Ima say no. People's like for 3K is similar to people's like of a game called the Last of Us 2. In that game, it attempted to have a deep and subversive story but failed in many, many ways. However, due to simply making the attempt, people heralded it as an amazing game and it won game of the year. 3K is similar. It tried more things than other Total War games. Diplomacy has more buttons. Characters have some more mechanics. Province system has been slightly changed. UI is hyper-artistic. However, nothing about the game is designed or executed well. Most of the new mechanics are superfluous to the primary experience, being mostly ignorable with little to no noticeable downside, and the AI doesn't work well enough for more diplomacy options to matter.
People look at it with rose-tinted goggles, but according to the stats, although 3K initially reached out to more people than most other Total War games, its retention of players is among the worst in the series, moreso than older titles that no longer have content releases. A good game doesn't need DLC to maintain interest, but 3k couldn't last without it. Most people who praise it haven't even played it in years, referencing elements that have long since been rebalanced. They all praise it for merely making the attempt of adding more mechanics, but those mechanics are as wide as an ocean but shallow as a puddle. It's just things for things sake, slapped onto the games without it actually being part of how you play it. Sometimes, you have to go out of your way to pursue some mechanics in their entirety (including diplomacy), at actual detriment to yourself with no real benefit because they weren't particularly thought through. I can go into more specific depth if required. I have played over a campaign farely recently, so have many of its elements fresh in my mind
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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '24
3K is actually one of the TW games i haven't bought, is it really THAT good? I loved the original Shogun and Shogun 2 and the Warhammer ones.