For those who still don’t know yet:
Next civ will be the Japanese Pantheon!
Honestly a bit surprised but I like the idea and from what we see in the trailer it looks really good/aesthetically pleasing in my opinion. With it seems finally a female main protagonist for some variety. Two male and one female main god. (Any ideas who?)
A saw a giant Oni-like creature and a giant hydra like creature (or how I would have personally imagined hydra would look like).
Personally this tells me they are very confident about Maya/Aztec as a separate civ DLC for next year since the demand for this is so damn high and more than for a Japanese one but I personally like to give us Japanese with Chinese mythology and round up the cultural “roster” well too.
I am also now very confident we will see at least one of not two new civs next year. (my guess are Maya/Aztec and either Mesopotamian or Celtic)
Thoughts/opinions?
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Welp, no Aztecs/Mayans and Celts…disappointing.
Also I hate the over-usage of Samurais…So much pop-culture to appease weebs instead of doing something more ancient…
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That Giant Serpent is most likely a monster called Yamatano Orochi. I suspect it will be the main villain of this campaign
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you are right! (not into japanese mythology - yet) but this really seems to be the creature and the antagonist! pretty badass idea! (i like retold hydra, but i really hoped this is what hydra would look like in retold before it got announced ^^ also reminds me a bit of king ghidora - maybe they got inspired back then in the 70s of that mythological creature? would be awesome if there would be a connection.)
in the screenshot shared we see kitsune (fox spirit), Shinigami as the oni-giant with the club who seems to transform into the firery oni-giant version and the human-like void being seems to be Umibōzu?
one major god seems to be the sun goddess Amaterasu (goddess of light and sun) and i assume according to the thumbnail the more “feral” looking one is susanoo (god of storms and the sea?) ← could be the “bad” god.
(honestly i think japanese is not a bad choice at all. it has rich mythology. fits right in especially with chinese being there too. i of course also hoped for Maya/aAztec but i am confident we see this next year.)
While I am happy about your optimism, what are you basing it off of? Have player or sales numbers been looking better as well or something? Or just the fact that they’re leaving those holes making you think that they’re leaving them because of confidence they will be able to circle back later.
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i was right all along! it was in the files when Retold released xD
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glad you are asking. yes its basically being optimistic but i try to be a bit logical here (even this is not my main trait/skill) by looking at a few “facts” (at least they are facts for me):
- making japanese saves time since they can (and obviously did) reuse assets of the chinese
→ more room for other addition which are more time consuming
- japense dlc is still included in the premium version so its basically “free” for those who have this one (which are pretty much the majority i assume)
- a maya/aztec civ is VERY heavily wanted much more than japenese - according to my experience from what i read over the past year. so being the “first” separate DLC from the premium version makes an mesoamerican dlc a very strong and “save” contender. - unlike japenese i think.
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That makes sense, use a more heavily demanded piece of content in a way that will get its own sales numbers as opposed to its sales numbers largely being wrapped into the original sale of the game.
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Not gonna lie this is quite disappointing. While Japan has received decent levels of community votes, the three consistently most voted for pantheons were Mesoamerican, Celtic or Mesopotamian, and instead we get the Japanese immediately after the Chinese. It just feels a bit lazy and a bit of a cop-out, pandering to an Asian Market rather than attempting to at least retain the core fanbase - not that I personally am going anywhere, but I can see why many would skip over this DLC as it hasn’t appealed to the mass votership
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I’d already posted a message about this choice and from a marketing point of view it’s exactly what I’d anticipated months before, they’re keeping the Aztecs/Maya for future DLC, given that premium is already a success, they have absolutely nothing to lose by going for the Japanese. They know that players will pull out their wallets for future DLC, which wouldn’t have been guaranteed with Japanese DLC.
What’s more, it creates continuity with the Chinese campaign. In the end, it’s probably the best choice they’ve made, despite the fact that many players will be disappointed because they absolutely wanted the Aztecs.
So it’s very good news, because yes, there will be new DLC after this one, and they’re playing it safe.
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Tbh, I was expecting and wanting this one instead of the Aztecs. They’re more connected with the Chinese. They can utilize the Chinese faction for the campaigns as well. I like more connected civilizations than stand-alone expansions, as that would’ve happened with the Aztecs. Don’t get me wrong, if they continue to release DLCs for AOM, Aztecs will be a favorite pick to add into the game, but the Japanese is better for a continuation with the Chinese. I’m quite happy with this decision.
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There is nothing confirming that. I’m hopeful that they will at least do 1 more after this, to see how a true “stand-alone” DLC (not sold in a bundle with the base game) will perform and then go from there, and I can see them saving some of the most popular options for that to give it the best chance of success; thinking something Mesoamerican or Mesopotamian.
Welp, i would have preferred olmecs or some other American ancient civ (they sure have lots to draw from) but since this is bundled with the premium edition they probably go low-key and a next one will be more impressive.
I think it’s a major red flag, they’re reusing assets from the chinese pantheon and it looks very similar to china aesthetically. I think I saw a kuafu with a club in the trailer for example, the building design looks similar and it was presented on a map that looks like peach blossom spring.
Why is this a red flag?
Yes, even though they reused assets and it seems like they took the easy route with this DLC I think the civ could still be cool by having a distinct playstyle and cool different myth units. However I have this negative voice in the back of my head telling me that they rushed this DLC with reused assets because they promised another DLC and in order to avoid law suits they just gave us this. I hope I’m wrong, but to me a civ like the aztecs made so much more sense. It doesn’t make me hopeful for AoM’s future, especially because of what happened to AoE III.
Of course many things will be similar between Japanese and Chinese Mythology Civs, mate, it’s just natural. Both civilizations have similar aspects and mutual influence. Even japanese writing has a lot of chinese.
Their architecture is obviously similar as well and it has never been an issue on any AoE games.
It’s a smart comercial decision. If they now make next DLC with Aztecs, Maya, Inca, Meso / Sumeria, etc, they will sell a lot!
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The female is easy, Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun
The “normal-looking dude” should be Tsukuyomi, God of the Moon (His God statue in the screenshots has the moon stages in a circle in his back)
That leaves the third one killing a giant snake monster as Heracl- I mean, Susanoo, God of the Sea and Storms
Then appears a red one should be Raijin, who should be a minor God of lightning, thunder and storms
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I thought the next dlc is Aztec or Mayan because one of their major Gods in mythology is flying Serpent or just Serpent (Kukulkan/Quezacoatl) which I see fit with this year Chinese’s Zodiac theme that is Snake or Serpent
I also hope after this Japanese dlc, they will stop showing us the Gods in this opening art style (Gods shown far away from the viewer with long serpent or dragon in the background) shown in both these Chinese or Japan dlc
Because it will be overused and boring
Better shown the Gods in Age of Empires 2 opening art style (showcasing the characters or the Gods in really close up style… Showing their detail)
Could also be that they are doing something where assets can be reused because they aren’t going to get that much “new money” out of this due to many buying it with the original game release, and that they’d rather focus a lot of effort into the next DLC that will get more “new money” in return.
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