Creative Assembly's Brutal and Unprovoked Reskinning of Troy

The Ramesses Campaign gameplay:
• Total War: PHARAOH - R...
The Chinese interview (that's in English):
www.bilibili.c...
The post on my reddit about the game being a shoestring budgeted skeleton crewed operation:
/ big_if_true_tenuous_bu...
#totalwar #totalwarpharaoh #nutotalwar
Best way to support me and what I do:
/ volound
❤️ Thanks to all supporters ❤️
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @volound
My complete gaming setup:
www.amazon.co....
Join my Discord server and elevate those sons of bitches:
/ discord
My FB Page for ranty longposts:
/ volound
My Twitter shitterings:
/ volound
My Twitch:
/ volound

[@Volound]

i talked about chariots a bit in here, and the "meta". heres what i was doing with chariots in troy in 2020 when i was given early access: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZ_VcqeHgrZogdE an idea of what to expect from pharaoh. same studio making fundamentally the same game. if anything, chariots are even more necessary (overpowered) now. and this is not something i think you can fix with rebalancing. the game is probably just going to be a rock paper scissors of chariors > archers > infantry, and where the AI is too dumb to deal with chariots (cavalry), as always. doesnt help that chariots always end up having no "hard" counter in any total war game.

[@viamdolor9226]

To be fair, chariots have been fixed in Troy for forever. They aren't busted anymore and are ok now.

[@benjaminloyd6056]

Chariots in Rome 1 were quite vulnerable to archers and slingers and disintegrated if charged into pikes. But they worked well for flanking, harassing infantry and had a bonus vs cavalry. The scythed chariots were really cool as well.

[@hopedream11]

​@benjaminloyd6056 in Rome 2 you didn't really use them unless you wanted to see a unique unit or had a playstyle suited for them. There also was a counter. In Pharoah, there isn't a hard counter at least not from what the game shows. If there was one for The Bronze Age, CA won't show it. Nor do any research on any to the best of their ability.

[@QUAKERSATTACKS97]

Chariots will probably get that uphill combat bonus 😂

[@Crappy-1441]

TFW Manorlords is the closest thing we might get for classic total war. Also, You ever get that feeling when Manorlords Come out and CA will just copy and paste/steal good mechanics from that game and Half Ass it on future titles.

[@beetheimmortal]

I fucking hate this Hero/character thing they're going for. Why can't we just have factions where you can meet famous people without any fanfare and it's up to you to make them into heroes like they were in real life? Those characters don't really have superhuman abilities, they are just men, like any other, only more important due to their occupation.

[@triplehernan5155]

Very true. It's like in Attila, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire was an inept ruler irl, it's up to the player to make him a capable one, because ultimately they're just avatars for the players agency. Making them prefabricated characters is just silly.

[@Brandon-bc1fz]

I was thinking to myself... would i rather play the already fleshed out character OR make my own character and make his story badass. Acquire his own titles and accolades and do all the re imagining history shit with a character you put effort into making awesome.

[@wolfensniper4012]

because people don't even realize they're historical figures unless you made them special? I've basically assuming most of my generals as some randomly generated guy in previous titles because i have zero knowledge on Rome or Dark Age

[@beetheimmortal]

@@wolfensniper4012 What a nice way to self-own. "Hurr durr I don't know anything about the topic the game covers, therefore it needs MOBA characters because I also can't read apparently".

[@wolfensniper4012]

​​@@beetheimmortal ​ no don't get me wrong im completely with the idea of perma death, I'm just saying that generals in previous titles are not very, well, historical informative on that regard, especially everyone using the same general model. If CA could add historical descriptions for historical generals (not only leaders) that would be good, but players would not care about if they're historical either, and continue to use them like some randomly generated five-star guy. Most of the memorable generals for a player is based on how players invest into them instead of how their historical position was. Yes that's good for gameplay, but for “historical” titles it has its pullbacks That's one of the cons for previous titles, at least in, well, 3K, I got to know some random Chinese historical figure. Or in some Napoleon mods like ntw3 the historical generals have their own historical portraits and unique army build based on historical sources. The worst thing is that I'm guessing the whole hero general thing is embedded in CA's engine and they're too lazy to develop a new one.

[@CapitalTeeth]

They deadass reskinned Troy and asked for 60 bucks. For gods sake, I got Troy for free on Epic and even then I still didn't think it was worth playing.

[@Volound]

i got it early AND for free and i didnt even bother with it.

[@JackSpackProductions]

The collision thing is what’s so frustrating. It hasn’t been improved in years. They talk about adding formation attack where units move back while facing the enemy. It’s cool until you realize that at the basic level units just don’t intersect with each other correctly. It was my biggest issue with Troy.

[@SuperCrumpets]

It's been like this since empire, literally 14 years ago

[@felipeignacioavilapizarro3698]

the engine can't stop shitting itself with unit collision. every time in any post empire TW I see something epic worthy of zooming in, like the last desperate general's unit charge the collision ruins everything for me

[@Marshmobilise]

they have shamelessly lifted that from Manor Lords. For decades that’s not been possible then ML showcases it and suddenly it’s made it to TW. Hmmmmmmm

[@JackSpackProductions]

@@SuperCrumpets Yeah it’s broken at the fundamental level, and each game since has duct taped it together with varying levels of success. Shogun 2 is probably the best at this all things considered. Troy is insanely broken though. You can just move units through one another, it’s ridiculous and the worst it’s ever been from what I can remember. I play a lot of the other games modded, but even Rome II with DEI handles collision worlds better than Troy does.

[@lucasart328]

@@SuperCrumpets yeah wtf 14 years ago goddamn smh

[@captntargaryen]

This Troy overhaul mod looks cool. But im not gonna pay 60 bucks for that.

