14 DAY TRIAL // One of the biggest surprises I had in Total War: Shogun 2 was encountering the Black Ship and trying to capture the juggernaut with my admittedly less-developed-than-I-wanted-it Japanese navy of ships and my trusty samurai marines (there's a type of unit people don't often mention).
I got the Black Ship event and, busy with my land wars and lacking enough resources, I ignored it only to get it again a few turns later.
I then moved up a fleet and tried to take the ship only to feel how the Incas must have felt when facing against Spanish invaders for the first time, in awe of their gunpowder and their craftsmanship.
I failed three times in a row to adapt my assault force and have abandoned the effort for a while, after finding out what the upkeep for the Black Ship actually is, but I plan on eventually making it a part of my fleet.
The event is a great way for players to get deeper into the Shogun 2 world and adopt some of the actual attitudes of the era.
Another nice immersion creating addition are the events that regularly pop up at the beginning of a new turn and ask the player to make a choice that will affect the next year.
They are all very much linked to history and pose some very nice social and philosophical questions, linked to migration, distribution of wealth, the rules of war.
Because the effects are not very long yet still relevant, the player faces a choice of whether to treat them from a min max point of view and choose the option that is most advantageous in game or whether to answer based on their real life position.
The fact that the choice needs to be done without consulting the finances or other statistics of the faction means that The Creative Assembly probably meant the player to choose the latter approach, introducing yet another role-playing element to Shogun 2.