The problem with the "This is a Little Total War" argument is that CA is charging "Big Total War" prices. This isn't "Big Total War" value, and it's price should reflect that. Which you do note, but it really needs to be driven home. If CA want to charge like they seem to be planning to, they need to start delivering on the value.

"I hope we see these mechanics in future total war games going forward" oh dear, dont we say this every new total war release?

I'm sure the reason why the time period is egypt is exactly because it's so familiar to troy. They can just reuse a lot of assets for their "Little Total War" like they done with total war britannia which was basically a reskin of Attila.

Wouldn't be surprised if Total War: Pharaoh would be free on Epic games in december as mystery game

I wouldn't mind if they released these for lower price, as a way of testing mechanics for bigger titles (cough, Empire II, Medieval III). Just doesnt seem worth it on its own.

I want to add that the halfway between "historical" and "fantasy" is "fictional". Total war used a lot of fictional units to fill the factions in previous games, military units that were never used in battles, but that are realistic and make sense in the context.

Diplomacy being like Troy and not 3K is a HUGE missed opportunity. I really hope this system will come back, it should be the norm in every TW but CA is just lazy I guess

Those post battle general animations started getting detailed with Rome 2 iirc. That was when you had the 'aggressive', 'balanced', 'defensive' battle stances.

A new Napoleon or Empire would be amazing, to be fair.

I might pick up Pharaoh on a sale at some point. I like the ideas they're trying and the setting is interesting, but I'm just not looking to spend $50/$60 dollars on a new game right now.

It just shows how much innovation they could have introduced with WH3 if they hadn’t completely written it off the way they have. Thanks Rob! 👍

My theory is that Troy and Pharaoh were originally intended to be one game, but got separated into two for scheduling and resource reasons.

I have a degree in near eastern archaology, my specific focus was ancient egypt cobra figurines I am very excited for this, but I 100% agree with ur analysis that it probably wont sell well and is to close to troy I am excited but it also doesnt feel like it should be full priced at all

If they created a total war for Pike & Shot era in Europe that would be so awesome.

It almost reminds me of the weird 'beta test' games Paradox put out for EU4 and Crusader Kings 2. March of the Eagles and Sengoku were very basic games that weren't very well received due to being so bare bones, but they put to the test a lot of the new mechanics that Paradox went on to use in much larger titles. Perhaps they wanted this game to provide the bedrock for the next big Total War. The price is insane though. I think CA needs the next big game to work. Shoving out a smaller title with new mechanics to act as a pilot makes a degree of sense in that regard. Find out what works, ditch anything that is hated, and then go great guns with the big project.

This gives me Britannia vibes. A nice short, visually appealing campaign thatll probably charged full price, and use a lot of models and code from previous games. I dont know what CA is doing on one hand i like their commitment to expand their historical timeline, on the other-hand where is the new medieval total everyone's been waiting on

So... they are asking full price for a Troy expansion? :') Really like the kingdom management part of more "historical" titles

A game set in the Americas before or during the European expansion would be pretty cool, with the same mechanics even, just to go away from the Mediterranean

I'm one of the dozen people who is completellg obsessed with bronze age middle east, and I'm really interested in tw Pharao. That said, recent events made me take a mutch more defensive stance when dealing with CA, and ill probably wait for a sale to buy pharao, even if, at peast to me, its the most tematically interesting historical TW and seems to be very mecanically robust. I just dint trust CA enought to pay R$250,00 in their game

Ah yes, Pharaoh, the game that started as a Troy DLC (per a CA response) but released as a full-priced AAA game. Never change CA, never change.

I love the Total War series but at this point Im done giving them any money. Absolutely heartbreaking.

I really want them to combine Troy with Pharaoh in a year to create a large campaign around the eastern Med. The timings work: Ramses died 1213BCE, Trojan war was probably just a couple of decades later.

