Release has been confirmed for march 15th
Setting and gameplay:
- 16th century Japan: Japanese civil war with different factions fighting for power in fuedal Japan. According to PC GAMER the game will start in 1540.
- 8 different warlords/clans not counting a 9th tutorial clan, each with their unique starting position and policital and military strenghts.IGN also mentions Takeda Shingen and Chosokabe Motochika.
- Smaller unit rosters: 30-40 basic units (20 or so per faction ). (IGN.)
- Scope:
TW REHAB:
We see the perception here. 'If it's not the whole world its not big'.
Try and imagine a vast string of islands from a feudal mindset.
Imagine your single province defended only against your rebellious neighbors.
Imagine an entire grand campaign map dedicated to a single country, a place where just a few miles to the east was a mountain range, shrouded in mist and run by a fearsome enemy or perhaps rolling rice plains able to supply you with vital resources if you could just reach out and take them...Beyond that? Only the darkness of uncharted territory and the promise of Kyoto.
Your armies would march for days and weeks to move across provinces. Imagine the sa***e mountain peaks and the rolling rice plains that create natural choke points and defensible positions. Imagine each conquest really feeling like a conquest, like you and your small band of warriors fought and won your latest prize allowing you to grow an army, and a reputation with it. Coastline stretching alongside you as you march into the unrevealed mists of rebel lands, seeking only glory and the title of Shogun.
The Japanese creation story is that the Gods dipped a spear into the ocean and as the water dropped from its point into the sea, it formed the islands of Japan. It is massive, and it is epic.
- Sengoku-pedia: A full knowledge base of the in game units and technologies, along with historical facts and information relevant to the players experience. Know what works against your enemies, how and why. (PC POWERPLAY.)
-Firearms:
MARK CA:
" ...for example, first contact with Europeans saw the introduction of Christianity and later the first large-scale use of firearms in Japanese armies. This opens up lots of interesting gameplay choices for the player that are unique to this specific period."
From this quote we can deduce that there will be firearms.
- The emperor is represented in the game. Controlling the emperor as a puppet is a bit like controlling the papacy in MTW.
Graphics, presentation and performance:
- Animations: The units in Shogun 2 have a total of 52 different bones, which is a nearly 25% increase over those in previous Total War games. Animations were captured by professional Japanese martial arts practitioners. (IGN.)
Hero units have unique animations.
- STWII will support up to 56.000 units (IGN.)
Gameplay and AI:
- AI based on the principles of Sun Tzu's: The Art of War.
- Kieran promises naval invasions will be present day 1
- There will be ninja-esque techniques in battlefield scenarios
- Hero units:
TW REHAB:
Hero Units: - These are not one man armies that destroy everything that opposes them. These are highly ranked elite units, available at the top of the tech tree who exemplify a mastery of a given martial technique (E.g. sword fighting). They are able to take on other heroes, and are naturally very powerful against groups of enemies but are not invincible game-changers. These figures are also based on true historical accounts of great fighters who founded schools of combat, not myths that take on whole armies and win.
- Emphasis on character and story: Characters can be given upgrades as they develop. This makes it easier to get attached to certain characters. According to PC GAMER you can upgrade some character skills as you please as opposed to traits you gain automatically.
- Fog of war: In a battle sequence horse troops were moved into mists and behind a hill with a forest to attack behind enemy lines and the opposing army did not even notice. (EUROGAMER)
- Unit variation: The low unit count has also allowed the team to focus on customisation options, with each clan, and each unit, being open to a variety of player customisations. "The kind of variations which might have been different unit types in previous games end up being one unit type that you can choose a specialisation for. (EUROGAMER)
- Sieges:
Castles will have unique qualities based on the situation and enviroment of their construction. (IGN)
IGN: The stacked pagoda structures of Japan allow sieges to play out in stages, with attackers and defenders moving from wall to wall and from tower to tower. This gives both sides of a battle more options than simply waiting for a hole to appear in the outer defenses and then just cramming as many men as possible around it.
Morale boosting buildings, capturing temples on the battlefield offers reward: battlefields will feature structures that will influence the men as they fight. Protect or capture shrines or temples, or indeed burn those of your enemy, to dictate the morale of troops on the battlefield. (PC POWERPLAY.)
According to PC POWERPLAY sieges are played out in different stages. You'll need to get from the outer walls to the center of the keep or courtyard.
- Naval battles are back according ot IGN.
IGN:
Land will also be present during the naval battles, not as a contestable space, but as a means of orienting players.The ships themselves will have unique roles and levels of aggression, so there's a rock-paper-scissors element to fighting at sea.
For the first time ever Shogun 2 Total War combines land and sea battles. Navigate the island coast of Japan, using the coast, mist and the elements against your enemy. Use ships to create choke points and to engage as the land dictates.
(PC POWERPLAY.)
One thing to emphasise is that the way naval battles were fought in Japan during this period is very different from the bigger-is-better artillery-fests of the 18th century European contests represented in Empire. Japanese ships of the era were full of samurai swordsmen and archers, so we’re focusing a lot on boarding systems and stone-scissors-paper interplay between different ship types
. (CA Mark)
- Reintroduction of night battles. (IGN)
- Pre- battle speeches: IGN and PC POWERPLAY confirm this. The speeches would have an effect on the armies they're leading. The speeches would be very situational with over a 100.000 different speeches.
- New battlefield terrain system: PC POWERPLAY mentions a new battlefield terrain system that would make each battle feel unique. The four seasons are fully represented in the battles.
- New historical landbattles: Sekigahara is a certainty.
--direction of the development of a character will have to be chosen in some kind of tech tree: the Ninja can master either assassinating, scouting, sabotage or espionage
-there is a sort of "Ninja-hunter" that can kill your Ninja easily according to a German magazine.
-skills of other characters: Ninjitsu, poison, knives according to a German magazine.
-the top of the Generals tech tree will be "Legendary Warrior" (specialization: fire arrows or bigger marching range), "Living legend" (art of diplomacy and culture - "Way of Chi") according to a German magazine.
-four advisors, each with special skills (I think like the ministers of ETW/NTW) according to a German magazine.
-you got up to four brothers that can be married according to a German magazine.
-exchange hostages according to a German magazine.
-Ronins will appear on the campaign map and can be accepted or rejected by your clan but with consequences) according to a German magazine.
-European technology can be used but will affect public order, worsen relationships to other clans and will make Christian monks appear according to a German magazine.
Campaign map:
- Hilly campaign map with many chokepoints and maneuver strategies.
- Importance of honour, treachery, clan & family, and many other aspects of being a warlord in feudal Japan will be translated in the campaign map. We can expect a whole new cast of agents. (CA)
- Provinces can give special bonuses according to Eurogamer. I imagine these to be like the bonuses in the first Shogun which give factions a different character.
- 65 provinces according to a German magazine.
- 3 starting provinces, everything else will be hidden behind the fog of war (2D map in Japanese flair from the Edo-era) according to a German magazine.
-3D-Portraits of faces in the campaign GUI.
-particle effects on the campaign map (water etc.)
-free rotating camera
-Generals, Geishas, Ninjas etc. can be upgraded and will change their appearance on the campaign map up to three times.
Music and sound:
- Jeff is back, according to Keiran.
- CA is using original weapons on original materials for the sound effects (IGN).