I think of the Shogun campaigns as bar room brawls across Japan.
I think it's because the factions are so similar and the campaign map (Japan) is relatively claustrophic. But I just found it lacked replayability - and so did most players on release Steam stats implied it was a "one campaign and you are done" title. Shogun is an awesome game in many regards - the period flavour and the battle AI are particularly good.
#TOTAL WAR THREE KINGDOMS TIPS REDDIT MODS#
You will get much, much more out of this game if you are familiar with the Three Kingdoms period and its personalities (or have at least played a Dynasty Warriors game at some point) and I would strongly recommend adding lore and more unique generals mods for even your first playthrough. Economic balance is generally good, and the map has critical strategic objectives that are more critical to your success than having gold (Weapon and Armor forges to produce equipment for generals, Mines to field certain unit types, Horse pastures to reduce cavalry costs etc). Model counts are very high compared to Warhammer, with individual infantry units being ~300 men each, leading to some truly massive battles in the mid and late game. The campaign map is, by far, the best ever put in a Total War game, with many types of minor settlements, each with their own maps and effects on the campaign. There was a lot of love put into this game that clearly didn't get put into Warhammer, with individual dueling animations between generals, fire spreading as a mechanic that can burn down wood structures and entire forests to expose enemy units, tons of in-campaign events, marriage politics etc. However it is also the closest Total War has ever come to being a true Grand Strategy game, with an absolutely massive map, very in-depth diplomacy and spy systems not seen in any other game.
Three Kingdoms is much closer to Warhammer, with very powerful Legendary Generals (who mostly did exist in history and have some very rich historical lore which is reflected in their art and stats) leading lord-locked retinues of units. Fall of the Samurai is its own thing entirely so I won't go into it beyond saying it is also fantastic if you want a gunpowder vs melee focused total war, and is by far better than Empire or Napoleon. It's a great game, but its nothing like Warhammer and is much closer to a Medieval 2 but in Japan. There are also no hero units if that matters to you, and agents do not appear in combat.
The main downsides are that unit rosters are nearly identical for most factions, with certain archetypes entirely absent because they didn't exist in Japanese history (ie most shielded unit types and true heavy infantry/cav) and that there's relatively little variety in the campaign overall. Shogun is from a time before fast replenishment, army stances or "mega settlements." Every building is on the campaign map and can be raided by 1 unit "armies." Naval combat exists and can be important depending on faction, and combat is generally more punishing with even victors taking significant casualties - leading to a territorial back and forth that isn't present in the newer games.