The Decline of Strategy Gaming

[Snare]

Black & White...maybe I should hunt down the disc lying around and give it another play! Man, that game was awesome! Definitely had soul and character to it.

Black & White 2 added some nice features (armies and city building was SO much better), but lost its charm along the way. I didnt feel like a God in it

I get what you mean man. B&W 2 kinda felt like they sold out. Felt like playing a Yoko Ono sim

 

[AlphaJohn]

Seeing that we talking strategy games, thought I'll give away one.

Its very similar to the Civilization series, but I would say a lot more difficult and a lot longer, esp with the 26 nations you can start as.

 

[Ichigo]

Do you remember the time when you couldn't throw a stone and not hit someone announcing a new Strategy game?
Lately though they are becoming rarer and rarer buy the minute. I just wan to discuss why you think that is?

Also why not name your favourite strategy game of all time and reasons why that is

PS. I mean the straight up games themselves, Starcraft/Warcraft 3 mods not included

I also noticed that for PC specifically can't seem to get any decent strategy games anymore which take my interest yet on Xbox and 3ds I seem to find a lot on there.

Pokemon and Skylanders and a few others .

 

[Dentar]

Homeworld is a series i keep returning to. Still hoping for something new coming out there.

I also remember playing Rise of Nations ages ago and loving it to bits. Played it on my brother's pc though and never got around to getting it for myself.

Pokemon and Skylanders and a few others .

I've heard a lot of people saying Skylanders is good... I'm just not sure i can forgive it for what it did to Spyro

 

[Ichigo]

Homeworld is a series i keep returning to. Still hoping for something new coming out there.

I also remember playing Rise of Nations ages ago and loving it to bits. Played it on my brother's pc though and never got around to getting it for myself.



I've heard a lot of people saying Skylanders is good... I'm just not sure i can forgive it for what it did to Spyro

The xbox version and 3ds one is quite good played with 11 figures I have, if you ignore the Spyro thing .

Wanting to get the Giants version to see how that one is.

 

[Snare]

I also noticed that for PC specifically can't seem to get any decent strategy games anymore which take my interest yet on Xbox and 3ds I seem to find a lot on there.

Pokemon and Skylanders and a few others .

Ye...The only new hype game is Rome Total War 2 lately. Console does seem like the new wave of start gaming. Not many bespoke RTS's however.

 

[Helix]

Ye...The only new hype game is Rome Total War 2 lately. Console does seem like the new wave of start gaming. Not many bespoke RTS's however.

Its a great game now that they've patched it up nicely, and they still continuing to do so!

 

[Ike_009]

I'll wait till next year for total war 2 though, I'll leave them plenty of time to patch

 

[Clive Woofer]

Pokemon and Skylanders and a few others .

Neither of those are strategy games, though. If anything, they're adventure/RPG games.

 

[Helix]

I'll wait till next year for total war 2 though, I'll leave them plenty of time to patch

Im sure you'll be able to pick it up for a good price next year! I wonder what the reviewers scores would be of it now after they have fixed it up properly. Sucks that because the publishers (probably) forced them to release it early the game now is forever stuck with a substandard score!

 

[Snare]

Im sure you'll be able to pick it up for a good price next year! I wonder what the reviewers scores would be of it now after they have fixed it up properly. Sucks that because the publishers (probably) forced them to release it early the game now is forever stuck with a substandard score!

Really bugs me when publishers force the devs to release an unfinished product. I wonder when they will realise that gamers don't mind waiting a bit more if it results in a better and more polished product. Rather have a loaf of bread late than a sheaf of wheat early.

 

[Duke Dude]

My two favourite strategy franchises are still going, thank God; Civilization and Total War.

I'm a huge strategy fan so I tend to buy most of Paradox's titles as well. I love Victoria, Hearts of Iron, Europa Universalis etc...

My favourite strategy game of all time has to be Rome: Total War. That is the first one, not the flop that is #2. Man, that game was epic! I still play it to this day. It's hard to believe CA fucked up so badly with Rome 2 after the masterpiece that was Shogun 2.

