They are very unusual compared to the old Historical Battles, probably because they were not designed for being official campaigns when they were created.
The old Historical Battles focus on one war, one battle, such as Hastings, Agincourt, Kurikara, etc. But this time the battles of V&V cover timelines that span decades or even generations, such as Seljuk, Gaiseric, Nobun4ga, etc. , which makes them take a long time on playing, have many objectives and requirements, but appear very shallow in emotional description, because the text of intro, outro, etc. is still only the length to serve 1 scenario.
You can’t really empathize with the ambitions and dreams of Seljuk himself. It’s just that after a while he dies, and then another person appears, and then the person dies, and then another person again. Except for the words of a mentor, I don’t understand why the Turks insist on attacking the Arabs and Persians. The Mongols appear periodically, but the description is so less on each appearance that you don’t even get the sense that Kara-Khitai was actually a significant point in history that led to Seljuk Empire’s defeat and the beginning of its end.
Imagine what it would look like if The Hautevilles were compressed from 5 scenarios into only 1.
You also can’t understand Gaiseric’s state of mind when he was forced to leave Gaul and Spain and the efforts and preparations he made for the continuous migration of his people, because each move is what the narration asking you to do it rather than the reasonable plot letting you do it.
The DE version of Honfoglalás is relatively better as a similar concept, appropriately simplified without being too simplistic. Even so, a standard campaign with around 5 scenarios for Gaiseric with Vandals as their own civ is obviously best.
Nobun4ga tried to represent the chaotic era of warlords, but you can’t really understand the story of even one samurai family. You don’t know what the whole game has to do with Oda Nobun4ga himself, except that a faction is named Oda and has a hero unit with the same name.
Even picking a family and telling their story like the Bari would be more engaging. In other topics, I’ve shared the concept of a standard campaign for the Sanada clan.
In terms of design, the civilization and technology trees have been over-modified. You don’t feel Vikings when you play Vikings, and you don’t feel you are playing Tatars when you play Tatars. It doesn’t even feel like playing AoE2 but some kind of RPG.
When they are works shared free of charge to the community by a passionate creator, they are worthy of praise and welcome no matter what. But when they cost a lot of money but deviate so much from the general style of AoE2 campaigns, I personally don’t find it very good to experience.