[@martinsvelentinovics9618]

Its honestly impressive how they can make a modern triple a game look worse than a game that is 19 years old.

[@dragonjarl]

How?! The graphics look better than any of the previous games. Plus it’s got dynamic graphics such as weather changes.

[@CasulGAmer]

@@dragonjarl everything went downhill after shogun 2

[@dragonjarl]

I am as desperate as ever for a good TW game. This looks really good. Yeah it’s not perfect t but then I get the sense it’s not a full historical title. It’s a saga type game. But it is still light years ahead of previous games. Let’s give it a chance and not run it down for the sake of it. If it’s released and you hate it you can say I told you so. 👍

[@martinsvelentinovics9618]

@@dragonjarl Its true that the shading and textures are better, but the models and animations are so horrendous it makes the game look jarring

[@LordVader1094]

@@dragonjarl Pure cope and corporate bootlicking

[@thesiberianproductions3748]

9:53 Empire started the tech trees, but it was done well in my opinion because it was tied to an actual campaign building. Those campaign buildings could be upgraded to research faster but caused major public order issues... it was a risk reward decision, because if you got behind in tech you were fighting an uphill battle, but if you overinvested, your own towns would rebel against you.

[@FeHearts]

Empire started a lot of things. Nickel & diming DLC policy, new engine, tech trees, reworked settlements & building trees.

[@Marshmobilise]

@@FeHearts but empire also had things we’d never seen before too. Naval battles. Multiple continents. Trade nodes. It was a mixed bag for sure.

[@sethyboy0]

The public order penalties weren’t really that bad in empire. Like I don’t remember it really being that much of a downside that it’d give you pause from upgrading your research.

[@thesiberianproductions3748]

@Sethyboy0 yeah maybe not... I honestly haven't played Vanilla in a long time. At least with mods it does factor in for me

[@snakeguy8646]

One thing that was really cool about Empire was early mil tech, like when you’re the first to research ring bayonets then you adopt a more shock and awe doctrine similar to the Caroleons

[@TudorP147]

Despite the much better technology, total war battles are only getting smaller. Not looking better either so I'm guessing the extra computing power is spent on their lack of care.

[@abhinandanbanerjee5471]

We need a new company to compete with them at this point, Volound. As long as CA are a profiting monopoly in this genre, we cannot expect quality.

[@McMahonshaun]

This is the thing that puzzles me. Why is there no competition. Why is their nothing similar? Surely another developer can do something similar

[@shetlandapache949]

The combination of bannerlord and ck3 mod seems like it should check those boxes for you

[@SplendidFactor]

@@McMahonshaun Because developing something like TW is absolute hell apparently. Not many want to try and compete against TW, they feel as though they'd get absolutely demolished.

[@stevencass8849]

It’s similar with the EA game Madden. It’s been terrible for well over a decade, but because Ea signed exclusive rights with the NFL they are the only game I town. Gamers whine about how terrible the gameplay is, and the MUT content as money grabs, but they continue to buy the game! Grrrr

[@mastercheif878]

So true. There have been some attempts but most of it is mid(the ultimate general/admiral to name one). Manor Lord looks very promising though, but that’s about it sadly.

[@Beispielname1233]

Cant believe CAs video only has about 1/4 th downvotes. They have nurtured such an undemanding playerbase they could be sold sand in the desert...

[@monkofdarktimes]

If it's not Warhammer it's no good. Which is the issue. They consumers of one genre

[@Justin12345678876]

Because they tapped into a far more numerous market. There are a lot of people that love Warhammer and these modern historical games, because there are a lot more people that want a simple flashy game. People enjoy trash these days.

[@doltBmB]

The research system ONLY ever made sense in empire/napoleon, taking place in the age of discovery and enlightenment, having a mechanic to represent the incredibly rapid rate of invention and progress made sense. For so many of these ancient history games it does not make sense at all, in medieval they had a few tech events like the invention of gunpowder but not a dedicated research system. Instead of coming up with a new mechanic uniquely suited to the bronze age, they just reskin the tech tree yet again, and because there wasn't any technologies actually being invented back then they can only make it stat buffs.

[@madwellmusic8995]

Makes sense. I'm wondering if the tech tree could be replaced with decrees and kingly orders of governance to add to the building limitation. And tech comes from interacting with foreign cultures, trade commerce, and progression of industrial infrastructure

[@Brandon-bc1fz]

good point.

[@YamatoPower9000]

Rome 2 troops regiments had an upgrade. Like ability to use those flaming balls or something and stats. I actually very liked it. Cause it makes them personalized and you want to care for them. Cause when game came out general would drop like flies.

[@wolliveryoutube]

I think it was fine in Shogun 2, since it was also an era in which lots of new discoveries and inventions were introduced to Japan, and you were starting from the ground up as a single small clan. Overall, I think tech tree stuff should unlock new features, new ways to play, like how in Shogun 2 you had branches for focusing on things like cavalry, firearms, warrior monks, ninjas, etc. I don't even like Empire very much, but it had some good techs like that too. I especially liked how Empire focused less on unlocking new units and more on making your main line infantry unit more and more powerful, especially through new bayonet techs. Tech trees that are just stuff like "Research Wood Harvesting Tier III to get +15% wood production" (I'm looking at Troy and 3K) is boring and adds nothing, it's useless bloat.

[@bednoises6391]

the unit size literally makes this entire game a meme alone

[@Volound]

i dont know why more people arent sick of these small scale games.

[@byhy1111]

​​@@Volound Everyone is every "popular" unit balance mod since at least shogun 2 and empire has expanded the unit size on ultra unit size by at least 50%

[@Alexiosization]

@@byhy1111 Programmig is Hard

[@byhy1111]

@@Alexiosization I don't think that's part of it I think it's balance it's a lot easier to balance the units when every unit type has there standard unit size

[@Alexiosization]

@@byhy1111and what about variety?

