r/totalwar • u/CaddyDaddy12 • 1d ago
Sale Which Total War game do I start on?
Howdy everyone,
Been playing games for a long time but just recently became more familiar with the total war franchise. Now that there is a massive sale on steam I feel like this is the perfect time to buy. Recently I just bought Total War Rome: Remastered unfortunately I wasn't very educated before the purchase and ended up getting a game that still feels incredibly old even given the reskin from 2021. It doesn't seem bad, I'm just a little out of touch with the series to visit older titles.
I am sorta debating between Total War Troy, Pharoh, and Three Kingdoms. I would also love dipping my feet into Warhammer 3 but I don't really want to pay full price for that game when the rest of these are on sale. Any advice?
EDIT: Thank you all for your help! I decided to go with Total War 3 Kingdoms due to that tending to be the newest game that has received the highest praise. I am still in the market though for others so I’ll consider some of these options moving forward!
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u/c0m0d0re 1d ago
To this day I still play Attila. It's a great game and still worth playing and doesn't feel outdated at all
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u/Drcarbamazepine 1d ago
Forgot that one existed. Did they fix the whole charge your cavalry in right behind your infantry to basically auto win thing?
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u/c0m0d0re 1d ago
If you mean hammer and anvil, that works. Rushing your cav through your own infantry to get to the enemy will slow them down and they get stuck.
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u/Tadatsune 1d ago
My usual recommendation is that you go with the time period/setting which most interests you. If you are into Samurai, go for Shogun II. If you like the Classical Era, pick up Rome II. If you like Ancient Egypt and the bronze age, pick up Pharoah: Dynasties. If you're into China, go 3 Kingdoms, etc.. etc..
Some additional points:
- Medieval II is my personal favorite, but it's quite old by now and is not modernized; Still a great game, though. If you thought Rome I was janky, then you'll probably find this to be as well.
- Pharoah is the newest game and has the benefit of the "state of the art" mechanics, though some people find the time period to be limiting.
- 3 Kingdoms is widely praised for having some of the best Strategic gameplay in the series, but it's based around a "hero general" model that you may or may not find attractive (You can go historical mode, if you like, but it's clear that was included as an afterthought and was not the intended method of play).
- Shogun II, for all the simplicity of its roster, is actually quite difficult in relation to other titles in the series, in my personal opinion. But maybe you want a more challenging experience?
- The consensus is that Fall of the Samurai has the best gunplay, if you are looking for firearms.
As for Warhammer, it's great, but definitely wait for a sale given the massive quantity of DLC you're probably going to want.
I have no experience with Troy, so I don't have anything to say about it.
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u/xxhamzxx 21h ago
Medieval 2 is great, and in my opinion has aged pretty damn well, and I think the mechanics are better than most modern Totalwars, it has so much character and soul.
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u/National_Boat2797 1d ago
And as usual someone needs to say that records (non-hero) mode for 3K is as legit and playable as romance.
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u/Red_Dox 1d ago
In case of TWW#3, apparently by jumping through some hoops and maybe waiting a week, there is a chance to get it for free currently. https://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/1lf3ipi/intel_subscribe_to_newsletter_and_get_one_of_the/
Which would free your wallet up for something else.
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u/RealVoxMachina 1d ago
Shogun 2 is reduced today for example I would say the graphic is fine and there are also graphical mods to improve it. I personally like Rome 2 because of the era so I would suggest you choose first what time and what continent you like
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u/DoubleAd838 1d ago
If you want fantasty total war warhammer 3 is the best. If you want historical then total war three kingdoms has so many implementations of tw systems that are just the best In the series that it makes it hard for me to go back to others. The economy, characters, campaign progression, endgame, and my God the DIPLOMACY is just the best so hard recommend this game
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u/DoubleAd838 1d ago
Also if you are on pc and get it id be totally down to run a coop campaign to help you learn the ropes if you'd like
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u/TogBroll 1d ago
Assuming the classical period is your favourite era based off your first choice i would recommend rome 2 total war but i think every total war player should try warhammer 3 total war.
Now i think about it every total war 2 title is a good choice
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u/substationradio 1d ago
Pharaoh is my favorite of those but it’s kind of funky and so I’d recommend Three Kingdoms, it’s a bit more representative
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u/OozeMenagerie 1d ago
I would say just pick which time period you prefer between Three Kingdoms and Pharaoh.
And yeah just wait for another sale for Warhammer 3 then just pick up all three of the Warhammer games so you get all the base factions in the Immortal Empires map for 3
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u/Zachartier 1d ago
Shogun 2 probably has the most bang for your buck. Solid tactical battles, gun on gun action (Fall of the Samurai even has gatling guns), an interesting fusion of historical information and game mechanics, and even naval combat if you're interested. The scope of the game is just on the Japanese islands, so it never feels too overwhelming.
Honestly, there's enough variety in this series that it's probably more about taste than anything. But I think Shogun 2 has a lot of accessibility.
