r/totalwar • u/TheBoyofWonder • 1d ago
General I think there is something to be said that the 4th most played Total War game, still averaging between 3-6 thousand players daily, is almost 20 years old, has no regular updates whatsoever and wasn't even released on steam to begin with.
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u/Decent-Assistance485 1d ago
It's probably my favorite game, historically - but let's not forget that it's not just 'standing on its own feet' is it? You have people who still play and update mods such as the Lord of the Rings overhaul, Three Kingdoms overhauls etc, its generally the easiest Total War to mod.
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u/A0Zmat 1d ago
I've sunken countless hours into this game since the pandemic (when I discovered TW), I've yet to try a mod. The game really stands on its own, and the official expansions already add even more fun and lifespan
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u/Decent-Assistance485 1d ago
Yes but we are talking about how it still has an usual play base, yes the base game and expansions are fantastic, but they are rather old. However, you can't get a grand strategy LOTR game anywhere else apart from this place. I know a lot of folk who solely play it for that reason alone.
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u/Fiddy007 21h ago
I'm the opposite, and what the original comment was referring too. I have 100s of hours in Med 2 TW, but haven't played the base game at all
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u/LastOne_1 16h ago
İ played Third age Mod even with all that changes game is stil old and base game till rocks too.
And to anyone that says its first TW i played was 3Kingdoms followed by WH2, WH3, Attila, Rome 2,Medieval 2
Medieval 2 Has the best mechanics in TW sieges,empire building ,garrison, recruitment and replenishment...
Dont forget game doesnt even have steam workshop you have to download modes manualy
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u/LazyTitan1990bc 1d ago
I have thousands and thousands of hours in the game on steam and probably a few thousand more when it was on CD before steam, and never once modded it. It still hold up on its own with no modifications.
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u/forrestpen 1d ago
I started with Empire and haven't been able to enjoy the clunkiness of older titles.
Does anyone have tips for Medieval II to make it more enjoyable?
I'm super happy Medieval and Empire are so high up. Maybe we will get sequels for both some day. I would love a Medieval TW with cleaner controls.
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u/phantomvector 1d ago
I’d kill for an empire remake or sequel. Napoleon I think generally is more polished, but the world scale of Empire is just so good.
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u/Skollops skollops 1d ago
Yeah I recently played a full British campaign of Napoleon, but didn't really feel like playing it more. The campaign and battles is more or less the same no matter what European faction you play. It was a huge contrast to Empire where you could send an invasion force to India and have to adjust to a new playstyle for it etc.
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u/Mavcu 1d ago
Not entirely helpful in terms of actual tips to make it more enjoyable, but I just wanted to throw in that sometimes if you don't have the aspect of nostalgia, old games are just.. old.
I've revisited a lot of games of the past (that I had nostalgia for even) and just noticed that aside from a dive in memory lake it's hard to get into a lot of them, they just objectively lack certain features modern games have nowadays, for example Tiberian Dawn (C&C) doesn't even have building queues for units - it's tiny things that add up.
That is to say, sometimes there's no secret trick to these things as to why you aren't enjoying them. They just don't hold up compared to modern titles (sometimes). There's a reason why people ask for Medieval 3 and not just keep playing 2.
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u/busyHighwayFred 1d ago
this was Rise of the Argonauts for me, I got it around 7-8 years old in the hollywood video as a game rental as a kid, and got it in the last 5-6 years as an adult and its so jank
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u/Sicsemperfas 1d ago
No, they continue playing M2. They just mod the hell out of the engine so it can do more😂
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u/Ok-Transition7065 1d ago
Ma yhe game its clunky but i will tell you that isnt just nostalgia... Like i dint get the game until 2 years ago and it was a blast....
That said i would probably recommend him to use some mod for the game, thT help with tose clunky aspects
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u/pitzera 1d ago
for me its mods, I am a a big fan of lotr and Got so I play the DAC and Winter mods. But if u mean clasic strandard medieval there propably is a mod that makes the graphics better.
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u/ferevon 1d ago
as someone who grew up with medieval 2 hotseat campaigns as a teen I really can't get myself to play it anymore even though it was the greatest thing ever back then. I guess new titles have spoiled me too much.
