This is legit content. All the relevant B-roll could not have been easy to put together. And I couldn’t agree more with the conclusion! Especially the sound design 🎉
That is clearly annoying for me because you litterally did the exact video I wanted to make ! I think exactly the same about sound design, gameplay mechanics and historical accuracy compared to previous titles. Excellent job ! I hope you'll get more visibility
Honestly I never had the negative experience you did at launch. Maybe that's because I was more of a team-game-with-your-friends player, but my memories are of incredible scale, beautiful attention to detail and immensely satisfying combat, in which the city-building aspect is as enjoyable as the strategy. The 8 civs immediately felt unique and asymmetrical in a way AoE2's never did. Sure they've polished it up a bit since launch, but the core identity hasn't changed and has always been good IMHO.
most civs having generic units in aoe2 made it much easier for me to learn how to play, because with 40+ civs imagine each has 2-3 unique units... 80-120 different units to learn
Well done ! I wish aoe had more videos like this, a good idea for a series might be having a video for each civ, and the references to the armor and buildings
😀 I’ve been thinking about doing that - a historical analysis of every civ or something like that. The Malians is first on my list. I have a lot to say lol.
I hope they keep updating aoe4, the longer this game exists and the more updates it gets the better it gets. I hope they show the same love to this game as they do with aoe2
I didn't play the game day 1, but probably when the first couple of months. Personally I loved the game back then. I was addicted, playing every day with my main the Delhi Sultanate. I stopped after one of the first patches where they completely nerfed one of the (at the time) main play-styles of Delhi, which was based on going after monuments early on to put pressure on your opponents. As someone who is new to RTS, nerfing the strategy I had committed so much time to as a new player hurt a lot, and on top of that the strategy was really the only way I liked to play at the time (not hard to imagine with so few civs). Nerfing Delhi basically eliminated that playstyle or at least I was too weak of a player to make it work with any other civ so that was when I quit.
Ahh that's why I enjoyed it so much the second time around. I bought it on launch and did not enjoy it at all and stopped playing for a year or 2 but gave it another go a couple of months ago and loved it.
Reviews seem to say it played it too safe, and isnt technically enough of a jump. But id be intrigued to check it out if it comes to ps5, which now seems it could, with xbx games coming to ps.
I dropped this game in its first months when they were aggressively patching everything, every colour was flattened. I remember after 3 months, every faction were similar while "playing differently". I picked up again after 4 civs are included. I think they should have reskinned age of mythology, with 2 additional civs. This games gameplay and pacing is most similar to aom. And that game is somehow more immersive than this one with very surprisingly good balance in the titans expansion. Magic aside, amount of non siege unit options you have are about 1.5x. And civs are actually different, not only maths and how to build order, but actually very different options. Aoe4 doesnt feel as immersive as aom. Art was better too.
Oh, I forgot in my last comment. Any good resources for learning the game? I've been playing AoE2 for years now and I've dabbled in SC2 a bit so I got a perfectly solid foundation RTS wise and even obviously some familiarity with AoE specific, but with how unique AoE4 is in terms of how civs are designed it'd be great to have something to help bridge the gap in terms of standard openings, build order priorities, crucial power spike/critical moments in a game's timeline etc.
I just wish we had 300Pop on ranked, every fight looks like a small skirmish instead of a massive medieval battle when most of your pop is made up of vils. And is not just an "aesthethic" problem, the small pop size i think is the reason of why cheese tactics are so common in AOE4, a lot of games get resolved by keep drops and tower spams because its the only way to increase your military after hitting popcap.
You're totally right. The late game in AOE4 is not it. Which is especially bad as most team games tend to skew late, and the majority of the player base plays team games. It's one of my top "this needs to be addressed" aspects of AOE4.
Somewhat agree, but I see both sides. At a certain point it then becomes mass boom, out-eco and out-mass your opponent creating an endless horde of units instead of choosing the appropriate units to counter your opponent. Increasing pop cap would mean less micro and more unit spam. But I could be wrong.
I hear alot that the sound in this game is exelent as you say. Sadly, after around 1400hrs of gameplay I still cant recall hearing the music. Sound effects and voicelines yes, but not music. The constant clicks of the keyboard buttons and switching between production buildings and units is all I ever hear... How can you play such a chill game that you acctualy hear the music?
