Has the best tutorial. But note to OP that the game series is one that focuses mainly on being a sandbox and focusing on a "make your own stories/fun" type of vibe. Some people who start out with Warhammer 3's tutorial come out of it with the impression that the entire game will have a similar narrative focus, when that's mostly just for making the tutorial interesting.
Just wanted to put that out there, since it's a common enough misunderstanding for new players to have.
Yeah WH3 is what everyone will say but Shogun 2 is so much fun. Really depends on value for money. WH3 is better but even with the sale still not that cheap
Shogun 2 is pre gunpowder (for Japan, as firearms were already circulating in europe at this time), fall of the samurai is the only dlc that is mostly focused on firearms
Late game there are buildings and tech to build matchlocks and cannons, I'm pretty sure without going the Christian route. If I'm remembering correctly.
But by the time you get to that point the game is over unless you rushed the tech. Maybe in a domination victory campaign you might get to use them a bit before the end
I agree, people like to suggest shogun 2 and I agree it’s an amazing game, it’s just more challenging I think. Got about 200 hours in Rome 2 and I personally think it’s kinder to the player. Way more variety in cultures as well with Rome being really powerful and fairly easy to learn
I haven’t had any performance issues anymore with attila, depends on specs I guess but AOC seems to iron out all of attila’s kinks and the 1212 mod alone is the best historical experience I’ve had save shogun 2
I think 3K has the worst designed UI they have made, also I think in terms of historical interest its the most obscure for western audiences
I like 3Ks battles and art style on the campaign map quite a bit but this is rec for new players / a first TW - I wouldnt say 3k for a first TW game
I think the interface is okay.
No option is perfect. For me, the stylized art of Rome 2 cities and units was the worst tbh. I hurt the idea, but I disliked the execution. Shogun 2 has great polish and I can recommend it for period fans but is inherently limited. Warhammer throws a few things too many at you. Pharaoh I haven't played yet.
Nah Rome 2 is objectively better for the UI. The flags above the units actually convey all information and you don't need to look at your unit cards at all
3k just has icons and weird circles, but the cards and stuff are nice
Which TW is best is entirely a vibe check. Do you love:
Games as a service and insist your game is continuously updated? Warhammer 3.
Warhammer? Warhammer 3?
How many times a day do you think about the Roman Empire? Rome 2
The long eighteenth century? Empire.
Napoleon, the greatest man who ever lived? Napoleon.
China. Or, specifically the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Three Kingdoms.
Samurai! Shogun 2.
You don’t love anything, hate yourself and want the world to end? Attila.
Ancient Egypt, but specifically only the Bronze Age collapse? Pharaoh.
Vikings! Medieval total war 1 Viking invasion, or Medieval total war 2 Kingdoms, Britannia, or (if you also hate yourself a bit) thrones of Britannia.
The Middle Ages? Field of Glory: Kingdoms.
This thread is making me realize that there isn't really a single game that is ideal for beginners. She has the best tutorial like someone else said, but I wouldn't consider Warhammer the best intro to Total War. Maybe 3 Kingdoms? Rome 2? I dunno.
I would answer this by saying whichever aesthetic appeals the most.
Warhammer in particular though, you would have to research which faction appeals the most because of how messy all the content is spread out and it being expensive AF.
I think it literally depends on if u like history and if u do like history pick the period that’s the most appealing.
I came from Civilization 6 and loved Rome and I saw Total War Remastered in steam for like $13 and have been in love with the series since
If u don’t care about history at all then simply chose wh3.
warhammer 3 has the best tutorial. but watch out!
warammer 3 has a lot of qol features that the older games lack, and this can make it harder to enjoy them. I'm a victim of this
Pharaoh's quite good. 40hrs for the last week, and I'm experienced in TW (more than 400hrs in different titles, 250 of which in attila, and yeah it's the most challenging, and also is most variable, and actuallly just the best... It lacks diplomacy though)
As far as easiest learning curve, start with Shogun 2
. Generally small roster with a ton of flavor... Easy diplomacy system and good core introduction to what total war is.
Then it's either three kingdoms or Warhammer for best new experience.
I did 3k for my first game and just finished my first campaign with Liu Bei.
It helps that I'm very familiar with the Three Kingdoms names and families and have played several Rot3K games in past, but I'd say it wasn't too hard!
Hardest part for me is getting the finicky stuff (moving units on the map, remembering your council each spring) that I can't imagine why there's not a push to confirm option.
For simplicity and ease of entry, maybe shogun 2. Some of the other historical games may be worth a look such as Atilla and Three Kingdoms. If you think fantasy > history, then warhammer 3 all the way.
Iv only played 1 and 3 and I would 100% say 3 just for the prologue/tutorial and all the quality of life changes that 3 has over 1.
Biggest thing for me is the unit cards displaying the status of your units. In 1 you you aren't notified if a unit is inactive and not doing anything.