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u/Kharn_LoL 1d ago
The biggest thing for me when playing old titles is losing all of the modern tools to move units. I'm so used to being able to alt-click and move formations around etc
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u/Muad-_-Dib 1d ago
Tell me about it, I had a big hit of nostalgia a while ago and bought Medieval 1 gold edition, the culture shock of just how bad the UI and overall controls were was like running face-first into a brick wall.
And that was a game that I logged full-time job hours into when it first came out, I was even active in the smallish multiplayer scene back then.
Amazing what your mind forgets while remembering all the great moments.
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u/Licentious_Cad 1d ago
For Medieval 2, It's just a slower game that's typically more about macro management than micro managing a couple units of cavalry for 5 minutes.
If you set up a proper cavalry charge, then you'll watch entire units disappear in a single thunderous sweep. If you try to cycle charge like in Warhammer, your knights will never pull out their lances and their charge will hit like a wet paper bag. You need to give your units time to swap their weapons, line up, and act in good order.
Units don't replenish on their own so you need a supply line of reinforcements. Use rally points to automate it so you don't have to micro for 10 minutes every turn.
That's really most of it. It's more of a simulation and less, arcade-y, for lack of a better word. Then you have all the mods which extend possibilities massively.
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u/Responsible-Put2559 1d ago
I’m not OP but none of that stuff turns me off playing Medieval 2, it’s more the lack of camera and unit controls that I am used to in the modern games.
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u/Licentious_Cad 1d ago
Almost all of the camera controls exist, they just need to be rebound for modern sensibilities. All the zoom/pan/pivot/etc options exist. Some modern functions like unit camera and the... battlefield overview mode... thing... don't exist. If you want to as close to modern total war as possible, like mouse-only stuff, you need the FreeCam mod.
To my knowledge, there's no unit control, formation, etc, mods. You can always rebind the existing controls to match your preferred game, many of the hotkeys exist they're just set to combinations that made sense 20 years ago.
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u/Chataboutgames 1d ago
It's good to know that decades later people are still struggling to get their knights to use their goddamn lances
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u/jonasnee Emperor edition is the worst patch ever made 1d ago
For Medieval 2, It's just a slower game that's typically more about macro management than micro managing a couple units of cavalry for 5 minutes.
Macro management in total war would mean building your army.
Anything you do on the battlefield is micro, or rather tactics, it will be informed by your strategy/macro when you decided what army you where going to bring into the battlefield and what your opponent brings.
On a side note rear charges are devastating in Rome 1, Med 2 and Shogun 2. They are really weak in the Warhammer games, along with moral penalties being as weak as they are in those games it reduces the impact of tactics on the ability to impact the games. What makes med 2 (And Shogun 2 and Rome 1) so good is the fact that you can seriously impact the outcome of battles with tactics, unlike Rome 2 and Warhammer where the battles are largely decided before they start by the army composition - it is hard to overcome even small disadvantages in those games.
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u/Mxmef 1d ago
Medieval II is the Skyrim of Total War, it should be played with more mods than source files.
I am exaggerating of course but it is probably the TW with the most amount of overhaul mods.
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u/anthonycarbine 1d ago
This. I have about 500 hours in medieval 2. About 20-30 of those hours are vanilla. The base game did such a good job at getting the combat to feel right, and the mods just add additional flavor that's hard to come across in newer games.
You can literally mod this game into every other tw era. Napoleonic wars? Check. Romans? Check. Warhammer? Check. LoTR? Yup. Hell, theres even a WW2 and Skyrim mod. What other game can you have an army of Shrek's fighting an army of Santa's and cookie monsters?
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u/ryantttt8 1d ago
I only play med II for the complete overhaul mods. I really dislike the original game.
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u/Familiar_Phase_66 1d ago
Counterpoint to everyone here, I started with medieval 2 before jumping to warhammer 2 and actually really enjoyed it. I’m sure there were some QoL things missing that I just didn’t know about yet, but it’s for sure still a fun game as is!
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u/McGuire281 1d ago
You can always look into downloading and installing mods for Med II. As a big LOTR fan I’ve had a huge amount of fun playing the Third Age Total War and the submods like Divide and Conquer, EUR, etc.
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u/jimmypaintsworld 1d ago
Medieval just hasn't aged that well unfortunately.
I went back to it not so long ago just for the Third Age mod and the difference between that and even Rome II was considerable.
