Review for Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia. Game for PC, Mac and Linux, the video game was released on 03/05/2018
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is the first title in a series that Creative Assembly has decided to give birth to the "rib" of the well-known Total War brand. Leaving aside for the moment the collaborations with the Games Workshop that have made possible the release of highly successful titles such as Total War: Warhammer 2, the English house has decided to focus on a new formula, which is at the same time familiar to fans of strategic games but which can also present new features: the series Total War Saga.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia inaugurates this new “spin off” series taking us, as you can easily guess from the title, to the British Isles. The historical period is very precise: we will start from the year 878 in the period that sees the current United Kingdom fragmented into a myriad of more or less small states, of which only some may have, taken alone, a certain political and military importance . Some of these kingdoms are those known as Danelaw, or territories where the former Viking raiders have settled on a permanent basis, with their culture and their traditions.
Precisely this is one of the new features of the Total War Saga series, the focus of the game not on a defined historical period but of a wide range, but more on a precise and narrow key period for the history of a given region.
Returning to the scenario of Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, we find five different types of factions: the English Kingdoms, the Welsh, the Gaelic Clans, the Great Viking Army and the Viking Sea Kings. Each of these "macro-factions" has unique characteristics and culture, details that give the game some advantages and, of course, some disadvantages as well. Each type of contending kingdom is in turn divided into several smaller entities, represented by a specific leader, of course with peculiar traits and characteristics in turn.
All this extreme and precise characterization is the central cornerstone for one of the best developed mechanics of Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, namely politics and diplomacy.
Of course, even the battles on the field and the tactical choices will have their due weight, but in this first chapter of the Total War Saga it will be essential to find out how to best juggle alliances, betrayals, trade agreements and various power games.
Not only the settlements in our possession and the various resources they can provide to our armies will count a lot, but also the various assigning governors, our vassals whose character, ambitions and above all the influence they have on others will have to keep in mind. nobles. It is certainly not a good thing to see one of our vassals becoming more popular (or feared) than the King himself.
This internal diplomatic / political part, in which family ties, including wives and children also count, obviously have a strong influence also in external politics, that with other kingdoms. It will therefore be essential to think very well whether it is convenient to declare war or make alliances based also on what we will have at home.
In addition to politics, we will be called upon to properly administer our possessions. One of the most important factors in the whole game is definitely the availability of food. It seems obvious, as in fact it is, but here we will find ourselves having to calculate the best stocks, also because they will be consumed by our armies not only for maintaining high quality standards, but also for simple movements.
When diplomacy is no longer an acceptable option, we will also be called upon to take to the battlefields. The resolution of the various clashes can be entrusted entirely to the computer, which will evaluate the forces in the field and all the factors and will promptly return a result, but it is still advisable to directly take command of our troops to lead into battle.
The tactical phase will take place in real time, while the strategic and political one is divided into shifts, and will allow us to control our units as in the other Total War titles. Here too there will still be many factors to take into consideration, not least the weather that heavily affects the performance of the various units and the effective range of charges and other attacks.
On the technical level we are faced with an excellent job, with agile, well-structured and well-characterized interfaces for the political part and very simple and intuitive controls for the part concerning the pitched battles. The graphic rendering during the fights is good, although clearly subdued compared to Warhammer 2, to make a comparison.
Gameplay is also very good, with a well-balanced learning curve (net of the chosen faction) that struggles only a little at the start. The first rounds will be definitely the worst since, if we are not more than familiar with these types of games, we will be catapulted into a sea of choices to make with a very scarce tutorial, dares that could confuse and discourage some players. However, once you have learned the mechanics well, the game will continue smoothly.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia also presents a great replayability, given the wide choice of factions to control, each with its own peculiar characteristics, which allows players to become more and more skilled and versatile, experience that they can then spend in matches online multiplayer. Definitely a good start for this Total War Saga!
► Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is an Action-type game - developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for PC, Mac and Linux, the video game was released on 03/05/2018
