Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia Reviews
The wait for a new historical Total War game is finally over! Sort of.
The first Total War Saga game tries a lot of new things, succeeding at about half of them. It improves on a few areas historical Total War games have struggled with, but at the same time falls back into some bad, old habits that other games in the series were able to rise above. The overall tapestry reads as more than competent, and I could watch hardened huskarls with their massive axes crash into a Saxon shield wall all day. But there are too many blemishes for me to place it alongside some of its truly great peers like Attila and Warhammer.
A brilliant early game and bold experiments almost make up for the AI niggles and the boring march to the final battle.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia makes a hearty meal out of pig-sticking, pillaging, and politics.
Creative Assembly's love for history absolutely bleeds through.
For Total War fans this is likely a must-have title, but to anyone else Thrones of Britannia is a confusing mess that simply isn't welcoming to series newcomers.
Thrones of Britannia is a nice new view of the Total War franchise and the changes made by Creative Assembly seems to be the future for it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia has flaws, but it condenses properly the Total War formula in a more accessible way and, before all else, carves the optimum path for the forthcoming spin-offs.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
An understandable attempt to create a more accessible Total War experience, but it's been streamlined so much it offers only a small taste of the series' full potential.
While Total War has often focussed on the big picture, Thrones of Britannia shows there's plenty of scope for a series of Total War Saga offshoots to explore the smaller conflicts and civil wars through history.
Thrones of Britannia offers extensive tactical depth, but a lot of the time you won't need it.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is a more streamlined, sleeker and quicker Total War than those before it. However, the changes to make it like this offer new opportunities and one of the more tactical campaign maps than ever before. While it still suffers from some issues, like boring end game and being altogether too easy, there's still a whole lot to gain from playing Thrones of Britannia.
This is truly a Total War Saga– a smaller entry in a venerable series that's not interesting in rocking the boat.
A Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia is a good spin-off with very good ideas especially in the Campagn. We can almost feel a Paradox's touch in the wargame part, so it's a very good things (food system, resupply, etc). Unfortunately the technical part and the graphic engine are old and we are far from the graphic slap of the era of Empire Total War or Rome II. Licence need really change engine for bring more epic in battles.
Review in French | Read full review
The various factions really give a different feel to each playthrough, so there's huge scope for replayability here.
Historical strategy isn't everybody's cup of tea, and this isn't the most broadly accessible historical strategy game. It plays to a niche of gamers who want more realism and in-depth management, and who like wrestling with the politics, warfare and complex challenges of a specific period and place. Even as someone who likes Total War, I wasn't sure whether I was having a good time for the first few hours.
A good game despite the familiar Total War AI problems. Some of the new mechanics, particularly recruiting, are a great reinvention of the wheel.
If you're a series' fan, you'll find a lot to like about Thrones of Britannia, and perhaps even appreciate the fat that's been cut to let you just get to the action faster. But overall, Thrones of Britannia is a hard game to recommend to someone who isn't already a fan of the genre.
Total War Saga tries to make the series more accessible. They succeed, but there is still room for improvement. A must-have, but only for fans.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia experiments with the series' formula to great effect, creating a compelling, epic setting that is refreshing to play for series' newcomers and veterans alike.