Shogun 2 deserved better

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. I also discovered that the trade system hasn't been updated to account for single-region island factions, meaning my beloved Honma was only able to trade with one faction for the entirety of the campaign. Again, a QoL tweak would have made sense there.

In terms of the additions you'll actually feel in your campaigns, the new "Realm Divide" difficulty options for the endgame, improved visuals and terrain, and reworked unit controls are really the standout features—I went back to the original Shogun 2 afterwards, and the battlefield visual differences are notable. But the bird's eye battle view? The region overlay? I didn't use either of these once. The diplomatic quick deal is another somewhat useless addition. You don't form alliances or trade agreements anywhere near often enough in Shogun 2 to necessitate quick deal (as with Total War: Warhammer's 100s of factions), but the feature also doesn't include "arrange marriage".

A way to easily find out which factions had spousal candidates is the one diplomatic QoL change I genuinely would've found useful. While I did enjoy my campaign as Honma, I kept running into new QoL problems the original had that the remaster could have solved. No ability to merge units, for example, which would've been great in a game as attritional as Shogun 2, where unit upkeep isn't affected by remaining soldiers. Perhaps a numerical indicator for units in your army, which would save you counting them each time?

What about agents accompanying armies getting left behind in settlements or on ships? Or how enlisted generals always appear back at your capital? I could go on, but there are so many QoL improvements this remaster could have made to Shogun 2 without infringing on the identity of the game. Even wider issues like siege pathfinding, which can still be dreadful, or problems with enemy AI.

I had one battle in the remaster where the besieging enemy general ran up to my wall, and then sat there for 40 minutes as I fast forwarded (a known bug I never even experienced in the original game). Or how about fixing the overly defensive naval AI, which sees you having to cross the entire map every battle just to engage enemy ships. You can see a full list of bug fixes for Shogun 2 - Complete Edition and it's not particularly extensive considering players have had 15 years to document every busted element, and I haven't even mentioned multiplayer bugs like the desync issue.

Yes, Shogun 2 still plays well, and I absolutely recommend it to Total War or strategy fans, but that's not contingent on this remaster. All the things that were great before are still great, whether it's battling with samurai to become shogun, or unloading a line of rifle infantry and cannon into enemy armies in Fall of the Samurai If anything, I believe Shogun 2's quality as a game deserved a better and more extensive reworking than it's been given.

At least Shogun 2's DLC factions, who are now free, like the Christian Otomo, religious rebel Ikko-Ikki, or cannon-toting Saga in Fall of the Samurai, are some of the spiciest campaigns if you've never played them, and a whole bunch of people will get to try them for the first time (if they missed when those were previously free).

Any reason to return to Shogun 2 in 2026 is something to be celebrated, but I just wish Complete Edition felt more extensive and essential versus leaving so much undone. If you own Shogun 2 already, you'll get a month-long 75% discount when the game launches on Steam on October 13, while owners of the original will get all the legacy faction DLC for free, as mentioned.