Three kingdoms - Total War

[jimjam81]

The more I play this, the more I am enjoying it. Got to the part where there is 3 large kingdoms and a massive war is going on.

I am finding the balance between food and economy buildings challenging, those large cities really require a lot of food.

The reform tree is really good as is the family tree and diplomacy options.

I am playing on very hard campaign, normal battle difficulty. would have lost early doors if not for machine gun towers. So works both way. Besides if you get fire arrows or trebuchet they become trivial.

Trebuchets with explosive shots are immense, must have for any army therefore so is a strategist.

The game is well optimised, playing on ultra at 4K with extreme unit sizes and don’t notice much if frame drop.

Dare is say it, this is the most polished total war yet. Overtaking shogun 2.

I was in the fence buying this and only bought on release day, as this period did not interest me much.

Well I am totally hooked now, would recommend anyone who has not tried total war to buy this.

Surely if you fan of the series then you will have this already.

 

[melmac]

For the people that are Total War fans, would you recommend 3 kingdoms or Shogun 2?

 

[jimjam81]

For the people that are Total War fans, would you recommend 3 kingdoms or Shogun 2?

Three kingdoms for sure, it’s the newer game.

Shogun 2 was good as was rise and fall of samurai dlc but 3 kingdoms is better.

The diplomacy is civilisation standard now with all the intrigues.

I have bought every total war on release including dlc except Atilla and thrones of Britannia and this is the best release so far imo.

Dare I say it but the battlefield ai is also getting better. I have lost a few times and the siege ai is better too.

The ai will use fire arrows and trebuchet to destroy the defense towers or siege long enough to collapse walls.

You also get events sometimes, like if you are sieging and your army gets diseased you can spread the plague into the city.

Or if you bring sieges and detect a tunnel you can collapse it.

Spying is a lot more in depth too, not played around with it much but I believe if you spy goes far enough the ai may use him as a general which he can defect with the army to yourside.

Still learning much about it but it’s great historical game. If you don’t like overpowered heroes then you can play records mode which is more a like to other historical total war with bodyguards as part of the general unit.

Also you can outfit your generals with better weapons and the model actually reflects these changes on battle map, same with armour and horse.

Really hope some these features make it into warhammer 3.

 

[melmac]

snip.

Thanks for the reply, I have to admit that I haven't played any of the Total War games in years. I bought Total War Shogun 2 and all the DLC on sale a few years ago, but, between one thing and another I have never actually played it. Lately I have been thinking about getting back into playing these types of games again as I have more time to play.

Basically what I am wondering is Shogun 2 a good enough game to scratch that itch or is 3 kingdoms that much better that I really should just buy it and play it and forget about Shogun 2.

 

[bakes0310]

If you got Shogun 2 already just play that as it's the most beginner friendly. If you really enjoyed it get three kingdoms.

 

[melmac]

If you got Shogun 2 already just play that as it's the most beginner friendly. If you really enjoyed it get three kingdoms.

Will do, just checking to see if it's still worth playing before I download it again Thanks.

 

[bakes0310]

Pr

Will do, just checking to see if it's still worth playing before I download it again Thanks.

Probably not I only got a nearly 800 hours out of it haha. Once you get used to the game, I seriously recommend Darth mod for it. Makes the game even more realistic and more epic.

 

[melmac]

Pr

Probably not I only got a nearly 800 hours out of it haha. Once you get used to the game, I seriously recommend Darth mod for it. Makes the game even more realistic and more epic.

800 hours!! lol These games are such time sinks. I am kind of scared to get started now

 

[Dirk Diggler]

would recommend anyone who has not tried total war to buy this

Is this "beginner friendly"?
Will it support Ultrawide and 60+ FPS?

 

[bakes0310]

Is this "beginner friendly"?
Will it support Ultrawide and 60+ FPS?

Yes to all. I play at 3440x1440 and its glorious at that resolution so immersive.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Yes to all. I play at 3440x1440 and its glorious at that resolution so immersive.

I've been watching some YouTube videos and it looks really complicated, but think I'll give it a punt as I really fancy something different.

 

[davejh666]

Okay, I am going to rock the boat a little now.....

I don't like this and can't get into it.

I love TW games. These and Football Manager are pretty much the only PC games I play regularly. But this just isn't doing it for me.

I think the problem for me is the lack of variety in units. To me it doesn't matter if I start with one faction or another they all seem the same. I have, at the moment, gone back to Warhammer 2 and my Dark Elf save but will give this a go again over the weekend when I have a little more time.

 

[TonyTurbo78]

Okay, I am going to rock the boat a little now.....

I don't like this and can't get into it.

I love TW games. These and Football Manager are pretty much the only PC games I play regularly. But this just isn't doing it for me.

I think the problem for me is the lack of variety in units. To me it doesn't matter if I start with one faction or another they all seem the same. I have, at the moment, gone back to Warhammer 2 and my Dark Elf save but will give this a go again over the weekend when I have a little more time.