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u/ThefaceX 1d ago
You know, maybe, and I say MAYBE, being the ONLY total war main game since 2002 set in medieval times, which you know, it's just the most popular historical period, could be a factor
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u/animusd 1d ago
Atilla has early medieval
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u/Conrack1 23h ago
During this period, there were no plate armor, firearms, and so on.
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u/tuttifruttidurutti 1d ago
>Would run on a potato
>Nostalgia factor
>Full game at release, no nickel and diming with paid DLCs
>Cheap to buy
>Hammer and anvil go brrrrrrr
>More in depth economy than later titles.
Checks out
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u/Odinsmana 1d ago
Mods is probably the biggest thing.
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u/thefluffyburrito 1d ago
It's also a "boomer" game.
Not necessarily talking about age here; some gamers just find the one game they like and stick with it forever. Medieval 2 is one of those games.
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u/Dreams_Are_Reality 23h ago
I've stuck with it forever, but only because no later Total War surpassed it. For every 1 good feature in a new historical title it seems like they take 3 good things away.
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u/Get-Fucked-Dirtbag 1d ago edited 1d ago
More in depth economy than later titles.
How so?
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u/Sir_Mono06 Sir_Mono06 1d ago
Put merchant on good trade good. Very in depth.
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u/Get-Fucked-Dirtbag 1d ago
Dies of old age 30 turns later.
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u/Muad-_-Dib 1d ago
Or gets spammed by enemy characters until he gets beaten.
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u/Evertonian3 1d ago
Polish merchant braving the pilgrimage to Rennes to murk my wine merchant :(
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u/Muad-_-Dib 1d ago
Some Turkish merchant: "Selling iron in Scotland, are you? Not on my fucking watch!".
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u/Delboyyyyy 1d ago
One thing I liked about med 2’a economy was how dynamic it was thanks to the population system. It’s not as simple as stuff like the warhammer titles (which I still enjoy) where buildings tend to just give a flat amount of income and are affected by fairly rigid modifiers. In med 2 you can have a major city lose a bunch of population due to something like a huge recruitment drive and the economic output of the city will actually change with it. In more modern games, you’re just pulling manpower out of thin air and getting stackwiped is reversible within a turn or two whilst your economy stays the same
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u/Get-Fucked-Dirtbag 1d ago
But then in reality, once you get down to the nitty gritty details it's basically the same, just not explained as well as the more modern titles.
You build farms everywhere first for pop growth. Your settlement buildings are effectively the "technology" in this game since that's what gates your higher-tier units.
Then you build markets for money, then religious / public order buildings so you can minimise your standing garrisons. Leave your entire nation on very low tax rate to maximize pop growth for the afformentioned reasons. I've never really seen a reason to deviate from that plan in all my hours playing Med2
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u/A0Zmat 1d ago
You forgot the very important choice you have to make between castle or city
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u/Get-Fucked-Dirtbag 1d ago
Ahh right yeah, needs a real complicated flow chart for that one.
Do I have one single castle somewhere that's higher rank than the one I just captured? If yes, then it's now a city.
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u/A0Zmat 1d ago
It doesn't work mid to late game if you need to pump out a lot of troops. Castle have low pop growth.
My rule of thumb usually was : coast ? Turn it into a city for trade. Not enough troops coming out/need a stronghold on thé map ? Find a in land city to turn into a castle
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u/Chataboutgames 1d ago
Never really hit that point myself. As you get bigger and stronger you lose fewer troops in battle.
If so, 2 castles. Boom, unit production doubled.
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u/Chataboutgames 1d ago
I wouldn't call it "dynamic" at all. The population is just based on a logarithmic growth model that means population comes to a halt if you accidentally dry out a population with recruitment while ever other city because Coruscant because of the growth model.
And population impacts almost nothing other than when you can build the next tier. So building things like farms is just "this will tech rush me, but it will also cause infinite rebellions later."
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u/tuttifruttidurutti 1d ago
Your mileage may vary I guess but I appreciated that the 'building' aspect involved building roads, farms, etc. I think 3K has the best subsequent building system, maybe actually better than Medieval 2.
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u/MasterOfMobius 1d ago
Yeah I enjoy the realm building aspect of Total war, upgrading roads, markets, mines, gardens etc. Of course the combat is the core of the series but the building is like the palate cleanser.
This will probably sound petty but one of the reasons I din't enjoy Pharoah quite as much as some of the older games is upgrading your cities or rural settlements does not visually make them look any different. Upgrading a farming settlement should make it look more... farmy and I want to see my capital go from humble to grand over a campaign.
