The aforementioned cautionary tale of Ricsige the Overambitious is just one of the many vipers in your kingdom’s nest that the game can throw at you. Why? Well, they’re only human, and humans get greedy. However, it's hard to keep your loyal subjects truly happy even if you make sure that they’re prepared for anything that the Isles may throw their way.
#TOTAL WAR SAGA THRONES OF BRITANNIA FACTIONS CRACK#
If you’re looking to crack skulls in battle, then assign a Champion to a general for a little more steel. If you’re struggling to feed your troops, perhaps give a governor a well-trained forager. These peons assist you with improving specific empire metrics. Unlike the chance acquisition of previous titles, you get to place a follower into someone’s retinue when they level up. Your henchmen are important, but acquiring them is now a precise science. These integral bits and bobs are also affected by the actions of your generals and governors, and Thrones of Britannia does its best to give you the tools you need to be politically savvy.
The differences between the cultures feel much more than skin-deep when these systems come into play, and they each guarantee a unique experience which incentivizes players to try their hand at other factions once they’ve tasted success. Keeping those respective meters high for your chosen faction will lead to positive increases in universal metrics like loyalty or even the melee abilities of your units. If you’re walking on the wild side and playing as the Vikings, then it’s a matter of making sure that lesser kingdoms recognize your military accomplishments via lavish tributes. For example, if you’re playing as the Welsh, protecting your culture will be the key factor to watch. Each cultural faction (there are five, each with two subsets) has its own way of charting the rise or fall of your empire, and they’re all distinctly different. If multiple things go wrong at once, you’ll potentially face a peasant uprising just as you’re knee-deep in a Viking-slaying sojourn.ĭepending on the faction that you’ve chosen to play as, you’ll also have a number of other competing concerns vying for your attention, along with a corresponding cultural perk. If you’re not zealous enough, or too zealous for too long, their thirst for conflict will decline. If you lower taxes, they’ll undoubtedly get a boost to their satisfaction. Your success is measured best by how your townsfolk are feeling, and they react organically to your decisions when you make them. As is usual for Total War games, you’ve got to strike the right balance between warmongering and good governance. It’s nothing short of engaging when all of its gears are in motion, and making sure that those gears are well-oiled is where the challenge lies. But the laser focus on lineage, loyalty and responsibility are more pronounced in Thrones of Britannia.
This isn’t revolutionary for the series, considering previous installments were fixated on the Roman Empire and its own bag of patriarchal succession woes. One of the core systems in Total War’s latest is the idea that your kingdom’s legacy is everything, for better or for worse. This is Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, and your kingdom will never be the same again. Later, after the crows have descended on your corpse and your countrymen have been enslaved, your former allies whisper about your useless heir and conspire to carve up your remaining settlements for themselves.
As the Vikings advance on your skeleton crew of soldiers, you look once more across the rolling hills of the land that you call home and utter a silent prayer for your slain son. Resigned to taking up arms against lest your citizens turn on you for being a coward, you’ve got no choice but to face the invaders head on despite your exhaustion. Before you can grieve, however, a war horn sounds to the east and a barbaric force appears on the horizon. However, your adopted son Ricsige cuts a swathe through your settlements in some misguided idea of rebellion before meeting his end at your sword. West Seaxe has flourished across the British Isles, and you’ve kept yourself in the hotseat of the English kingdoms through years of hasty allegiances, diplomatic marriages, and bribery.