Total War Saga is Creative Assembly's bite-sized take on history

I didn’t think these SAGA games were selling very well. I never hear anyone (here or otherwise) talk about them much.

Given it’s free on Epic for a day, how many people are going to pay $40?

I rather like Thrones of Britannia, I’ve completed a couple campaigns in it. It got mobbed by criticisms at launch, if anyone here hasn’t given it a look see I’d suggest picking it up at next sale.

As for Troy, I’ll pick it up for free and play it, i mean free is free.

Cart:Horse

Just to be clear, if the game was bland it’s not going to sell well at $40 a pop, but if Epic want to pay them $40 a pop (gross or whatever effective rate) then it makes a ton of sense to make your investment back that way. Actually they’re incentivized to get everyone possible to sign up for it.

I think it’s free for 24 hours, not a week though.

Like i’ve said, they’re just not … sure what Saga means. It just seems like “more random Total War”. Instead of really cranking out interesting, cheaper, smaller games, they brag about the size of the map and it’s the exact same archer/infantry/cavalry gameplay that’s existed since Rome 2.

So imo it’s clear that these Saga games are being made because artists are cheaper than programmers, and these games are trying to amortize out their programming expenses. They’re not interested in difficult programmatic innovations, and players seem to not be able to tell the difference between fundamental design and cranking the evasion stats of a unit using the same systems as always to 90%. With plenty of levers to pull and tweak these games are like giant official “mods”, but the professional artwork and skins seem to satisfy the average player as being something new.

Oh you’re right. I edited that. Alternatively maybe a bunch of people don’t know what Sagas are for and this is a way to basically get them a big demo. I’m not sure if it will lack identity to any greater degree than mainline TWs… so I’ll get to see.

Site is up on EGS for Troy, August 13th free for 24hrs.

Epic is having a Summer Sale. Didn’t they just have one a month ago?

I really hope the regular sites mention when this freebie is happening, not checking this thread and missing out is the exact thing I expect to happen. I don’t have high hopes for the game though, the setting is interesting but historical total war games feel too similar to me (which is why the warhammer one is more interesting to me these days).

Review!:

and a rather less positive take on the game:

https://www.gamewatcher.com/reviews/total-war-saga-troy-review/13201

Sounds ok, and hard to argue with free :)

Thank you for posting that review. It looks like Frasier was rather meh about it, but I’ll take meh for a free game. I’m also not too trilled with the setting, but I have been watching some videos about the Trojan War to get into the theme. I also grew up reading Greek mythology and hearing the tale of Odysseus from an awesome lady who would make Rice Krispies treats for the neighborhood kids and tell wonderful stories.

Does anyone know at what time this will be available form Epic tomorrow? I’ve had the Epic store do funky things, like become unresponsive when Old World released. I have fears about what tomorrow will be like when people try to grab this one within the 24-hour window.

Is this normal journalistic language now?

Achilles is quick to anger, which is reflected in his shit management skills

They’re like Romance characters, but a bit shit.

As for the game itself, it sounds interesting, systemwise, but again like a smaller, more experimental game. Which is fine - its good to try to break the mold and innovate, and this seems like a great way to do it!

Fraser Brown used to write for RPS, and that’s definitely part of their “I’m so British” house style.

I was wondering the same with the other. Even for bullet points the writing is not good

  • New resources are not necessarily a bad idea
  • Special units recruited by region are a good idea
  • Removal of a money system of any kind that could be used in trade agreements was a bad idea
  • Special units are not really special, and more like “weird ancient people in cosplay”

Since this review popped up I’ve been visiting the Epic site off and wondering wtf, when is this going to unlock, but…it’s only the 12th.

I believe around 9 ET, if that helps

Installing now. Shocked that I didn’t have any trouble getting it.

The front page of the store loaded briefly but then gave me The Web Developer’s Crutch (Something Went Wrong), but I found if I clicked the image fast enough I got to the store page and was able to grab it no problem.

Couldn’t see it on the Discover page, but going to Browse made it appear, so I just clicked the image there and then “Get”. Installing now.