[@ivvan497]

1h and 20min of volund absolutely DUMPING ok CA... Fckin love it.

[@zinswear6117]

CA kind of doing it by themselves, that gameplay showcase was fucking cringe. Also Volound trying to give them positives too, with the fact that attacking archers can stand on the walls and shoot enemies below. Which was introduced in tw warhammer 1 I think (but probably never used cuz sieges and game is shite). You could do that in medieval 2 total war too anyway, was a bit janky but you could put your archers on the wall to attack the defenders below. But yeah you right, 1h and 20 min of volound dumping on CA. Lovely watch :-)

[@ivvan497]

@@zinswear6117 Yea, looks like CA lost the passion and talent and are now Uncreative Assembly Line. Its so sad to watch this happen to game companies. They become big and the money potential also becomes big and so they start producing garbage that will sell and make new one every year or two.

[@zinswear6117]

@@ivvan497 Sadly this has been the norm with lots of companies and for quite some time. I just don't understand the people who defend them. You can still enjoy a game and know it's shit (especially compared to the older ones) Hell, even I enjoyed total war warhammer 2 coop campaign a bit. But it's just such a shitty total war game and more a RPG game as Volound pointed out in the video. So many RPG elements. Criticizing CA is like criticizing an art student who made a mediocre piece. Then you point out some flaws and the parents starts shouting, and then the kid continues to produce mediocre art pieces. (in CAs case the art would be shit) :P

[@boscochou9710]

Total Reskin: SANDY TROY

[@rockun7929]

Its so funny seeing these arrows go straight up at an angle completely unrelated to the direction they are aiming their bows in. It was always like this to some degree, but 20 years should be enough to make progress in this area, or at least not regress

[@Volound]

exactly. this is literally worse than rome total war in 2004.

[@evanbillington2585]

In shogun 2 and I believe even empire-with it's pretty flaccid archery- you could watch the soldiers string an arrow which was cool

[@razzledazzlerob]

Pharaoh looks great! Is it a standalone DLC or will we need to own the base game Troy?

[@Volound]

[@elpsykoongro5379]

@@parabelluminvicta8380*dense mode activates*

[@GodofToast]

@@parabelluminvicta8380 whoosh

[@ThatOliveMrT]

LOL paying for a CA game. Funny joke

[@maximusd26]

@@parabelluminvicta8380 based response lmao

[@ivegotajousyaccent99]

I love imagining Volound as the Gordon Ramsey of Total War, crapping on whatever CA shows or releases: -“FUCKEN BORING!” -“OLD TOTAL WAR DID IT BETTER!” Also, why don’t Total War games do unit battle banners more often? Three Kingdoms did it nicely, although I wish there’d be more variety in shape/color. Even in Rome 1, the Roman heavy infantry would have a soldier carrying a legionary eagle if I remember correctly.

[@homoe7976]

"But Chef, we minted NFTs..."

[@nikolasweischner3560]

I desperately want Total War games to stop looking like mobile games in their UI

[@hallamhal]

Make a Bronze Age collapse TW by all means, but please give it more scope than Egypt and their immediate neighbours And make a TW about the Ancient Egyptians, but please give it more scope than just the Bronze Age Collapse

[@madwellmusic8995]

Exactly. Is the game only supposed to range for a 50 year span? Where's the immersion and replayability once the collapse/apocalypse happens? Does it just keep looping through 3 cycles based on a "protect the monument," system?

[@richardg8376]

That animation right at the start for raised shields while advancing just immediately looked wrong to me. They look like they're shielding themselves from some rain, not trying to avoid a painful death. Their stance suggests they're annoyed and grumpy.

[@Volound]

yep same. small details all add up.

[@Marshmobilise]

Also buddy boy commander is just walking around no shield or nothing

[@petruluca6124]

Unbearable to see those bow pointing to one direction and then the arrow doing a modern javelin manoeuvre, spawning upwards straight to the sky. WTF

[@Volound]

yeah i think i forgot to comment on that exact thing as it was happening, but i saw it each time and it was absurd.

[@triplehernan5155]

The game looks so superficial. It's obviously a regression when you compare it to older titles (not to beat a dead horse), but you go on the subreddit and people are lauding it and downvoting anyone who voices a contrary opinion. Not sure if they're bots or they're actually just that dense.

[@CarlosCastro94360]

A smaller team is working on this game so I'm not expecting too much.

[@dfgfgh244]

39:25 it seems like you quite literally take troops from a generals army and put them in the fort which will be cheaper to upkeep and will reinforce a settlement when attacked which seems like a convulted way of just doing what other Total War games did before generals were absolutely required for armies.

[@captainnyet9855]

At this point TW's core design has sunk to such lows that every step backwards from the current implementation feels like an improvement. Now we can finally make our own garrisons and station troops in a settlement, AGAIN!

[@TheKipchak]

I really hate the idea of playing as a character vs playing as a nation. (Haven't played since Attilla)

[@baggelis_aikaterinis]

''Creative Assembly's Brutal and Unprovoked Reskinning of Troy '' Savage Volound XD

[@olefredrikskjegstad5972]

I can't see anyone mentioning this, so I'd like to point out that Attila had an implemented family tree. Characters age and die, and it can cause major shifts when someone important bites it.

[@AbdulHannanAbdulMatheen]

👏😐 It's sad how Volund and dishonorable daimo...etc predicted this a long time ago and CA still came out and gave everyone a middle finger

[@Volound]

DD has been making some good videos since i slowed down. glad to see it.

[@Marshmobilise]

Volound’s critiques are invaluable otherwise I’d be throwing hard money at this franchise just to get burned over and over again. Desperate for TW to recapture the magic it once had for me as a young boy playing Rome 1 with my dad after school but those days are gone and not coming back and not just because I’m older but because this studio is incapable of producing original ideas in its current state.

