Recent reviews by Cyn

A faithful recreation of the classic Silent Hill 2 that genuinely enhances the original experience. I would dare say it's actually superior to the original. Finally, a game that breathes life back into the franchise. While I do hope we get a remake of Silent Hill 1 and 3 someday, above all, I want a completely new entry into the franchise after this.

The "No Man Sky" of Total War.

Too many bots, and Valve doesn't care to berid of them.

An immersive love letter to the history of the Ancient Near East and an apocalyptic title set during the Late Bronze Age collapse. It heavily bears reminiscence to Total War: Attila in this respect, with an emphasis on trying to save dying civilizations from the brink of ruin. A vast technical improvement over CA Sofia's last title, Total War: Troy. Like Shogun 2, the map is focused but filled with detail and filled with enough content to keep me replaying.

A bloody good time.

Groovy.

Community makes me lose brain cells every day and the developers have no clue what they're doing. But I can't stop having fun.

I'm immunocompromised. I'm trans and queer. The devs release patch notes attacking people like me. The game has fun aspects, but I can't support a title that is used to actively promote discrimination against people such as myself and my loved ones.

Update: The developer has now published an announcement where he states his plan to not update this game on the Steam platform, which people have paid money for, because he's having a meltdown that Valve won't give him special treatment by removing negative reviews of his game. So much for "free speech." :Rubber_Duck:

I've been playing Age of Empires since I was around three or four years old. I mean that very literally, too. Age of Mythology and Age of Empires II were games I was raised with. I have distinct memories of being a toddler and my mother pulling me onto her lap, putting my hands on a keyboard and mouse, and teaching me how to play these games. I instantly fell in love. When I was a kid I even got Age of Empires: Mythologies on the Nintendo DS (which, Microsoft, please port to mobile devices-- it's perfect for those devices and I'd play it literally all of the time if given the chance).

It's been over two decades since I first put my hands on a keyboard and mouse, and I am an adult now. During that time I've devoted my life to the study of history, explicitly because of these games. The Age of Empires series has inspired me to go to University and seek out a degree in Classical Civilizations / Mediterranean study, with special focus on Graeco-Roman paganism of the late Roman Empire. And all of that is because of little me playing the Age series.

So, needless to say, I identify as a Age of Empires superfan. Don't get confused-- I'm not good at these games. I'm rather suboptimal in my gameplay approach, and disabilities of mine prevent me from being able to pay attention to as many tasks as I should be. But when Microsoft began restructuring its Xbox brand and it began making commitments to PC gaming and began developing interests in its older IPs, I held my breath. I was praying we would see an Age of Empires IV and, most especially, an Age of Mythology II. We didn't get the latter, but oh Gods was I screaming my head off when the former was announced. And now it's here. And I can't get enough.

I feel that I am experienced enough with the series to give my opinion on how Age of Empires IV does compared to the rest of the franchise. The short of it is that, in my opinion, Age of Empires IV mechanically manages to be the best Age of Empires title. Yes, it lacks as many civilizations as Age of Empires II-- however, I find that many of the civilizations in Age of Empires II were "as wide as an ocean, as deep as a puddle." Often just reskins with a couple of unique units, maybe a gimmick, and cosmetics that make them feel distinct. However, with Age IV, the only civilizations I feel are roughly "samey" are the English and the French. Other than these, each civilization feels like a genuinely different experience altogether. For example, the Mongols are extremely unique, able to pick up their entire civilization and go on the move to a new part of the map to find new resources. In short, Age IV does the smart decision of sacrificing width for depth. My main disappointment in this regard is that we don't get to play the Roman Empire (or "Byzantines", an anachronistic term) right now, which were my favourite faction in Age II (for obvious reasons as a Classicist).

One thing I love is how the campaigns are presented. I'm not a Medievalist, I'm a Classicist-- I'm much more familiar with what you might expect to find in Age 1 than Age 2/4. As someone ignorant about the medieval era, I found the documentary style of the campaigns quite fascinating and engaging. To someone who is a visual learner, I found it to be a great and engaging way of educating people who are unaware of medieval history. While playing the campaigns I've often found myself gawking over the introduction and epilogue scenes, and my attention completely captured by the narrator. This alone makes it obvious the game's campaigns have a substantial budget-- one only possible with Microsoft's deep pockets. The missions themselves are quite high quality and enjoyable to play through. They're not quite as cinematic as something like Age of Mythology or Age of Empires III, but they are still quite epic and sometimes some of them require actual clever thinking, and have that same narrator to guide you through-- which helps give the entire game a general documentary feeling.

Asides this, there are just general enhancements and small things that make the game feel much more rewarding as a modern Age of Empires experience. Farms are no longer annoying (yes Age II had annoying farms), castle walls actually feel very important in Age IV-- units can even walk on them (and, with that, siege engines become more interesting-- you can get an army on those walls and in their city if the enemy isn't careful), the game rewards you well for good city building with some nice bonuses, and other small changes here and there that just feel overall convenient. Something that's mostly cosmetic but still appreciated are the languages-- when you begin in the Dark Age, your units will speak a more archaic version of their language, and this language evolves as they age up. E.g., the English will speak Old English in the Dark Age, and will eventually begin speaking an early form of modern English by the time you get to the Imperial age.

One criticism I have is the limited amount of units this game allows you to spawn at once due to the population limit. I feel like perhaps the population limit should be doubled, and in compensation perhaps borrow from Age III and allow us to spawn squads of soldiers. Another criticism I have is the limited camera-- you cannot zoom out as much as I'd honestly like.

To conclude, I think Age of Empires IV is a great game, and it's the best put-together Age of Empires game overall. It's also absurdly well-optimized; my potato PC that can barely run Half Life 2 at a consistent 60fps can play this game butter-smooth at lowest settings. I pray it grows a healthy and vibrant community, that it gets lots of post-launch support, and that it marks the return of Age of Empires as a whole. I feel Relic did a great job at bringing back the series that shaped me as a person most back to life, and I just hope that we can see a new Age of Empires game set in ancient antiquity sometime (whether that be something along the lines of Age of Empires I, or something more Mythological. And P.S., if anyone from World's Edge is reading this-- as a Classicist who has in-depth knowledge of ancient religion and myth I'd be happy to help with any endeavour relating to this!).

I adore this soundtrack so much. I've been listening to it nonstop. "Break Their Spirits" gets me legitimately pumped up. Also a lot of calm ambience.

The blood and gore is great. Especially when you decapitate enemy generals after battle.