It's come down to this. My final Stronghold game has become a pure battle of wills. Not that the game is particularly bad, but this is the sixth game in the series and it adds basically nothing to the Stronghold formula.
It's actually kind of astonishing how . . . consistent this series has been. There's some tinkering around the edges. Some buildings have slightly different functions. Feasting for the sake of honor has been streamlined. There used to be buildings that could produce one of two different weapons (such as bows and crossbows), depending on how you set it - those have been split into two different buildings. There's one new unit, the ranger, whose tactical role I have not yet discerned. But none of these changes really effect how he game is played. Even Stronghold Legends' hero units were more like window dressing. The only game in the series that feels significantly different than the baseline is Stronghold Crusader Extreme.
The only thing I can think of is that the original Stronghold must have a powerful constituency somewhere and they don't want a great deal of innovative mechanics or dramatic gameplay refinements, but prefer the game just the way it was, only with more sophisticated graphics. Thus it keeps getting conservative sequels. It makes sense that people who like the game might want more of the same, but it's always been my preference for video game sequels to push the original's central idea forward. Five times so far, I've been hoping for a more sophisticated and nuanced medieval town/siege warfare simulator and the series has only fitfully delivered.
On the other hand, they have managed to developed a characteristic Stronghold flavor that remains more or less constant through the games, so you always know what you're getting . . . for better or worse.
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