History YMMV / Pharaoh

** Clunky and annoying as combat was, many fans preferred it to the remake, which simply shows two [[OnrushingArmy Onrushing Armies]] then tells you the result of the battle (and doesn't tell you which buildings were destroyed if your army lost). The abstracted combat without enemy entry points also removes the gameplay aspect of planning your city accordingly to facilitate its defense. In some missions of the original (notably Thinis, Iken or Khmun) you can even avoid some invassions altogether if you dont' build in certain banks of the Nile, which is no longer possible in the remake.

** The way Cleopatra rushes trough the history of the New Kingdom results in many historical events being glossed over. Including Amenhotep III and the creation of Luxor, Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten and his religious schism, the Third Intermediate Period as well as the Kushite rule of the 25th dynasty. The entire Assyrian as well as the Persian invasions also only feature a single dedicated mission.

* EvenBetterSequel: Usually considered a finer evolution of ''Caesar III'' thanks to the addition of unique features like monuments and the flooding seasonal mechanics, several improvements such as roadbloacks, and a superior, well-documented historical flavor that goes beyond a generic "period dressing" connecting garden-variety missions of its predecessor. For ''Pharaoh'', [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751541043 Chris]] [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751830971 Beatrice]] [[ShownTheirWork did his research]] and the storyline for instance follows the exploits of the dynasties historically, up to a point, while Caesar's gampeplay features an Empire and an unnamed Emperor centuries before the end of the Republic.

* {{Narm}}: In the remake, the combat screen has two armies starting in a corner and meeting each other in the center of the screen, but sometimes they just keep walking without clashing, overlapping each other for a while until they dissapear in their opposite corners, unintentially resemebling a silly / humorous monty pythonesque sketch.

** Dunqul Oasis presents small building areas for housing, little trade opportunities (and you can overcommit initially to a closing one of wood), hyenas running rampant across the map and early Bedouine invassions followed by massively strong Kushite ones. In addition, towers cannot be erected to balance that they hugely outmatch your soldiers in one-on-one combat.
** The second run of Thinis, which is absolutely nightmarish. The one reliable source of income consists of gold mines placed away from the grass so they'll work at a limited rate due to travelling time to and from the expensive palace. You face near-impossible demands from your Pharaoh, extortion attempts from your rivals, closing trade routes, and constant invasions that can often overlap. Failing to provide adequate military aid to Men-Nefer will permanently close the source of papyrus and make the mission unwinnable. The alternative mission, Waset, is hardly simple, but is a cakewalk in comparison.

* GameBreakingBug: Until it was patched in the 1.5.0 version, the interest rates on debt are much, much stepper in the remake; 25% '''''per month''''' vs a reasonable 15% yearly (1.25% monthly) of the original. A small debt of 1000 debens will cost the treasure an additional ''3000'' loss in interest alone in a year, and that's not taking into account the ensuing increased debt produced by the usury itself. It makes the CycleOfHurting harder to manage while you are in the red, as you automatically lose when you go below -5000 instead of the suspended payments state of the original, where you can still recover by selling stored goods to traders.

* SequelDifficultySpike: The interest rates on debt are much, much stepper in the remake; 25% '''''per month''''' vs a reasonable 15% yearly (1.25% monthly) of the original. A small debt of 1000 debens will cost the treasure an additional ''3000'' loss in interest alone in a year, and that's not taking into account the ensuing increased debt produced by the usury itself. It makes the CycleOfHurting harder to manage while you are in the red, as you automatically lose when you go below -5000 instead of the suspended payments state of the original, where you can still recover by selling stored goods to traders.

*** It lacks a "Very Hard" level, and "Hard" itself is easier than the original setting with the same name.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: The remake now allows bazaar buyers to pick up locally-produced and imported foods from storage yards, meaning there's no reason to build granaries (which take up more space, are more expensive and need more workers).

* DisappointingLastLevel: The missions in the ''Cleopatra'' expansion are simply less interesting than the main game ones. Also, the maps aren't very intricately designed, breaking immersion.
* EvenBetterSequel: Usually considered a finer evolution of ''Caesar III'' thanks to the addition of unique features like monuments and the flooding seasonal mechanics, several improvements such as roadbloacks, and a superior, well-documented historical flavor that goes beyond a generic "period dressing" connecting garden-variety missions of its predecessor. For ''Pharaoh'', [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751541043 Chris]] [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751830971 Beatrice]] [[ShownTheirWork did his research]] and the storyline for instance follows the exploits of the dinasties historically, up to a point, while Caesar's gampeplay features an Empire and an unnamed Emperor centuries before the end of the Republic.

* ObviousBeta: The remake was released with some unbearable bugs not present in the original and easily spotted by players, such as the flood not drowning the farmers who get caught on the shore (although that might fall under AcceptableBreaksFromReality, as other walkers do drown when crossing the floodplain), serious blocking issues with building monuments and false calculations regarding the amount of stored goods - or the fact that housing doesn't require any goods to sustain itself, just the first delivery.

** The remake lacks a "Very Hard" level, and "Hard" itself is easier than the original setting with the same name.
** With an average army, the tougher enemies like the Kushites, Hyksos and Hittites are regularly beaten in the (automatic) stand up battles without losing most of your forces.
** The invasions of the Hyksos do not happen in Khmun if you save Rowarty, and you are given a time extension for it if you don't send forces before the start of the battle, time you can use to bulk up your forces for better chances.
** The flood not drowning the farmers who get caught on the shore eliminates the necessity of having enough food storages for peak periods during the harvest.
** The ability to switch to automatically staffed buildings makes the game hugely easier (and faster, since you no longer need to wait for a migrant to go to a distant housing plot). As there's no longer a need to build housing to keep industries staffed, buildings can be packed tighter together, there's no IndustrialGhetto, therefore less crime and no need to have cops and physicians patrolling said ghetto, therefore more workers available to run the city, giving higher Prosperity levels, etc.

