izigame.me

This is the BEST Total War release that I almost completely ignored for 9 years after purchasing. The timing of the launch directly after Rome 2, marketing prevarications around compatibility issues meant most people could not make the game work even if they tried.
Now, after 500 hours in game - this is why Attila is the first game to try in the series:
- Success is almost completely dependant on skill. If you learn the mechanics and units, there is always a way to survive the apocalypse. These mechanics mimic the real challenges and solutions a countries' leader would face very well too. Sometimes you have to cut off an arm to save the patient, migrate to better lands, morale is a significant deciding factor.
- This game nails immersion. There are civilians running around the besieged city that your soldiers will stab, also in towns during field battles, your decisions will prompt interesting traits for governors and generals, the unit design is both historical, detailed, and varied across the map (although if you spend too much time around Germania/England, Creative Assembly was not too creative about how to make those factions feel distinctive).
- Surviving and defeating the Huns will affect the majority of the macro strategy for most factions. It is so rewarding if you can learn the game well enough to survive and defeat them. Sadly this was a total missed opportunity with the Sea Peoples in Total War Pharaoh Dynasties.
- Now after a decade of hardware improvements, this game runs well on most devices and you can truly make it look better than most modern releases with max settings and the extensive list of mods that improve graphics and combat animation.
Here are some great choices to write your chapter of history:
1. Succeed the failing Roman Empire as the Ostrogoths using your own AND Roman units. Hold the border with the Huns while expanding elsewhere and adopting a failed but wealthy empire.
2. (Hardest) try to hold on to as much as the crumbling Western Empire as possible and change history by surviving.
3. (Easiest) become a global trade superpower as the economically well-endowed Eastern Roman Empire. This gives you plenty of money for their sexy unit roster.
4. Take Egypt and the Holy Land as the emerging Himyar to create novo-Persian trade superpower in the Mediterranean. Yes, their elite units wear golden masks this is very important.
5. If you are an expert at keeping fighting family members together to preserve a powerful dynasty, play the Sassanids. They also have one of the most fun unit rosters.
You will have an exceptional experience with this game if you enter with the following expectations: learn to accept loss to survive sometimes, focus on mismatches and morale to beat armies 3x your size, and give it some time to grow on you. This game prepares you for how to deal with any coming collapse of empires pretty well.