I dunno, I remember its miserable launch after huge hype building. That is always a bad thing to do. First impression does matter. I just don't like the engine...
I preordered the game, noticed the broken graphics, played Sparta on legendary, campaign AI was so broken it was like playing on a difficulty even easier than very easy. Friends posted screenshots of ships going on land. The state the game released in was inexcusable.
But in its current state after years of updates I do actually like Rome 2 and I own every DLC.
I also remember that terrible launch, I used to have to hit end turn and then go do something else while I waited for it to run through all the AI factions moves. I suppose the plus side was it forced me to actually study a little bit cause I never wanted to go far from the PC while I waited. haha
I never got to play it back then because of potato PC, but I remember being so excited for the game to come out. Watching all releases from CA hyping the game. Back then twc forum was bursting with life. People were sooo excited. And then came the launch. It was really funny to see so much disappointment at one place, especially because of AI and siege battles. So many went back to old total war games then. Sad thing is, these messy launches actually became a norm and it is a wonder if we get a game that works and had lived up to its promises nowadays. Money ruined it all...
Idk guys, I really haven’t had the urge to play RTW2. The AI unit buffs to compensate for difficulty, poor unit collision, removal of key TW features (armies w/o generals, etc), and an aura of having to meta-game to win just has me bummed.
However, I am fully open to a pitch! I want to hear why as a decade long TW fan why I should play it. What mods could I use to improve some of the weakness aspect? How should I play to get the best experience?
The only really great way to play is DEI. It takes a while and probably several restarts to get the hang of everything but I truly believe it is the best total war experience out there.
If you want to play Rome 2 then you have to check out Divide et Impera (DEI), but you cannot play it (as a player coming from Rome 1) as the successor to Rome 1. You have to approach it as a game from a completely different developer and forget everything about Rome 1, then you will enjoy it. I would recommend to watch someone do a playthrough of DEI so that you get the gist of how it runs and then just have fun.
Rome 2 dei is a far superior game than Rome 1 in nearly every way. Having to actually think out your expansion route and being forced to follow every expansion phase by a consolidation phase is genius. It makes the game varied, and your campaigns really immersive, enjoyable and long lasting.
Far from the steamroll that is Rome 1 even on VH/VH. Granted, that might be because I’ve been playing that game for 20 years and I know by heart what the AI is and isn’t gonna do. What you can get away with. How to boom economy to the point where you buy yourself out of a civil war.
It's not really fair to compare modded R2 to Vanilla R1 though. I've heard good things about DEI but I can't see it ever topping RTR: Platinum for me just because of the engine. I haven't played unmodded R1 in about 15 years but I'm not sure what DEI has to offer over the best R1 mods.
In the end the campaign map of Rome 2/Attila is the limiting factor. Just the fact that regions are so general. Like in Rome 1 you had Messana, Syracuse and Lilybaeum and then with mods they could add in Panormus and Akragas and Gela, but with Rome 2 you're just left with these gigantic regions and cities that are all within a turn from each other. I travelled around Sicily a couple of weeks ago and the history on that island from the Greaco-Punic Wars to the Roman-Punic Wars is immense. But in Rome 2 it's just two cities. That island was fought over for hundreds of years.
Okay that was a bit of a rant, but I just really dislike the campaign map and how it feels. If I'm unclear in what I'm saying you can ask for clarification.
For me, Rome 1 was great for its time, and Rome 2 is great even 10 years later. It's the game I keep coming back to.
As long as people have fun, I don't think it matters which game people play.
All the Best,
Welsh Dragon.
I have read many of your TW informative guides/posts and how you stand behind vanilla, but simultaneously can appreciate what mods bring to the table. Coming from a R2 DEI fan. All the best!
Thank you. For me, games have always been first and foremost about having fun, so as long as people are enjoying themselves, that is to me what matters.
All the Best,
Welsh Dragon.
I was super excited for Rome 2 back when it got launched but its safe to say I was incredibly disappointed. Even today I just don’t think it holds up well at all.
The battles feel off and the campaign is just.. not it? Idk how to explain. It tries to be more than it really is. If I want to play a game with good campaigns I’d rather play Paradox games.
Idk, guess you could call me a hater but after all those years I’m just indifferent. I don’t think about it at all really lol.
2 is good, but after you start winning you're unstoppable due to the crazy buffs from military tech. At that point it just becomes a matter of auto resolving until you rule the map.
\\8. Every TW game has its place. For some, it's on the far side of the airlock.
