A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia

With enough tweaks to make the game feel fresh, and enough of the same formula to keep the game comfortable, this is a great Total War entry.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia experiments with the series’ formula to great effect, creating a compelling, epic setting that is refreshing to play for series’ newcomers and veterans alike.

An exhilarating departure, full of character, which still feels like a classic Total War game. [June 2018, p.74]

Thrones of Britannia is a strong installment in the Total War series, the best British based campaign I’ve seen.

Although it's not expansive enough compared to other games in the franchise, Thrones of Britannia does make a great progress because of the depth of strategy.

I am almost completely satisfied with the new and revised functions of the strategy card - and spend most of the game here.

Thrones of Britannia is a nice new view of the Total War franchise and the changes made by Creative Assembly seems to be the future for it.

Even though the AI is unable to learn from its failures and crack the player’s tactics, which makes later battles too easy, Thrones of Britannia is a game no strategy fan should overlook. [08/2018, p.74]

A good game within Total War saga. Diplomacy is the new (big) feature. If you want to win a battle without fighting, you have one chance in this game.

Thrones of Britannia is a very good start of the Total War Saga series. It's not a revolutionary or an amazing title, but it has interesting and fresh elements that can attract players and gather new followers of the genre. This new approach to the brand - to make smaller and historically accurate games - makes me extremely happy.

Though the gameplay does suffer from feeling too easy at many points, the depth of the game mechanics and excellence of the visuals help carry Thrones of Britannia to greatness.

An interesting start to the new sub-series that will serve as a good way to pass the time until the next "big" Total War.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia it's a deep and fun strategy game, enhanced by an excellent historical reconstruction and attention to details.

While there are minor issues with AI, and pacing suffers when you’ve comfortably gotten the upper hand, this is still a worthy and engaging contribution to the Total War stable that has successfully taken its cues from history’s winners and losers alike.

I wouldn’t make it my first Total War – go for Atilla or Warhammer instead – but if you’re looking for a more serious, less knockabout saga, Thrones of Britannia is a winner.

A worthy proof of concept; great ideas and experiments tempered by conservative implementation. As long as your expectations are managed with care, you’ll still find plenty of enjoyment here.

While Total War has often focussed on the big picture, Thrones of Britannia shows there’s plenty of scope for a series of Total War Saga offshoots to explore the smaller conflicts and civil wars through history. It’s also a great place for Creative Assembly to experiment with gameplay, and the changes to recruitment, tech trees and story elements give us a glimpse of what the series might hold in future.

The fact that I can’t wait to go back and play through the game again with each of them gives you an indication of just how moreish Thrones of Britannia is.

Consistent and surprisingly innovative medieval spin-off, which loses some of its thrill due to a reduced economy and a weak AI.

If you come to Thrones of Britannia with a bloodlust you won’t be disappointed. Never has commanding mustachioed men to bludgeon each other to death been such an intellectual exercise. But if you were hoping for a major evolution of the Total War formula, you will be left colder than a Pict at the winter solstice.

Although not the biggest or most expansive release in the franchise Thrones of Britannia surprises in its depth and commitment to building an experience specific to an era and place. From the warring houses and backstabbing and ever-changing map, to the war-hungry Vikings looking to cause one last moment of chaos. If medieval history is your thing, then this is the Total War for you.

It succeeds, unfortunately, only superficially.

It improves on a few areas historical Total War games have struggled with, but at the same time falls back into some bad, old habits that other games in the series were able to rise above. The overall tapestry reads as more than competent, and I could watch hardened huskarls with their massive axes crash into a Saxon shield wall all day. But there are too many blemishes for me to place it alongside some of its truly great peers like Attila and Warhammer.

Despite a lack of real novelty, A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia shows how experienced Creative Assembly is when it comes to wargames. Epic battles and good gameplay mechanics do the trick.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is a more streamlined, sleeker and quicker Total War than those before it. However, the changes to make it like this offer new opportunities and one of the more tactical campaign maps than ever before. While it still suffers from some issues, like boring end game and being altogether too easy, there's still a whole lot to gain from playing Thrones of Britannia.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia has flaws, but it condenses properly the Total War formula in a more accessible way and, before all else, carves the optimum path for the forthcoming spin-offs.

