Even after the updated on Sept 3, the game is still so cumbersome and cluttered and generally counter-intuitive I just don’t dig playing it. It feels like a hassle to play even short times. I wish they’d stuck to the Rome 2 model but I guess everything has to change sometime.

I only put four stars because the gameplay is solid. The battles are fun. I've only played for a handful of hours but so far, once you get the hang of it, it becomes a lot easier. The biggest issues I have with the game is mostly technical issues. The game crashes randomly even with my 2021 macbook pro. Sometimes it can run the game for hours, other times, specific actions like selecting armies from the army pulldown menu just crashes the game. Many times, it's simply random. Pretty annoying but it's not horrible because the autosaves are pretty frequent so I only lose about a couple minutes of time when and if the game crashes. If the crashes become more frequent, I would put the game at like a 2-3 star rating but as of now, the gameplay saves the game from it's tech issues.

This game is not your usual Total War game. It feels much more like a Civilization game. There is much more emphasis on diplomacy and building, plus raising armies is meticulous and crushes your food supply, which upsets your citizens resulting in rebellion. And believe me, I have tried every faction 50+ turns in and NO ONE is safe from rebellion and Viking invasions. Your settlements can be taken from you effortlessly because only capitol cities can have garrisoned units. Honestly the most annoying thing about this game is that even with the “Follow AI Players” funciton turned off, the end of each turn can be deflating having to watch 30+ factions go across the screen. This is especially annoying when you have a few consecutive short turns. I just wish I would have done more research into the game before forking over $35 bucks…Hopefully you all will do your homework because this isnt what I personally was (blindly) hoping for: Medieval II w/ better graphics focused particularly on the British Isles.

I have been enjoying this game alot. Since I have alot of experinece with Total War games I thought I should be the right person to try it out and leave a review. And I really do enjoy the new gameply and the flow. The changes to the gameplay allow for a more engaged experience while your taking over the land and also groverning your estates at home. Also the graphics are excellent. Overall a very well rounded Total War experience. If you like to binge on a game and have alot of time to kill, this is the one. For those who like strategy games, this is a really polished game in that respect.