One series that is DYINGGGG for a Total War adaptation is the world of Hyboria/Conan The Barbarian, there's so much they could do there with it's pseudo-historical setting with low fantasy elements. Imagine something like Rome 2, Atillah, Troy, and Pharaoh with slight bits of Warhammer Total War sprinkled in, or even just Mythos Troy over Warhammer for that matter.

I feel like the price will be the true downfall of this one. I’d love to play it, but I definitely can not justify spending 50-60€ to something that’s basically bit bigger DLC. Might grab it when it goes on sale but alas I doubt higher ups in CA really care about that..

I could be interested at some point if they brought all the "time" periods together. As like a Immortal empires campaign. Just with our world. Vikings, samurai, egyptians and so on.

If it comes out and is really good i'll probably pick this up. Oct is one of the most crowded gaming months ever though. Total War is still one of my favorite series but i dont have much excitement for this installment.

I LOVE the outpost idea, i hope the keep it and polish it for medieval 3

Hey Zerkovich, I also played this preview build and really agree with you. The game just didn't grab me. Warhammer spoiled me and I don't see myself playing this.The unit variety just kills it for me.

I will just wait for Medieval 3 the 3rd when all the features and overpriced DLC are out for it, then grab it all on a big sale. Other than the fact Pharaoh isn't the setting I want, the prices make it hard to get excited for ANY Total War right now. Some of the mechanics are good though, Medieval 3 with a HRE mechanic similar to the Pharaoh stuff in this would be cool. I think FOR NOW that CA have lost me as a customer, they will have to do ALOT better than they are recently for me to come back.

I like that the other systems like Legacy etc. are also based in history. It was important for them to show legitimacy by calling back to previous rulers, etc.

Honestly, I'm a huge fan of this idea. Bronze age total war, I mean. Just think about it -- a very interesting age that is rarely covered in media. Civilization is making its first steps (well. not the first ones but you get the poing), the world seems mysterious, and the end of it all nears with every day. They should probably stop after Pharaoh, because they've pretty much already covered all the major areas of this age. But still. the game seems fun, and the mechanics are promising.

Ah yes, finally a "fully historical" total war. With...oh... walls that still don't work as intended and make the units actually weaker instead of stronger, and no cavalry to use any sort of strategy. Perfection....

I'm looking forward to the Music for this Egyptian Total war game. :) And there are quite a few people out there who are interested in Egypt in a lot of ways. I have met many through out my life.

7:04 "There is a lot of mechanics here that make it feel like a classic Total War". What mechanics are we talking about specifically and how do they offer any experience that is, so to speak, "closer to classic Total War"?

The problem is they started making a game nobody asked for everyone was expecting a empire 2 or a medieval 3 but they gave us something that nobody wanted for some reason.

Thank you for the overview! The victory system looks nice.

What may save Pharaoh is if they decide to follow a bit in the route of the Warhammer series did with Mortal and later Immortal Empires. Troy and Pharaoh are both set around the start of the Bronze Age Collapse. The borders of the campaign maps both meet in the middle of what is now Turkey. They share similar units, and many similar mechanics. I think seeing a Bronze Age Total War where if you have both games then you can play across a combined map with either the much more historical settings of Pharaoh or the more fantastical gods and monsters settings of Troy. That might be the saving grace to this game in the future. But it's a big if of whether they'll even do it. There's a chance I guess, but I'm not holding out for it.

Might be a silly question but can you change the icons over the groups? Weapon icons that are in green and red?

Seeing the full map of the game , I think you get a point @Zerkovich on your theory for a bronze age dlc that will include Troy and possibly a future title in the series. Most of the map is unplayable area , what could be the reason for that ????

They will want full price in a quarter game?