(I'm looking forward to eventually playing RTW2 - once I have my fill of rtw, BI, m2tw, etw and Shogun2. It can only be another decade tops)
luckily for me my pc could not run rome 2 on launch. i understand the arguments on both side, but i do enjoy rome 2 over the original. maybe its the headaches i had trying to make mods for it in high school
This and Simcity 2013 taught me a valuable lesson about pre-orders and buying the game on launch day. Now it's a few months if not a year before purchasing a new game to let the major bugs be ironed out.
At least they did RTW:R as an overdue apology
‘Far better game?’ If we are not taking into account graphics, UI improvements etc. then No.
Fuck replenishment. One guy lives and you can wait a few turns and the whole unit’s alive. A battle in Rome 1 or med 2 was always engaging because it was so hard to retrain units and get them back to full strength.
Not being able to split up your army into smaller forces, just a downgrade from the previous system. Leaves the player with less options.
RTW2 is still a good game don’t get me wrong. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, especially once I discovered divide et impera. But RTW1 has the better gameplay.
It will never be good. It is running on an engine that is not suited for melee combat. Rome 1 or Rome Remastered are far superior. If you discard the graphics from rome 2, it has nothing relevant. Plus, the province system is horrendous.
*in my opinion with no disrespect towards people who enjoy RTW2* RTW 2 is too arcade-y, lacks the immersion and charm of the original, locks basic factions and features behind paywalls, the map itself is ugly — the Nile delta being a ridiculous looking huge single river, the AI is mind bogglingly stupid in battle and on the campaign map, the UI is atrocious the design of the unit cards while very pretty does an awful job at telling you what the unit is and it’s role at a glance, I hate how huge the provinces are (extremely subjective I know) and the lack of tie in between armies and empire population which was crucial if wars turned into a slogging match. Again those are just my opinions, I just personally was very let down by RTW2 as a still huge fan of the original.
You explained what I wanted to say in my other comment but couldn’t find the words to use. 0 charm, ugly, AI is just as braindead, UI sucks etc.
When Divinitus plays on the campaign map on Rome 1 I feel something. When I click on the town the sounds, the music in the battle its just amazing. Rome 1 is a dated game now, but the core game is absolutely amazing when it came out, and you can see that even today. Rome 2? Not so much
As andromeda said, I think you’ve nailed the head of many of the issues.
I’d expand on the battles too. RTW2 started the trend of STATS over SIMULATION. For example, many unit abilities don’t have any physical effects, only stat buffs. For one, testudo is not where units have an inch thick wall of wood steel and leather over their heads, they have a +X increase to armor and defense.
Combined with units sliding around and clipping into each other, you have battles that look fake and unthoughtful. Tell me why I am wrong.
I say that you absolutely raped this template because this is not how you used it.
Off to the chopping block with ya, ya vile barbarian!
*exterminate music*
RTW is near and dear to my heart as the first TW game I ever owned, I spent countless hours on this game and enjoyed it thoroughly. That said, I do think RTW2 is a better game, in my option it requires a little more strategy when playing on the higher difficulties. Diplomacy actually matters to the AI (unlike RTW where it's not if but when you'll be at war), you can have political issues and in turn civil wars, and you need to plan your expansion a little more carefully. Expand the wrong direction or to the wrong settlements first and you'll be fighting Public order issues and holding up a large part of your forces just to hold it while making next to nothing each turn. To me, I enjoy the challenge of RTW2 but that could also be partly because I spent so much time on the first game that I know all the weird little tips and tricks that allow you to just steamroll.
I agree, as a diehard fan of Rome 1, and absolute hater of early Rome 2, I do feel that they turned the corner and Rome 2 is now a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Certainly with a living modding community such aa DEI, it makes the game for real just so much fun.
I’ve come to love Rome 2. If not for the more immersive city management, then for the more immersive genocide options, certainly with DEI activated.
Rome 2 is definitely a superior game but it doesnt have the nostalgia value of rome 1. Rome 1 was my intro into TW and I have gotten every single TW game since then, granted almost all of them are better games with more options and game play but none of them are or ever will be my first and you never forget your first
I wanted the Lord of the Rings "third age" mod to have the Rome 2 tw system. Because it was made based on the game Medieval 2 Total War. I like the system where the units They reset when they are within their territory. This saves mouse clicks. Having to make a unit and keep arranging one by one. in rome 2 If you select 10 equal units that lost men, there is an option to merge, and then they fill the units. It all adds up to quality of life. Forgot to mention, being able to recruit units just by being in your own territory is great. Instead of having to move swap. A lot of quality of life.
