Honestly I remember playing Rome 2 and not thinking that it was that bad. I played it for a while and thought it was really entertaining. I don't remember it being particularly buggy at launch, but being 14 I probably wasn't all that discerning.
But in any case it and Attila didn't quite grab my imagination like Rome 1 and Barbarian Invasion did, and I'm not sure why - the later two were better graphically, more realistic, had more features, but even when I've been working on my own game I still feel indebted to Rome 1. It definitely wasn't childhood nostalgia because I only played Rome 1 the year before Rome 2 came out.
Maybe it's that the lower-fidelity graphics give you more room to imagine, or every settlement being able to be upgraded to the maximum, or the lack of a region system making the world feel bigger.
But in any case it and Attila didn't quite grab my imagination like Rome 1 and Barbarian Invasion did, and I'm not sure why - the later two were better graphically, more realistic, had more features, but even when I've been working on my own game I still feel indebted to Rome 1. It definitely wasn't childhood nostalgia because I only played Rome 1 the year before Rome 2 came out.
Maybe it's that the lower-fidelity graphics give you more room to imagine, or every settlement being able to be upgraded to the maximum, or the lack of a region system making the world feel bigger.