I think they attempted to over-complicate the metagame, thus putting the AI at an extreme disadvantage. This makes playing through the grand campaign annoying very quickly.
I find the AI in battles was greatly improved and I enjoy the increased difficulty.
I don't like the village thing. I think the village idea is the way to go, but currently the UI makes the micromanagement so annoying that I get fed up very quickly attempting to go through the villages that are easily missed (especially when there isn't a menu in the list that shows you the villages).
I think this game will be absolutely amazing, the only problem is I don't think it will be better then M2:TW until they release a serious patch/expansion or the modding community give it a serious overhaul.