 

[Helix]

My two favourite strategy franchises are still going, thank God; Civilization and Total War.

I'm a huge strategy fan so I tend to buy most of Paradox's titles as well. I love Victoria, Hearts of Iron, Europa Universalis etc...

My favourite strategy game of all time has to be Rome: Total War. That is the first one, not the flop that is #2. Man, that game was epic! I still play it to this day. It's hard to believe CA fucked up so badly with Rome 2 after the masterpiece that was Shogun 2.

Besides all the bugs now that are almost entirely fixed - what about it do you despise so much? Im enjoying it thoroughly! (played both Rome and Shogun 2 extensively and think its just as good if not better)

 

[Duke Dude]

Besides all the bugs now that are almost entirely fixed - what about it do you despise so much? Im enjoying it thoroughly! (played both Rome and Shogun 2 extensively and think its just as good if not better)

It just doesn't feel like a Total War game. First off I state the pros:

- I love the addition of army traditions. It adds a great new personal aspect to your veteran full stack that's just full of your veterans .

- The new GC map and the way cities expand are awesome!

Cons:

- The Multiplayer is shocking, absolutely shocking. After Shogun 2 I can't believe they stripped if of everything, I am really disappointed with this.

- The limitation to how many army stacks you're allowed to own at one time. What if I want to fight on multiple fronts? It's still do-able but the limitation irks me.

- Politics and the senate just don't feel as fleshed out in the original Rome. I always felt like I was being watched and I dare not piss off the senate until I was strong enough to face the other families. I just don't get that here.

- I haven't played it in a few weeks, but the AI is shocking as well, but this may have been fixed by now. The AI even on Hard and Legendary feels so passive.

- The Greek States being DLC?! I pre-ordered so I'm cool there but good God, how can you make them DLC?? Rome is not just Rome it's Greece as well! Bah

- The inclusion of flags during battles, meh, boils down to no strategy, just a zerg rush! I remember some battles in Medieval II taking as long a 20mins to complete, now they just feel so rushed .

- The family tree also sucks balls! There's nothing personal there, no traits, no way to customize then even a little. Medieval II and Shogun 2 were awesome here.

There's plenty of nitpicks I have like the UI, certain op trade routes erc... But meh, those are just small and can be fixed and balanced.

I'm hardcore Total War fan, so I'm not bashing the series at all. I was just looking so forward to a Rome 2! I begged CA on the official forums since Empire to do a Rome 2 , I was just let down with what we got in the end.

For a budget that was 30% bigger than any other previous TW they've created, it sure felt sub-par and lesser than Medieval II and Shogun 2

 

[Clive Woofer]

I'm a huge strategy fan so I tend to buy most of Paradox's titles as well. I love Victoria, Hearts of Iron, Europa Universalis etc...

I really loved Crusader Kings 2, but I just couldn't get into the Europa Universalis series. No matter how many times I went through the tutorials, I was still thoroughly confused every time I played it. I think it's also because Crusader Kings 2 might be a bit more focused, seeing as your goal in the end is to ensure your dynasty survives with all other goals being secondary, but in EU your goals are a bit more open-ended.

 

[Helix]

It just doesn't feel like a Total War game. First off I state the pros:

- I love the addition of army traditions. It adds a great new personal aspect to your veteran full stack that's just full of your veterans .

- The new GC map and the way cities expand are awesome!

Cons:

- The Multiplayer is shocking, absolutely shocking. After Shogun 2 I can't believe they stripped if of everything, I am really disappointed with this.

- The limitation to how many army stacks you're allowed to own at one time. What if I want to fight on multiple fronts? It's still do-able but the limitation irks me.

- Politics and the senate just don't feel as fleshed out in the original Rome. I always felt like I was being watched and I dare not piss off the senate until I was strong enough to face the other families. I just don't get that here.

- I haven't played it in a few weeks, but the AI is shocking as well, but this may have been fixed by now. The AI even on Hard and Legendary feels so passive.

- The Greek States being DLC?! I pre-ordered so I'm cool there but good God, how can you make them DLC?? Rome is not just Rome it's Greece as well! Bah

- The inclusion of flags during battles, meh, boils down to no strategy, just a zerg rush! I remember some battles in Medieval II taking as long a 20mins to complete, now they just feel so rushed .

