Any Total War fans in? Media just published hands-on impressions of the next historical game:

• Gamespot calls it a "feature-rich foundation"

• PC Gamer is favourable: "a historical Total War for the modern crowd"

• PCGamesN says its "campaign is [the] most customisable yet"

• Polygon says its "politics and subterfuge are more exciting than its battles"

And from the devs, here's a flyover video of the campaign map, which looks predictably gorgeous:

Pharaoh will be made by Creative Assembly's second studio in Sofia, the same place that made A Total War Saga: Troy. I thought Troy was great and I'm stoked for Total War to head to Egypt, but it seems notable to me that Pharaoh isn't billed as a 'Saga' when everything that's supposed to define the Saga games is otherwise present and correct.

Maybe CA has quietly stopped differentiating the two? If so, what does that mean for Pharaoh's future support and positioning within the franchise? Does that even matter? Egypt. Woo!