Shogun 2 remaster gets 81% negative reviews on Steam over AI art and removal of the original

Total War: Shogun 2 - Complete Edition launched on October 14. The remaster of one of the most beloved entries in the strategy series was supposed to give the 2011 original a second life. Instead, it ran straight into a wave of criticism on Steam on day one.

At the time the source article was published, the game sat at an "Overwhelmingly Negative" rating, with only 19% of 677 reviews positive. Players are upset about several things at once:

• questionable graphics upscaling, allegedly done with AI

• worse performance than the original

• a $10 upgrade fee for the new version

• the original Shogun 2 being delisted from Steam

Steam user Xukaku compared the developers' actions to a biblical story.

Literally the greed they talk about in the Bible.

In the Gospels, Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple with a whip of cords. Players don't have anything like that, so they're turning to Valve's review system instead. Negative reviews have become the main way to protest the remaster.

Fans have already put together an extensive list of technical issues with the new version, including long-standing bugs carried over from the original as well as brand-new glitches. Many users also report performance problems, saying the remaster runs worse than not only the original Shogun 2 but even recent Total War games.

The art is a separate complaint. The most telling example is a piece featuring a mustached warrior on horseback – in the remaster, his nose and mustache have turned into something resembling a Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars. Other side-by-side comparisons don't favor the updated version either.

The problems aren't limited to upscaled illustrations. Entirely new art pieces show typical signs of generative AI too, including hands with six fingers. No official comment on how the graphics were made had been given at the time of publication.

Pulling the original Total War: Shogun 2 from sale on Steam made things worse. Owners of the old version can still download and play it without restrictions, but newcomers are now left with only the remaster and all its flaws.

Players are hoping the developers fix the issues in Complete Edition and bring the original back to the store for anyone who prefers the classic version.