I've played every TW game since Shogun 1. I was a HUGE Dynasty Warriors fan, and I even spent years playing the old Three Kingdoms Online game which used to be around. I used to spend hours as a child in my garden pretending to be Zhao Yun, throwing a broom around pretending it was my spear. I am a massive fan of the time period.

However, for some reason, I can't get into this game. I have been looking forward to its release since it was announced.

I've started a Record campaign as Cao Cao (Never been a fan of one general killing 500 people in a TW game). I'm about 10 hours in to the campaign, and I'm bored. Turning the game on is a chore, and I don't know why. It is really frustrating because I WANT to love this game.

For me, I just don't really care about the campaign. I play on hard/hard. All my generals are moderately satisfied. I make decent money. There are no huge threats on the map. All I do when a turn starts is build some stuff, maybe equip a new ancillary here or there, nab a trade agreement, move army, end turn. Again, and again.

I can ignore the spying stuff, and the character relationship stuff completely, and still be successful in the campaign.

Battles, I literally haven't lost a single battle yet. Not because I am a genius, but all the battles are on my terms. The AI never outmanoeuvres me. On previous TW games on hard, the AI was never quite this passive. The battles themselves are easy and boring, the same 4/5 unit varieties smashing into each other until I flank and win.

Am I missing something? It certainly isnt an interest in the time period. Does the campaign really heat up later on? Is the Romance version a lot more immersive with characters on the campaign map as well as battles?

I really want to find a reason to care and enjoy this game. But I just can't.