Played it a few hours and honestly, I'm not blown away nor loving it.
 
At first the map does look huge but man, with all the mountains it can really force you to go on water or attack a clan you didn't plan on or simply can't beat.  I would say after 20 or so turns, the map is really down to 3-5 major clans and a handful of tiny clans.  Soooo, now you can jump on ships and go around taking out the tiny clans while you hope the major ones will attack each other.   But, if you take away your armies to attack far away places, you are leaving yourself open to attack.  Oh, you say just build more armies..... that takes a long time and the upkeep will put you in debt really fast. 
 
Honestly, I see zero strategy in the game so far.  I've done a few games so far.  The first one I was virtually stonewalled because nobody wanted to trade with me which meant I couldn't afford a standing army to attack another clan.  Yes, you could spend hours to build up your properties but by then you would lose because another clan or such would own half the map and destroy you in one turn.
 
I just get the feeling that the game is small and limited after Empire.  I really feared that going back to a small island would be a huge step backward and so far I think thats what we go here.  If they wanted to go back then I would've said Rome had the most potential.
 
The major issues I'm seeing is that the map is simply too small, too narrow, and too limited in movement options.  The AI is going to be really predictable with the limited movement.  Another issue thats going to really annoy me is the upkeep cost of armies.  From what I seen, you either have 2-3 really strong armies but only 1-2 units in towns as defense or you balance it out but at the risk of losing battles.
 
This game has had the opposite effect that Civ V had on me when it came out.  I lost myself to that game for hours and I had to tear myself away from it every time.  I kept wanting to win/lose and start another game and try a different strategy.  Shogun 2 is not the game I was wanting, what I was hoping for.

Ship combat is kinda lame so far, I havent upgraded anything down that path yet though so all I have is Bow Koboyas and the bigger starting ships. Empire At least had awesome cannon damage. In This your crew just tosses arrows at the other ship until it surrenders or runs away.  
 
Most of the strategy for me seems to be in just choosing who to attack.

I too have only played this a few hours.  However, I've somehow had a wholly different impression of some of the points you seem to be getting at.  I'm not saying you're wrong but I don't quite get a couple of your points.  Make me see it your way (starting with your second paragraph/sentence) because I'm not completely blown away either but I wouldn't complain about some of the same things you are: 
 
1.  I don't really have a strong argument against this, but I do disagree based on my personal experience.  I've played as Hojo and Tokugawa... I felt that not only the first 20 but the next 30 turns past that have felt like once continuous campaign of aggression against my local neighbors.  The game seems to present you well with an immediate enemy, a secondary larger enemy, and at least 2 more on your event horizon.  I haven't gone past those two but it's definitely kept me busy on a land-locked two-front war against strong clans.  To clarify I'm playing on hard and not using autoresolve for anything but skirmishes.  The other possibility that may be our difference is the clan choices.  I don't know, something in me makes me absolutely NOT choose the first faction on the list.  I want to further clarify that I suck at the real-time element of these games but have compensated so far through superior production or positioning compared to the AI.   
 
2.  No real response.  Haven't had this problem at all.  Again, Hojo/Takeda vs the clans you've played? 
 
3.  Based on your last two issues I see how you could argue this case.  However, not really agreeing with your last two issues, I feel the smaller scope provides for a much more intense and focused campaign.  I barely ever played the real-time segments in the previous game (since Rome; the split for me was Medieval 2 where I stopped playing real-time).  However, the more focused nature of this campaign has me feeling like every fight really matters.   
 
4.  Every game since Empire has felt this way.  I don't really see this as a downfall but a conscious attempt at balancing.  For truly epic siege battles you need a worthy opponent and you will be forced to hold an army back against his potential onslaught.  This has not happened yet though I'm sure the game is capable of throwing this scenario at you.  On the other hand, based on your other points, I don't believe this is what you have at issue.  You appear to not believe you can properly defend yourself and be the aggresor at the same time.  Maybe you're playing on a very advanced difficulty?  If that's the case I don't have the answer for you (that you didn't expect) as I'm not a master at this game either.   
 
5.  Though I didn't know it before, playing the game I feel like this is the Total War game I was wanting.  This is peculiar considering Shogun 1 was easily my least favorite game in the series.  I hated the limited "campaign" features and innefectual archers and greatly enjoyed the tight-knit story and effective artillery Napolean.  I had no idea that I would find this game so much more engaging and gripping.  On the other hand, I quit out and found this post to reply to as opposed to getting lost in Civ 5 for days much like yourself.  Hell, I'm thinking of going and playing my Xbox copy of Dead Space 2 right now.  Maybe its not as great as my mind has led me to believe it is.  Either way, I see this as an interesting refocusing of the series and for better or worse this game makes me look forward to what they are going to do with an updated Medieval Total War 3.  However, I really wish they'd just find a way to roll the campaign map improvements into an updated Napolean game... which may mean I am just as not-impressed with this game as you are.  

How are you people playing this game? What is going on here?

