >:( >:(

[PanzersEast]

I left Caesar in Gaul... wonder how he is doing.  I am currently doing a couple of play throughs then back to this one and now that another large patch is out, timing seems right. Playing Qvadriga has made me want to play again....




PE

[sandman2575]

Patch 11 out today

??? 
Am i the only one who had no idea another patch was in the works.... Wasn't patch 10 released like, a couple of days ago???

So much for my DEI campaign...*sigh*

[MengJiao]

Patch 11 out today and after some new hoops to jump through, is playable in vanilla. Radious mod is dead again even though it was just updated today also. 2000 New changes according to him and after some more work will again be playable soon. Good thing his mod is worth the wait. For now it's back to my vanilla saves. Is this now officially the most patched game in history? >:( >:( >:(

  I guess I prefer as many patches as possible.  CLOD was the opposite and it took years for it to work.  While Rome II has been working all along, I've found the constant patching something of an inspiration.  Possibly this one makes the game compatable with the Punic war DLC?

[sandman2575]

Possibly this one makes the game compatable with the Punic war DLC?

That must be it.  Silly me -- I didn't realize new DLC meant yet more tweaks to the base game... :-\

[mikeck]

Still screws up the mods in my current game... Hopefully this is just the beta I can opt out