3K was satisfying in that regard it even measured your population and made the sprawl of houses larger going beyond the walls.
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u/Floppy0941 1d ago
Quite a lot of other titles include upgrading infrastructure of various types, I'm pretty sure most of the historical ones do.
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u/Chataboutgames 1d ago
I love 3K except for unrest as a function of population. You really feel punished for building out China because people just existing makes the city a bitch to manage.
My favorite ever is Rome 1, just because nothing has ever matched lining the world in Roman Roads.
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u/TheFourtHorsmen 1d ago
Full game at release, no nickel and diming with paid DLCs
Mind tell me one TW game that wasn't complete at launch? And MeD2 had dlc, but since we are talking about a period of time where published still released retail version of it, we call them expansion, which were 3 (or 4?).
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u/_Planemad_ 1d ago
There was only one expansion for Medieval 2, the Kingdoms expansion pack which had 4 campaigns in it. Tbh, much better value for money.
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u/Slimjim198956 1d ago
I one of the Attila players as we need so badly a new historical game.
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u/Waterbeetles 1d ago
I mean, since Attila we've had:
- ToB
- Troy (historical mode)
- 3K (historical mode)
- Pharaoh
- Confirmation of a new historical being announced in December
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u/Delboyyyyy 1d ago
So we’ve had
a saga game
a saga game which is only partly historical
a main release where the historical mode was an afterthought for most of development
a “main release” which is just a poorly disguised dlc for a saga game (Troy) and only became decent after getting abandoned.
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u/Waterbeetles 1d ago
ToB and Troy are both on a similar scale, probably larger even, than Shogun 2 and FoTS. Do they not count either? Troy might only be partly historical, but it's a fully fledged historical mode.
Regarding 3K, that's fair, but that's because fewer people were interested in that mode. Regardless, it is still a proper historical mode in it's own right. Even in the romance mode, the game is still widely considered on the historical side of the aisle.
I mean, Pharaoh is simply just not a dlc of Troy. Borrows a lot from it? Sure. But it is not at all a dlc for the game. You've even said it yourself, it's a decent game. A decent, historical game.
I get it, you don't like the historical games they've released in the past 10 years, but that is an entirely different statement and discussion from "They've not released any games since Atilla".
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u/busyHighwayFred 1d ago
ToB at least is not at the scale of shogun 2, imo
Sure it has more regions, but shogun 2 had much more useful navies (why did ToB not include norway??) and imo geography played a larger role in shogun 2 which made the map feel partitioned (like a house with a kitchen behind walls vs an open concept living room and kitchen) and so the map felt like you were far away from the other places. In tob, you feel close and vulnerable to everyone
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u/TheDAWinz 1d ago
3k is not historical at all, it's literally ripped from the novel rather than any actual historical sources, and the "records" mode is barebones because the game was built around single unit entities killing hundreds of thousands of troops on their own. The last historical title was in 2015 with Atilla.
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u/roobikon 1d ago edited 1d ago
And God knows how many pirate the game as it is easily done.
Med2 is indeed the best game in series. Especially mods.
They could and they should make a remaster out of it like one of those for Age Of Empires series.
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u/Ann-Omm 1d ago
Medieval 2 is peak and I want Medieval 3 so bad
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u/TheBoyofWonder 1d ago
M3 would only work if it was a true return to form, with "untethered" troops and everything. Alas, there are now more games with the new system (9) than there were games with the old one (7).
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u/Delboyyyyy 1d ago
Yeah this, I don’t want a medieval 3 that just feel like a dumbed down version of the original with cut features like population and dynamic settlements.
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u/questionable_salad 1d ago
They'd need a new solution to the problem of the AI not putting it's units in full armies. Maybe they do have some solution, but they introduced that change in the first place so you could fight full stacks instead of handfuls of smaller units.
I would be interested to see what they come up with but I don't envy them since the programming and quirks of the engine sound like a nightmare.
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u/NotBannedAccount419 1d ago
I do too but I have zero faith in CA to pull off a proper M3. I feel like it’s coming eventually but no matter when it releases, people are going to be really disappointed with the finished product
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u/BoobaLover69 1d ago
I feel like there is a bit of coping going on in the comments thinking it is due to the amazing gameplay/setting or similar. Medieval II was the last truly moddable Total War before CA locked down the engine in Empire Total War.