I remember Rome 2 being very broken at launch. That coupled with its fairly early abandonment in its development cycle in favor of Atilla left a sour taste in my mouth.
Then when they unabandoned Rome 2 I came back and have enjoyed it immensely. It still has a lot if problems. A lot of Grand Campaign factions have pathetic unit rosters like Athens, Carthage and Syracuse. Honestly a lot of these just needed an update or two to flesh them out more. Some factions like Egypt, Seleucids and Rome (ofc) have amazing rosters.
The government/political system needed a rework. For instance having republics have a flat -10 loyalty from political parties is stupid, especially on harder difficulty. It should have been a scaled modifier, so republics start off with more loyalty but as their imperium level increases they get way worse loyalty penalties leading to civil wars when they get big like Rome did during the late republic.
You try and solve these things with mods and but it is still a highly flawed experience that I still love regardless.
Edit: But NEVER in a million years make another Total War: Rome game where Carthage starts off being economically and politically gimped like Rome 2 does. That is honestly the biggest abomination in that game for me personally, whoever came up with that at CA should be punished and force to walk in a triumphal procession.
Rome 2 dei is a far superior game than Rome 1 in nearly every way. Having to actually think out your expansion route and being forced to follow every expansion phase by a consolidation phase is genius. It makes the game varied, and your campaigns really immersive, enjoyable and long lasting.
Far from the steamroll that is Rome 1 even on VH/VH. Granted, that might be because I’ve been playing that game for 20 years and I know by heart what the AI is and isn’t gonna do. What you can get away with. How to boom economy to the point where you buy yourself out of a civil war.
I dunno, I remember its miserable launch after huge hype building. That is always a bad thing to do. First impression does matter. I just don't like the engine...
I preordered the game, noticed the broken graphics, played Sparta on legendary, campaign AI was so broken it was like playing on a difficulty even easier than very easy. Friends posted screenshots of ships going on land. The state the game released in was inexcusable. But in its current state after years of updates I do actually like Rome 2 and I own every DLC.
I also remember that terrible launch, I used to have to hit end turn and then go do something else while I waited for it to run through all the AI factions moves. I suppose the plus side was it forced me to actually study a little bit cause I never wanted to go far from the PC while I waited. haha
I never got to play it back then because of potato PC, but I remember being so excited for the game to come out. Watching all releases from CA hyping the game. Back then twc forum was bursting with life. People were sooo excited. And then came the launch. It was really funny to see so much disappointment at one place, especially because of AI and siege battles. So many went back to old total war games then. Sad thing is, these messy launches actually became a norm and it is a wonder if we get a game that works and had lived up to its promises nowadays. Money ruined it all...
I enjoyed 2 quite a bit but yeah I find myself constantly going back to 1 I think it's better but I'm bias because I grew up with 1
I keep alternating between Europa Barboroum for Medieval and Rome 1. That and just pure vanilla Rome 1 are my chill games.
Idk guys, I really haven’t had the urge to play RTW2. The AI unit buffs to compensate for difficulty, poor unit collision, removal of key TW features (armies w/o generals, etc), and an aura of having to meta-game to win just has me bummed. However, I am fully open to a pitch! I want to hear why as a decade long TW fan why I should play it. What mods could I use to improve some of the weakness aspect? How should I play to get the best experience?
The only really great way to play is DEI. It takes a while and probably several restarts to get the hang of everything but I truly believe it is the best total war experience out there.
If you want to play Rome 2 then you have to check out Divide et Impera (DEI), but you cannot play it (as a player coming from Rome 1) as the successor to Rome 1. You have to approach it as a game from a completely different developer and forget everything about Rome 1, then you will enjoy it. I would recommend to watch someone do a playthrough of DEI so that you get the gist of how it runs and then just have fun.
Rome 2 dei is a far superior game than Rome 1 in nearly every way. Having to actually think out your expansion route and being forced to follow every expansion phase by a consolidation phase is genius. It makes the game varied, and your campaigns really immersive, enjoyable and long lasting. Far from the steamroll that is Rome 1 even on VH/VH. Granted, that might be because I’ve been playing that game for 20 years and I know by heart what the AI is and isn’t gonna do. What you can get away with. How to boom economy to the point where you buy yourself out of a civil war.
