Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition

Hippity-hoppity I own your property

Muy buen juego, aunque la IA es medio torpe es una joyita del genero y uno de los mejores Total War

It's a classic. Should I say more?

Если Иерусалим не идет к Магамеду, Магамед объявляет Джихад и идет к Иерусалиму.

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aged like vinegar, ♥♥♥♥, dont buy

Ahhh Medieval 2, despite the extremely limited hours displayed on this account, I have hundreds upon hundreds, if not thousands of hours built up over the course of years. Whether it be on my cousin's PC back when I couldn't afford to build my own, or even the phone, which *somehow* plays well (and also, INSANELY has objectively the best version of Empire Total War, which actually lives up to it's potential like it never could in vanilla PC somehow), this has been a game I have cherished and adored. *This,* is what Total War is in it's purest form. It was advancement, innovation, and fun rolled into one in an extremely charming package that has absolutely stood the test of time. You can *100%* play this game vanilla, and still have just as much fun as any other Total War, (though you *will* eventually want to at least do stuff like patch the 2 handed bug). It expanded on nearly every mechanic Rome 1 had in an extremely meaningful way. Religion is not just a quirky mechanic, it is *foundational* for every faction and makes the campaign map far more dynamic and interesting. Every faction now gets proper speeches instead of just the Romans, (whereas every other faction got like 2 or 3 extremely quick lines before the battle would start) that can be a mix of horrific, inspiring, intimidating, or gut bustingly hilarious, and battles have been slowed down in a way that just makes everything so *meaty.* Cavalry is king here like no other game, but there is still a high level of legitimate thought and strategy put into this game. It genuinely has some of the best difficulty in the entire series because the AI doesn't actually cheat NEARLY AS BADLY as every game after. They operate under the same rules you do for the most part, even on the higher difficulties, and it's *immensely* satisfying wiping them out and seeing them go from elite shock troops to peasants and ballistas as their war effort grows increasingly desperate either as they wait for their elite units to become recruitable again, or even just straight up because they're broke now thanks to you. What you do to their economy, their cities, their armies, it *actually* matters and will *actually* make you tactically destroying and disrupting crucial aspects of their empire on the campaign map legitimately meaningful instead of glorified lip service. Sabotage matters a *lot* in this game. And battles... man I don't know what it is about Medieval 2's battles, but they have a level of cinema no other game has in the entire series. It's this perfect mix of dark and gritty, but shockingly colorful, mixed with an incredible soundtrack that stands right alongside Rome 1's. It's just so fun to watch and play, and it truly feels like 2 armies clashing in a way that no game since has been able to quite replicate, even with the dated graphics and limited animations. I think what seperates this from a game even like Warhammer, which depth wise *blows* Medieval 2 out of the water, *is* that cinema, it is the roleplaying, it is just the "vibes", so to speak. Legendary generals rising and falling, each with dynamic traits and moments that stick with you as they age and eventually die, only to have their sons pick up the sword. Battles being weighty and so... orderly, in a way that feels so real. There are no heroes in this game but the ones you make in your own head as you build your empire, and it just feels so real. There's absolutely no denying games like the Warhammer ones are very fun, but it lacks that level of... character, so to speak, for someone like me. No one ages and dies, (which makes sense given the context, but it does still unfortunately remove so much weight and memorability from your generals. No one cares about the non lord generals, let's be real), everything is about your build and meta armies. It was fun playing Medieval 2 and seeing an heir you *really* wanted to work out slowly turn into a drunken moron who fell off more and more while a son of a forgotten family member rose to be this, great conqueror who steals the show. And yet despite that, the drunken moron is *still* incredible, because his speeches are *absolutely priceless*. Everything has so much personality, and sometimes sh*t just happens, and you can't do anything about it. The advice I would have, for any newer fan, looking to play the older games without heroes and health bars, is that awareness is key. Your general is *still* a game changing unit, but if he gets sniped by arrows or slaughtered by cavalry from behind, that's because *you* weren't paying attention. You left him out of position, you didn't utilise him properly and overstretched him away from the rest of the army. Just like the build I use for a Warhammer general, issues with your general dying in the old games is, to be blunt, just a skill issue. But that's the thing, that's half the beauty of the old games. *Everyone* has a story of a general dying in an absolutely moronic way that forced us to rethink our strategy and how we managed a battle. You are commanding a true, proper battle in these old games, your tactics matter even more because you don't get magic or heroes that can single handedly hold the line, and it is 100% an adjustment if you're not used to that, but it also means you need to think like a general, not a player, and that's part of why these old games are so immersive. Where are you positioning your units? How can you place your general unit and the other cavalry support in such a way that you can hit or protect the flanks? Can you cycle your infantry and rest them if you're facing overwhelming odds with men behind them? Course you can, but you gotta position yourself in a spot where you can afford to do that without being flanked there either. You are not a player making a meta build, you need to think like a general and understand the mortality that comes with that, and once you do so, the perspective changes, and it can be truly magical once it does. Somewhat simple or not in some ways compared to the newer games, it executes what it set to achieve to such a high degree I think there is a very legitimate argument to be made either it or Rome 1 are the best games in the series when you measure it in terms of innovation and execution. Both games *completely* changed the formula and are absolutely foundational to anything and everything related to this series after the fact, and it is *100%* worth your time and money. (Also, don't forget to disable restricted camera)