Cody Bonds' review is the most informative and negative of those that I have so far watched:



I was a bit surprised about how critical he was, since Cody has been notoriously positive towards Creative Assembly, for example during his interview with Jack Lusted and his rare appreciation for Throb. Some of the issues he mentions sound indeed worrying, like the invincible units, the overpowered legendary lords/monsters and the magical abilities. Because, let's be frank, I don't think reviving your dead soldiers with the push of a button is very close to the concept of the truth behind the myth. Divine favour also seems to work in multiple ways, not all of them very suitable for the explanation CA had originally provided (it basically functioned like a placebo tablet). I also smiled a bit at how the marketing team promotes grass and mud as completely new features, despite them having already been introduced in Rome I and Medieval II, which common wisdom says they are so terribly overrated, in comparison to the more recent titles...

Anyway, I'm still going to play it in August, as I wholeheartedly approve of offering it for free, but my expectations are currently lower than Three Kingdoms' retention rates. Given the relatively lack of experience, small numbers and minimum wages of the Bulgarian studio, as well as Saga's limited scope and ambition, I never thought highly of Troy, but that honestly looks like an inevitable shipwreck. I understand that Saga serves primarily as a diversion and experiment, but the franchise is in danger of becoming so toxic that no Fall of the Samurais is going to save its fragile reputation.