Got the game, my impressions
Hi
I bought the game yesterday (yes, bought a real copy for real money in a real shop). I skipped the tutorial campaign and jumped straight into a English grand campaign. I've only played for a few hours, and so far I'm quite happy about it. These are my thoughts:
Battles
I have only played two battles. One against a small rebel army and one against the entire Scottish army. Graphics first: They lag less, and the camera works much more fluently than in the demo.
The AI also seems to behave a bit better. At least it charges with all melee units at the same time, and it lets its archers stay back under protective cover. One thing concerned me though: In the battle against the Scots. I got attacked by 3 armies. The largest one approached me head-on and the two smaller on both of my flanks. Instead of launching a coordinated attack, the smaller ones just stayed and watched, while I dealt with army at my front. Then I could deal with the flanking armies one at a time, while the other remained passive. It SEEMS the army AI does not take other friendly armies into account when assessing odds. But then again: coordinating multiple armies was next to impossible back then.
Units break faster than in RTR, but they also recover faster. The net effect can be an untidy battlefield with lots of uncoordinated action and units that retreat for a short while, before they reengage. Kill ratios are also higher.
Campaign
Diplomacy seems to work! The AI seems to behave much more intelligently, and there's more of a reason to conduct active diplomacy. But I should probably play a bit more before my final verdict. I only have one major concern and one minor. Maybe the cardinal promotion is flawed. So far 5 cardinals have died, but not a single new one has been appointed. With this rate there will be no-one left in the council of cardinals in a few years. And then there's the merchant. I've sent mine to trade marble in northern Italy, but for a measely 9 florins a year it's hardly worth the trouble. Surely there are some 00's missing somewhere?
The status
So far I've destroyed the Scots and only need Wales before all the British isles are mine. Unfortunately France has finally decided to attack my stronghold Caen. I'm not that worried though. Both the castle and the garrison is strong, and I got my victorious northern army sailing out from England very soon. And even better: The king's younger brother is returning with his army, since the crusade against Antioch has been called off. Right now he is trying to make his way through Italy. Along the way his passing army has severely damaged my relations with the Byzantines, Hungarians and Venetians. If only I could negotiate a safe passage for the army ... now wouldn't that be a nice diplomatic option?
rgds/EoE
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Originally Posted by Black Francis
they won't give up easily from faster battles syndrome.Well, it does not matter. We have tons of highly talented modders already. They'll find a way to make it slower. 
