Total War: Warhammer II

Start with this game before moving on to Warhammer III if you're a new player. This game will eventually function as an over-glorified DLC, but is in a good enough state that you can figure out if you even like the series enough to dump more money on Warhammer III.

A little late with reviewing this game since its 3 years into the launch... of the 3rd game in this series but better late then never. Great game that really pushed the bounds of the first one. First they made the mortal empires map which is a huge achievement and really only surpassed by the later immortal empires (although that one seems to have pushed game 3 to its limits and is not stable at all) in scale, scope and looks. Secondly the faction variety is excellent, although a lot of that is in the DLC and game one factions but hey its kept me engaged all its life spans so I have them but worth remembering still, but saying that I imagine you can pick them all up on a sale quiet cheap now. Third is the game play itself which is snappy responsive and really captures the feeling of controlling a massive army and arguably better then even the table top game itself although you play TT for entirely different reasons then you do video games. forth is the modding community and the vast VAST amount of additional content it has created for the game ranging from entire new factions such as the Nagash mod that was added after game 3's launch and others favourites of mine such as Lily's bretonia overhaul, Xodads heirs of sigmar mod, Venris's SFO (although dont really play that one anymore but it gave me a good 500+ hours of gameplay probably way more so should mention it), and many many more on all different scales from big to small.
Saying all of this the reason I decided to even review a game so far past its launch and end is that I want to highlight the places that this game still far out shines the 3rd in this series. The units just flat out respond far better, as in game 3 their seems to be a half second to a full second where they will not respond I have no idea if this was intentional but considering game 3's stability issues I assume its due to how overly taxed the game is now although that leads nicely onto the next point. Communication for development and problems that crop up as it feels like we get left in the dark for months on end, although since shadows of change they have somewhat improved this, but their are still lacking and maybe its because of the amount of issues or maybe its because they don't have enough staff anymore after the mass lay offs but some issues that from what creators on youtube say on occasion who do some QA stuff are reported before patches/DLC launch are never addressed at all before or after. Which finally gets me to my last section which is how those at the top have completely dragged this once pinnacle of what modern grand strategy into the mud as most of these issues arouse after SAGA announced its mass lay offs which hit CA very hard and resulted in industry veterans been lost that where ESSENTIAL to keeping these games alive and healthy. Many of the issues above from an outsider can and probably are summarised best by they don't have enough staff to keep us properly informed or collect and analyse issues to then be communicated to the player base, they probably don't have enough devs and coders to meet these dead lines they keep making and failing to meet for DLC and updates, and I'm certain that they don't have enough staff to not be crunching those that they do have as if there's one consistent thing about the gaming industry that hasn't ever changed in the 20+ years I've been aware of it its that real people are crunched endlessly to make and maintain these games people love and crunch results in real harm for these real people who are never even given proper recognition for it. This is all happening and more and why is it like this? Because some rich people who most of the time has no interest in these things they leach from decided that they want more so they ruined 100's of people lives and sacked them just so they could then funnel profits into their pockets all the while they did nothing to make in this instance the Total war warhammer series as non of them had a hand in coding, making art and assets, conceiving the systems, any of it. They just decided one day they wanted MORE and deiced to suck the life blood from CA which has resulted in it been left in the current state it is. These people at the top add nothing to the design process or our world in general, they are useless parasites who take and take so they can then use that money not to survive, but to then take more in other areas of the world such as buying up more property to then cause the current housing crisis's we see across the planet now in what should be a blessed age given the advances in technology and the stability those who usually make up the rich had in their life times afforded by their parents who fought in a world war to make that stable time period, but instead we are here in this time...
Anyway.... got a bit carried away at the end there but point is I love this series, and I write this because I want to get back to that time where things where better and improving not this time where we struggle to even keep good things good after they come out (looking at you Darktide and Space marine 2, bloody live service tripe). In writing this I want us look back at when times where good and what made them good and focus on doing more of that and less of what ever is going on to make gaming and the wider world been honest so crap. TW Warhammer 2 was a great time I put 6774.6 hours into it and that's with me not touching the game for years now, it was given a great review by one of the great legends of the modern internet era John Peter Bain also known better as TotalBiscuit and even after his passing and the issues that cropped up in game 2 development cycle that positive review still holds up, his WTF is Total War Warhammer 2 still holds. To cap this long rant about the game I've put the most playtime of any game I can think I've ever played, good stuff great memories, great work by great humans, would like to see a return to this and a better fight put up against those at the top that dragged it down into the mud where the series currently is today with Total War Warhammer 3.
(also sorry to anyone who felt compelled to read all of this, dyslexia go BRRRR, and this is mostly for me to get some feelings I have towards the gaming industry and wider corporate run world we are forced to exist in, and because I realised after seeing a friend post a review for a game he put 3800 hours into its weird I never put one for a game I spent 6700+ in so better late then never)