I reckon it's amazing tbh, AI is a lot tougher than ANY other Empire game. I've been battered in under 5 years playing it so far because I focused on my infrastructure too much. Closest I've had in any other TW game was playing as the Dutch in Empire + attacking Spain straight off, ended up getting owned by them + France in under 5 years because of it once :P

My friend is a major fan of the total war series and he said he loved it. The games really are not for everyone. 
 @sins_of_mosin said:

 This game has had the opposite effect that Civ V had on me when it came out.  I lost myself to that game for hours and I had to tear myself away from it every time.  I kept wanting to win/lose and start another game and try a different strategy.  Shogun 2 is not the game I was wanting, what I was hoping for. "  

" How are you people playing this game? What is going on here? "

" My friend is a major fan of the total war series and he said he loved it. The games really are not for everyone. 
 @sins_of_mosin said:

 This game has had the opposite effect that Civ V had on me when it came out.  I lost myself to that game for hours and I had to tear myself away from it every time.  I kept wanting to win/lose and start another game and try a different strategy.  Shogun 2 is not the game I was wanting, what I was hoping for. "  

My impression is that someone who really loved a game like civ 5 wouldn't be into a more complicated game like Shogun 2. "

Instead of complaining that the game sucks you should have asked for help. Since you're a new player I can understand your problems.
 
First of all, you should start as the very first default clan when you first open up a campaign, they're the easiest, if you start as Tokugawa like I did or something similar then yes it'll make things harder because you have less forces and territory and it'll require you to do significantly more. So for a first try I suggest you start as the default clan.
 
Secondly when you want to move you army out without leaving your province too open for attack, first you should wait to do this until after you've upgraded your main city so that it has a wall for defense and such, secondly you should slowly amass an army outside of your city while you keep some of them garrisoned in your provinces; secondly you need to form alliances and trade agreements, when you do this and you need to move a unit from your land through anothers land and into an enemies land you can request military access from your trade partner/ally so that for a short while you can freely move units in to attack another clan. Also you NEED to do negotiations and build good relationships with your neighbors or they will continually stomp on you by sending plenty of armies your way.
 
Regarding Civ V, I've played a good 5-6 hours of that game and from how much I played Civ and Total war's campaign are pretty similar; crops in Civ come in form as farms in your towns and things of that nature although there isn't as much emphasis on resource building in Total war. But you shouldn't be knocking the game just because you're a newbie at it dude. If you want more help or you want to try and play a multiplayer campaign with me, send me a PM with your steam ID and I'll add you.

You think Shogun 2 can/is more complicated then Civ V?  I'm going to assume you have not played Civ V or just not good at it.   

" @sins_of_mosin said:

You think Shogun 2 can/is more complicated then Civ V?  I'm going to assume you have not played Civ V or just not good at it.   

You think Civ 5 can/is more complicated than Shogun 2? I'm going to assume you have not played Shogun 2 or just not good at it. "

@Bishop113 - You think I'm a newbie?  I played Shogun when it came out then played every release after that.  I played the hell out of Empire up until late last year.  Just because a person finds faults with a game does not make them a newbie.
 
@blueduck said:

" @sins_of_mosin said:

You think Shogun 2 can/is more complicated then Civ V?  I'm going to assume you have not played Civ V or just not good at it.   

You think Civ 5 can/is more complicated than Shogun 2? I'm going to assume you have not played Shogun 2 or just not good at it. "

" @blueduck said:

" @sins_of_mosin said:

You think Shogun 2 can/is more complicated then Civ V?  I'm going to assume you have not played Civ V or just not good at it.   

You think Civ 5 can/is more complicated than Shogun 2? I'm going to assume you have not played Shogun 2 or just not good at it. "

 You two are comparing apples to oranges. I have clocked in hundreds of hours on both series and I can say with probity that they are entirely different games within the strategy genre. "

Total War games have always been a bit too much for me (because it is more complex than Civ 5, civ games give you a half an hour of slow build every game to find your bearings where Total War just throws you in). Is there a good tutorial?

" @Bishop113 - You think I'm a newbie?  I played Shogun when it came out then played every release after that.  I played the hell out of Empire up until late last year.  Just because a person finds faults with a game does not make them a newbie.
 
@blueduck said:

" @sins_of_mosin said:

You think Shogun 2 can/is more complicated then Civ V?  I'm going to assume you have not played Civ V or just not good at it.   

You think Civ 5 can/is more complicated than Shogun 2? I'm going to assume you have not played Shogun 2 or just not good at it. "

Way to be a troll.
 
@bwmcmaste said:

" @blueduck said:

" @sins_of_mosin said:

You think Shogun 2 can/is more complicated then Civ V?  I'm going to assume you have not played Civ V or just not good at it.   

