The first? Is it nearly impossible to hoodwink players. The second? They will not forget your betrayal.
Currently, there are over 2,000 'Overwhelmingly Negative' reviews on the Steam page for the title. The range of displeasure on show is varied, with some users describing the game as a "buggy mess" while others suggest SEGA and Creative Assembly have "chosen dishonour."
The three most popular user-generated tags for the title are similarly biting: 'Artificial Intelligence,' 'Psychological Horror,' and 'Capitalism.' Sure doesn't sound like any Total War game we've played.
This is what you might call a Bad Look
At the time of writing, neither Sega nor Creative Assembly have commented on those generative AI claims specifically. Vertical Slice has reached out multiple times for confirmation as to whether or not the divisive tech was used during production. We have yet to receive a response.
In a brief post on Steam, both companies did concede that "Total War: Shogun 2—Complete Edition has fallen short of both your expectations and our own standards."
"We've seen your feedback, comments, and reviews. We agree that the current experience is not where it needs to be. As a result we are working with platform holders to remove the game from sale and to reinstate the original game while we investigate the issues. Existing owners will still be able to access and play the game," it added.
Sega and Creative Assembly say they are now working closely with their development partners to "identify the causes of these problems [and] deliver improvements."
Chris is an award-winning reporter with over a decade of experience covering the video game industry. He was formerly news editor at Game Developer and is currently the founder and editor of this resplendent website.
