Yamato-e cutscenes and Japanese voices: Mataboo's Shogun 2 Complete Edition, explained
The studio that rebuilt the 2011 strategy game talked through its visuals, controls, localization and new art style across a run of short interviews, capped by a live gameplay stream.
Total War
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"The idea behind the style of the new cutscenes was to immerse the player in the historical setting"
Total War spent the week letting someone else do the talking. Eight uploads went up, and nearly all of them hand the microphone to Mataboo, the studio the channel calls its friends, which has been reworking Shogun 2 for the coming Complete Edition. That edition folds every expansion, Fall of the Samurai included, into one package.
The interviews each take a single piece of the job. One covers the visuals, one the controls (the promise is that a returning player will not have to relearn key bindings that feel out of date next to newer Total War games), and one covers full Japanese and Chinese text and voice acting, which the studio describes as a first. The most unusual of them is about the new cutscenes, drawn in a style based on Yamato-e and the Kano school, two traditions of Japanese painting.
The visuals interview, posted last Wednesday, is the most watched of the set, and its comment section reads like a long list of requests. Many viewers want the same treatment for Empire or Napoleon. Others point out old flaws they hope have been fixed, such as Fall of the Samurai saddles that sit inside the horses, and a few joke that the new assassination animation looks like South Park.
The live overview stream, barely half a day old, is moving fastest of anything on the channel. Among game publisher and esports channels near its size, Total War added more views over the seven days than any of them, close to 1.2 million, though its daily pace sits a little under its usual level. Rocket League Esports and Riot Games are running above their normal pace. Sea of Thieves and Bungie are quieter.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
The comments under ""The job was bringing it up to modern standards without losing what makes it Shogun 2""
Total war shogun 2, played it alot during my highschool~
@ShelyshockerSee it on YouTubePLEASE do this for Empire!
@ImaginaShipSee it on YouTubeNeed this for Napoleon
@kg30004See it on YouTube
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- Channel
- Total War
- Subscribers
- 594,000 ▲ 1,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,176,871
- Videos published this week
- 8
- Video published
- October 6, 2026
- Video views so far
- 17,995
The numbers
Here is how the Total War channel's week looks in figures.
💡 Test your knowledge
Shogun 2's main campaign is set in which period of Japanese history?
Shogun 2 takes place during the Sengoku, or Warring States, period of the 16th century, when rival clans fought to unify Japan.
