Tis a shame. I think the game can be very pretty, the visuals are there. Gameplay mechanics were getting a bit too arcadish. The most criminal thing is the optimisation though. Poor at best.
I won't be purchasing total war franchise games until I'm convinced they run smoothly.
I think the visuals are good in places, but in others a step backwards. I love Empire & Napoleon for example and whilst its ageing in places it still has proper aa and far better performance to number of soldiers. In Rome II under certain scenarios you can tell the engine simply cant handle the number of soldiers on screen, yet with Empire I can have 2 to 3 times the number of troops in battles and its smoother and as a result of the extra scale to me presents a far better dramatic battle.
I'd rather play Medieval II than Rome II and how many years are we down the road, 8 years? Not good. CA are either becoming more and more incompetent with time or Sega are pushing them too hard. Either way the state of release of Rome II on release with an alleged 40% increased budget shows things are clearly not right in the land of Total War. For the first time ever I'm now never going anywhere near any more Total Wars, until like you say, its been patched and fit for purpose. Even then I'll likely wait until its less than £10. They've done so much damage to their franchise now, that I've now accepted it for the wayward shadow of its former self that the series now is.
The warscape engine seriously needs overhauling btw imo. But with CA developing, looking at there competency to date I seriously dont know if they'd know how to address/handle a new engine.
Bitter? Yep, it used to be my favourite and much beloved series for years.