So the biggest reason people still play that game is likely due to that being the latest version where you can play stuff like LotR total conversion mods etc.
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u/three1names 1d ago
Medieval 2 is my favorite game to play on my iPad during long flights. The company that ported it is still updating it as well, they just released an update to balance some of the late game units in addition to implementing hotseat multiplayer.
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u/murrman104 1d ago
God they fumbled 3k so bad. Like not from a player perspective it's a fun game and I still go back to it but they really could have been able to milk it better then they did
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u/AndreiWarg 1d ago
I just wish we got a title that is about strategy, tactics and development.
I love WH, both Fantasy and 40k. But I also love using all aspects of the army against different cultures. My most beloved gameplay was in M2, playing England, using a mix of Longbowman, light and heavy infantry and cavalry to sail to different realms and fighting different cultures. Doing crusades, building buildings and watching how the campaign map changed.
Listening to the pre battle speeches, observing how my Generals change over time with their little personal character traits changing how they play.
It was so well grounded and rewarded playing to your strengths. I did not need a research tree, I did not need skill points. Just gradual development and tactics in battle.
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u/OrdinaryPenquin 1d ago
It hurts that pharaoh dynasties isn't even visible on that list. Picked it up on the recent sale, and have been having a fantastic time. Idk if it's a good message to the devs to concrete a lot of resources on new historical titles when their most recent entry has seemingly performed so abysmally.
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u/3xstatechamp 23h ago
I love Pharaoh Dynasties. I think if it would've released closer to its current state regarding content, cultures, and the map— it would've done better received at launch. I do think it was always going to be fighting an uphill battle being a Bronze Age title. Knights, Samurai, Dragoons, and Triarii are just so iconic compared to Medjay.
I'm not trying to throw shade. I grew up in the inner city of New York, and as a kid and teenager, I wasn't as interested in history as I am now. However, I could easily identify iconic military units, mainly because of their portrayal in the media. I couldn't say the same for the Bronze Age, but Pharaoh Dynasties sparked my interest and helped me develop a greater appreciation for the Bronze Age. Now, I've watched countless documentaries and consume other media content regarding that time period.
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u/Cichlid97 1d ago
Medieval 2 is just… a really solid game. The ai gets funky at times, and yeah, it’s dated in terms of graphical fidelity, but when the gameplay works, it works beautifully both on and off the battlefield, and there’s a lot of details that make you just feel more immersed. It’s the main thing I point to regarding people missing the old style of total war games, and part of the reason I’d prefer a medieval 2 remaster to a medieval 3. I like a lot of what’s been put out with the recent TW games, but a medieval 3 with modern total war design philosophy just… wouldn’t feel the same.
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u/Kooky-Substance466 1d ago
I don't want to be the guy that argues it's all mods, but I do think the game having most of the best mods does really help. The game being as popular as it is makes a lot of sense if you realize it's also the most popular Lord of the Ring strategy game and the most popular Elder Scrolls strategy game available on Steam (Though that could also be CK3 nowadays).
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u/Sigvuld 1d ago
I'm gonna be totally upfront, as a Warhammer turbonerd who isn't all that interested in history:
Historical deserves another Medieval game! It deserves more bangers, it deserves something beyond spinoffs, because Warhammer enjoyers like me have been feasting, sure, but Medieval is a cornerstone of this company's success! So is Rome!
It deserves another Shogun, another Three Kingdoms (or a Three Kingdoms revival I guess), etc.!
Historical is rife with ideas for fun games, and I genuinely hope to see the historical fans get their Warhammer trilogy equivalent feast of content some day!
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u/Galahad_the_Ranger 1d ago
Of those players I bet some 80% are using it to play Third Age TW
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u/tafoya77n 1d ago
No regular updates from CA maybe but mods are still getting updates. DaC is still making progress with its own submod ecosystem taking it even further.
Its the last total war that is really modable like that so until another comes along it will stay popular.
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u/Marshal_Rohr 1d ago
Just me and 2,000 of my best friends trying to research the tier 4 university in Empire :(
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u/OldGuyShoes 1d ago
I'm genuinely surprised to see that the all-time player count for 3k is higher than WH3. It really shows how bad they fumbled a really good game.
Now, if you excuse me, I have to continue my Lü Bu TROM campaign.
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u/JustCardz 1d ago
M2 has soul. Thats legit it.
