Also, because winter is now 8 turns long, attrition can be one of your worst nightmares if caught in enemy territory. Also, each season now provides specific bonuses or penalties, such as increased happiness in spring or reduced income from farms in autumn. Therefore, the game is now split into seasons, with each season lasting 8 turns. That is why the usual separation of turns wouldn’t have worked anymore. The overall action now takes places over a period or around 10 years. However, you don’t need to choose one side as you can always combine the two, according to preferences, circumstances and suitability. You can choose to stick with the old ways and obliterate you foes through conventional means, which will make use of the traditional troops such as katana and bow samurai or you can adopt the new and pepper your enemies with bullets and gunpowder. Because of that, the game offers a wide choice of troops that the player can recruit to his/her cause. Also, because the story follows the fight between the old and the new, the units available to each clan range from spear armed samurai to troops equipped with firearms and cannons. As with each iteration in the series, the graphics is the best so far and because of the intense optimisation, it runs very smooth even on average platforms, without having to give up the amazing details. This provides for a better experience and much harder choice when choosing your faction at the start of the game, which also brings higher personal satisfaction when achieving success with it.īecause of the change in time and setting, the game has been somewhat re-hauled.

It is true that these units are derived from the common ones that are available to everyone, but they are different in appearance, on both the battlefield and the unit card, statistics and sometimes abilities. And perhaps for the first time, in a consistent and noticeable way, some factions have unique units that are not available to others.

That is why at the start of the game, the player has a choice between 3 factions belonging to each allegiance.Īs with previous titles, each faction has its own bonuses and characteristics. Internally, Japan is split between factions supporting the Shogunate, which represents the traditional, and the Emperor, which is seen as the way to the future and prosperity. The game starts in the mid 1850s Japan, when the Western powers such as the US, Britain and France vie for increased influence over the Land of The Rising Sun. Released as a stand-alone expansion to Shogun 2, the title combines some of the best features of the series, while holding its status of full release. Fall of the Samurai is the latest addition to the Total War series by Creative Assembly and Sega.

Fall of the samurai gameplay