The direct control mode is awesome, but it's not like a Total War game. That idea didn't work out on a game that was meant specifically to utilize that feature, like in Battlestations: Pacific.
@TsarPandall Watch the intro movie again. It explains it pretty clearly. The Shogun actually made trade deals and stuff with the westerners, emperor overrules him, westerners attack a port etc.
@TsarPandall He's fighting to restore the power of the Emperor. He doesn't want the western forces in Japan but uses their technology to try and overthrow the Shogun because the Shogun uses their technology too. It's a bit complicated but let us just cheer for Stalin and the Emperor.
Man that one levy was a badass! anyone else see that like 1 riflemen levy just whipped out a katana and killed like 4 guys while the rest of his group was getting massacred.