[@jonny2911]

I’m still playing third age total war divide and conquer, It’s infantry combat is better than anything after shogun 2, I don’t understand why they ditched the medieval campaign and battle style, It was so much more satisfying.

[@MD-yd8lh]

True, infantry combat can be very interesting and dramatic

[@captainnyet9855]

they ditched it so they could make a new engine more focused on gunpowder and naval warfare like ETW; (disergarding ETW itself, which mostly failed due to the development being massively rushed) things only got really bad once CA tried converting that same engine into a pure melee TW engine again with Rome 2; that game should have had a new engine but instead it was just a butchered version of the TW3 engine (which had a bunch of problems in regards to melee combat)

[@spencersmith4373]

That mod is truly the best total war game in my opinion

[@bigthoughts2644]

Same, only way i can tolerate rome 2 is through dei

[@sorelvio79]

@@captainnyet9855 This is the heart of the issue, they keep milking the same engine as long as people still buy their arcade mobile games. It's sad to see new fans who feel a nostalgia for Rome 2 / Attila and didn't get to play Med 2 / Rome 1 to understand what makes a good battle simulator. Why people still play Med 2 after so many years? Because was the pinnacle of CA and people hoped it will only go up from there. But no, they had to make that shit Empire engine, which is good for 1v1 gun combat, but is a catastrophe for melee. No unit collision, no mass, no stagger mechanic when attacked from multiple sides, no realistic missile trajectory and shooting angle, no impactful unit formation, etc.

[@amulet2350]

Why did they not use the 2D unit card styles for this game? It would have looked so good with how colorful and iconic the ancient Egyptian art style is. Make the HUD like the 3K HUD where you have a massive portrait for the general and the rest of the army would be smaller guys that are lined up. Hell you could even do a different style for the Hittites and the Myceneaens and the different cultures.

[@elpsykoongro5379]

that requires extra money so the higher ups do not get their 5 cents of the month if they do that

[@reeceshugrue6167]

I don't understand why almost no other company has tried to do a TW tlike strategy game, this niche genre needs some competition. The only one I know of is Manor Lords.

[@krullet3560]

I very much agree with you. Even just a competent indie developer with passion should be able to do a less fancy TW but with better battle mechanics that makes sense

[@algotrobertsson8721]

You have Grand civil war

[@notgoddhoward5972]

It's pretty hard to do on that level(evident by CA failing themselves a lot with empire/napoleon/rome 2/attila. Big companies don't want the risk and small devs don't have the means.😢

[@algotrobertsson8721]

@@notgoddhoward5972 But somehow some obscure company managed to "real medieval battle" to then disappear forever haha

[@doltBmB]

med2 different buildings gave "free garrison" slots, like town watches, walls, barracks, keeps etc.

[@toddhoward4250]

37:37 I used to play Rome 1 a lot, and this kinda reminded me of this moment I will never forget. I was playing as the Julii Romans and I had just conquered north Italy and so I began my expansion into gaul proper. I knew there was a settlement up ahead so I moved my army forward across a river. It was then the fog of war cleared enough for me to see a Gallic settlement. But, the fog of war also revealed the gallic faction leader and several thousand of his closest friends staring at me from atop the hill where he had built a fort in front of the settlement. So I figure, “I’ll take the fort, then move on to the settlement!” So I used the last of my movement and attacked the fort. I defeated and killed the Gallic faction leader, but at a tremendous cost, losing likely ~60% of my army. I thought,”Jesus that was a good fight. I’ll pull back to replenish my army back in Italy next turn.” But I never got that chance. On the Gallic AI’s turn it attacked my army, now encamped in the fort I had just taken. Their attack was overwhelming. There was never any doubt in my mind about the outcome of the battle. Outnumbered 4 to 1, my faction leader killed swathes of barbarians in the front lines with his men. We fought to the last man, killing many more men than we lost, using our new forts strong defensive positions. Within 10 turns I built up a new army. Having my new faction leader lead a stronger Roman army back into Gaul to win back Roman honor, but also to avenge the death of his father. It deeply saddens me to know I will never have another time like that in total war, ever again.

[@shortcutrecords4948]

Small unit size is what is killing it for me on this one. Need empire 2! But not if it’s small unit sizes though😂

[@hashutchampion8471]

I am 100% Agree with Volound at currentstate of TW they using some old mechanics to other TWs and call it TW at this point even Warhammer could have Historicial Cavalry but nope MP side of Warhammer says nope we don't want Cavalry too be strong I hope they will get rival Company just like Blizzard having PoE against them

[@MD-yd8lh]

True, we need poe tw😅

[@Cool_Night_King]

I just get yeeted into your videos once they appear in my notifications. I feel voices of reason in strategy gaming are very rare right now , the amount of kiss-assery from other youtubers to CA make me sick.

[@Volound]

yeah total war has attracted (and distilled) a right good heap of shit for its youtubers in 2023. decent and honest ones are few and far between.