** Clunky and annoying as combat was, many fans preferred it to the remake, which simply shows two [[OnrushingArmy Onrushing Armies]] then tells you the result of the battle (and doesn't tell you which buildings were destroyed if your army lost). The abstracted combat without enemy entry points also removes the gameplay aspect of planning your city accodingly to facilitate its defense. In some missions of the original like Thinis, Iken o Khmun, you can even avoid some invassions altogether if you dont' build in certain parts of the map, which is no longer possible in the remake.

** Clunky and annoying as combat was, many fans preferred it to the remake, which simply shows two [[OnrushingArmy Onrushing Armies]] then tells you the result of the battle (and doesn't tell you which buildings were destroyed if your army lost).

** The remake has no minimap and doesn't allow you to rotate the camera.

* SequelDifficultySpike: The interest rates on debt are much stepper in the remake, making the CycleOfHurting harder to manage while you are in the red, and you automatically lose when you go below -5000 instead of the suspended payments state of the original, where you can still recover by selling stored goods to traders.

* GameBreakingBug: The remake created some:
** Monuments can't be finished if the top of the monument goes past the edge of the map.
** One bug involving the new battle system causes the game to automatically pause itself at the end of every single month for the rest of the mission.
** Trade ships can become stuck in your waters, making trade stop, the resources of their city unavailable and the mission unwinnable.
** Policemen and towers no longer target predators, so disabling them is the only way to deal with hostile animals.
** Towers are bugged so loading a saved game won't keep the improvements made to them or guards stationed there.
** Storage yards occasionally don't detect demand of raw goods from a production facility. Demolishing the facility and rebuilding it or undo the action manually is needed to unstuck the situation.
** Recruiters occasionally report there is no demand of forces so they don't supply soldiers anymore, despite the city having forts that are not full.
** Upon release, Iken campaign mission was configured as sandbox without winning conditions, so the mission is UnwinnableByMistake even if you met the stated ratings. This was patched in the following weeks, with existing savegames being required to restart the mission.

!!The Book
* FairForItsDay: When written, it was a fairly well-researched book, with extensive inquiry into Egyptology textbooks and Bolesław Prus is considered to be the greatest writer of Polish literary realism, always putting extensive effort into researching his books. Except all there was for him to research were the mid-19th century textbooks, written mere decades after the Rosetta Stone was deciphered. From the perspective of modern Egyptology, the book just uses Ancient Egypt as a colourful background [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar to avoid censorship]], bouncing between widely inaccurate portrayal and full-cloth fabrication.

** Policemen and towers no longer target predators, so disabling them is the only way to deal with them.

** The second run of Thinis, which is absolutely nightmarish. The one reliable source of income - gold mines - are placed away from the grass so they'll work at a limited rate due to travelling time to and from the expensive palace. You face near-impossible demands from your Pharaoh, extortion attempts from your rivals, closing trade routes, and constant invasions. Failing to provide adequate military aid to Men-Nefer will permanently close the source of papyrus and make the mission unwinnable. The alternative mission, Waset, is hardly simple, but is a cakewalk in comparison.
** In what doubles as UnintentionallyUnwinnable, the Hittite chariots at Qadesh are virtually undefeatable in the field on very hard. While [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REEitX2A_1o It has been done]] (with an ungodly amount of micromanaging and SaveScumming), the only really viable way of winning requires taking refuge behind the river in a corner of the map in a small settlement and hope they get demoralized and leave in time without completely destroying the rest of the city.
** Dunqul Oasis presents small building areas for housing, little trade opportunities (and you can overcommit initially to closing one of wood), hyenas running rampant across the map and early Bedouine invassions followed by massively strong Kushite ones. Like in Qadesh, towers cannot be erected.

** Upon release, Iken campaign mission was configured as sandbox without winning conditions, so the mission is UnwinnableByMistake even if you met the stated ratings. This was patched in the following weeks.

** Iken campaign mission is configured as sandbox without winning conditions, so the mission is UnwinnableByMistake even if you met the stated ratings.

* EvenBetterSequel: Usually considered a finer evolution of ''Caesar III'' thanks to the addition of monuments, several improvements such as roadbloacks, and a superior, well-documented historical flavor that goes beyond a generic "period dressing" connecting garden-variety missions of its predecessor. For ''Pharaoh'', [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751541043 Chris]] [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751830971 Beatrice]] [[ShownTheirWork did his research]] and the storyline for instance follows the exploits of the dinasties historically, up to a point, while Caesar's gampeplay features an Empire and an unnamed Emperor centuries before the end of the Republic.

* EvenBetterSequel: Usually considered a finer evolution of ''Caesar III'' thanks to the addition of monuments, several improvements such as roadbloacks, and a superior, well-researched historical flavor that goes beyond a generic "period dressing" connecting garden-variety missions of its predecessor. For ''Pharaoh'', [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751541043 Chris]] [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1351080/view/4222657783751830971 Beatrice]][[ShownTheirWork did his research]] and the storyline for instance follows the exploits of the dinasties historically, up to a point, while Caesar's gampeplay features an Empire and an unnamed Emperor centuries before the end of the Republic.