Re: The Popularity of Three Kingdoms
Pop culture (Samurais, Tom Cruise) certainly played a major role, but I personally wouldn't overestimate Shogun's success. It has been indeed praised (rather excessively, in my opinion) as the pinnacle of the Total War franchise, but its sale figures never reached those of Empire, while it sank in relative obscurity, once Rome II was released. Keep in mind that both Empire and Rome has a sinister reputation of being in an exceptionally bad stage, at least during their early stages of their life. Meanwhile, Three Kingdoms faces some difficult competition from Warhammer, while its lackluster recruitment system, uninspired battles and streamlined administration discourage the average player from replaying the same campaign, under a slightly different warlord, whose name he can't easily pronounce.