- The family tree also sucks balls! There's nothing personal there, no traits, no way to customize then even a little. Medieval II and Shogun 2 were awesome here.

There's plenty of nitpicks I have like the UI, certain op trade routes erc... But meh, those are just small and can be fixed and balanced.

I'm hardcore Total War fan, so I'm not bashing the series at all. I was just looking so forward to a Rome 2! I begged CA on the official forums since Empire to do a Rome 2 , I was just let down with what we got in the end.

For a budget that was 30% bigger than any other previous TW they've created, it sure felt sub-par and lesser than Medieval II and Shogun 2

I have to agree with some of what you said: especially the family tree/politics system. That was a complete fail over simplification. It literally makes no difference for me if a general dies as you can literally just replace him for free and is just another name.

The AI has been drastically improved. I played 100+ turns with Rome on Hard and it was mostly a walk in the park (The Civil War was an absolute joke - 15 full stacked armies popped up and sticked together - thus I avoided them for as long as possible while bringing my own armies, but eventually they basically all starved to death from attrition due to the AI being so passive and not trying to take settlements from me besides 1 or 2)

I just started a new campaign on Legendary with Pontus and am enjoying it a lot more, have even lost a a few battles where on hard it wasnt even a challenge.

In terms of the UI, I actually like the new setup - its streamlined without taking away features imo
The multiplayer is very basic...however I do enjoy jumping into the quick battles sometimes

Give it a try again sometime, hopefully you will find some joy in it!

 

[Duke Dude]

I really loved Crusader Kings 2, but I just couldn't get into the Europa Universalis series. No matter how many times I went through the tutorials, I was still thoroughly confused every time I played it. I think it's also because Crusader Kings 2 might be a bit more focused, seeing as your goal in the end is to ensure your dynasty survives with all other goals being secondary, but in EU your goals are a bit more open-ended.

Paradox titles have always been extremely involved and complicated. One game I've still got to crack is Hearts of Iron III. I love it so much but damn, my nation completely falls apart within a year or two .

EU was my first Paradox game followed by Victoria, so naturally those two are my absolute fav. Victoria II had a bit of a game breaking civil war glitch at launch but once that was patched it became so much fun .

 

[Duke Dude]

I have to agree with some of what you said: especially the family tree/politics system. That was a complete fail over simplification. It literally makes no difference for me if a general dies as you can literally just replace him for free and is just another name.

The AI has been drastically improved. I played 100+ turns with Rome on Hard and it was mostly a walk in the park (The Civil War was an absolute joke - 15 full stacked armies popped up and sticked together - thus I avoided them for as long as possible while bringing my own armies, but eventually they basically all starved to death from attrition due to the AI being so passive and not trying to take settlements from me besides 1 or 2)

I just started a new campaign on Legendary with Pontus and am enjoying it a lot more, have even lost a a few battles where on hard it wasnt even a challenge.

In terms of the UI, I actually like the new setup - its streamlined without taking away features imo
The multiplayer is very basic...however I do enjoy jumping into the quick battles sometimes

Give it a try again sometime, hopefully you will find some joy in it!

I remember when my favourite general or king was slain in battle, it felt like a genuine loss! It really felt like a large part of your military might fell with that man, especially if some dick for a son took over the throne . It allowed so a great level of role play.

At least I have Shogun 2 to numb the pain .

But yeah, I'll def try it again soon.

 

[Tsar]

Besides all the bugs now that are almost entirely fixed - what about it do you despise so much? Im enjoying it thoroughly! (played both Rome and Shogun 2 extensively and think its just as good if not better)

The diplomacy is totally broken,they took the family tree away now generals are basically meh.

But I am enjoying it. Playing as sparta at the moment. The battles seem to last a little longer these days.

 

[Helix]

The diplomacy is totally broken,they took the family tree away now generals are basically meh.

But I am enjoying it. Playing as sparta at the moment. The battles seem to last a little longer these days.

I don't find the diplomacy any different to previous total war games?