I'm still waiting on that 30-years-war period Total War

The campaign side of things look good, the battles... Well, I've been sceptical of them ever since the first battle displays were posted. The fact that the Egyptian armies on display featured an archery contingent of maybe one fifth of the army - when written records tell us the archer was, at the time, the main/most important soldier of the Egyptian army showed that... Yeah, we're not getting armies where they're even trying to diversify the factions. And unless we see a significant diversification between the armies, I doubt I'm getting this. Which is a shame, because with only three "races" I see plenty of potential for making very distinct army compositions between them. The Hittite chariots were described as heavy and made for actually charging the enemy formation - apply this across the entire army. Make the Hittites melee and shock- oriented, dealing massive morale damage. Meanwhile, the Egyptians try to skirmish and use their archery to actually kill rather than break enemy armies. The Caananites of the time have little records of their military - as far as I know - but we could give them the free slot of good defensive infantry supported by primarily slingers and javeliniers. There is potential there. There is to a degree historical evidence to support very different armies for the different "races". And the fact that we don't seem to be getting that is so frustrating. If I were to pick a time period and place, it'd probably be Europe 1500-1700, with a focus on Pike and Shotte and the wars of religion. It's a time period of so much upheaval and so much potential, and I'd love to see it featured in a full scale total war game.

CA adds mechanics. *spiffing brit joins the battle

Pharaoh looks good also idk why but at 1:33 in the corner where it just says Buto Buto Buto Buto on all the different little islands that faction controls makes me laugh. It makes me think of the nematodes from spongebob

I wonder will there be water combat on the nile or along the coast lines??

looks nice. thanks for the video :]

Other TW creators have been going on and on about the review embargos on new CA content. This definitely sounds like a review. Are you not subject to a review embargo for this one?

"hope to see in every total war going forward" ...never laughed so hart

Has CA said if they plan on expanding the map through the planned DLC or patches?

They were treading on thin ice with this game, not a lot of people asked for this, since most people wanted medieval. After the whole Wh3 debacle, i expect this and hyena to both be dead on arrival. Gj CA.

What a nice robust Troy mod.

I understand it’s not the most popular time period but it’s a personal favourite of mine can’t wait! Kadesh incoming!

Great insides, thanks very much. I never understood why they don't go to South America: Mayas, Incas, Aztecs. How about Cortez landing?

What I missed in the video is how the battle AI is, given how CA have in the latest Warhammer patches made AI improvements kind of a focus in the patchnotes - but sadly only there, because the "improvements" don't actually exist, in reality they are making the AI only worse and worse with every patch.

If I wanted to play ancient Egipt I would play Tomb Kings in WH3. Here its two dudes duking it out in the deasert. In WH3 my mummified zombie princess riding animated serpent statue can have a battle with 10 meter tall, four armed, pink demon of the god of depravity on an donut shaped atlantis inhabited by ancient and almost immortal race of decadent degenerates. Take Your pick. I know mine.

Good review - if it had a full Mythic/fantasy optional compenent and/or had a linked map with Troy - would have def been up for this. The campaign options look really good - hope they appear in Warhammer

I'm interested in Egypt for a setting I'd definitely try the game out if they didn't recently make a huge ass of themselves at CA.

I really want to see a historical total war game set around late medieval in east asia with China, Korea and japan in it.

I want either Medieval 3 or Shogun 3. I have a friend who is excited for this, so i may purchase it

I'll be waiting until after the release, so that i can watch some reviews and some patches can get to patch up any early release bugs

How would this be for a first-timer? I've been thinking about getting into the franchise and it'd be between this and one of the Rome games for the time period I'm interested in, and I'm a bit put off by how old Rome is at this point.

Thank you for your videos and analysis, always with great quality!

Egypt has a huge mythology about the gods. They just had got more in this way and make it a complete mythology total war this would be much cooler.

Everyone seems to forget about Three Kingdoms 2. It's in development since 2021. I think this will be the next "big" TW game.

The post battle animations between generals are literally the exact same as Troy…

They probably picked it as a time period and location as it is a quick reskin of Troy to milk a little more money off of that framework.

