History YMMV / TotalWar

* ToughActToFollow: The first time that the series has hit a low point was with ''Empire'' where bugs and bad [=AI=] have marred what could've been another good installment for the franchise. ''Napoleon'' managed to save some face that was lost with its predecessor and ''Shogun 2'' brought the franchise back in the right direction... up until ''Rome II'' where its launch day met with disaster among the fans who judged it to be an over-hyped, performance-heavy, and unfinished mess that was full of bugs and seemingly dumbed down compared to previous games.

** Fans are losing hope for the future of the ''Total War'' franchise ever since ''Warhammer'' got [=DLC=]ed to hell and back before being released, leaving buyers with a rather incomplete game that has the rest of its content blatantly tucked away behind an expensive paywall.

* SpiritualLicensee: Given the scales, time periods and battles involved, the Total War games tend to be reminiscent of various movies. More specifically, you've got ''Rome,'' which is reminiscent of ''Film/{{Gladiator}},'' and the ''Shogun 2'' DLC ''Fall of the Samurai,'' can pretty much pass itself off as a prequel to ''Film/TheLastSamurai''. Indeed, at least one reviewer has called it the "TomCruise DLC."

* StopHelpingMe: ''"Your siege equipment is automatically deployed-"'' (''click'')

** TotalWarRomeII fixes this slightly. Rather then every single faction ganging up on you, only the other factions within your subset(Roman, Greek, Ptolemaic etc) gang up on you.

** The game starts in 1700, right before Sweden became [[VestigalEmpire obscure]]... after a century of shaking half of Europe, so it may also count as BackFromTheBrink whenever Sweds are made into a powerhorse again.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The ending cinematic for both ''Shogun'' and ''Shogun II'' through FridgeBrilliance. Not only have your clan and daimyo's exploits brought about victory, but your legacy is implied to have endured well into the present day. It's a small nod to how your victories in the game have been forever preserved into posterity.

* SpiritualLicensee: Given the scales, time periods and battles involved, the Total War games tend to be reminiscent of various movies. More specifically, you've got ''Rome,'' which is reminiscent of ''{{Gladiator}},'' and the ''Shogun 2'' DLC ''Fall of the Samurai,'' can pretty much pass itself off as a prequel to ''TheLastSamurai''. Indeed, at least one reviewer has called it the "TomCruise DLC."

* CompleteMonster: Yes, you can have monstrously evil generals running your armies. Dread lords seem to be the most prone to becoming these, if they are not [[PetTheDog kindly]] [[AFatherToHisMen to their own men]].

*** On the other hand, this can get almost comical, when all that's left are the Moors and the Scots and [[SuicidalOverconfidence you control something like ninety percent of Europe.]] Aw, aren't they cute, with their two territories apiece. They think they're people.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sweden in ''Empire'' gets a lot of LetsPlay requests and fansite discussion, considering that historically, they were only a second-rate country who were repeatedly stomped by Poland and Russia. Although, [[TheChewToy there is a trope for that]]...

* CompleteMonster: Yes, you can have monstrously evil generals running your armies. Dread lords seem to be the most prone to becoming these, if they are not [[PetTheDog kindly]] [[FatherToHisMen to their own men]].

* CriticalAnnoyance: [[LargeHam OUR MEN ARE RUNNING FROM THR BATTLEFIELD! A SHAMEFUL DISPLAY!]] (Courtesy of ''Shogun 2'')
** Another from ''Shogun 2'': MASTER, WE ARE NOT MAKING ENOUGH OF THE TRADE INFRASTRUCTURE IN THIS PROVINCE.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: GeorgeWashington (the classic example) in the "Road to Independence" campaign in ''Empire.''
** Arguably, ''[[NapoleonBonaparte L'Empereur]]'' himself in his campaigns in ''Napoleon.''
* NecessarilyEvil: In Rome total War, even the largest cities will inevitably succumb to squalor which will put their public order and income into the negative. The only ways to slow the onset of squalor is to set the tax rate at maximum and to slaughter the populace of a conquered city.

* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: Want to see how the Moors would have fought the Mongols, how the Scots would have handled the Timurids, how the Turks would have invaded the Americas, or the Danes would have fought Reconquista Spain? Have at it!
** Which leads to a bit of FridgeHorror. Every action you take has the possibility to irreversibly change world history, for better or for worse. Say for instance, you are playing ''Napoleon'' as the British, and you lose your fleet. This causes a chain reaction of events. France then invades Britain, which no longer has a fleet to defend it. France wins the war of the Sixth Coalition due to Britain's absence. France colonizes the world, becomes a superpower, Etc, ''Nous avons cette conversation en français.'' See, one slip up can potentially cause disaster in more ways than one!
** Theoretically, one can have incredibly ahistorical wars. Venice's ''mercenari'' troops storming the gates of London to take it from Scotland, Sicilian knights campaigning through the Russian steppes, Spanish knights and Jinetes fighting Mongol horsemen for control of Vienna, Egyptian spearmen climbing the walls of Arhus to fight Danish Vikings, Byzantine spearmen charging through arrows from English longbowmen as they try to take Milan, or [[Fanfic/AScotsmanInEgypt Scottish Highlanders storming Cairo]]. The additional factions in the ''Stainless Steel'' mod take this even further. Ever wanted to see how the Teutonic Knights would do against the Byzantines, or an army of Norwegian troops backed by impressed Scots and Welsh longbows tackling the Fatmid Caliphate over Antioch?
** And that's not counting the ability to pitch off the different DLCs of ''Shogun 2'' with the factions in the original game. Ever wanted to reenact the final battle in ''TheLastSamurai?'' Now it's possible.

* PedophilePriest: Implied if a priest has the retinue member "Choir Boy".
--> "This child's voice is a gift from God! Once which I must keep close at hand..."
** On the other hand, castrated choir boys were utilized by priests in that time period. They were [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato called catsratos.]] One of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farinelli most famous ones was Farinelli.]]