[@darkfireslide]

Pharoah being shit and a clone is entirely expected, yet somehow still disappointing. Something that always irks me about watching the newer Total War games, even Shogun 2, is that the units being displayed are supposed to be entire formations of men numbering in the hundreds or even thousands, but the units don't really behave that way. Starting with Empire, units gained much more fluid movement, making them more flexible, only hampered by how buggy Empire's formations were. Something else that was true about formations during this time period is that they took a long time to resolve fights; battles often took hours in real life, due to the rate at which casualties were inflicted, and the speed at which formations actually move. We get no sense of this in most Total War games, with units responding as quickly as any standard RTS game, and able to quickly turn, reorganize themselves, and even run through other units with no loss to the unit. You can't actually run through another formation of tightly-packed spears or a shieldwall, certainly not something like a testudo, yet in these newer TW games units have almost no collision with each other, meaning you can turn your entire army into a blender of people just passing by each other, and it looks horrific. Even cavalry are too mobile in these games: horses also have mass, and you can't move an entire formation of horses at a full gallop without it breaking apart into an incoherent blob, but in TW you can always have cavalry galloping around the battlefield with little consequence, especially with the way fatigue works. Just look at how knights actually charged for example, even in their manuals they state that the knights are supposed to stay shoulder to shoulder because maintaining the formation is everything for armies prior to the 18th century. With historical TW there is an opportunity to differentiate from Warhammer by using a far more realistic simulation of battle, with formations of men being completely impassable no matter how much you click or drag through, and making it so repositioning units actually matters in terms of having an opportunity cost for yourself, resulting in gameplay that rewards a good tactical plan that can be adjusted but that has weight with even something as simple as where a unit starts a battle out. There was a dream of this in the older games, that you can see in things like Rome 1 and Medieval 2's implementation of pike phalanxes, that engine limitations made impossible, but could almost certainly be implemented properly now. Instead, we just have more of the same uninteresting, sloppy garbage that TW has been cranking out since 2013, on both a micro and macro level of detail. No wonder fans don't care about "HiStOrIcAl" Total War anymore. The developers sure fucking don't

[@adamm2091]

Its sad how many "fans" defend this entry. I long for the days of Rome 1/Med 2, the map generation, unit formations and combat system as well as generals were far superior. Gods, TW was strong then... ...MORE WINE!

[@monkofdarktimes]

I still don't like the settlement management system that is in place. Rome 2 is the start of it. I want to build any town into my capital center. It's sad to see the decline for profit

[@pointbleak-3222]

When i heard of deteriorating armor my thoughts also went to ending battles quicker. If u have to fight an unbreakable unit with 80 base armor +10% faction bonus +20 flat from an ability plus whatever else, in a game that emphasises grinding away HP bars, just having it whither away throughout the batlle might be a mercy. Maybe they'll rename the series Total (Health)war.

[@bigthoughts2644]

Total health bar

[@amadour2549]

And they're still using the same outdated engine for all of their newer titles... We will never have a total war game that can perfectly recreate the sheer amount of units in past armies ...

[@Elsneakakaze]

I fucking hate rome 2 because of how monsterously it changed the entire franchise. The province system made it so that you can no longer really choose which settlements are going to be the mega fortresses like in shogun 2. And the armies being attached to generals thing made it so that you have less flexibility and options when garrisoning the frontier settlements. Not to mention how "growth" is now an arbitrary bottleneck to growing your cities and is locked to provinces individually instead of being generated nationwide so you can migrate people where you need them. And the fucking pre determined garrison system is TRASH. Free upkeep units is a better method because it allowed you to CUSTOMIZE your garrisons to be good for the enemy you are fighting. Rome 2 removed most of the choices the player can make on the campaign map like in previous games. In shogun 2 the limit to growing settlements wasnt some random growth mechanic, it was tied to farms, which was tied to technology, which made tech important and engaging. you could spend upkeep on a few extra units in the frontier settlement garrisons to ensure they were safe. Where as in rome 2 you have 1 actual melee infantry, 3 ranged units, and a handful of literal peons that kill 1 model per unit. Fuck rome 2, CA killed the entire franchise there.

[@Volound]

100%.

[@clunky9072]

Articulated perfectly what turned me off of Rome 2. I forgot about how bad it was.

[@Casavo]

Like i said in another of your video, CA has given up on the simulation and moved into a moba like game with heroes.

[@AnalyticalReckoner]

These are bad times for AAA games.

[@nobelwarprize]

Exactly! this is the worst period for gaming in my lifetime.

[@mistakeofgodproductions5650]

Your video recommendations are really something

[@Volound]

zpilled and gigachadded.

[@BrezhnevStan]

@@Volound Very based

[@Marshmobilise]

Shitting on neoliberal capitalism doesn’t stop at video games 😂😂

[@spiteforge]

At 31:15 - you don’t even get to specialize as a land or naval commander, you just get extra movement on both at the same time. How the hell do developers like CA manage to cram their titles so full of RPG elements, yet completely miss the main attraction such features are supposed to provide (specialized builds that create vast differentiation between different characters)?

[@bigeasy1383]

It seems they have nothing new to offer, as if they forgot that battles are what make totalwar unique, they just don't care or lazy. and they are charging full price for a reskin of Troy which btw I got for free, and I have like less than 5 hours on it.

[@notgoddhoward5972]

There is no way they would put actual money behind a real new game. Last time they did that - they made Rome 2....

[@josipmrkonic2175]

Haven't bought any of their game since Rome 2. Watching Volound since Shogun 2. Nuff said

[@notgoddhoward5972]

Luv me Shogun 2 Luv me ashigaru chat Luv me Rome 1 slingers 'Ate Rome 2 'Ate da warthammer 'Ate Rome 1 re-busted Simple as.

[@N008er]

I love the title bro xD But it is just so sad to say what they are doing with Total War ... full priced reskin of a Saga game and already three faction DLCs and one Campaign DLC were announced ... just so sad

[@CrunchyNorbert]

total war has inspired clones that are probably better at this point

[@kingmortales8257]

Haven't seen any clones on the same scale of size as TW except for Ultimate General, which isn't 3D

[@krullet3560]

You can go frame by frame with the buttons , and . It helps a lot when you need the perfect frame

[@VitorEmanuelOliver]

Definitely not the first time they do this. The warpath campaign from Empire took many assets from medieval 2. Specially audio

[@schmi2897]

The problem is not so much that they improve the campaign side of things but the fact that it has come at the cost of the battles having any meaningful tactical elements. A game with old games' tactical depth combined with improved campaign mechanics would be great.