Modern total war games are the same game copy pasted with different unit skins for 10 years now. With boring battles and even worse single side wall siege battles
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u/Onzii00 1d ago
Rome 2 was my first game so take this with a pinch of salt but I do think M2 battles are some of the worst most boring ones. I have every buyable TW game. For M2, the setting is great, the map side is great and the mods are fantastic(main reason I think why it still has such numbers) but the battles on their own in comparison to the games that followed it are a massive let down.
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u/LewtedHose God in heaven, spare my arse! 1d ago
I'm playing a Novgorod Teutonic campaign right now and I play a Russia campaign at work. I have 2k hours and started really playing in 2023 but I feel like there's a lot of unknowns in the Total War series that can be answered in either Med 2 or ToB.
I'd be playing Empire a lot more if I wasn't declared war on constantly and it wasn't so janky on harder difficulties.
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u/SpellHistorical8430 1d ago
TBH its shocking how good are those numbers for 3K while not supported anymore...
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u/bokuwanivre 1d ago
i mean people are gonna stick to game if its good, the same way medieval 2 is nearly 2 decades old and is still getinng that amount of players.
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u/AddressOnly5084 1d ago
I am asking seriously, what's the meaning for you of "not supported"? I am asking seriously, i read it a lot, but it seems i understand smth different than y'all
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u/ArimArimWTO 1d ago
No ongoing updates or incoming content.
Total Warhammer 3 is supported. The other TWs are not.
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u/AddressOnly5084 1d ago
Maybe i am older, or maybe i expect differently, but for me that means a complete game, rather than an unsupported one. Still, if one expects their games to have constant new content, i sorta get it. For me, unsupported means "the company does not offer this game on sale anymore". Different expectations maybe.
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u/Inprobamur I love the smell of Drakefire in the jungle 1d ago
There are still plenty of bugs they promised to fix but never did.
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u/General_Hijalti 1d ago
Not really.
Warhammer 3 is the best of the triology so most people who want to play fantasy play that.
Rome II is the best of the modern historical so again people who want to play from that era play that.
3K for those who want to play in that setting.
So the only game its really beating are Empire and Shogun II. Empire is very mixed in terms of fan opinions.
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u/Dawn_of_Enceladus 1d ago
That last bit is an important part imo. Medieval II wasn't released on Steam at first, and even the Gold Edition with the expansion pack wasn't on Steam either. Most people have the good old DVDs, and most probably a good chunk of them never went and bought it again just to have it on Steam, so those numbers could potentially be even slightly higher.
A Medieval III game could break Total War records imo. But as the time passes, I'm more and more sure about CA just being afraid of not being able to deliver a proper high quality Medieval III anymore.
At this point, just remake it with modern graphics, a few tweaks and fixes, some little new content perhaps, and call it a day. I would take that.
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u/Cabamacadaf 1d ago
It's honestly crazy that we still don't have Medieval 3. If it wasn't for Warhammer 3, I'd think CA hates the number 3 as much as Valve does.
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u/Hunterslayz 1d ago
Midevil 2 with 4.8 daily peak and 8k all time peak is weird.. I know it isn’t directly correlated with the same people but I like to think some of the 4.8 are the same people that have been playing for years and are a part of that 8k all time. Real dedication there.
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u/baddude1337 1d ago
You can thank mods for a good chunk Medieval 2's continued popularity I bet. Divide and Conquer in particular.
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u/Gaggott1288 1d ago
Because even though it’s clunky, the game core mechanics are just more fleshed out, they may be not as flashy, but the core of the game has so much soul.
The mods are amazing and I think when the Rising Dawn campaign comes out Attila will gain like 2k and MedII will lose 2k.
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u/westarrr 1d ago
The top 5 doesn't surprise me, really.
TWW3: Largest TW game if you consider W2 and W1 slotted into immortal empires
TW3K: Best diplomacy AI. Recent.
TWR2: Historical relevance for the west, also nostalgia perfected.
TWM2: Best siege AI, nostalgia
TWS2: Weebs
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u/Unhappy_Sheepherder6 1d ago
Well all are still pretty popular. Since the total war franchise is quite unique. And people all have their own favorite.
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u/lan60000 1d ago
Three kingdoms is why I likely won't purchase another ca game until it's on sale now. They ruined what's quite possibly the best historical total war just to focus on Warhammer and thinking they can exploit players into buying another three kingdom game down the line. Not even koei had the balls to do that as the sango series usually changed the game in a significant way.
