Might & Magic: Heroes VII vs Total War: Shogun 2
Might & Magic: Heroes VII
Might & Magic: Heroes VII is the latest (and perhaps most disappointing) installment of the classic turn-based RPG series, Might & Magic. It's not that the gameplay is horridly bad - it's actually somewhat the opposite. Many fans have liked the variety this installment has brought, especially the six different faction campaigns that you can enjoy, each with their own stories and landscapes of course. This game also has a nice, low-key empire building aspect where you'll manage your city, gather resources and recruit extra armies to help you take down your enemies. The synergy between the heroes and their armies is well-designed too, and not to mention, the game has a nice skirmish mode where you can simply test your skills against an AI whereby both of you are given maximum power.However, all those aside, Might & Magic: Heroes VII is possibly one of the buggiest games ever made for the franchise. The game crashes pretty often and the bugs, although rarely game-breaking, are incredibly annoying. The multiplayer mode is also practically non-existant mainly because it doesn't even work. Worst yet, the developers apparently have given up trying to fix the game and left the game almost as broken as the day it was released.
So, considering all of that, we really couldn't recommend getting Might & Magic: Heroes VII unless you can get it at a "way below market price" range or you'll just end up regretting all the wasted money.
Total War: Shogun 2
Total War: Shogun 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the groundbreaking original game, Shogun: Total War. Set in the darkest age of Feudal Japan right after the collapse of a unified government (in 16th century to be exact), many warring clans have risen through the chaos and out of them, 10 legendary warlords, or Daimyos, have their eyes set on the coveted position of shogun, but only one of them will be able to reunite a warring island.The gameplay is pretty similar to the original game. The campaign map features a turn-based, Risk-style gameplay while the actual battles themselves (rendered in glorious 3D) are played out in real-time. However, this time around, the game is filled with a ton of new units, including massive warships, as well as a more in-depth strategic gameplay based on the ancient texts in Sun Tzu's Art of War. There are multi-stage sieges, unique hero units who can be improved through standard RPG methods, and that the campaign map is now in 3D as well and can be rotated whichever way you like.
The campaign in Total War: Shogun 2 can also be played cooperatively (2 players), but if you truly want to test your skills, you can engage in epic online battles with up to 8 other players.
This game does the very first Total War game justice and is the sort of game that fans of the series would greatly enjoy. Also, considering that the game came out more than 5 years ago, the graphics in the game is still pretty relevant today... so I guess, that's another bonus.