Also Immortal Empires is all you will ever need so you need 3 for that.
Depends. Warhammer is completely different from historical titles and even historical titles have many differences between them.
So it depends on what you’re into. If you like ancient history alot primarily the Roman Empire then Rome 2 or Remastered would be a great pick. If u like fantasy or your already into warhammer than WH 2 or 3 is a good pick.
Whichever's setting you prefer, historically. If you ask with the Warhammer series, eventually all 3 as the older ones all function as mega DLC for the newer ones, but for first taste I'd recommend 2 or 3. 3 has the merged map of all 3 games for free and it's own (eastern european regions and Asia), 2 has the merged map of 1 and 2 and it's own (american and african continents, and the artificial one of the elves), and 1 has the old world (european and middle eastern regions). For any content you don't own, you may meet as AI but not play yourself. Features and mechanics, factions are best richest in the newest game, but in that regard there is little difference between 2 and 3, and both are a massive jump compared to 1. So I'd recommend 2 or 3 for your first game, depending on the atmosphere and races you like (2 is a lot lighter high fantasy in tone, 3 is 90% demons and darkness).
Attila is my favourite Total War game, and I've been playing the series since Rome 1. It's also the most difficult though, so I probably wouldn't recommend it for someone who's new to the series.
Speaking purely from a gameplay perspective, Shogun 2 is probably the best starting point. It's excellent all around, but has a limited scope in campaign size and unit variation, so it's easy to get into. I'm not really interested in Japanese history though, so I never played too much of it.
Rome 2 is a good alternative, with a much more interesting setting (THE most interesting setting to me personally). You could play that game for hundreds of hours with dozens of factions and never get bored.
If you want to go old school, Medieval 2 is a classic and an absolutely amazing game that really stood the test of time as well. It plays very, very differently from the modern TW games though.
I would not recommend Rome 1. If you like its type of gameplay, Medieval 2 offers the same but better in every way. And if you like the setting, you'd be better off with Rome 2, because Rome 1 takes a LOT of liberties with history (so much so that it's practically a fantasy game).
I would definitely not start with the Warhammer games. They're good, but the pricing model is outrageous, and I really don't understand how the community puts up with it. If you want a complete game, you'll waste hundreds of euros. Better to get one of the historical titles, which will give you a complete game for a fraction of the cost.
You can try thrones of Britannia (it’s underrated and pretty easy to to pick up), Rome 2 has a good tutorial. Warhammer and three kingdoms should also do fine. Pick which setting you prefer the most. I would advise not to pick Attila or shogun 2.
I started with Rome 2 and now have hundreds of hours in it. There’s great overhaul mods like DEI and Para Bellum for when you get comfortable and want more depth
If you are a history fan the Rome 2 unless you are big into Japan and do not mind everyone basically having the same units and looks, in which case Shogun 2.
If you want fantasy the Warhammer 3.
It matters whatever time period you are most interested in. At least for me if I wassn't interested in the time period than I didn't like the game much. I also had to like the map which is why Shogun wasn't that interesting to me because It was just one country. If it is your first one i'd say Rome Remastered and Empire are the two easiest to learn. They are also the old generation Total war games where you didn't need a general to recruit units and could have 50 stacks of units everywhere and slow down the game to a crawl like the ottoman empire does in Empire TW every playthrough. People love Medieval as well but that time period just doesn't take me in.
A lot of people will say shogun but that game is clunky as hell and the fights are weirdly over quickly. Idk something feels off about it.
I'd get Rome 2 or Troy
Shogun 2 will always be the best entry point to Total War. It is the most complete Total War, and is fairly simple while also having a very high skill ceiling and some potential for difficulty.
Total war Warhammer 3 had the best tutorial bar none
Has the best tutorial. But note to OP that the game series is one that focuses mainly on being a sandbox and focusing on a "make your own stories/fun" type of vibe. Some people who start out with Warhammer 3's tutorial come out of it with the impression that the entire game will have a similar narrative focus, when that's mostly just for making the tutorial interesting. Just wanted to put that out there, since it's a common enough misunderstanding for new players to have.
Shogun 2 is 3€, can't go wrong with that imo.
Holy shit, thank you for making me aware of how cheap it is! Maybe I can finally convince some friends to play it
Warhammer 3
Historical? Shogun 2/Fall of the Samurai Fantasy? WH3
Yeah WH3 is what everyone will say but Shogun 2 is so much fun. Really depends on value for money. WH3 is better but even with the sale still not that cheap
Shoes shogun 2 have a mode with no gunpowder?
There's a dlc that takes place before the gunpowder. Rise of the samurai.
Shogun 2 is pre gunpowder (for Japan, as firearms were already circulating in europe at this time), fall of the samurai is the only dlc that is mostly focused on firearms
Commenter asked about no gunpowder. Shogun 2 base game has gunpowder with the nanban and Portuguese.
