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| The Complete Edition of Total War: Shogun 2 launched on Steam on October 13. |
The remaster of a beloved strategy classic has turned into a cautionary tale about AI upscaling and broken launches, with fans review-bombing the Complete Edition after a disastrous release.
When Total War: Shogun 2 launched back in 2011, it quickly became one of the most beloved entries in Creative Assembly's long-running strategy series. Nearly fifteen years later, fans were excited when a Complete Edition was announced, promising updated textures, 64-bit support, modernized controls, and over 50 additional playable factions. Unfortunately, what they received was far from the celebration they hoped for.
A Visual Overhaul Gone Wrong
The most glaring issue players have latched onto is the questionable visual "upgrade" that has transformed the game's iconic samurai into something resembling robots rather than warriors. Side-by-side comparisons circulating on Reddit show character models with distorted faces that bear little resemblance to their original counterparts.
Even more telling, players have spotted Portuguese soldiers sporting six fingers in new illustrations—a classic hallmark of AI-generated imagery. Reddit user u/mr-english didn't hold back, writing: "They must have used a REALLY crappy AI model from 2 years ago or something because I put the original image into the free version of chatgpt [...] and I got this:"—accompanying their post with a self-upscaled image that looked noticeably better than the official release.
The community consensus is clear: many believe the developers relied heavily on AI upscaling tools without proper quality control, resulting in visuals that feel like a downgrade rather than an improvement.
New Shogun 2 Total War remaster is an AI slop with 0 quality control
by u/AnarchoKapitolizm in gaming
Technical Problems Plague the Experience
Beyond the visual concerns, the Complete Edition is struggling with fundamental performance issues. According to Steam reviews, players are reporting:
- Numerous bugs affecting gameplay stability
- Sluggish unit controls that hamper the real-time strategy experience
- Poor optimization that struggles even on high-end hardware
One particularly damning report comes from a user running an RTX 5090 at 4K resolution who claims to be getting only 30 to 40 FPS—a shocking figure for a game originally released in 2011.
Modding Community Left Behind
Another significant point of contention is the switch from Steam Workshop to Mod.io for mod support. This change has rendered many older mods incompatible without additional effort from their creators, fragmenting a community that had spent years building an extensive library of user-generated content.
The Numbers Don't Lie
As of now, the Complete Edition sits at a devastating 18% positive review rating on Steam, based on approximately 1,700 reviews. For context, even games with sub-70% positive scores are typically considered to have a mixed reception on Valve's platform. An 18% rating places this release firmly in "overwhelmingly negative" territory.
A Bitter Pill for Loyal Fans
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect for longtime players is that the Complete Edition—priced at $39.99—has effectively replaced the original game on Steam. While the original version is technically still included, obtaining it now requires purchasing the more expensive Complete Edition. According to SteamDB, the original Shogun 2 has previously been available on sale for as little as $7.50.
This pricing strategy has left many fans feeling penalized for wanting to play the version they actually enjoyed.
What Went Wrong?
The Shogun 2 Complete Edition serves as a stark reminder of the risks involved when remastering beloved classics. The combination of AI-assisted upscaling without proper oversight, technical shortcomings, and anti-consumer pricing decisions has created a perfect storm of negative sentiment.
For Creative Assembly and Sega, the path forward will require significant patches and potentially a reconsideration of how the original game is made available to players. Whether they can salvage this release remains to be seen, but the damage to community trust has already been done.