Might & Magic: Heroes VII vs Shogun: Total War
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.
Shogun: Total War
Shogun: Total War is the first original title in a legendary, 15-year (and counting), award-winning, real-time strategy game series that currently spanned across multiple themes and settings. However, this game is set in ancient Japan - 1542 to be exact - when the last shogunate collapsed and the entire nation is thrown into conflict as multiple daimyo (faction leaders) vie for the most powerful seat. To make things worst, Europeans have also ventured to island at this point, bringing guns, religion and disease - factors that you'll eventually have to deal with if you are to attain the people's support and conquer the whole of Japan.The gameplay in Shogun: Total War is akin to Rise of Nations in the sense that each battle is carried out in real-time, but moving your troops on the world map is pretty much turn-based (Risk-style). However, unlike the latter, the battle itself is purely consisted of the actual fighting rather than having you build a base and amassing resources and an army. Instead, Shogun lets you view the entire battlefield from any view you like and send commands to your troops as the battle unfolds. This is basically something that's unheard of until this game came along.
Shogun: Total War may be an old game by modern standards, and due to this, many players might simply opt for its sequel in order to have a taste of that this game has to offer. However, if you truly want to experience the very first of the Total War series, this is the game to play.