Historical Total War is in a weird place at the moment. These days, it feels like Warhammer is the Total War flagship, with Creative Assembly Sofia being given the reins to history while the primary studio focuses on orcs and elves. Total War: Pharaoh was Sofia's first core Total War game, having previously worked on the smaller Saga spin-offs—but it still feels like it's part of that secondary series, continuing the studio's experiments from Troy: A Total War Saga.
In our Total War: Pharaoh review we gave it 80%, but I haven't fallen in love with it like I did with Creative Assembly's last mammoth-sized historical Total War. Even with its laser focus on a specific era of Chinese history, Three Kingdoms is a vast strategy game, decadently rich in historical and legendary heroes and boasting a vast roster of unique units. It feels experimental, like the Sagas, but has the scale and ambition of the main series. Sadly, support for Three Kingdoms ended swiftly, and Creative Assembly has yet to announce a follow-up.