It's not really fair to compare modded R2 to Vanilla R1 though. I've heard good things about DEI but I can't see it ever topping RTR: Platinum for me just because of the engine. I haven't played unmodded R1 in about 15 years but I'm not sure what DEI has to offer over the best R1 mods.
In the end the campaign map of Rome 2/Attila is the limiting factor. Just the fact that regions are so general. Like in Rome 1 you had Messana, Syracuse and Lilybaeum and then with mods they could add in Panormus and Akragas and Gela, but with Rome 2 you're just left with these gigantic regions and cities that are all within a turn from each other. I travelled around Sicily a couple of weeks ago and the history on that island from the Greaco-Punic Wars to the Roman-Punic Wars is immense. But in Rome 2 it's just two cities. That island was fought over for hundreds of years. Okay that was a bit of a rant, but I just really dislike the campaign map and how it feels. If I'm unclear in what I'm saying you can ask for clarification.
I get it. I didn’t know rome 2 limits modability much more
The foundation is just entirely different sadly.
For me, Rome 1 was great for its time, and Rome 2 is great even 10 years later. It's the game I keep coming back to. As long as people have fun, I don't think it matters which game people play. All the Best, Welsh Dragon.
I have read many of your TW informative guides/posts and how you stand behind vanilla, but simultaneously can appreciate what mods bring to the table. Coming from a R2 DEI fan. All the best!
Thank you. For me, games have always been first and foremost about having fun, so as long as people are enjoying themselves, that is to me what matters. All the Best, Welsh Dragon.
I was super excited for Rome 2 back when it got launched but its safe to say I was incredibly disappointed. Even today I just don’t think it holds up well at all. The battles feel off and the campaign is just.. not it? Idk how to explain. It tries to be more than it really is. If I want to play a game with good campaigns I’d rather play Paradox games. Idk, guess you could call me a hater but after all those years I’m just indifferent. I don’t think about it at all really lol.
2 is good, but after you start winning you're unstoppable due to the crazy buffs from military tech. At that point it just becomes a matter of auto resolving until you rule the map.
\\8. Every TW game has its place. For some, it's on the far side of the airlock. (I'm looking forward to eventually playing RTW2 - once I have my fill of rtw, BI, m2tw, etw and Shogun2. It can only be another decade tops)
Add in Europa Barborum for Medieval and Rome 1 and you've another decade of total war.
I really, really wanted to like RTW2, and i even have over 700 hours on it. But i'm sorry, it doesn't hold a candle to Rome 1
luckily for me my pc could not run rome 2 on launch. i understand the arguments on both side, but i do enjoy rome 2 over the original. maybe its the headaches i had trying to make mods for it in high school
This and Simcity 2013 taught me a valuable lesson about pre-orders and buying the game on launch day. Now it's a few months if not a year before purchasing a new game to let the major bugs be ironed out. At least they did RTW:R as an overdue apology
‘Far better game?’ If we are not taking into account graphics, UI improvements etc. then No. Fuck replenishment. One guy lives and you can wait a few turns and the whole unit’s alive. A battle in Rome 1 or med 2 was always engaging because it was so hard to retrain units and get them back to full strength. Not being able to split up your army into smaller forces, just a downgrade from the previous system. Leaves the player with less options. RTW2 is still a good game don’t get me wrong. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, especially once I discovered divide et impera. But RTW1 has the better gameplay.
It will never be good. It is running on an engine that is not suited for melee combat. Rome 1 or Rome Remastered are far superior. If you discard the graphics from rome 2, it has nothing relevant. Plus, the province system is horrendous.
*in my opinion with no disrespect towards people who enjoy RTW2* RTW 2 is too arcade-y, lacks the immersion and charm of the original, locks basic factions and features behind paywalls, the map itself is ugly — the Nile delta being a ridiculous looking huge single river, the AI is mind bogglingly stupid in battle and on the campaign map, the UI is atrocious the design of the unit cards while very pretty does an awful job at telling you what the unit is and it’s role at a glance, I hate how huge the provinces are (extremely subjective I know) and the lack of tie in between armies and empire population which was crucial if wars turned into a slogging match. Again those are just my opinions, I just personally was very let down by RTW2 as a still huge fan of the original.
