Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai

Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is a standalone expansion to the strategy video game Total War: Shogun 2, released on 23 March 2012. Taking place 300 years after the events of the base game, Fall of the Samurai is set in mid-19th century Japan during the Bakumatsu and the Boshin War, which pits supporters of the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate against supporters of the Emperor, who wish to overthrow the Shogunate. The time period coincides with arrival of the Western powers, which forced Japan to modernize and eventually abolish its traditional samurai-based society and adopt modern technologies. The players takes on the management of one of the many domains on either side of the conflict and must help their side win the Boshin War.
The game was rebranded and released as a separate product Total War Saga: Fall of the Samurai on August 13, 2019.
Starting in the year 1864, the player is tasked with developing their domain and adopting modern technologies to help their side—Shogunate or Imperial— win the impending Boshin War. At the start of the campaign, the pro-Shogunate domains control both Kyoto (the traditional capital of Japan) and Edo, the seat of Shogunate power. Control of these two cities and dominance on the campaign map will cause one side or the other to win the war. The campaign map has been altered and expanded from Shogun 2 to include additional provinces, including the previously absent island of Hokkaido in the north, as well as the islands of Tanegashima, Tsushima, and Gotō in the west.
To reflect Fall of the Samurai's shorter time period compared to Shogun 2 (spanning a maximum of just twelve years from 1864 to 1876), the number of turns per year has increased from four to twenty-four, and armies on the campaign map move slower per-turn than in the base game, typically requiring several turns to traverse just a single province. To compensate, the player can construct and use railways in certain provinces to rapidly speed up the movement of armies.
At the start of a campaign, the player is largely limited to recruiting traditional samurai warriors and levies reminiscent of Shogun 2, but through adopting modern technologies and military buildings can also recruit western-style units, such as rifle-armed line infantry and artillery—including both cannons and gatling guns, which largely render traditional units obsolete. Warships are now western-designed—equipped with steam engines and broadside cannons—and naval battles are fought more akin to those in Empire: Total War and Napoleon: Total War. Warships are additionally capable of attacking enemy armies and provinces on the campaign map (as well as providing fire support during battles), which can be countered by defenses in ports and increasing the level of castles in provinces. New to the Total War series is the ability to manually operate artillery units and warships in battles, where the player uses their mouse to aim and fire from a first-person perspective.
The research tree from Shogun 2 remains divided between civil and military reforms, but is now vertically divided into four tiers of research, where each tier's reforms can only be unlocked if the player's domain has a sufficient level of modernisation—accumulated through constructing western-style buildings. Unlocking latter tiers of research allows the player to unlock powerful units and buildings, at the cost of increasing discontent from modernisation in provinces.
Religions from Shogun 2 have been replaced with allegiances. A province with an allegiance (pro-Imperial, pro-Shogunate, or pro-Republic) other than that of the player's faction will result in increasingly negative public order penalties, which must be countered with buildings and agents that increase the player's allegiance. The player (as well as computer-controlled factions) have a one-time option to swap their clan's allegiance from Shogunate to Imperial, or vice versa, in the early (but not the later) stages of the campaign.
Realm divide, a feature first introduced in Shogun 2, returns in Fall of the Samurai with some differences. When the player gains enough fame by capturing enough territories and winning battles, they're given the option of either becoming the "vanguard" domain for the Emperor or Shogunate, which causes all factions on the opposing side to declare war on the player and prohibits the player from declaring war on allies, or alternatively, they may forego their side entirely and found a new republic (based on the historical Republic of Ezo). This latter option will result in all other clans declaring war on the player one-by-one.
Graphics-wise, the game utilizes an improved Warscape engine, adding enhancements to the campaign map, improved water effects and more. This engine update has also added numerous performance improvements.
Including all of the Fall of the Samurai DLC, there are a total of ten factions—five Imperial and five Shogunate domains—that the player may choose from, all of which have particular advantages in certain areas, to give a variety of play style with each.
Shogunate Factions
Additionally, all Shogunate factions are able to recruit a unique sword unit known as Shōgitai and a unique line infantry unit known as Shinsengumi Police Force.
Imperial Factions
During the 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai for "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering".