The best Total War game is getting a remaster with 50 newly playable factions, modern visuals, and a full Japanese voiceover
Even better: Shogun 2 Complete Edition arrives on October 13.
Total War fans are eating good recently. Lovers of fantasy have the Lords of the End Times DLC for Total War: Warhammer inbound, historical fans have Medieval 3 on the distant horizon, and even enjoyers of grim dark sci-fi have Total War: Warhammer 40k likely dropping next year. Well, it gets even better.
Today, Creative Assembly announced that Total War: Shogun 2 is getting a remaster on October 13. Widely considered to be one of the best Total War games (especially its Fall of Samurai expansion) Shogun 2 originally came out in 2011, so it's starting to show its age a little bit.
Total War: Shogun 2 - Complete Edition includes all three campaigns (Shogun 2, Rise of the Samurai, Fall of the Samurai) alongside every faction DLC which was sold piecemeal, but also a range of other improvements, including:
- Full Japanese and Chinese voice and text localisation
- Improved visuals, lighting and shadows
- 1440p and 4K UI scaling
- Modernised controls
- More than 50 newly playable factions
- Integrated Mod.io support
- 64-bit upgrade
- Ultrawide monitor support
- Colourblind accessibility options
While I don't actually think Shogun 2 has aged as poorly as some other Total War games due to its simple visual style, its controls definitely have, so that's one thing I'm personally very excited for. There are also apparently "over 50 newly playable minor factions" in this version.
It's hard to say whether this just means all of the factions who were previously unplayable across all three campaigns, or whether it's including the factions that were sold as DLC before. Still, it's going to be a lot of content.
Those who own Shogun 2 already will receive legacy DLC from the original game at no extra cost, which I'm assuming means all of the campaigns and paid factions. Owners will also get a "75% time-limited loyalty discount" on the new edition, so not free, but all Shogun 2 players will be getting something either way.
I've got to say, I'm pretty hyped though. Shogun 2, especially Fall of the Samurai, is one of my most played Total War games. What'll be even more fun is the potential for a multiplayer revival—Shogun 2 has a feature where other players could drop into your campaign to battle against you as an enemy army, so maybe years later it'll actually have enough players to function again, not to mention the popular Avatar Conquest mode.
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Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.
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