The DLC for this game is much cheaper now than it was on release. A major benefit since 3 is now the focus for all the new content.
It runs much smoother and has lower system requirements than it's successor.
It's a smaller map and easier to understand. The narration at the beginning is better, if you are interested in the lore. The narration is similar to Shogun 2.
The art style is much more gritty than it's more cartoon-y successor.
The AI is more responsive and fluid. You have to worry less about a unit not following your orders like in 3. The enemy AI is more aggressive.
Total War Academy still has all the old YT videos for you to look at to get an idea of what means what and how things work.
There's less factions than it's successor and it has less endgame crisis but it's more of a loreful experience in return.
Play 3, if you want an excellent multiplayer experience. Play 2, if you want to immerse yourself into the world of WHFB.
Edit: At the time of writing it costs $104.72 USD for everything to play in Warhammer 2. This is before any discounts are applied when CA or Steam have a sale which will decrease the price even further.
Warhammer I Collection Bundle $46.58 (-66% off)
Warhammer II Collection Bundle $58.14 (-66% off)

If you're considering buying Total War Warhammer III- try this on a deep sale first. It holds up incredibly well for a game released 6-7 years ago.
Yes, the DLC policy is an utter scam. We know CA have their issues but the cold, hard reality is.... this is one of, if not, the greatest strategy game of all time.
The variety here is absolutely staggering. The number of different races & units is almost overwhelming at first but learning their strengths & weaknesses is unbelievably rewarding.
The Skaven campaigns are a particular highlight for me.
Prior to playing this game, I'd never had any involvement in the Warhammer world so prior knowledge isn't required.
If you're a lover of strategy games or Total War games in particular & you've become tiresome of the linear infantry / spearman/ archer builds in the other games.... buy this game & enjoy the thrill of watching your 3 undead dragons murder an entire army from the skies.
10/10,

The game lets me play as rats and pirates, befriend other rats and pirates, get betrayed by rats and pirates then kill said rats and pirates on a pirate mecha as a pirate or commit mass genocide with an atomic bomb as a rat.
good game, yes yes.

The Best of the TW Warhammer Series. Still perhaps a little too difficult, and you can end up 100+ hours in with an unwinnable campaign, just because of events outside your control. In addition a lot of the games require you to be able to win battles outnumbered and outclassed by a long way. That requires a lot of micro-management skill, or hours of stop/starting.

It is just a shame that the developers, obviously good at there own game, haven't the self-awareness to pitch the game at a wider audience. The game got harder and harder with every expansion, even on the lowest difficulty levels.

It is also silly how the AI pays stupidly little maintenance on units which makes factions owning only a single minor settlement to support 2 entire armies, when the player is still unable to afford a second army with 2 entire provinces.

It really does make the campaign incredibly difficult to get going without the gold exploits. At the end of the day though, it is easier to throw many units at the player than write a decent battle AI, to challenge the best players.

This is a problem for a lot of games, who use the DLC model. Your target is the invested player so you can sell DLC to them, not new players. Unfortunately, this has ruined the PC game market in general, and there are no good games for players new to PC games.

Ah, Total War: Warhammer 2, a game where I can finally roleplay as a grumpy old dwarf with trust issues. The game is fantastic, but nothing prepares you for the true experience: playing with friends and keeping a very real Book of Grudges against them.

Did my friend abandon our alliance to make a "strategic" deal with the Skaven? Grudge recorded.
Did he "accidentally" sack my hold for gold? Grudge recorded.
Did he just exist as an Elf? Grudge recorded.

The game itself? Amazing. The balance? Sometimes questionable. The AI? Consistently drunk. The multiplayer? A friendship-ruining simulator. Would I recommend it? Aye. Just make sure you have a long memory and an even longer axe.

10/10. Would declare a decades-long blood feud again.