Yeah, i am probably going to skip it, but the new mechanics are very interesting. It would be perfect if it was a Shogun 3 or even a Medieval 3 (where you have to become king/queen of a certain country and then expand). Heck, even the egypt setting is cool, but bronze age is meh. Further in the timeline would be cool, with horses and stuff.

I can already see legitimacy system used in medieval 3

Honestly this whole game could be jus a DLC to a Total War Troy and Troy would also benefit from changes from Faraoth. I also do not think that this will be the best seller but it will be cool to play on some gamepass or by discount in a few years

Going to play it because I love Ancient Egypt. But yeah, for the lack of different units I really did wish this had mythological units.

I do not understand why people want to play small scale total war. If you play medieval you get to experience basically a whole world. If you play Rome 2 you get to experience basically the entirely known ancient world. This is literally 2 countries

Hell yeah, brother.

I was hoping that for an Empire II. Alas, I will likely be kept waiting.

Press F to say Rest in Peace

This be a smaller Total War? Like Thrones? Like Troy? Well then... thanks for saving me some time and money Zerkovich, will stay clear!

If this was an Empire 2 Total war I would honestly think about pre-ordering

its a troy re-skin with a few bells added.

They've already convinced me this game doesnt deserve my money with Shadows of Change.

I feel like this dev team could make a really good gun power era game honestly

I know this isn't a hot take but I feel like medieval 3 would make people lose their minds and get a whole bunch of good will back for CA. Also, it would've been fun lol

it would be cool to combine the total war troy and pharaoh map:) problem would be the timeline tho.

Do we have sea battles ?

Total war Eskimo would have garnered the same level of interest

Being completely honest, the setting does interest me but the scope of the game itself feels far too limit for it to be worth paying such a high asking price for as well as the fact that they've still carried over the character driven aspects from Troy and WH when I would have preferred a more traditional style historical TW approach.

Empire 2 or medieval 3. Just give the people what they want!

Total get/understand your take. I would love to see either Medieval 3, Shogun 3, or remasters with new mechanics and bug fixes. Total War Warhammer got me in to Total War, and it’d be nice to play upgraded versions of those games. And to also see videos on them to get a better idea of those games.

Now that I think about it, I'd totally play this if it included the Exodus and Conquest of Canan but I'm guessing that isn't going to be a thing.

Some very good points in this video. Going from a normal historic total war game to this probably wouldn’t be an issue. But coming from warhammer you would be bereft of the variety you got used to. It does looks like they will add more maps on for a charge 😒

I wish they'd learn from the Massive success that was Warhammer and try some other fantastical settings. I know there's licensing issues but a LOTR TTW would sell like diesel gas at a trucking convention. A Redwall TTW would be so unique and fun, imagine all these animal warriors clashing, different species having vastly different units/playstyles. An Avatar TTW would make tons of money. You have 4 very distinct factions to choose from. There's a mix of fighers, essentially wizards, and mythical beasts.

Baldurs Gate 3 was the only game I'm laying $60 on at release; deservedly so.

If this was 30quid I'd be very happy to buy it and try it out.

If this game was Medieval 3 everyone would be much more excited

I just hope we get the Greeks and the Mesopotamians down the line aswell opening up the map a little more in the process.

CA should really innovate their battle system going forward instead of choosing different time periods in every new game, every real-time battle really feels the same ever since warhammer total 1 came out.

To be fair, this game is a full 200 years before troy. Chariots were the horse driven warmachine at this point.

I really want to play some Victorian era Total War or Thirty years war era, love blowing shit up with artillery and Naval bombardment in FoTS but I really wanna do that with a proper Prussian engineering

heres hopin they are actually working on that rumored World War 1 game

I would be interested if instead of egypt, they did north/south america. With all the tribals and empires that existed there. Sure its over 1000 years, but technologically, they didnt change much between 300-1300.

That victory point system I've been clamoring for a while. Glad to see finally implemented.

Weird to not have Mesopotamia in the game 😮