I bought the new TLC DLC, but I’ve noticed that as I see more development progress, whether from the developers or the content creators, something doesn’t quite convince me. That’s the fact that the units still look the same as their European counterparts. For example, they could have created new regional models for all the native villagers, but instead, they opted to continue using the European model. Another important point is the appearance of the pikeman, archer, skirmisher, and siege weapons. I’m not convinced that the developers chose to continue using European models that have nothing to do with real native units. In that respect, the new DLC feels empty and lacking in new ideas. I’ve even thought that it would have been a better option to give this project to the members of Capture Age. Perhaps they would have done a better job representing the new Native American civilizations. Furthermore, the siege weapons could have had a more archaic appearance to better represent the fact that the natives… They had no idea about these kinds of European tools, but it’s understandable that, being a game, they must have their counterparts, these are my thoughts on the new DLC, and I hope the developers somehow realize they aren’t delivering a truly innovative product. They need to understand that not changing some unit models can come across as boring and generic, ultimately leaving us with a product that doesn’t quite convince because it doesn’t add much to the campaigns. This is because the developers aren’t doing anything to immerse you in the stories they want to tell in this new DLC, all because they don’t want to innovate in terms of regional units or new map mechanics. Perhaps adding minor native civilizations to ally with on the maps would be innovative and would greatly increase the replayability of the single-player campaigns and maps.
Every new DLC that is not European themed makes this jarringly obvious.
They are clearly trying to avoid using generic units in their promotional materials because they know they look super out of place. The few cases they do it looks so obviously wrong.
Not sure if it’s the cost of making all those assets or if it’s them being afraid of a small group of hardcore “conservatives” that hate any change. The 2nd would be especially strange because it would be the easiest in the world to just give them a toggle to go back to generic skins for all civs.
You nailed it. There is too much focus on marketing new DLCs and “apparently” unique content, while basic common-sense issues remain unresolved. Villagers and generic military units still look the same across all civilizations.
This is the main reason I still haven’t bought Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. They can release beautiful DLCs, new units, and spectacular scenarios, but if the very foundation of the game is ignored, I personally have no interest in buying it.
It would take very little effort to introduce regional visual differences for villagers and generic units. I’m not talking about unique skins for every single civilization, but at least regional variation. I honestly don’t understand why this hasn’t been done yet, especially since they already started adding unique monks and units last year.
There are plenty of community examples online (Reddit included) showing Middle Eastern and American regional unit skins. Given that, it’s hard to argue that this isn’t feasible. To me, the lack of progress here simply doesn’t make sense.
They could add a button in the options to disable regional units and leave the civilizations as they were originally. That wouldn’t really be a problem; rather, the issue here is that there are certain units and buildings that are unique or regional, like monks, some military units like Persian paladins, Roman legions, and the unique castles of each civilization. But on the other hand, we have native civilizations that still have European military units, which look quite strange in the campaigns and in the game in general. That’s why I think the best option would be to enable regional units and also add a button to disable them in the game options.
I want to believe that the developers are aware of this issue, which many of us have been requesting for a long time, and I generally hope that they will soon address it and start working on an update to add this option to the game. That would be great for all the fans who are still playing Age of Empires II DE
they could do that, but the devs don’t seem to be willing to do this. whatever they think is a good idea, gets forced on everyone.
regional trade carts, regional monks, unique castles, distinct unique units skins should all have had this toggle in the options, none of them have it afaik.
I believe that this can be done right. But based on 5 years of precedent, my worry is that the current team in charge won’t do it right.
I don’t understand. Do regional trade charts confuse you? Or the monks? We had the meal long for years. As long as the units remain identifiable, the should be no problem
I think all of these changes should be optional. I don’t mind the trade carts, I don’t like the monks but they are ok. Many of the UU skins are too cluttered so i reverted those with a mod. Don’t mind the castles much.
I think different people have different preferences, changes of this size should all be options that can be disabled.
yep. I think we agree in essence, however I think this could be more modular and more fine tuned.
eg: separated options for building and unit graphics
classic/HD/DE/regional skins
an option to change architecture for individual civs or even buildings (eg you could make scenarios where civilizan buildings are one architecture, but military buildings are a different architecture to emphasise a class divide)
I would like to address a simple issue in this long-standing discussion: villagers and generic military units look exactly the same across all civilizations. To me, this hurts the sense of “reality” and historical authenticity of the game, and it simply makes no sense.
For example, a Britons militia line up to Champions cannot and should not look the same as a Saracen one. The solution is straightforward: make the Saracen infantry line look more Middle Eastern rather than European.
Of course, this is just one example, and the same logic should apply to all generic military units and villagers. The swordsman line would still use swords and shields (not rifles), and archers or crossbowmen would not suddenly carry bazookas. For this reason, I struggle to understand the concern about unit recognition when the proposal is simply a more culturally appropriate visual style for generic units and villagers based on their regional identity.
others will argue that this is core to aoe2’s identity and help readability. different people will have different preferences
how do you differentiate a militia-line unit from any of the other infantry units (eg samurai, seargents, huskarls etc). it makes sense to represent the same unit with the same skin. a change in visual appearance should indicate a change in functionality/stats
I may not have explained this clearly before, so let me clarify. I’m not suggesting multiple unrelated skins or anything that would blur unit recognition. The militia line (from Militia to Champion) would still share the same base model, silhouette, weapons, animations, and upgrade progression.
Unique units like Samurai, Huskarls, or Sergeants are not part of this discussion and would remain visually and mechanically distinct.
The proposal is purely cosmetic and regional: a Briton Champion looking European is fine; a Saracen Champion using the exact same European-looking armor is not. Small variations to helmets, armor details, or materials while keeping the same base model would preserve full readability while improving cultural authenticity.
Visual variation does not have to imply different stats. I’ll link an existing art concept below to show what I mean in practice.
I absolutely HATE that its 2026 and we STILL don’t have proper regional unit skins!!!
This DLC was the perfect testing ground for more regional units. How cool would it have been if Native American skirmishers had an atlatl? Maybe instead of the Elite Upgrade they had the Atlatl upgrade.
