10 Video Games That Punish You For Being Smart

9. Total War: Shogun 2 Makes You An Enemy Of The Realm

Total War Shogun 2
The Creative Assembly

Playing well in a video game is usually rewarded. Smart and effective strategies usually wield results, power, and a smooth path to victory. Play too smartly in Total War: Shogun 2 though and, well, you might just end up shooting yourself in the foot.

See, nobody likes an arrogant a*shole who totally overpowers everyone else in a game. After all, what fun is a competition if one person completely outclasses the rest? This is the question asked by the developers of Shogun 2, who implemented a mechanic called Realm Divide that makes you the target of every faction in the game if you control too much land and are being too successful at dominating enemy territory.

Essentially, when this triggers all enemy factions and even friendly ones start to view you as a threat and band together to take you down with their combined might before you become truly unstoppable. So, get too big for you boots, and you'll become the number one target in the land.

You either die a hero, and all that....

Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.