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This is anecdotal, but I learned a lot of history and geography by playing the Total War games - Shogun: Total War, Rome: Total War, Medieval: Total War. I'm n

This is anecdotal, but I learned a lot of history and geography by playing the Total War games - Shogun: Total War, Rome: Total War, Medieval: Total War. I'm not sure how to go about proving the benefit that the OP mentioned, but I am willing to put my money where my mouth is at least when it comes to the education of my own children.

quadrifoliate 4y ago
> Shogun: Total War...I am willing to put my money where my mouth is Well, let's see. This is a totally honesty-based exercise, but could you write two paragraphs upon the causes of the Tokugawa Shogunate's policy of isolationism (Sakoku), and its short- or long-term (pick your favorite) effects upon the relationship of Japan with the rest of the world? I am actually interested to see how far you can extend the understanding from the game. In my opinion, this is a reasonably broad question which any adult who has studied the highlights of the history of the period that that game covers should be able to answer to some degree.
- zomglings 4y ago
  Haha, this feels a lot like homework and my policy through university and graduate school was to simply not do assigned homework. Nevertheless, let's give it a shot. This is my impression based not only on the game, but also from subsequent content I have been exposed to after having played the game (based on my interest in the game factions - Oda, Hojo, Toyotomi, Uesugi, etc.). Upon exposure to foreign culture (after the landing of the black ships), the shogunate worried about the influence of foreign ideas on its populace. They also recognized the value of foreign technology (e.g. guns in the game). So they limited foreign interactions to mercantile activity on the island of... the name escapes me (something-jima). This policy continued for... a couple of centuries? But started to fall apart before the era depicted in media such as The Last Samurai. Now I will admit that my understanding of the events and impact is somewhat superficial. It may also be inaccurate, in which case I am sure you will correct me. But my understanding would have been non-existent if not for the game.

quadrifoliate 4y ago

> Shogun: Total War...I am willing to put my money where my mouth is Well, let's see. This is a totally honesty-based exercise, but could you write two paragraphs upon the causes of the Tokugawa Shogunate's policy of isolationism (Sakoku), and its short- or long-term (pick your favorite) effects upon the relationship of Japan with the rest of the world? I am actually interested to see how far you can extend the understanding from the game. In my opinion, this is a reasonably broad question which any adult who has studied the highlights of the history of the period that that game covers should be able to answer to some degree.

zomglings 4y ago
Haha, this feels a lot like homework and my policy through university and graduate school was to simply not do assigned homework. Nevertheless, let's give it a shot. This is my impression based not only on the game, but also from subsequent content I have been exposed to after having played the game (based on my interest in the game factions - Oda, Hojo, Toyotomi, Uesugi, etc.). Upon exposure to foreign culture (after the landing of the black ships), the shogunate worried about the influence of foreign ideas on its populace. They also recognized the value of foreign technology (e.g. guns in the game). So they limited foreign interactions to mercantile activity on the island of... the name escapes me (something-jima). This policy continued for... a couple of centuries? But started to fall apart before the era depicted in media such as The Last Samurai. Now I will admit that my understanding of the events and impact is somewhat superficial. It may also be inaccurate, in which case I am sure you will correct me. But my understanding would have been non-existent if not for the game.