After the loved main iterations of the Total War series, A Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia is a spin-off that delivers a worthy new chapter that lacks some of the best elements of the IP.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is a new beginning and it carefully recreates the historical context of the early Middle Ages in the British Isles, but there are some missing points that will not make happy the Total War fans.

Quotation forthcoming.

If you like the Total War franchise and series like Vikings or The Last Kingdom, this is the perfect game for you. As a strategy game, it’s not the best from Creative Assembly, but it still is very good.

A brilliant early game and bold experiments almost make up for the AI niggles and the boring march to the final battle.

Thrones of Britannia must be the first Total War not to have any new mechanic that actually works. [Issue#230, p.36]

Total War: Thrones of Britannia is a game that tries to differentiate in general despite its important shortcomings and ties this work to the historical events.

Thrones of Britannia shifts usual pattern where storytelling is weakest part of Total War games to situation where it is it's best part in ToB. If AI and factions get upgrades, it might even turn out quite good.

Quotation forthcoming.

An interesting but limited spin-off. [Issue#201, p.84]

While the sameness of the factions began to bother me after a time, and will keep me from revisiting this one as much as I have the previous games, Thrones of Britannia does a fine job of shaking things up a bit. Not every change was welcome, but certain things, like army recruitment and siege battles, clearly came out better because of it. While my eyes are firmly set on the DLC releases to TW:W2, which are coming out at a steady pace, I did enjoy this diversion to the British Isles, and look forward to more Sagas when Creative Assembly wants to shake the tree up a bit.

Thrones of Britannia is a thoroughly competent entry into the Total War series, though underwhelming battles and a lack of fresh ideas mean it will satisfy your craving for historical conflict, but without much excitement or many surprises.

Thrones of Britannia has the potential to entertain for hours, if you're able to look past its flaws. A very decent strategy game, but Creative Assembly has the possibility to make it great.

Thrones of Britannia has neither the length of its predecessor, nor has the variety of units – and as such, it lacks something that its fuller counterparts have. But what it does have is a straightforward approach that has solved some of the chronic complications of recent titles while providing you with a engaging story that can build over time.

A Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia is a good spin-off with very good ideas especially in the Campaign. We can almost feel a Paradox's touch in the wargame part, so it's a very good things (food system, resupply, etc). Unfortunately the technical part and the graphic engine are old and we are far from the graphic slap of the era of Empire Total War or Rome II.

An understandable attempt to create a more accessible Total War experience, but it’s been streamlined so much it offers only a small taste of the series’ full potential.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say the AI is broken. It is just stupid, as it always has been. If you could put up with it in the last few Total War games, or maybe didn’t notice, then it is no reason to put you off this title. Despite my complaints about the AI, and some of the campaign mechanics needing some tweaking, I am impressed by this game. The sense of historical authenticity at times has transported me back to this time period, and overall I think this is better than CA’s last historical outing, Total War: Attila.

For Total War fans this is likely a must-have title, but to anyone else Thrones of Britannia is a confusing mess that simply isn’t welcoming to series newcomers.

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia aims to focus the Total War series. Instead of a grand chunk of history to explore, it drills down to some specific decades, with a much smaller map. At the end of the day though, you still need to love the real-time strategy play for the Total War series. If you do, Thrones of Britannia is an experience that tries not to suck up all of your time and energy.

Thrones of Britannia feels like an expansion of Total War: Attila, released as a separate game for obvious reasons. It relies on mechanics of Rome 2 and Attila and sometimes ditches them without offering a replacement. As a result, despite is epic scope, it’s a tedious, boring game fit for just one, maybe two, playthroughs.

Honestly, I feel like maybe we've seen all of the colours of Total War that we're really going to. It's time to switch up the tried-and-true formula for something else. It has been a lot of fun, and in its day Total War really set the bar. But now it's yesterday's news.

A Total War title that removes several tactical and strategic options and steps back most of the innovations made in recent entries.

The trip to the time of Alfred the Great is rather disappointing, though the game does not do anything horribly wrong. It's good, but the theme could have been grasped much better. [Issue#286]