Only halfway through Revelation as of writing this but I thought I’d write my review now as I don’t see my opinions so far changing anytime soon but Fire Emblem Fates has been a really baffling experience for me. For everything it does right on a gameplay front, it seems to do everything wrong from a story point of view.

The gameplay is everything you could ask for and more. Building your units has never genuinely felt better than it does here, it’s easy and incredibly intuitive even for someone like me who likes to barrel her way through these games without really paying attention to what I’m really doing with my builds. The map designs are really hit or miss lije always, especially in Birthright but good lord, the maps in Conquest are really the most fun I’ve had with the series in years. Some of the gimmicks can be a bit annoying but they never take away from the fun gameplay loop that Fire Emblem consistently delivers.

I can’t really say the same about the story and in particular, the writing in the game as a whole. Most, if not all the characters in the main story are incredibly shallow, one-note and only exist to deliver exposition before disappearing completely. The pacing in both Birthright and especially Conquest are also just egregiously terrible and with the story giving you no time to connect with these characters, emotional beats fall incredibly flat. The world-building is next to nonexistent with the story choosing to focus solely on the Kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido while also failing to explore in any meaningful manner.

That’s not to say there isn’t anything in Fates to love because on the contrary there’s a lot. The music is phenomenal, the character designs are some of the best in the series to date and the overall aesthetic is amazing. The characters are shallow but some are incredibly charming in their own right, the supports can range from questionable to really good and adorable but there is something there I think, Fates has charms in spades almost in spite of itself.

Now, the question is ultimately “Should you play this game?” and my answer will always be yes. Fire Emblem Fates is a very confusing mess that tries INCREDIBLY hard to justify it’s three routes at the cost of a coherent overarching story and some of it’s narrative decisions are utterly baffling but the characters are so lovable and charming despite their lack of depth and they make that extremely subpar story ultimately worth going through with the help of the game’s amazing backbone that is it’s gameplay, music and overall aesthetic.

(also they have the really weird baby dimension for the offsprings of your units and that is incredibly funny)

Shogun 2 features a small map, little unit variety, all factions are basically the same, and it uses all of this to its advantage. As the first Total War game I have finished a campaign, the game's simplicity helped me grasp its core mechanics with ease. All mechanics are heavily interconnected and balancing economy, agents, armies and navy are all necessary to get even a Short Campaign victory. The Realm Divide mechanic while annoying on my first (failed) campaign grew on me and makes for a tense late game experience, not allowing the player to snowball easily - Although steamrolling everyone after surviving the first turns of Realm Divide is not hard - and making each turn feel meaningful. There wasn't a single turn were I felt like I could waste movement, time or resources, and the game had me thinking even when I had the basics of my game plan already figured out.
Overall I think this is a great first Total War game, but it didn't get me emotionally invested in a way other than "Yeah this is pretty good."