You think Civ 5 can/is more complicated than Shogun 2? I'm going to assume you have not played Shogun 2 or just not good at it. "

 You two are comparing apples to oranges. I have clocked in hundreds of hours on both series and I can say with probity that they are entirely different games within the strategy genre. "

I didn't compare the actual gameplay, just my experience of how I felt when each came out.  The other poster is simply trolling.  Anyway, nice to see my thread could bring back some life into this dead forum but if the fanboyism continues, I don't see others sticking around to be attacked whenever they have an issue with the game. "

Just out of curiosity, but OP did you ever play the original Shogun Total War game? You compare it to Empire, and to Civ V.  Keep in mind the scope of the games you're talking about.  Also, Empire is not the Total War game I would rest their laurels on.  Rome would be a good game to make another one of, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have made a Shogun II.  There have been some very dedicated players that have been playing the Total War series since the original Shogun and have really wanted to see it be revamped with the changes to technology since its original release 11 years ago. 
 
And as a couple others have said, comparing Shogun to Civ V is like comparing apples and oranges.

Been playing Shogun 2 for 10 hours almost straight. Absolutly Love it.  Played all the other total wars and i just dont have any dicipline and get screwed over. Some how. Here I am flowing with the game more. Understanding all the details better.
 
One thing is deplomacy actualy works. As use the Date clan. Its a bit of astrange place. I am takeing over three provinces and now i am needing to build and army stabalise my clan. This is on my second game.
 
First one i made trade and armies went a little wry. I made a conquered clan a vassal. GAVE ME TONES of money and i didnt have to govern them. They were a permenat AI Ally....sadly. he decided to go on a warpath at the wrong time and i kpet siding with him. So i ended up going to war with 5 clans and the AI Took over half of japan on his own. Sadly didnt keep them. So Vassals are very powerfull and keeps you from spending on all cities with a Vassal can take charge. Very usefull.

" Been playing Shogun 2 for 10 hours almost straight. Absolutly Love it.  Played all the other total wars and i just dont have any dicipline and get screwed over. Some how. Here I am flowing with the game more. Understanding all the details better.  One thing is deplomacy actualy works. As use the Date clan. Its a bit of astrange place. I am takeing over three provinces and now i am needing to build and army stabalise my clan. This is on my second game.  First one i made trade and armies went a little wry. I made a conquered clan a vassal. GAVE ME TONES of money and i didnt have to govern them. They were a permenat AI Ally....sadly. he decided to go on a warpath at the wrong time and i kpet siding with him. So i ended up going to war with 5 clans and the AI Took over half of japan on his own. Sadly didnt keep them. So Vassals are very powerfull and keeps you from spending on all cities with a Vassal can take charge. Very usefull. "

I'd say Civ -even Civ V- has more depth and complexity than the Total War games, it's just that you can still successfully play Civ without having to understand half of the mechanics, whereas you kinda want to understand everything that's going on in TW.  Also Civ -especially Civ V- does a better job at easing new players into the game.
 
I haven't played Shogun 2 proper yet, so I can't really comment on it too much, but based on the demo it seems pretty straight forward compared to Empire.  I'd say this is probably a good place to jump into the series for anybody that hasn't before.  OP just needs more skill.

" Total War games have always been a bit too much for me (because it is more complex than Civ 5, civ games give you a half an hour of slow build every game to find your bearings where Total War just throws you in). Is there a good tutorial? "

i recommend using the console panel and giving yourself lots of gold to start off with for your very FIRST game. Try to spend wisely though. This will give you a great feel of how to play later on when your resource management skills get refined. Also, I am disappointed at how the generals still, after all these years can get traits like "loyal" and then traits like "Known to take bribes". Those aren't the exact ones, but there are contradictions in the system.

Each to their own i say. Personally i love it :D

I tried the demo on Steam, and realized quickly that it wasn't a whole lot of fun.  I thought maybe I was missing something, but I guess not.

@OP I feel like you're missing the strategy involved on the economic side. You don't neccesarilly have to brute force your way to victory (at least not initially) choosing to upgrade economy over army (way of arts and buildings) is akin to powering in StarCraft where you set yourself up for mass unit production before actually building the units.

" @OP I feel like you're missing the strategy involved on the economic side. You don't neccesarilly have to brute force your way to victory (at least not initially) choosing to upgrade economy over army (way of arts and buildings) is akin to powering in StarCraft where you set yourself up for mass unit production before actually building the units. "

" @OP I feel like you're missing the strategy involved on the economic side. You don't neccesarilly have to brute force your way to victory (at least not initially) choosing to upgrade economy over army (way of arts and buildings) is akin to powering in StarCraft where you set yourself up for mass unit production before actually building the units. "

" Just out of curiosity, but OP did you ever play the original Shogun Total War game?

" @Bishop113 - You think I'm a newbie?  I played Shogun when it came out then played every release after that.  I played the hell out of Empire up until late last year.  Just because a person finds faults with a game does not make them a newbie.
 

They just need to do a Rome2

  Anyway.... I've played each clan, I've played different styles like turtle, rush, economy, balance, navy, ect ect, and each time it just felt the same.  Game is just too limited for me.  Some can only handle an island, I want a continent or better yet, the world.  Hopefully if/when they do a expansion, it adds China and Korea then I'll come back to the game. "

" They just need to do a Rome2 "