People playing and enjoying it likely.
Also 21 campaign levels is a long one to finish compared to the usual 15-18.
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So far i’ve played the first 8 scenarios of the campaign and played some of the new civs in skirmishes& Multiplayer.
In terms of the campaign, so far I must say It’s quite good. No campaign is perfect so I have some criticisms but to avoid being pedantic on this point, I’ll just say the 7th mission is the only one I didn’t really enjoy playing (not to say it’s bad, just that I personally didn’t enjoy it), but I have enjoyed the rest of them. The voice acting, story and cutscenes in particular are done very well.
In terms of the new civilizations, I must unfortunately say I do not like the direction the game is going (if this DLC is an indication of where the game is going). I’ll try to elaborate further.
1: Auras. I thought the aura ability was cool when they introduced it with the Romans, then they gave it to some other civs in different ways and I thought that was kind of interesting. But oh man do I feel these new civs really overdo it. I’m pretty sure every one of the new civs has more than 1 unit that has the aura ability. It doesn’t feel unique anymore but really turning the game into something else.
2: Technologies. All the new civs have 2 unique technologies for both Castle age and Imperial age and picking one disables the other. Now I’m sure a lot of people really like this, and in theory it sounds interesting and offers a lot of replayability, but in my personal experience, having 2 technologies for both those ages really makes them forgettable, and takes away the uniqueness of the unique technologies in my opinion. Also, every civilization has multiple technologies or for the Athenians “Policies” at the town center. Again, I’m sure some people like this idea, but I feel like it turns the game into something else.
3: Naval changes: I wouldn’t say I have too many problems with the naval changes, it’s more so now it’s quite annoying to get used to especially when the tech that makes your warships cheaper isn’t at the same building that you train them which is how it is for the other civs. Also all the ships just look way too similar to me I have a hard time figuring out what ship is doing what in the middle of a fight, but hopefully this is just something i’m struggling with cause i’m not used to it at the moment.
Final thoughts on the new civs:
To finally elaborate on what I mean by how this game feels like it’s going in a different direction, with all the new techs and auras and other stuff, it makes the game feel much more like a game about numbers and stats, rather than meaningful strategy. For those who have played the total war series, it feels like a modern total war game compared to the older titles, which were much better in my opinion. When playing the newer civs in skirmishes& Multiplayer, I didn’t have nearly as much fun with it than when I play a regular aoe2 civ. It may be because i’m not used to the new civs and skins yet, but I don’t believe this to be so. I know I can just choose not to play those civs, but they are in the game now and might indicate what is to come.
This may look like a “Innovation bad!” rant, but that is really not my intention. Just giving my honest thoughts of what it feels to play with these civs.
To end on a high note:
I’d like to say that despite my concerns, I do think this DLC is a big step up from the previous 3. Although I may not like a lot of the new innovations, I do appreciate that they tried to innovate, which is something the previous 3 DLC didn’t do much of IMO. Let me again say that I really like the campaign so far, and it’s the biggest reason why I buy a DLC anyhow. I also appreciate the amount of new triggers and scenario editor units that have been added.
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I think the campaign has been really good so far, but I found the “marathon” mission terrible. You have far too little time to complete all the tasks. In principle, it’s okay that you can’t complete them all. BUT the oracle mission in particular is a cheek. First of all, the oracle is hidden in the last corner. On my first attempt, I didn’t even find it within the time limit. Then I reloaded and found it. But you have to sacrifice 10 goats to them. But to get that many goats you have to solve almost all the tasks. From this point of view, the oracle here is probably only doable as a “speed run” player. I don’t think that’s a good solution.
Ironically, the “marathon” mission is a sprint.
Especially when the game itself tells me that the oracles are so great and you get a bonus, I want to be able to solve them…
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While I did think this mission was fun, what I really found annoying is that the hints or objectives don’t indicate you are on a timer, for whatever reason. (in general I find the hints to be a bit lacking in this campaign). You can imagine my surprise when half way through it told me that I was on a timer.
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I enjoyed the idea behind this DLC. It was fun up until the Persian mission “Earth and Water”. On Standard mode, which should be Story Mode, it turned into a slog fest. I wanted to chill out and relax after a long work day, but the campaign felt like work. It feels like it was only meant for pros. You shouldn’t need to use cheats on Standard difficulty just to have the opportunity to enjoy the scenario maps.
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That mission nearly made me rage quit. I’m not convinced it’s possible to do everything even on Standard. Now, if I had chosen to play Hard or Moderate and I was having the same problems, that’s on me. This seems like a DLC designed specifically for Hera or Viper.
This isn’t true, the goats are just scattered around the map, and there are more than ten of them. You don’t have to complete the other quests to collect them.
I had the same experience. Still managed to do most of the quests, if I’d known I was on a timer, I might have managed all of them.
I really liked that it doesn’t have a literal timer – you can only tell from the dialogue and what’s happening in the north of the map.
You have to act really fast to defeat or pacify some islands early on to avoid it becoming a slog. That’s fine (in fact actively good) on hard mode, but on standard you should really be able to take your time with things.
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I just finished the Achemenids scenarios. I like very much how they transposed Antiquity into AoE2, but I must say I didn’t enjoyed that much the scenarios yet.
They felt without stake (blazing city) or incredibly grindy (7. Earth and water). I like the 6st scenario though.
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