Total War: Warhammer 3 - Should You Play The Rest Of The Trilogy First
The long wait is finally over and Total War: Warhammer 3 is out, but newer players may wonder if the first two games are worth playing - or if the story will be too confusing without them. Starting with a sequel in nearly any game series can be intimidating to new fans, making them wonder if they are missing out on important lore. Lore is certainly important to the series, as Total War developers Creative Assembly worked closely with Games Workshop, makers of Warhammer. They expanded upon factions only briefly seen previously in Warhammer, like Grand Cathay.
There are many characters, locations, and even objects that have long histories within the fantasy world of Warhammer, and these have been explored by in the first two games. New players may wish to play through the previous entries in the Total War: Warhammer series first to experience what they have to offer (as the games are certainly still worth playing), but it's ultimately not necessary - and in some cases could even be detrimental.
It might seem strange, but all three games in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy take place at the same time. They each have their own campaigns, but are set in different parts of the Warhammer world with different factions and new challenges. This allows players to pick whichever faction appeals to them the most and play a full game. Of course, it’s likely that players will go through multiple times as different factions to experience more of the world, lore, and gameplay elements, and the breadth of content is ultimately what makes Total War: Warhammer 3's 2022 delay worth the wait.
If players look at a map of the Warhammer world, they will probably notice that it looks a lot like Earth. Continents may be shaped differently, borders do not match any real-world counterpart, and there are some different landmasses, but it's still a recognizable analogue. Total War: Warhammer 3 takes place mainly in the fantasy equivalent of Asia, though it also includes the Chaos Realms and some areas seen in the first game.
New players should likely not start with the original Total War: Warhammer. It was a great game for its time, but is by and large obsolete at this point. When it launched, the Total War series had never attempted a fantasy setting before, as the previous games were all historical entries. There are many other Warhammer games, from older classics to new entries like the popular Warhammer: Vermintide 2 and its new Chaos Wastes mode. However, this was Total War's first time using IP developed by another company. The game included monstrous creatures and single-model units like lords and heroes. Another big addition magic, which changed how things worked a great deal. With so many firsts, there were bound to be some missteps. There was a series of patches and updates which fixed many issues, but the game stopped being supported around the time the second game came out, meaning that the quality-of-life upgrades added later don’t appear in the first game at all.
Total War: Warhammer 2 had a brand-new campaign and new factions, but shortly after it was released, a grand campaign called Mortal Empires came out. This combined the maps of both the first and second games into one giant map and included the factions for both. This made it hard for other games like the excellent A Total War Saga: TROY to compete. Players did need to own the previous Warhammer game to play this mode, and if they wanted to play a faction from the first game, they would need the appropriate DLC as well if it was not one of the base factions. With the sheer amount of content and all the playable factions and legendary lords, it might seem that this game is still worth playing for now, but it won’t be that way forever.
Now Total War: Warhammer 3 is out, which changes the formula from previous games in the series. The campaign sees the factions racing to get to Ursan, a bear-god imprisoned within the Realm of Chaos. This narrative choices also makes Total War: Warhammer 3's gameplay different from before. The factions have various reasons for wanting to find Ursan - Kislev wants to save it, as it is their patron deity, but the ogres just want to eat it - and this has led to shifts in how a variety of mechanics work. The game already has several improvements from its predecessor, including better siege battles, so instead of simply destroying the enemy army in a settlement, there are objectives that players can capture to change the tide of battle. Diplomacy is improved as well, with more options for players than ever before. For those who enjoy multiplayer, there are also exciting new options there, such as an eight-player co-op campaign with simultaneous turns. This means multiplayer games are easier to get into than ever before.
But despite all those great additions, there isn’t a grand campaign in Total War: Warhammer 3 that encompasses previous content like Mortal Empires. Total War: Warhammer 3 is getting review bombed, but for entirely different reasons than might be expected given that Total War: Warhammer 2 and its successor are quite different games on the whole. If new players want to try playing a Skaven character like Ikit Claw, for instance, they can only do so in the second game. Given the inevitability of coming DLC, this will likely change soon, making it likely that Total War: Warhammer 3 will (eventually) be the most complete game of the series. It will continue to get updates and DLC, while Total War: Warhammer 2 will eventually fall behind. Those who have never experienced the previous games in the series will likely get a chance to play those older factions eventually, and there is still plenty of content to get through in the game before that point.
Despite the second game's huge amount of content, the best game of the trilogy to start with for new players is undoubtedly Total War: Warhammer 3. That said, while it may not be worth it to play previous entries now, it might still be worth owning them and having access to their DLC, some of which re even free, like dark elf beastmaster Rakarth in Total War: Warhammer 2. For others, players can just wait until they go on sale. There should be a coming campaign that features a massive map of the Warhammer world with all previously playable factions included. There hasn't been an official release date announced for it yet, but it has been confirmed as in the works by Creative Assembly itself. Players likely won't need to get all previous DLC either, just the ones that interest them the most. If they really find the look and gameplay mechanics of Grom the Paunch appealing, they just need to purchase The Warden and the Paunch DLC from the second title. All the other legendary lords will still be in the game, but players won’t be able to play as them until they get the corresponding DLC.
There are currently 12 playable legendary lords in Total War: Warhammer 3, including two ogre lords as DLC free to those who preordered the game. Even in its base state, there are still hundreds of hours of content. Over all three games, there are over 80 legendary lords total, and more still on the way. Unless players are extremely dedicated, they won’t be able to do a full campaign with all the legendary lords, so it's best for newer players to pick what interests them the most and play from there.