In most 4X games, the exploits of past civilizations survive only through lively discussion over drinks with friends later. Gandhi in the previous Civilization 6 campaign doesn’t go through the portal to save the day in the later campaign, as the scars from the nuclear war with Alexander the Great still mark his slender frame. , would be rad. And that’s a big part of why I came back to Age of Wonders 4. Because the ruler I lead to victory has actually ascended into the mighty pantheon and will be a recurring cast of future adventures. It’s just the finishing touch to a fantasy strategy game made.
Starting over on a new map rather than telling stories on many alternate Earths and galaxies far, far away is baked into Age of Wonders 4’s narrative. There, a powerful Sorcerer King teleports between many different realms in search of power and glory. And this leads me to think of certain runs as more digestible 6- to 12-hour sprints, if not exactly bite-sized, giving me a sense of a lasting investment in my pantheon progress. It’s a great way to make account-level progression that doesn’t feel forced, artificial, or overly monetized. We didn’t find any sneaky microtransactions, at least in our review build. Almost everyone has their attention on me these days as I tend to add them right after launch, but so far it’s been pretty good.
Along the way, you’ll unlock neat new things, from ruler cosmetics to functional combat items, to maps such as a frozen wonderland ruled by a Narnia-esque ice queen that I really liked. And in addition to being very respectful of your time, these themed story-based areas are standard 4X maps with conquer, development, and research-based victory conditions. It is very different from just dropping into Interesting customization options. Victory conditions in story areas are often the completion of a series of quests that culminate in a memorable confrontation with an enemy. I had a lot of fun with these and found it almost hard to go back to a more traditional style of play.
Another thing I had to plan for two or three campaigns each time I started a new one is the detailed, free-form empire creation tool. This is probably the most customization of this kind I’ve seen in a pure fantasy game, and I was particularly excited to be able to play against stereotypes. You can create bloodthirsty cannibal elves who march loyally while munching on and live for destruction.
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The visual aspect is mostly just looks. It comes with some suggested racial traits that fit the classic fantasy version of each race, but you can of course change them. A skinny dwarf who lives on earth and loves magic? of course. A cat necromancer riding a giant spider? keep it up. The culture you choose (Barbarian, Feudal, Mystic, etc.) determines most of your starting roster and how your empire’s economy works. And there are only 6 of them. So if I say harshly, TRUE 6 playable civilizations with lots of little bells and whistles to swap out. But a magical progression system that transports you through the ages does a lot to ease that feeling.
Age of Wonders 4 has five tiers of mystical tomes unlocked through research rather than the age of technology, each offering increasingly powerful units, spells, and campaign mechanics. Divided into six alignments: Astral, Materium, Chaos, Order, Nature, and Shadow, he has two books per alignment per tier, which can vary greatly in theme. For example, within Chaos, you can focus on fire magic or frenzied, aggressive infantry like Berserkers. Doubling one affinity, or mixing and matching both, is very viable, creating a virtually ridiculous number of combinations for what the race will be like in the endgame. I love the variation of races in tiers. This could turn people into plant hybrids that can move through the woods much more easily, or frostlings that can build farms on top of the snow.
However, this amount of customization is not always problematic. Remember that cool ice queen map I mentioned? I created a wolf-riding Frostviking bad race to tackle it, but that state is called Arctic Blizzard, which doesn’t show up on the map at all. I’ve found that they are often affected by modifiers and even prevent units from recovering…if they are parked in your capital. You have to actually move the mouse to see if the unit has modifiers.
This is a pretty big oversight for such a penalizing mechanic. And completing the final transformation into a being of pure ice didn’t remove the penalty!surely can You’ll play in a dune-like desert world where everyone’s capital starts underground and is infested with Cthulhu monsters, but you might find that the mechanics haven’t been tweaked yet for every weird combination possible. I can’t.
The tactical battles, which take place on their own maps, aren’t quite as exemplary as Age of Wonders 4’s strategic core, but they are fast-paced and can offer a very satisfying challenge. , from ogres to astral monsters to demons that spawn as neutral or hostile NPC factions, the collection of animals is huge. What feels like some kind of disappointment is when you’re attacking a major enemy city. It doesn’t feel like an epic struggle in the streets of a sprawling metropolis. It is a struggle for the outer defense that protects the But I loved seeing some of the larger engagements that could have multiple armies on each side.
The graphics and UI are also commendable. Age of Wonders 4 strikes a near-perfect balance of realism and stylization for me. From proud elf archers to roaring wolves, all units are legible from a distance and have strong personalities. Whether you start with a quiet meadow or an alien-like astral plane, the maps all look great. Leaders and units also have a fair amount of customization. Also, all interface panes are well organized, easy to see, and easy to navigate. Nested tooltips make it easy to get as much information as you need. And sometimes you realize what the narrator is talking about when he brings up some lore concepts from other games in the series you haven’t played.
