How much better could I say? I’m in love with this game. It’s everything I expected from an Age 1 remake, or very close to it.
Right on the Main Menu, the first surprise. Listening to the new version of the Rise of Rome intro was a joy, unexpected. Then I opened the Campaigns screen, and how beautiful! However, it feels a little empty with only 3 campaigns, but luckily the developers are already addressing this and 4 classic campaigns are on the way! I voted for Greece and Yamato, how about you?
The first campaign I played was Sargon’s. Seeing Sargon’s unit simply being the Hero Jason of the classic game, which DE lacked, put a smile on my face. The narration is great in all three, Pirrus Campaign being one of my favorites for its humor and personality, but the other two aren’t far off.
The campaign scenarios themselves are very well thought out and crafted. Most of them are still about destroying the enemy city, but in all of them this is organized in such a unique way that I never got the “Oh crap, here we go again” feeling in any of them. It’s interesting how well incorporated the campaign identity of Age II is, while still preserving the feel of classic Age 1 missions.
There are other surprises that excited me. Now each civilization has its own musical theme, and many eye candies are present, making campaigns more impressive, such as statues, weapon stands, ruins and monuments.
The Quality of Life features added are exactly the amount the game needed to be refreshed while maintaining its identity. Having gates and formations now, I think Age of Empires doesn’t need Unique Units, Unique Techs or Castles (in short, being Age II) to be great. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t add more flavor to it. Unique Wonders are a must, and unique skins for the units each civ has bonuses for would be awesome without messing with the core, feel and balance of the game, but embellishing it even more.
Yes, Return of Rome is what Age of Empires: DE should have been, but I wouldn’t say that buying Age I: DE was a waste for me. In fact, it’s a remastered version of the classic game, I’ve played all the campaigns on it and a few random maps, and despite its poor state, it works well enough that I could have done it.
Considering Age I: DE was the devs first attempt at remaking an Age game, I’ll cut them some slack. The terrible decision to release it as a Windows Store exclusive wasn’t theirs, and if porting the game to the Age II engine was the best way they could find to preserve it, so be it.
Even so, I still think that DE owners should have some discount on it, as it has new content, but the classics are missing.
Oh, and here it’s still missing some classic elements: Discoveries, the horse-shaped markings on the ground (they always looked like Anubis to me, actually). Like many others, I miss the DE gold and stone mines, the berry bushes and the elephants.
In the end, I’m glad Return of Rome exists, and I look forward to a bright future for it with new civilizations (Celtic, Germanic, and Hindu are the ones I’m looking for the most), new campaigns, unique wonders, and unique unit skins.
Thanks to the developers who worked on this DLC, and to those who continued to believe in the first game’s potential to make its truly definitive mark on history once again 
!
