While sega is heavily invested in reviving some of its classic video game properties, it also wants to further expand its more recent and popular franchises. At the top of this latter list is the “Total War” series of strategy games, which Sega publishes on behalf of developers Creative Assembly, which the Japanese game company acquired as a European subsidiary. The franchise has adapted in its immersive strategy engines various eras of war-ridden history and fiction, starting from the Japanese Warring States Period to the fantastic setting of “Warhammer Fantasy Battles” created by Games Workshop.
The “Total War: Warhammer 2” sequel is gearing for a September release, but Sega is already looking into creating a new spin-off line from the general series.
Recycled idea
The announcement was made by Sega on the official “Total War” blog, where they revealed plans to develop a new series called “Total War Saga.” Unlike the period-spanning installments of the main series, the “Saga” games will focus the spotlight not on wide eras but on specific historical events like a war spanning years rather than centuries. Despite the shorter timeframe of events the “Saga” series will be expected to have the same gameplay length as the traditional games of the franchise.
Such a concept is not wholly original.
The “Saga” format for new “Total War” games from Sega is actually a further refinement from “Fall of the Samurai,” a standalone expansion pack of “Shogun II” from 2012, which dramatically changed some aspects of the game from 16th Century medieval Japan to the 19th Century, during the fall of the Shogun government to the modernization of the Meiji period.
This will enable Creative Assembly and Sega to revisit the past historical eras covered in old “Total War” games to have players see them in a different light.
Smaller scale but just as epic
To start things, the first installment of the “Total War Saga” spin-offs will be slotted into the timeframe of “Rome II” from 2012. In a way, it will follow the prior example of “Attila,” a standalone game set in the same era and considered a “spiritual follow-up.” According to Jack Lusted, director of this first “Saga” entry, the game will retain the same mixture of turn-based strategy and real-time tactical combat that has been the hallmark of the “Total War” franchise.
While a “Saga” game will be smaller on the scale of conflict, Lusted promises that finishing one will still take about as long as its mainline brethren. “They'll have a narrower focus,” he explains, “but they will still be the epic sandboxes players are familiar with." Sega has yet to reveal any dates or info on this new spin-off.
