Wonderful game, I genuinely enjoy it.

The gui is one of the best of the series. It's clean, and simple. No flashy graphics, but it still remains beautiful.

The music is very aesthetically pleasing. I often find myself humming along to Cherry Blossom.

The action is the best in the series. It is clean and simple, but with room for advanced maneuvers and tactics (such as positioning matchlock soldiers in rows on hills to increase the amount of lead being fired down field.) The horses tend to be a bit... weird for me. They'll go do whatever the hell they want, regardless of order or stance.

The naval battles: Still wack. It's better than Empire and Rome 2, but still really ♥♥♥♥. The AI rarely ever misses a volley on my ships (in FotS). The AI ships also rarely retreat. Meanwhile, the moment one of my crew trips over a bucket, I'm down to just a gunboat even if I outnumber the enemy.

The campaign map is fairly solid. It's gorgeous, and the layout of the roads and towns leads to some great ambush potential.

My only gripe is the AI. It goes from really stupid to Big Brain Time randomly. The harder difficulties only increase in difficulty by literally boosting the damage, economy, and attributes of the enemy which is pretty cheap. It's fine if you can overlook that aspect, but it feels like if I lose, it's far beyond my control so what's really the point? One false move and you can lose in two turns within a year.
Also, I hate navy battles.

Wonderful game, I genuinely enjoy it. The gui is one of the best of the series. It's clean, and simple. No flashy graphics, but it still remains beautiful. The music is very aesthetically pleasing. I often find myself humming along to Cherry Blossom. The action is the best in the series. It is clean and simple, but with room for advanced maneuvers and tactics (such as positioning matchlock soldiers in rows on hills to increase the amount of lead being fired down field.) The horses tend to be a bit... weird for me. They'll go do whatever the hell they want, regardless of order or stance. The naval battles: Still wack. It's better than Empire and Rome 2, but still really shit. The AI rarely ever misses a volley on my ships (in FotS). The AI ships also rarely retreat. Meanwhile, the moment one of my crew trips over a bucket, I'm down to just a gunboat even if I outnumber the enemy. The campaign map is fairly solid. It's gorgeous, and the layout of the roads and towns leads to some great ambush potential. My only gripe is the AI. It goes from really stupid to Big Brain Time randomly. The harder difficulties only increase in difficulty by literally boosting the damage, economy, and attributes of the enemy which is pretty cheap. It's fine if you can overlook that aspect, but it feels like if I lose, it's far beyond my control so what's really the point? One false move and you can lose in two turns within a year. Also, I hate navy battles.