Total War: Warhammer 2 trailer commentary does not explain why that elf guy looks like Benedict Cumberbatch
Everything else? Clear as a bell.
Total War: Warhammer 2 was announced with a lovely cinematic trailer, but whether you're a big Warhammer fan or not you could be forgiven for having questions about what in the heck was actually going on.
In the video above, game director Ian Roxburgh addresses some of those questions, explaining all about the Vortex - a magical construct designed to siphon away the magic that allows chaos to leak into the world. In Total War: Warhammer 2, players can fight to keep control of this construct and gain an advantage over their enemies, and it provides a potential endgame system where you might find yourself losing a campaign.
The video also introduces three key characters in Total War: Warhammer 2 - high elf, dark elf and lizardfolk leaders. What it does not do is explain why the high elf mage, Teclis, looks so much like Benedict Cumberbatch. This is a mystery for the ages, which we definitely could not solve by side-eyeing the recent Doctor Strange film at all.
Anyway the trailer ends by saying that that the rat is just a rat but you are permitted to hold out hope that the mysterious, yet to be revealed fourth race in Total War Warhammer is the Skaven. I'm not deep enough into Warhammer lore to give odds, but I'd be happy to see their cheerful little faces, wouldn't you? Everyone loves the Skaven, for a given definition of love.
Total War Warhammer 2 is due sometime this year, for PC.