Medieval II is probably the best in proportion to release year. I can't play it now, the camera drives me nuts now days compared to the modern ones lol. I've been playing since Medieval I days and pretty much all of them since minus a few. I would flip out if they announced Medieval 3, as the political and Catholic political systems of 2 were highly interesting to me and if they expanded on that I would be pumped!

I always enjoyed obtaining all the Cardinal positions and then assassinating my own Cardinals/Pope's until there was no one left to appoint new Cardinals, thereby breaking the Papal States! I loved trolling the game haha.

Yeah if looked at in the most objective way possible I agree Medieval II is the best. I'm with you in hoping a potential Medieval III builds on the religion system and the politics. I also hope, though that might be complicated, that they come up with a way to accurately represent the Holy Roman Empire. In the old game it was just a regular faction but of course in reality it was a collection of kingdoms and duchies united by an overarching Emperor.

I used to make mods for Empire and Napoleon. Started playing with Rome Total War. Couldn't get enough since. Medieval II is still my favourite.

And most of those princes were Protestant, if I recall, making their loyalty to a Catholic Emperor in question.

I wish this series would come to consoles.  I played Shogun and Rome back in the day and thought they were really fun.  I basically gave up PC gaming though when Steam became the standard.

I think it would be way to difficult to play with a controller. Seems like it would be frustrating, at least for me.

I got the sagas from EGS if i like that im going to pickup warhammer

I kind of liked Medieval 1's take on it with the high chance of civil war and low loyalties. It felt like you could command them, but they weren't happy about it. Especially Henry the Lion. Then when they civil war against you, you obviously can pick either side and destroy them, solidifying your rule as Emperor. And then the overwhelming victories against other countries would invigorate your rule even further, so the higher loyalties make sense.

As for the thread, unfortunately I have been off the series since the catastrophic failure of a launch in Rome Total War 2. I was already not feeling it with Atilla and Empire, but that was the end of it. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the games before them though.

I'd argue a fair chunk of those princes became Protestant because their loyalty to the Emperor was in question; ka-pi gets it.

But I agree that all of the games might be spiced up a bit with more internal intrigue. Admittedly, the Total War games have never really been about that, so it's fair that religion is as simplified as, say, logistics or economy (or the complete lack thereof). I've always wanted the series to have a much more strenuous emphasis on logistics, to be honest, seeing as how that's often a bigger determiner of military success or failure than just about any (every?) other factor. Still, it's a pity.

I hated Rome II at first, and then I don't know what happened but I think they updated the tar out of it, next thing you know all these years later and I think I have over 400 hours on the game haha. I absolutely love all the different campaigns that game has!