[@captainnyet9855]

Many of new TW's campaign mechanics ar ally bad as well; it's really sa that a gam like Troy had to resort to giving every faction a completely seperate, unique "mechanic" just to create some sense of gameplay variety when a game like ETW (which was itself a massive failure) when older TW games achieved similar amounts of variety just by virtue of starting positions, base strengths and weaknesses for factions and new advancements locked behind tech trees. In ETW there is a huge amount of gameplay paths just based on which tech developmnt you prioritise; and the different factions encourage different tech specialisations based on roster strengths and starting position; if CA has the resources to give every layable faction a unique mechanic, imagine what they could do if they put all that effort into just improving the base campaign layer for all factions in the game. Why is it in Troy TW that Agamemnon is the only faction to have an improved vassalisation system when CA could have instead made it so every faction has better vassals, then clever use of vassalisation could be turned into an important strategical decision instead of being relegated toa gimmick for one faction. Of curse the answer to this question is "becasue you can sell a faction gimmick" and this has largely become my problem wth the campaign layer of new TW games; for all the different features added on top of the base campaign layer the core systems have barely been touched and are stuck in the early 2010's.

[@schmi2897]

@@captainnyet9855 I was talking about the diplomacy feature in particular since in the old TW games it's pretty broken and at least what I remember from Napoleon and Rome 2 was better. However yes I agree with you that the old TW games still had better campaign mechanics overall.

[@hhelminn]

Don't care about skin colors at all, but I felt no excitment at all watching that trailer. How are people hyped for the same game every year?

[@TS-ShaggyDog]

Creative Assembly, Sega and Games Workshop - a New Axis? - the Network for Electronic Diversions

[@AlecFortescue]

my question is why is the guy, whose mummy was more related to people living in Europe at the time, looks subsaharan.

[@kingmortales8257]

Shit like this makes me not want to get the new games even if they fix all the mechanics. It's why I haven't even considered buying an AC games since Origins. Woke misplaced diversity totally ruins immersion.

[@AlecFortescue]

@@kingmortales8257 Bayek was likeable, he had a backstory that worked but what's going on in AC is madness. Valhalla is a joke that's based of various "viking" tv series rather than history.

[@kingmortales8257]

@@AlecFortescue I liked Bayek, but there were misplaced sub saharans all over and AC has had way too much homosexuality for years, as part of an overall lavk of historical authenticity. What sealed the nail in the coffin for me with Odysee so that I knew I wouldn't buy it was when I saw Socrates being portrayed as a dad body person when in real life he was a body builder as one of his defining characteristics

[@cyllananassan9159]

The presenters are so cringe..... they are over 30 years old and talk like they are 8 years old and just discovered scalestrix

[@sebaszane]

You should make a video addressing the completely backwards tech tree system. Why does a game like Total War even need a tech tree? Shouldn't advancements in civilization be made overtime through actual gameplay accomplishments like settlement growth/wonders/battle wins/world events (Rome/Medieval 2) as opposed to a painfully slow turn timer with no skill involved? Doesn't help that the bonuses are completely pointless. Wow, I wait 5 turns for a spear unit that's virtually identical to the one before, just reskinned with a few stat changes? This shit isn't even actual gameplay. At least shogun 2 offered some variety in building chains and unit compositions. Games from Rome 2 onwards seem to offer the option to level up a building from +2 happiness in your settlement to +3. Fucking mediocre.

[@sebaszane]

A tech tree should translate to variety in your gameplay. FOTS: Choosing between deliberately slowing tech tree progress for traditional unit experience and public order bonuses, or speeding it up for the caveats of modernization that help your respective faction. Recent tech trees have zero inspiration.

[@juggernaut9994]

Based video title. Also, great video as always man.

[@lucasriddle5538]

Saddens me a lot to see the state of Total War these days. I have to give thanks to you, Volound, for your videos. I've felt the same way about total war for a while now but I haven't had the words to describe it. It's so strange, I first watched your channel years and years ago on a bf4 sniping video and then years later became enamored by Medieval 2. funny how things coincide.

[@theflyingkaramazovbrothers6]

Brutal and unprovoked. "I understood that reference!"

[@Marshmobilise]

I didn’t 😢

[@deanmiller6463]

What I worry about is the "we have to be able to be self-sufficient". You can't. You have to grade. The break down of trade caused the goddamm collapse! How can you fuck that up?

[@Marshmobilise]

Because historical accuracy isn’t and never has been something CA cares about

[@NanoLT]

They do have some varied and interesting maps in Warhammer, they just don't have many of them. You'll fight the same map like every settlement battle as Wood Elves.

[@zacharyraut151]

You can tell this man is based just by looking at his recommended videos

[@redeoghan]

If this launched without the Total War brand as some shovelware garbage nobody would bat an eyelid.

[@Volound]

yep. nobody would even pay attention to it.

[@Im_Anthonyy]

Have anyone also noticed that the smoke, trails of proyectiles, and glowing effects on units or proyectiles in WH 3 looks blurry and pixelated EVEN IN ULTRA SETTINGS unless u use TAA to blur every imperfect its game has? Is insane, they rely on post processing tricks to cover their lack of work

[@Durdles26]

Always wanted a Bronze Age total war ; oh but one that actually encompassed the era such as Minoans and Mesopotamia. I mean no Assyrians no Babylon? Also I kinda hate the campaign maps ever since Rome2 they always seem over designed and hard to read, Style over function. One of the cool things was seeing the actual map change due to the buildings you have like farms or better roads.

[@Axe152]

As an empire fanboy, the taxation on/off slider is not new. At the settlement level in that game you also had a taxes on or exempt button. You had a globally dictated tax rate you could scroll up and down in a different menu for your entire nation.

