A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia

Simply put, the game is nowhere near as bad as people say it is. It's essentially an attempt to remake Medieval Total War's Viking Invasion campaign for the modern age, and while perhaps it isn't quite as classic as that old campaign was for its time, it has interesting experiments in this game that make it different and unique from unmodded Total War titles.
What I will say, however, is that the replay value is low enough that you'll want to only get it on sale. The factions don't differ enough from each other to make replay very worthwhile, with the same type of units* but different campaign mechanics only, so pick it up on half price and enjoy it for what it is.
*And lots of people love Shogun 2 despite its similar lack of unit variety, so YMMV.

Destiny is all.

I think that it's a real shame that this game seems to have a bad rep amongst Total War fans. Admittedly the unit variety is less than other entries like Attila and Rome, but for a Saga title (which is what it is, and is priced as, and was always intended to be) this is pretty damn awesome. As someone who is really into this time period, I have a lot of fond memories of my Norsemen battling in a forest that is burning around them, or my Saxons grimly lining the shore of a burgh, spears and mail glinting in the rain, as the ships of Norse raiders make landfall.
Some points that I really liked:
- The music is great, and really sets the mood for uniting Britannia in a time of chaos
- While there is limited unit variety due to the small scale setting, it really feels like CA did as much as was possible within the constraints of the setting to make the units feel as diverse as possible
- Campaign mechanics have obviously picked up a lot from Warhammer, and are a lot of fun - I particularly liked playing Northumbria, which has to balance its Saxon and Norse subjects
- A controversial change was giving no garrison to minor settlements. Some hated this but I really liked it; forces you to maintain forces in your own land, but also allows you to raid enemy lands more effectively
- The "Crusader Kings-lite" politics are actually a lot of fun and add some depth to gameplay - although I think they could have gone further with this
- CA reversed their bizarre decision not to allow the Viking kingdoms to be pagan
Despite its issues, I've found myself coming back to this game multiple times, and have always had a blast with it.

8/10 - Hot take incoming!
This game is the most overhated game in the franchise, by far. I was hesitant to even try it, because of all the bad things I heard of it. I swear some people made this game out to be a total mess that doesn't even run properly, is so unfinished that it barely holds up, so I was surprised to find out that it is far from these things actually.
I wanted to try this game out, simply because of it's setting, and so I gave it a shot. I am so happy I did! The atmosphere of this game is on par with that of Three Kingdoms or Attila. I was so happy that finally the optimization issues were fixed. The map looks gorgeous, but something that looks even better is the actual battle maps, and sieges. I could go on for days about how great the battle maps are. I always wanted a good viking total war, and so for those of you who are fans of this ear I recommend the game wholeheartidly.
Don't be hesitant to try out this game. If you are invested in this era and would like to try out some of the best battles of the franchise give it a shot.

if you want a total war set in the viking invasion of britannia, this is definitely the game to get. if youre looking for a total war game, maybe give the others a look first, this game is a "SAGA" game, which means its cheaper than normal TW games, but it also has fewer things like unit, DLC and overall development. id say its a must try for TW fans if you liked Attila, or if you like the time period, otherwise, give it a pass.

last kingdom: the strategy game

at least the enemy can't spawn 20 strong doomstacks from their final city