Total War: Shogun 2—Fall of the Samurai is a brilliant expansion, pitting sword-wielding samurai against gun-toting soldiers in some of Total War's coolest battles, and suddenly it's become the newest Total War Saga (opens in new tab). Surprise?
Fall of the Samurai is now a standalone Saga, like Thrones of Britannia, and is no longer available as a Shogun 2 expansion. If you already own it, you'll get all the DLC, with the exception of the blood pack, for free.
It's a first for Total War, but it does kind of make sense. While Thrones of Britannia was the first Saga, it shares a lot of traits with Empire's standlone expansion, Napoleon, and Fall of the Samurai. They're all built on the foundation of another game, but they're more experimental and focus on a much smaller chunk of history. The rebranding just formalises their connection. I wouldn't be all that surprised if Napoleon joined them.
With Thrones of Britannia's Steam rating sitting at mixed (opens in new tab), it probably helps the new series' reputation to have something more popular attached to it. It's rewriting history a little bit, but that also feels appropriate for Total War.
A third Saga could be appearing soon, too. Creative Assembly recently applied for a trademark for Total War Saga: Troy (opens in new tab), so we might be taking a detour into mythology.
Total War Saga: Fall of the Samurai is 75 percent off on Steam (opens in new tab) for the week and definitely still worth checking out.