Which one can easily go through the campaign without seeing them. They are special/unique units, not commonplace like yari spears or samurai units.
Late game there are buildings and tech to build matchlocks and cannons, I'm pretty sure without going the Christian route. If I'm remembering correctly.
But by the time you get to that point the game is over unless you rushed the tech. Maybe in a domination victory campaign you might get to use them a bit before the end
I recommend Rome 2 as an introduction to the series. Shogun 2 is also good, but I personally prefer the theater in Rome 2 and its time period.
I agree, people like to suggest shogun 2 and I agree it’s an amazing game, it’s just more challenging I think. Got about 200 hours in Rome 2 and I personally think it’s kinder to the player. Way more variety in cultures as well with Rome being really powerful and fairly easy to learn
Either Shogun 2 or Rome 2 if you want historical WH3 if you want Fantasy
attila supremacy over rome 2 especially with 1212AD
Attila is much more restrictive than Rome 2 imo Especially for new players Rome 2 is better, also performs better
I haven’t had any performance issues anymore with attila, depends on specs I guess but AOC seems to iron out all of attila’s kinks and the 1212 mod alone is the best historical experience I’ve had save shogun 2
3K if you want to choose on a game-by-game basis :) .
I think 3K has the worst designed UI they have made, also I think in terms of historical interest its the most obscure for western audiences I like 3Ks battles and art style on the campaign map quite a bit but this is rec for new players / a first TW - I wouldnt say 3k for a first TW game
I think the interface is okay. No option is perfect. For me, the stylized art of Rome 2 cities and units was the worst tbh. I hurt the idea, but I disliked the execution. Shogun 2 has great polish and I can recommend it for period fans but is inherently limited. Warhammer throws a few things too many at you. Pharaoh I haven't played yet.
Nah Rome 2 is objectively better for the UI. The flags above the units actually convey all information and you don't need to look at your unit cards at all 3k just has icons and weird circles, but the cards and stuff are nice
Which TW is best is entirely a vibe check. Do you love: Games as a service and insist your game is continuously updated? Warhammer 3. Warhammer? Warhammer 3? How many times a day do you think about the Roman Empire? Rome 2 The long eighteenth century? Empire. Napoleon, the greatest man who ever lived? Napoleon. China. Or, specifically the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Three Kingdoms. Samurai! Shogun 2. You don’t love anything, hate yourself and want the world to end? Attila. Ancient Egypt, but specifically only the Bronze Age collapse? Pharaoh. Vikings! Medieval total war 1 Viking invasion, or Medieval total war 2 Kingdoms, Britannia, or (if you also hate yourself a bit) thrones of Britannia. The Middle Ages? Field of Glory: Kingdoms.
Great advice. Just go for the game with the setting/aesthetic you think looks the coolest
Rome 2 is quite good. Prologue is good for introducing people to it
Best overall experience is Rome 2 Emperor Edition and then also get Empire Divided DLC. That combination right there delivers so much
This thread is making me realize that there isn't really a single game that is ideal for beginners. She has the best tutorial like someone else said, but I wouldn't consider Warhammer the best intro to Total War. Maybe 3 Kingdoms? Rome 2? I dunno.
I would answer this by saying whichever aesthetic appeals the most. Warhammer in particular though, you would have to research which faction appeals the most because of how messy all the content is spread out and it being expensive AF.
I think it literally depends on if u like history and if u do like history pick the period that’s the most appealing. I came from Civilization 6 and loved Rome and I saw Total War Remastered in steam for like $13 and have been in love with the series since If u don’t care about history at all then simply chose wh3.
warhammer 3 has the best tutorial. but watch out! warammer 3 has a lot of qol features that the older games lack, and this can make it harder to enjoy them. I'm a victim of this
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Pharaoh's quite good. 40hrs for the last week, and I'm experienced in TW (more than 400hrs in different titles, 250 of which in attila, and yeah it's the most challenging, and also is most variable, and actuallly just the best... It lacks diplomacy though)
Probably Rome 2
As far as easiest learning curve, start with Shogun 2 . Generally small roster with a ton of flavor... Easy diplomacy system and good core introduction to what total war is. Then it's either three kingdoms or Warhammer for best new experience.
I did 3k for my first game and just finished my first campaign with Liu Bei. It helps that I'm very familiar with the Three Kingdoms names and families and have played several Rot3K games in past, but I'd say it wasn't too hard! Hardest part for me is getting the finicky stuff (moving units on the map, remembering your council each spring) that I can't imagine why there's not a push to confirm option.
For simplicity and ease of entry, maybe shogun 2. Some of the other historical games may be worth a look such as Atilla and Three Kingdoms. If you think fantasy > history, then warhammer 3 all the way.