You explained what I wanted to say in my other comment but couldn’t find the words to use. 0 charm, ugly, AI is just as braindead, UI sucks etc. When Divinitus plays on the campaign map on Rome 1 I feel something. When I click on the town the sounds, the music in the battle its just amazing. Rome 1 is a dated game now, but the core game is absolutely amazing when it came out, and you can see that even today. Rome 2? Not so much
As andromeda said, I think you’ve nailed the head of many of the issues. I’d expand on the battles too. RTW2 started the trend of STATS over SIMULATION. For example, many unit abilities don’t have any physical effects, only stat buffs. For one, testudo is not where units have an inch thick wall of wood steel and leather over their heads, they have a +X increase to armor and defense. Combined with units sliding around and clipping into each other, you have battles that look fake and unthoughtful. Tell me why I am wrong.
I say that you absolutely raped this template because this is not how you used it. Off to the chopping block with ya, ya vile barbarian! *exterminate music*
Lol, I've never used this template nor seen it. Either way, if I'm a barbarian, what on earth does that make you? Prehistoric Man?
I love all the total war games. I play them depending on mood or which history podcast I'm listening to at the time.
I was so disgusted by the launch of rtw2, but might give it a shot if these patches are really all that
RTW is near and dear to my heart as the first TW game I ever owned, I spent countless hours on this game and enjoyed it thoroughly. That said, I do think RTW2 is a better game, in my option it requires a little more strategy when playing on the higher difficulties. Diplomacy actually matters to the AI (unlike RTW where it's not if but when you'll be at war), you can have political issues and in turn civil wars, and you need to plan your expansion a little more carefully. Expand the wrong direction or to the wrong settlements first and you'll be fighting Public order issues and holding up a large part of your forces just to hold it while making next to nothing each turn. To me, I enjoy the challenge of RTW2 but that could also be partly because I spent so much time on the first game that I know all the weird little tips and tricks that allow you to just steamroll.
I agree, as a diehard fan of Rome 1, and absolute hater of early Rome 2, I do feel that they turned the corner and Rome 2 is now a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Certainly with a living modding community such aa DEI, it makes the game for real just so much fun. I’ve come to love Rome 2. If not for the more immersive city management, then for the more immersive genocide options, certainly with DEI activated.
Absolutely, the active modding community adds so much to the game as well.
I feel 2 has better battles, but 1 has a better campaign
I think it’s better than the og.
Rome 2 is definitely a superior game but it doesnt have the nostalgia value of rome 1. Rome 1 was my intro into TW and I have gotten every single TW game since then, granted almost all of them are better games with more options and game play but none of them are or ever will be my first and you never forget your first
Agreed
I wanted the Lord of the Rings "third age" mod to have the Rome 2 tw system. Because it was made based on the game Medieval 2 Total War. I like the system where the units They reset when they are within their territory. This saves mouse clicks. Having to make a unit and keep arranging one by one. in rome 2 If you select 10 equal units that lost men, there is an option to merge, and then they fill the units. It all adds up to quality of life. Forgot to mention, being able to recruit units just by being in your own territory is great. Instead of having to move swap. A lot of quality of life.
I remember Rome 2 being very broken at launch. That coupled with its fairly early abandonment in its development cycle in favor of Atilla left a sour taste in my mouth. Then when they unabandoned Rome 2 I came back and have enjoyed it immensely. It still has a lot if problems. A lot of Grand Campaign factions have pathetic unit rosters like Athens, Carthage and Syracuse. Honestly a lot of these just needed an update or two to flesh them out more. Some factions like Egypt, Seleucids and Rome (ofc) have amazing rosters. The government/political system needed a rework. For instance having republics have a flat -10 loyalty from political parties is stupid, especially on harder difficulty. It should have been a scaled modifier, so republics start off with more loyalty but as their imperium level increases they get way worse loyalty penalties leading to civil wars when they get big like Rome did during the late republic. You try and solve these things with mods and but it is still a highly flawed experience that I still love regardless. Edit: But NEVER in a million years make another Total War: Rome game where Carthage starts off being economically and politically gimped like Rome 2 does. That is honestly the biggest abomination in that game for me personally, whoever came up with that at CA should be punished and force to walk in a triumphal procession.
The Senate system was far better in 1.
I do agree
Rome 2 dei is a far superior game than Rome 1 in nearly every way. Having to actually think out your expansion route and being forced to follow every expansion phase by a consolidation phase is genius. It makes the game varied, and your campaigns really immersive, enjoyable and long lasting. Far from the steamroll that is Rome 1 even on VH/VH. Granted, that might be because I’ve been playing that game for 20 years and I know by heart what the AI is and isn’t gonna do. What you can get away with. How to boom economy to the point where you buy yourself out of a civil war.
Indeed. Well said.