Facepalm: Shogun 2 is a favorite among Total War fans, which is likely why Sega and Creative Assembly chose it for the remaster treatment. The gamble has backfired spectacularly, however: within two days, Sega apologized and moved to put the original version back on sale.
Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition, released October 13, was supposed to bring the 2011 RTS classic up to date for modern PCs with numerous visual, performance, and quality-of-life upgrades. Instead, it opened to overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam, with complaints citing AI-upscaled art and other serious issues.
– SEGA (@SEGA) October 15, 2026
The listed changes included UI scaling for high-resolution displays, borderless fullscreen support, a 64-bit upgrade, a new renderer based on the one used in Total War: Three Kingdoms and Warhammer 3, more than 50 newly playable minor factions, new controls, and much more. Ironically, it also took 15 years for Japanese audio to arrive.
Look at the post below and then watch this BTS-clip from the original release of Shogun 2. The contrast is incredible.
– vkalsen (@kalsen.dk) October 15, 2026 at 4:57 PM
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Players quickly noticed, however, that the new 2D art, some of it inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e, appeared to have been run through an AI upscaler. Screenshots shared on social media show garbled details and one character's face merging with his helmet. Mataboo, Sega's development partner on the project, has also previously been accused of using AI to upscale art in last year's Stalker remasters.
Aftermath further reports that Complete Edition not only left old bugs unaddressed but also introduced new ones, and that the game's move from Steam Workshop to Mod.io makes it incompatible with 15 years of unofficial patches and other mods. Worst of all, Sega had delisted the original version ahead of launch, making Complete Edition the only option for new buyers (prior owners could still download the original).
Methinks I detect the hand of the AI master craftsman. www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/c...
– Rob Zacny (@robzacny.bsky.social) October 13, 2026 at 4:07 PM
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Around 48 hours after launch, Sega apologized, said it was pulling Complete Edition and reinstating the original version, and promised to investigate the remaster's issues.
Total War: Shogun 2 is the sequel to the game that introduced the franchise in 2000, and it remains one of its most beloved entries. Its modding community is still active after 15 years, and some critics of Complete Edition argue the original holds up brilliantly.