Same, I actually refunded, I just couldn't get on with it due to the battles feeling a bit meh. I know I only played early game but from the off I couldn't get it like other TW games. There are certain aspects of the game I really do like, love the deeper diplomacy, relations and general look of the campaign map, but the rest just wasn't clicking for me.

I've gone back to Total War Rome 2, love the unit variety and with DEI and mods it really is fantastic now.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I've gone back to Total War Rome 2, love the unit variety and with DEI and mods it really is fantastic now.

I already own that but didn't get into it as I bought it on a sale and didn't get round to it. Would that be good to play through prior to picking Three Kingdoms up? Where do you get the mods, are any essential?

 

[SS-89]

Okay, I am going to rock the boat a little now.....

I don't like this and can't get into it.

I love TW games. These and Football Manager are pretty much the only PC games I play regularly. But this just isn't doing it for me.

I think the problem for me is the lack of variety in units. To me it doesn't matter if I start with one faction or another they all seem the same. I have, at the moment, gone back to Warhammer 2 and my Dark Elf save but will give this a go again over the weekend when I have a little more time.

Unit variety is a weakness (one of the very few tbh), that aside, the factions play quite differently on the campaign map.

Using Cao Cao to start a proxy war between two factions with his specific diplomatic currency was utterly brilliant and saved my ass as the other faction was assaulting me from all sides but had to pull back to fight the war I'd instigated.

If battles are more your thing then warhammer or one of the larger map games will always be the better bet as there is so much variety due to the setting. If you prefer campaign map gameplay then no contest 3k is the best tw in a long time.

I wouldn't hold out hope of these changes coming to warhammer 3 a lot of the diplomacy is stripped back due to restrictions in the lore about what factions associate.

I'm hoping they make medieval 3 with these changes. Would be an awesome game. That being said 3k is great all round.

 

[TonyTurbo78]

I already own that but didn't get into it as I bought it on a sale and didn't get round to it. Would that be good to play through prior to picking Three Kingdoms up? Where do you get the mods, are any essential?

Most of them on Steam. The main ones for me are;

Divide Et Impera part 1,2 and 3
Divide Et Impera No Public Order Garrison Negative
English Unit Names for DEI 1.2
English Faction Names Submod for DEI 1.2
Historical Family System (Gens Junia for me as I'm playing Junia Rome)
All Diplomatic Options SubMod

 

[McPhee]

Feeling a bit lost with this one. Will keep at it, as I'm seeing nothing but praise for it. But I'm currently regretting not just spending the money on Warhammer 2 DLC instead.

Anyone know of any good explanations of the time period? That might help, as I don't really know what's going on aside from the Emperor being dead and the kingdom being in civil war. Found this with Shogun as well; if I don't know anything about the factions and characters involved, I get bored.

 

[jimjam81]

Try playing records mode and play as Gongsun zan. Records mode get rid of op hero’s and makes games play like older total wars.

Gongsun zan has nice part of map, Eliminate the faction north of you and you have one front to concentrate on.

Note factions do play similar in this game except for maybe the Yellow turbans who have different tech tree.

Note harder battle difficulty than normal apparently makes ai behave better, for example archers not wasting ammo on your hero’s in romance mode.

Also get a strategist ASAP and put two trebuchets in your army and try to get flaming ammo skill. Those trebuchets will then get you 500-600 kills each in every battle.

 

[Clav]

Feeling a bit lost with this one. Will keep at it, as I'm seeing nothing but praise for it. But I'm currently regretting not just spending the money on Warhammer 2 DLC instead.

Anyone know of any good explanations of the time period? That might help, as I don't really know what's going on aside from the Emperor being dead and the kingdom being in civil war. Found this with Shogun as well; if I don't know anything about the factions and characters involved, I get bored.

The game is based on the stories of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms. I followed some vids on youtube by Many a True Nerd, he explains the game mechanics well and also how they relate to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story.

 

[Poneros]

I'll echo the other sentiments of disappointment. Overall it's just 'meh' in every aspect and has done nothing to fix my complaints with these games. Rome 2 remains my favourite & the one I'll keep going back to when I want to scratch that itch.

I cannot deal with the visual clutter anymore. They need to change their rendering style & focus more on strategic view visibility over the prettiness of close-ups. Ultimately the performance of the game for how poor it looks is a major negative point for me. Staying shallow, I'll also add that I was immensely disappointed by how weak the campaign map visuals were. When I first saw R2 TW I was just gob-smacked by how good it looked, and it sold me on it right then and there. On the other hand the CM in R3K just feels half-baked. For battles - If you look at something like Knights of Honour for inspiration, that would be the right move (visually). Clear, beautiful, artistically appropriate. No muss, no fuss.

Here's an example:

Spoiler

They also need to add more to the overall strategic gameplay on the campaign map, it doesn't need to be as intricate as the Paradox games but at least move more towards that direction.

As it stands I simply have no interest in any of R3K's aspects, and fair enough maybe it's just not for me, but that's my 2c.