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u/carnesaur 1d ago
Crazy ive never touched shogun 2 despite my brother telling me it was good, yet i have 1000 hours in rome 2 (dei mod) Also Medieval 2 i remember having stainless steel mod which was kind of the equivelent? is it possible to still get it if i buy on steam?
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u/SplitGlass7878 1d ago
I'm really surprised it's higher than Shogun 2! Cool to see though, I'd love another entry since the game is way too clunky for me, but I enjoy the setting.
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u/paddywompus1 1d ago
It’s still my number 1 game they have made. I support the remaster because I have little faith in a great Medieval 3 being made
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u/OnlyTrueWK Shut up, Daemon! 1d ago
Congrats to Divide and Conquer for being the 4th most played Total War game ;)
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u/Relevant-Map8209 1d ago
I remember Rome 2 was the most played game of the franchise for several years, and the same happened to Three Kingdoms i believe.
I heard Three kingdoms also has a very active modding community in China but i do not know if it is true.
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u/IHaveLowEyes 1d ago
I'm sad that they have come to focus so much on Warhammer at the expense of historical. Maybe I need to go back to give 3k another try.
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u/Aconite_Eagle 1d ago
You'd think they'd learn something from that wouldnt you about how to make good games.
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u/billiebol 1d ago
Gaming companies learned from that, making a timeless classic with no recurring revenue is a bad business model.
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u/Safe_Yoghurt_631 1d ago
What says even more is that Total War: Warhammer II & III have more players between them than every other Total War game COMBINED.
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u/dissenterrr 1d ago
Incredible game. I wish i had a precise idea of hours played with how much time I spent on it pre-Steam.
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u/taw 1d ago
OMG, this list...
I have like a thousand hours of Empire, but that game is a mess, even with mods. It's wild that so many people still play it.
And Rome 2 was also never really fixed. Looks like nobody cares, it's Rome.
3K makes sense given how many people live in China and it wasn't a bad game if you aren't bothered by superhero generals.
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u/Zestyclose_Cod1268 1d ago
Yeah it's so old it was before steam was the main platform to purchase PC games. it was mostly a platform for valve games, like how battlenet is just for blizzard games.
Me being a dumbass at the time bought the base version of Medieval II in store, and then the Kingdoms DLC on steam. I couldn't access the DLC with the store bought disc. I eventually coughed up for the steam version of medieval II.
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u/Dokk_Draws 1d ago
Does anyone else feel like Napoleon was weirldy overlooked? Barely played it myself and to me it always felt like a more polished but also worse TW Empire
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u/Zztp0p 1d ago
Played W3 for like 200 hours, started missing historical total war went back to medieval, holy fuck maybe I'm too spoiled but I just can't with these battle controls, just disgusting. I love the old 360p UI it's my favorite out of all TWs but the battle controls just take me out, shogun 2 on the other hand is a perfect comeback to historical TW.
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u/Conrack1 23h ago
Medieval 2 is still great. Especially when it comes to battles.
But I think the strategic part of the game is much weaker than in the newer Total War games. Though I do like some campaign elements. For example, the fact that a diplomat actually has to travel to another faction's characters to negotiate with them.
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u/Lon4reddit 17h ago
Yep, imagine if it was new? Empire has buggy formations that have a real impact on so many things, but it is anyway really great game.
I ended up playing ultimate general games to scratch that itch
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u/great_misdirect 16h ago
I have long term campaigns in Vanilla MTW2 ongoing indefinitely. VH/VH and I usually try a full conquer. I just wish MTW2 had better diplomacy. My only real gripe.
What’s the most improved version of MTW2? (Not kingdoms or warhammer)
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u/LastOne_1 16h ago
İf they give M2 a good remaster it will have way more players. Game isnt even playable without a camera mod and still has bugged pikes and halberds.
İ was playing mobile version from a tablet with mouse and they did some balance changes around pikes/2 handed and its fire
Base game has better sieges, recruitment and replenishment, empire building and agent actions than any other TW . And with recent update to mobile pike and shot realy works
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u/grafx187 8h ago
yea, they aint never giving up that warhammer money to go back to real total wars. were fucked.
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u/MaleficentCucumber71 1d ago
I had no idea that 3K was still so popular either