The custom battles in Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Complete Edition allow troops from different eras to clash on the same battlefield. In one demo match, Armstrong artillery initially held the advantage, but Genji samurai eventually closed in and routed the gunners. This was the outcome of that battle under specific settings.
The player originally planned to experience the main campaign of leading a clan to unify Japan, but ended up spending more time freely combining factions and units. Besides pitting Genji samurai against Armstrong artillery, they also arranged a matchup between the Takeda clan and Gatling gun units. The Complete Edition includes expansions such as Rise of the Samurai, set during the Genpei War, and Fall of the Samurai, set in the Bakumatsu period, making these cross-era combinations possible.
Custom battles allow adjustments to both sides' strength and time limits. The player also zoomed in to observe soldier animations and noted that some artillery can be manually aimed by the player from a near first-person perspective. They felt that the fun of trying different matchups and watching battlefield details temporarily put the main campaign on hold.
The main campaign combines turn-based province management with real-time battles. Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Complete Edition will launch on October 14, including existing expansion content and supporting full Japanese text and voiceovers.