I've always loved auras. The Last 2 year RPG campaign I ran was all about a war between Divine, Infernal, and Faerie auras from Ars Magica.
While Total War has a kind of aura feature, not many games do, and it isn't central to the strategy in Total War like it is in Dom2.
So, between that and the sophisticated philosophical coverage of the fantasy elements of the game, along with the extreme flexibility and smart design, this all comes together to make Dom2 a real winner as far as game design goes in my own eyes.
Besides, it's fun
[ January 27, 2004, 01:24: Message edited by: diamondspider ]