I blink and I've somehow spent another 30 hours in Shogun 2. Undoubtedly my favorite of the older Total War games—and I don't say that lightly as someone who also has big hour counts in Rome and Medieval 2—there's just something so straightforward about the second Shogun; an elegant simplicity complimented by a period where the Creative Assembly was clearly having fun experimenting with all sorts of ideas.

It's no wonder it chose to remaster the game despite the fact it's arguably the best aged Total War there is. I'd happily go back and play Shogun 2 over Rome 2, or even Attila, which I think speaks to how well it holds up. It's definitely nice to play Shogun 2 with improved visuals (if you like the new style), modern unit controls, and full Japanese voice acting, but I think Creative Assembly missed the mark in terms of the remaster's other additions.

To give it a fair shot, I started with one of the newly introduced island-bound minor factions, Honma. I always love conquering this island in campaigns because they have a gold mine, plus starting on an island in the north adds loads of possibilities. The first thing I noticed, though, is that none of the 50 new minor factions in Shogun 2's campaigns get unique bonuses, which would've gone a long way to distinguishing them from the minor faction unlocker mods Shogun 2 already had.

Without any passive bonuses to define playstyle, or tweaks to every faction starting with the same units, location is the only differential for these clans.

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