[@Volound]

shogun 2 had an exempt button too. i dont see a tax slider though and theyve been streamlining the shit out of the whole tax system all along. thats the fear.

[@Axe152]

@@Volound ah gotcha

[@jacobscott1433]

Your thoughts on the new Ultimate General: American Revolution trailer would be interesting!

[@doltBmB]

I can find no such trailer

[@The_Blackshield]

Total War: Paint by Numbers. They've got the work flow to make a game, so they just go through that and this is the result.

[@Inquisitor_Lelouch]

It feels like someone played assassins creed origins and decided to put some of those ascetics into Troy.

[@alexsampsonite2176]

Volound, if you pause youtube videos you can use the full stop key (greater than) and comma key (less than) to navigate frame by frame

[@xavierhernandez9651]

i somehow feel more attached to the png characters of rome 1 than the larp moba heroes that are immortal historical figures. I am more invested in rome 1 characters than the rpg shite from nu-total war demigods. They made a png have more personality and personal feel than this legendary figure you can minmax their numbers and customise their kit and perks directly. I feel more larp and immersion from a png that can die permanently to barbarians with sharp sticks or from old age in their mid 50s. How did they make a png more personable than an rpg character?? They were willing to paste in features from rtw2, troy and 3k but skip out on one of 3k's more serviceable systems which is the characters. Why????

[@DeadLikeMeJ]

What bothered me is the fact that the CA's video starts by them attacking an enemy army and the enemy army is charging at them - basically showcasing that the AI will be easy to handle cause it will not play into stratigic advantages, same goes for sallying out and attacking - I can understand a sally out when the garrison is overwhelmingly more powerful but if not the whole point of a walled city with a garrison is to hold while waiting for reinforcements. The idea of copy-pasting isn't inherently wrong, but it depends on how much new and improved stuff they add => The problem is they don't add enough to justify an expansion pack price, and more so a full price which border lining a joke. I don't mind for them having the same sound effects, if they bothered to copy the many more systems and mechanics and implament them properly to the new game from Siege Escalation to Population to Satasfaction (improved loyalty from 3K) I want them all to copy pasted ! But CA doesnt do it, and when they do they barely have the budget and its clear, half assed implamentations and only few systems copied with each smaller title. As for the terms/common argumenet betweeen 'Historical' and 'Fantansy', I said it in plenty places many a times : The real discussion is between Simulation and Arcady => Game can be good either way but they usually need to strike a good balance to be really good games (that include the older TW games), usually to attract larger crowds many games tend to streamline and turn their games more arcady. Rome's Population system tied RecruitmentReplenishmentEconomyBattles all together which is a perfect balance of simulation gamified : losing soldiers meant slowing your economic development and impacted on what units you could have. This simulation can easily be implamented in Warhammer, we already have a modder that demonstrated it, this modder also solved the infinite ammo (retreating and attacking to replenish ammo) by adding tracker for archer ammo ! the problem is that CA isn't looking to develop those simulations cause they are costlier to develop (both the mechanics and the AI to work with them) and there are less people who care for those(they either looking for simpler games or missing out on the importance of those), which is a huge shame. WH isn't a garbage game, it is a good game, but it isn't a great sandbox game like the older TW games it is a game were its systems are either lackluster or implamented poorly (Which is often the case). But with all that I do agree with you (and glad to see you criticize about the TW and pharoah), I do have raise one critical point I completely disagree with you - TW's rise to fame was with Rome 1 hate it or love it it is the reality, it is the game that truly made the franchise (not the first shogun) and that game was a mix between RTT and Grand turn based strategy. People weren't in the game for the battles alone and they were there for just the campaign a mixed balance of both - Diplomacy was a thing from that game, functioning properly or not people were there for it, 3K brought diplomacy to where people like me had been waiting it to get since the 2000's, and then WH3/Troy turn backwards on that (the magic of 3K's diplomacy ins't in its vast options, but how do they tie together and the fact that the AI is working pretty good with them, first game that Vassals were actually useful - because of annexation, and even that had downsides to balance it out!). ** edited because original was a bit of a mess.

[@enjoythestruggle]

That map is literally Stir River reskinned lmao.

[@slinkerdeer]

Congrats on 100k!

[@Korvinian4601]

I finally get what’s the problem with TW, and it’s that it’s trying way too hard to be Paradox wannabes. They’re focusing too much on the campaign and not enough on battles

[@nathanrobinson1099]

Attila was my jumping off point and it’s glaring how far TW has gone. It’s a shell of a game. They are like a sports team that keeps losing in the first round of the playoffs year after year and refuse to rebuild, or make major steps to make the final. The programmers are the WoW generation and newer and it shows.

[@tiagosoares9160]

A game full of nothing.... what is really impressive is that on the total war subreddit they are defending this game with tooths and nails ?????' And saying they liked troy, so i assume they are one of the 223 people o play troy. Again CA coming with a quick cashgrab, i am really concenr to the next historical title for the simple fact that i know they will fckit up and present a bland game and the people with 10 IQ will defend it.

[@Volound]

yep. shithole subreddit as ive said time and time again. thats why the place exists. to do that.

[@HeliodromusScorpio]

I love this whole out war on CA good stuff the veterans are with you man

[@kylepettis4571]

Brutal and unprovoked lmao

[@leoscar9816]

I'm waiting for the inevitable Legend of Total War Ramses solo doomstack where he stacked armor multipliers or some shit to kill an entire army. Actually even his community doesn't give a shit about the game.

[@Volound]

always amuses me to see people thinking something like that is remarkable when some CA designer already sat calculating out and signing off on those builds. just plays into CAs hands to actually go through the motions of realising their abomination and dedicating a fucking video to it. worthless perfunctory tat.

[@Sotsky]

Soviet history game made by the Committee Assembly of historical development. Materialistic man is finished, new man barters for resources like good citizen. We use reuse old game to make new. It will bring you very happiness comrade!

