Total War: SHOGUN 2 similar games & best alternatives

Total War: SHOGUN 2 - total-war-shogun-2_1.avif
Total War: SHOGUN 2 - total-war-shogun-2_2.avif
Total War: SHOGUN 2 - total-war-shogun-2_3.avif
Total War: SHOGUN 2 - total-war-shogun-2_4.avif
Total War: SHOGUN 2 - total-war-shogun-2_5.avif
Total War: SHOGUN 2 - total-war-shogun-2_6.avif

Total War: SHOGUN 2

Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac • 2011

Should you play it?

Total War: SHOGUN 2 is the perfect mix of real-time and turn-based strategy gaming for newcomers and veterans alike.

What works

  • Immersive historical setting and atmosphere
  • Balanced and challenging gameplay
  • Strong multiplayer with avatar progression
  • High replayability and mod support
  • Detailed tactical battles and strategic depth

Things to keep in mind

  • Limited unit variety due to single-country setting
  • Ai can be predictable or simplistic
  • Some technical issues and bugs reported
  • Campaign map smaller compared to other total war games
  • Occasional long loading times

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition

  • Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

  • Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition

  • Cossacks 3

  • Company of Heroes

  • Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword

More fantastical

Games that feels like Total War: SHOGUN 2 but with more imaginative fiction

Choose your own criteria ->

From the same developer

From the same developer, ranked by motivational fit.

  • Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition

  • Medieval II: Total War™ Kingdoms

  • Total War: ATTILA

  • Total War: WARHAMMER III

  • Medieval: Total War™ - Collection

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Total War: SHOGUN 2. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Total War: SHOGUN 2. These titles are not in What to play next.

Total War: SHOGUN 2: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Competition, Status, Fellowship, Domination. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Story, Leadership. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Fantasy.

Last update: 21/08/2026