After about 50 hours in, Ive decided to uninstall the game. Ive said alot of really positive things about the game, and it has alot going for it, but theres certain issues with it i cannot ignore any more. 

• The AI is still busted. It hasn't changed at all from previous total war games, it still just tries to overwhelm with numbers, it priortizes chasing one unit of cavalry over attacking your entire army, among other issues. Ive had multiple experiences where the enemy army just sits outside your castle in a siege, if you go out and  try to engage, the AI wakes up, sends its cavalry to attack your marching forces, or sends it soldiers to walk into your undefended castle while your men are still trapped outside and often wins because your defenders have been so weakened by slaughtering the earlier waves, even if it would have been able to beat the enemy had it stayed behind the castle walls.  Creative assembly didnt do anything to improve this aspect of the game, 
• The sea battles suck. They really do, in Empire and Napoleon at least you had the thrill factor of lining up a huge broadside and letting it tear into an enemy ship, but now you just watch your Bow Kobayas and Bunes throw clumps of arrows at the enemy until it runs away, occassionally you mix it up with some fire arrows or a boarding party. On top of this the ships all move much slower, make sea battles a real drag. In multiplayer, cannon Bune dominate every other ship making that aspect of multiplayer unplayable.
• Realm Divide is horrible. Honestly its one of lamest game mechanics ive ever encountered. Even on easy it turns a fun game of total war into a disgusting struggle to keep your empire afloat. It turns even close friends into enemies and makes any sort of early diplomacy totally pointless since even good friends of yours will eventually turn on you for no reason. Its a shame since the diplomacy mechanics are so much better than they used to be. I find the time limit in all the total war games to be a little more restricting than I'd like, but to add in realm divide, which forces into a conflict you don't want after X number of captured cities, is really disappointing. 
• The units are boring. In empire, every nation felt like it had a some types of soldiers that were  unique. The barbary states had desert warriors, the ottomans had jannisarys, and the Russians had Strelyts, and cossacks, etc. In shogun, every clan has the same units, yes as the Chosokabe you get special archer units but the only difference is in their name and stats, they still behave, look and do the same things as the normal units. its upsetting, couple that with clans that feel so very similar to each other and you have a very bland experience for such a colorful game. 
• I can't relate to the setting. Watching Samurai duke it out is always awesome, but when they're fighting over Owari province which I had never heard of until playing this game and whose people and history i am not familar with, I really lose my sense of immersion. In Empire I love being able to invade places I know, or playing as factions I know alot about and that feel unique. The differences between Britain and Russia in Napoleon Total war, are alot more meaningful than the differences between Hojo and Mori in Shogun 2. The cultures in Shogun are so Homogeneous that I honestly don't feel connected to them. A 10% ship movement range increase versus slightly better fire bombs is not enough to change my opinions on the mori versus the hojo. And I'd rather invade Turkey or Italy than attack some random japanese island. 

Realm Divide doesn't set it after a set number of turns, but after a set number of provinces come under your control.  Completely agree with regards to that aspect of the game though.

Realm divide is broken, but its broken favoring you. Because you know up to a finite point, everything will basically be fine. Its super binary and that makes it exploitable.

I say wait for patches like Civ 5.

It will be better down the road.

realm divide sounds like overextended in EU3, and it was terrible there too for the longest time (then they fixed it!) yeah I haven't liked a TW game since medieval 2. the strategy is kinda terrible and the same thing.

" Realm Divide doesn't set it after a set number of turns, but after a set number of provinces come under your control.  Completely agree with regards to that aspect of the game though. "

My biggest issue is actually from a visual perspctive.  The factions simply don't feel unique.  Obviously, you can't do much to various factions of the same civilization, but what made games like Rome and Medieval quite fun was the vastly different armies in terms of both unit statistics and just aesthetic design that would be fielded.  For example, in Shogun 2, you have the No-Dachi and you have the Date No-Dachi, which look identical in terms of unit models.  And then aside from that, there is almost nothing else setting the Date faction apart from others in the game in terms of army units.  The same is true for the other factions of the game.  Medieval 2 on the other hand gave you factions with vastly different aesthetic designs, and a large variety within specific unit types instead of just yari and ashigeru versions of each unit.

" mori versus the hojo. And I'd rather invade Turkey or Italy than attack some random japanese island.  Shogun 2

TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN, name says it all. 

They could NOT have set this game anywhere other than Japan, without changing the name and focus of the game.

I don't know for me I love the setting but then I know alot about japanese history especially around late 1500's early 1600's as that was when the Tokugawa Shogunate was established and as such is one of the most documented periods.  But yeah for me I can get excited just because I get to play as the factions I know which do have a unique history and all that that entails.  I also really love those pre battle cinematics, I can't resist the urge of the manly speeches and weapon brandishing no sir!

@Karkarov: I agree with you wholeheartedly. For the past several weeks I have become endeared with Tokugawa-era Japan. Incidentally, whenever I have a problem with my electronics I mutter "shamfur disprae."

My only lamentation, and it has remained the same since ETW, is that I am so utterly dissatisfied with Creative Assembly's post-release support (as I stated above). These games could be so much more engrossing if they would just fix the bugs.

Hmm Im maybe feeling the same thing as you. Its weird, after rome and medieval went to Empire I felt like Total War was best with the great melee and archery. However after reading your post, I kind of just want to go back to Napoleon.

At the uniqueness thing, It really is a civil war, so its hard to make them completely different to be honest. Every previous game besides the first has had different countries battling it out. So it makes sense that they're not incredibly varied.

They just a released a DLC that allows the blood and gore to be turned on.

HOLY. SHIT. Paying to turn on blood? Did I buy a MMOG with microtransactions by accident?

The units are more interesting in multiplayer because you have to actually out and out learn them in detail to win. With bots, even on the hardest difficulty. it's very straight forward.

Not the case with humans, huge diffrence between units. Even tiny details +1 speed can make a huge diffrence.

Realm devide is easy btw. The reason it exists it to stop you steam rolling everyone.