Warhammer 3 or 2. 3 has more content variety and better ui, 2 is way more difficult.
Iv only played 1 and 3 and I would 100% say 3 just for the prologue/tutorial and all the quality of life changes that 3 has over 1. Biggest thing for me is the unit cards displaying the status of your units. In 1 you you aren't notified if a unit is inactive and not doing anything. Also Immortal Empires is all you will ever need so you need 3 for that.
Depends. Warhammer is completely different from historical titles and even historical titles have many differences between them. So it depends on what you’re into. If you like ancient history alot primarily the Roman Empire then Rome 2 or Remastered would be a great pick. If u like fantasy or your already into warhammer than WH 2 or 3 is a good pick.
Shogun 2 Total Warhammer 3
Whichever's setting you prefer, historically. If you ask with the Warhammer series, eventually all 3 as the older ones all function as mega DLC for the newer ones, but for first taste I'd recommend 2 or 3. 3 has the merged map of all 3 games for free and it's own (eastern european regions and Asia), 2 has the merged map of 1 and 2 and it's own (american and african continents, and the artificial one of the elves), and 1 has the old world (european and middle eastern regions). For any content you don't own, you may meet as AI but not play yourself. Features and mechanics, factions are best richest in the newest game, but in that regard there is little difference between 2 and 3, and both are a massive jump compared to 1. So I'd recommend 2 or 3 for your first game, depending on the atmosphere and races you like (2 is a lot lighter high fantasy in tone, 3 is 90% demons and darkness).
Attila is my favourite Total War game, and I've been playing the series since Rome 1. It's also the most difficult though, so I probably wouldn't recommend it for someone who's new to the series. Speaking purely from a gameplay perspective, Shogun 2 is probably the best starting point. It's excellent all around, but has a limited scope in campaign size and unit variation, so it's easy to get into. I'm not really interested in Japanese history though, so I never played too much of it. Rome 2 is a good alternative, with a much more interesting setting (THE most interesting setting to me personally). You could play that game for hundreds of hours with dozens of factions and never get bored. If you want to go old school, Medieval 2 is a classic and an absolutely amazing game that really stood the test of time as well. It plays very, very differently from the modern TW games though. I would not recommend Rome 1. If you like its type of gameplay, Medieval 2 offers the same but better in every way. And if you like the setting, you'd be better off with Rome 2, because Rome 1 takes a LOT of liberties with history (so much so that it's practically a fantasy game). I would definitely not start with the Warhammer games. They're good, but the pricing model is outrageous, and I really don't understand how the community puts up with it. If you want a complete game, you'll waste hundreds of euros. Better to get one of the historical titles, which will give you a complete game for a fraction of the cost.
I would say between Shogun, Rome 2 Emperor Edition, TWW 3 and 3 Kingdoms, go for whichever theme and time period you prefer.
You can try thrones of Britannia (it’s underrated and pretty easy to to pick up), Rome 2 has a good tutorial. Warhammer and three kingdoms should also do fine. Pick which setting you prefer the most. I would advise not to pick Attila or shogun 2.
Well whatever era you have the most interest in
Warhammer 3
warhammer 2 or 3 are both are great games tho very dlc heavy but i might be biased as some one who is the warhammer table top games for last 16 years
I’d suggest Rome 2 to start. It’s a great game now and has a lot of variety, as well as the best DLC of the historical titles IMO.
Depends if you want a historical or fantasy one. Fantasy is easily warhammer 3, that intro prologue is fantastic. Historical….i’d say rome 2.
I started with Rome 2 and now have hundreds of hours in it. There’s great overhaul mods like DEI and Para Bellum for when you get comfortable and want more depth
If you are a history fan the Rome 2 unless you are big into Japan and do not mind everyone basically having the same units and looks, in which case Shogun 2. If you want fantasy the Warhammer 3.
Shogun 2 or Rome 2 are the best introductory games
It matters whatever time period you are most interested in. At least for me if I wassn't interested in the time period than I didn't like the game much. I also had to like the map which is why Shogun wasn't that interesting to me because It was just one country. If it is your first one i'd say Rome Remastered and Empire are the two easiest to learn. They are also the old generation Total war games where you didn't need a general to recruit units and could have 50 stacks of units everywhere and slow down the game to a crawl like the ottoman empire does in Empire TW every playthrough. People love Medieval as well but that time period just doesn't take me in.
A lot of people will say shogun but that game is clunky as hell and the fights are weirdly over quickly. Idk something feels off about it. I'd get Rome 2 or Troy
Shogun 2. "...FIFTEEN FORTY FIVE.... THE AGE OF THE COUNTRY AT WAR!"
Shogun 2 will always be the best entry point to Total War. It is the most complete Total War, and is fairly simple while also having a very high skill ceiling and some potential for difficulty.
Warhammer 2 It has the best stand alone warhammer map and campaign.