[@Volound]

nah this is the complete opposite. neoliberalism. late stage capitalism. monopolization. conglomerisation. this game is shit because SEGA sammy holdings needs to grow by 7% this year and sucking money out of something made cheaply in bulgaria is the best way they can see to do it. a centrally planned game industry would actually make games.

[@G0th1cpar0dia669543]

what does a bad game by an anglo corporation with ties to japanese conglomerates have to do with the soviet union? did the communists spoil your milk too?

[@MadisonRamanamabangbang]

I disagree about total war being about battles, theyre important but its the context behind the battles that really like exemplifies them, otherwise just doing custom battles over and over would be just as valuable as campaign, which it isnt. The peace times and building up and stuff is one of my favorite parts

[@SamuelSamuel-zx9mu]

My recommendation: Europa Universalis 4

[@Volound]

loads of games have that though. basically everything paradox has ever made. what makes tw unique (its raison d'être) is that it has battles. total war without campaign is still total war. half the people on my discord only play MP, and i dont mean campaigns.

[@DLockholm]

TW has always been about battle, real time somewhat realistic sizes, god I miss Divide et Impera huge size units, playing with Rome and fielding 400 strong First Cohorts was so fucking satisfying. So no campaign is a nice flavor, but battles ARE a must. If you don't like it you can f yourself and play Europa Universalis or Crusade and Kingdoms, ffs these warhemorrhoids

[@MD-yd8lh]

You are both right

[@MadisonRamanamabangbang]

@@MD-yd8lh yay!

[@Renderc4t]

They pawned off the overpowered hero levels onto the bodyguards... Unit customization would be a welcome feature but we already had stat upgrades for units, it was called veterancy and there was no need to overcomplicate it unless they're trying to appeal to Warhammer minmaxers. Now where's the cosmetic customization? Has CA's hate for Avatar Conquest tainted the very idea of an army painter?

[@kaanalpkaratas6091]

I hope they will add civilizations mentioned in Egyptian chronics such as Nubia, Libya, Assyria, Mittani, Babylonia and Minoa aswell but im afraid they will charge dlcs for it.

[@prepaidgame]

Lol immortal characters in a "historical" setting, what tiny interest I might've had is now gone.

[@siebrandvandebrake6637]

Battles have to be significantly longer then in the previous few titles to give those new "formations" any type of effect. Also it seems like retreating from a losing battle will not ever be possible without incurring massive casualties, while it would seem so reasonable to do a fighting retreat.

[@lfrankproductions8173]

Ramesses was a Somali? 🤣

[@mrhed0nist]

I'm baffled why the last 2 "historical" TW have been set during the bronze age. Given that it is possibly the least interesting era you could use for a war simulator. And why do I expect to see the EA Sports logo whenever one of these copy/paste games start up?

[@Korvinian4601]

CA was under EA during their first years funnily enough

[@atticusfinch282]

Seeing this makes me realize that any future remasters that might happen will be gutted and arcadified versions of great games

[@plamenir712]

Блин ну хоть что то поменяйте, а то это деградация. Битвы не людей а кукол, сделайте боевку хотя бы как в атилле, добавьте знамена, политику сделайте как в троецарствии, города визуально расширьте на карте кампании как в риме 2 или атилле, сделайте малые деревни и особые здания как в empire total war, сделайте мини ролики при действии шпионов или убийц как в medieval 2 total war. Уберите полоски HP у отрядов это не вархаммер, измените иконки отрядов то есть нужна другая стилистика как в древнем Египте к примеру в профиль ну или на выбор обычные иконки или в для погружения в профиль. И то что хочу увидеть лично я это изменения построения отрядов или правильней сказать что те или иные войска вообще знают или не знают построения в прямом смысле, ополчение набранное с улиц городов и деревень может идти только строем и чтобы у игрока это ополчение было одним отрядом в 300-500 человек к примеру и игроку будет намного труднее управлять этим сборищем, а обученные войны уже будут действовать укомплектованным и дисциплинированным отрядом. И набор ополчения должно быть временным и затрачивая еду, к примеру на 5 ходов и действовать будут только в своем регионе. И САМОЕ ГЛАВНОЕ ЭТО СТРЕЛЫ пусть на отдалении это не будут выглядеть как спермотозойды, сделайте стрелы как в первом рим тотал вар!!!!!! Хух кри души блин, все равно никто не прочтёт но хоть легче стало)

[@Bezolden]

Прочитал. Хорошо сказано

[@Sacri8492]

They said that they "discovered" the controlled retreat stance around 1:06:20. These charlatans! A strategy game copying from a city builder. lmao!

[@MatthewChenault]

Remember back when population actually mattered and things - like food production, happiness, and so on - actually mattered because, if you didn’t resolve them, you could see a massive population dip that would affect your war-waging capabilities? Pepperidge Farm remembers…

[@Mrkabrat]

On the bright side; gives people something to complain about and thus make content

[@speglord4470]

the slowmo of the mouse going all around the screen was brilliant

[@mkNf-uk8py]

47:20 Hilarious! here we have CA criticizing itself for previous games where siege ladders were coming out of nowhere: "unfortunately in the bronze age, pockets aren't quite deep enough to successfully conceal siege equipment" They knew they were doing it wrong and lazy! 😮

[@bahamut149]

43:35 i just love the UI, relation: your. I'm going to conquest the whole world but I also don't know what region is mine.

[@wolliveryoutube]

Volound, you ought to make a video about how Shogun 2 retroactively removed the mod manager for no reason. Very bizarre downgrade with no input from the community or communication from CA about their motivations. Are they trying to ruin old games so that people will feel the need to buy Pharoahs?

[@Volound]

thinking about it. a pretty big deal.