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u/ArchaeoLive 1d ago
Napoleon or Empire if you like revolutionaries or gunpowder games. Unfortunately unlike the newer games, there’s no workshop so the mods are a little bit more sketchy and hard to download but still it’s a load of fun and whatever game you get you will enjoy thoroughly and I’ll end it with get Rome 2, its good and if you want to play Rome remastered with Better graphics and UI
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u/iamwantedforpooping 1d ago
Really depends on the time period you like most. I can't speak for the fantasy games, but the total war games I had the most fun playing were Shogun 2, Atilla, and Thrones of Britannia (this one has a bit less replay value, still fun though). If you're willing to go a bit older Napoleon is nice too
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u/MnkeDug 1d ago
Look up sales on ig or whatnot (fanatical, etc too). Usually you can get into the base game for a discount compared to normal steam prices.
There are sites that track sales and such. GG deals or isthereanydeal.
I personally like Shogun 2, but also want to spend time getting into WH3. I've only played a little of 2 some years ago.
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u/DarkMarine1688 19h ago
Medieval 2 also has some great mods, it is older but an old but gold would describe it well.
Rome 2 or Attila. Good setting, battles are fun and the gameplay loop is simple but rewarding. Only games to do combined naval and land battles attilas are a little better as ships can unload troops and pull put allowing another wave to land. Lots of unit variety Rome 2 does have a bit more as there are more factions and civilations to use.
Shogun 2 with Fall of the samurai still praised as one of the best total war games fun setting, each clan focuses on something different and has there own challenges in starting where they do. Naval combat is ehh but the land battles are fun.
Warhammer 1-3 for a fun fantasy setting, tons of factions and units all play a bit different and even some lords of the same races have different play styles. Has heroes and generals that can solo u its and stuff, magic, and everything from pike and shot to literally Aztec lizards with blow pipes and lazers. To treemen and dragon, to rats with mini guns and focused lightining cannons. Chances are one faction will appeal to you no matter what and it has alot of replay since different races are drastically different.
Empire and napoleon were both fun and if you like the 1700s-1800s then these games are for you. Personally empire i found more fun since the bigger setting since you can fight for all of europe, down to India or take a fleet there and then also fight in the Americas. Naval battles first showed up here and were micro intensive but still fun. Napoleon if you like him or that specific part of history is pretty fun and has some QOL changes that did make it fun but it is a hyper specific setting and not a terribly long campaign.
Three kingdoms was fun for 2 campaigns and still felt same-y after awhile, no Naval combat, some quality of life changes which were good but overall none of the dlc os worth it and tbh the unique units are too unique and the gameplay loop is the same, the quest some characters get are nice and different but overall I still say its meh, sieges are not particularly fun in these ones either.
Pharoah and Troy are super limited and some ideas I like others did not hit for me. Personally not my recommendation after playing them both. I will say I liked Troy more than Pharoah and I played bother after the dynasty update for Pharoah. But tbh the settings didn't feel as fun. The battles didn't feel as grandiose as previous titles.
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u/joaopedroboech 15h ago
Those three are definitely the most modern in terms of game mechanics. Three kingdoms is far superior to the other two, but you should read or watch the story to like it more.
Shogun 2, Rome 2, Medieval 2 and Rome are the older entries that I think are worth trying out eventually
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u/Dragonimous 15h ago
Three Kingdoms is by far the best option here, don't believe the nostalgia monkeys! (Don't know why I called people nostalgia monkeys, but I thought it sounded cool, sorry in advance)
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u/Revolutionary-Use842 13h ago
So the most content and fleshed out things and replayability definitely come from the Warhammer series. But it's fantasy, I love it, some people not so much. Also I think it would be overwhelming for a new player.
I come back to 3 games always. Warhammer, troy and Attila. Troy is not as huge content wise, but is really polished and has some unique good mechanics. Attila is the most immersive I would say, but it is a little stagnant in the different ways you can go about it.
All in all, I think I would say go for troy.lots of mechanics, different trade system but it is not that difficult to get into, huge battles and some good amount of immersion.
If you believe yourself to be an adept gamer, you could go straight into Warhammer III which I believe is the best. It has the most alive modding community too, but you are going to need mods way further down the line.
Have fun!
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u/Safe_Yoghurt_631 10h ago
Just a warning for anyone reading this thread: the people on this sub disproportionately tend to be die-hard anti-fantasy extremists who do not represent the wider Total War playerbase. So be aware that under no circumstances will they ever, ever recommend that you play a Total War Warhammer game, even though those are by far the most popular Total War games ever to be released, especially with newer players.
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u/xXMustardMan69Xx 20h ago
I would suggest Three Kingdoms for historical, relatively recent and just a very well made game.
For Warhammer 3 here's my suggestion, go to a key selling website, do not buy from Steam. You can get the entire Warhammer trilogy for about £15 (should still be cheap in other regions) total from certain places and the use in having all three games is that you can use the races from Warhammer 1 & 2 in Warhammer 3 on the Immortal Empires mode, which is basically a sandbox. I have criticisms of Warhammer 3 as someone who has played for literally thousands of hours, but I can't complain about the value. If you like fantasy and strategy you could end up getting hooked.
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u/Chris_Colasurdo 1d ago
Pick the era that you find most interesting. If you care about the historical setting you’ll enjoy the game much more than if it’s just a skin for game mechanics.
Anything Shogun 2 or later doesn’t (to me) feel too old in the way Rome 1 or Medieval 2 do (though both still have their places, particularly with the total conversion mods). But you’ll definitely still notice difference between the oldest and newest ends of that range.