Heavier objects need to turn slower, especially ships. Cossacks games did them better, aoe can take a lot from it. And also the camera needs wasd controls
Desperately wanted to love this game, couldn't get into it.. I enjoy watching it casted, hate playing it ( been an Age2 guy for 20+ years, something about 4's camera is just ass ) P.S. hated 3 haha
Great video, one that needs to be highlighted by the game is its fantastic Single player experience combining full on documentary style videos with immersive gameplay is genius. Best single player RTS since Red Alert 2.
I really dislike the "cartoony" criticism, since it seems to come from a view that video games can't be colorful. It's the sort of criticism that thinks Gears of War is the ultimate in aesthetic design, with grey and brown everywhere. It confuses what the speaker thinks is realistic for quality. If a medieval strategy game were realistic your soldiers would take days at the least to train: knights would take years, and battles would be over in a few hours. Sieges would be 90% sitting around and waiting, and most soldiers would die of natural diseases. The cartoony criticism always seems to come from self important over serious people who don't understand or care for good aesthetic design, and think everything they do has to be utterly po faced. Nevermind a grey and brown color palette would render the units and buildings nigh on impossible to see. That and I'm sick of the stupid "bigger number always good," idea that fewer civs are automatically worse when they showed one of the most radical departures from AoE formula, with the Mongols, in that first reveal. It sounds like the sort of myopic bean counter bull that can't think past pure mathematics.
My favorite nitpick is that if an unit is Attacked from far away it actually Sounds like someone shouting from you from afar So you immediatly know just from hearing "ok that must be my scout" for example
I've actually been won over by this. Ive been kinda curious about AoE4 for a while and it getting a significant influx of civs it making me want to give it a shot. It also helps that after a thousand hours in AoE2 I'm a bit burned out on it. Still, this is the video to actually tip the scales.
I did. I currently have.... 252 hours in AoE4. Honestly you can't go wrong with either and I'd say ultimately it depends mainly on your prior RTS experience and what preferences you have. The games play somewhat similarly in many ways where they have the same kind of "feel" with some notable differences, the main really being how civs are built. AoE4 you get fewer civs that are more distinct and more unique mechanics to them. In AoE2 you get more civs that are more similar to each other but also the greater degree of symmetry can make the smaller differences between them stand out more than some of the bigger difference between civs in AoE4. Overall if you asked me now I'd lean towards AoE4, but I imagine there's a recency bias there and it being the game I'm currently playing, but maybe one of the biggest things that really puts me in the AoE4 camp right now is how landmarks and the way civs are built in AoE4 you can have multiple very distinct builds with each civs where how they play can change drastically based on your choices and also the fact that each civ is built to be a bit more unique leads to each unit roster feeling nice and appropriate for the civ in question as opposed to the AoE2 situation where you have Mayans running around Arbalesters just cause Arbalester is the endgame version of an archer and its what everyone gets. Basically, I'd recommend AoE4, but I think you know best what your preferences are and what appeals to you, though I'd say you can't really go wrong with either for an RTS experience (also for reference, this is all from the perspective of multiplayer, I never touched singleplayer in either game but from what I know and as I understand it AoE2 not only has WAY more campaigns but they also tend to be better so take that for what you will)@@jaydonsmith3434
@@TheArcherGilgamesh omggg where were u 12 minutes ago 😩😭 ! Literally just finished downloading AoE 2 . Very first RTS game I’ll have ever played . I’ve been curious and interested in the grand strategy genre for awhile but I’ve been reluctant to dive in. I’ve only played turn based strategy rpgs my entire life so I’ve been struggling hard to decide which one too choose but AoE 2 being 5$ def helped sway a lot 🤣
Haha, bad timing. No worries. AoE2 was the first RTS I learned to play as well. I have some 1200 hours in it and for what it's worth, AoE2 has much more resources out there to help you learn and start out so I don't think you'll regret it either way.@@jaydonsmith3434
@@jaydonsmith3434whether you like 2 or not id recommend 4. Ive played both but never got addicted like I am with 4. It was hard to take 2 seriously with how bad the graphics are. Personally I think 4 blows 2 out of the water but that is my opinion im not here to start a war lol. I just want them to release more civs but I get that takes time.
AoE4 has quickly become my favorite of the series. One thing you forgot to mention is the fantastic campaigns. I genuinely learned about history and felt like I was partaking in it. Excellent production that feels ripped straight from a docuseries.
Spot-on. I love AOE2, but the difference is: AOE2DE: Lots of unique stuff per civ, that is not always historically resonant, can be hard to remember, and has a deceptively small impact on gameplay. AOE4: A handful of unique stuff per civ, that is historically resonant, is easy to remember, and has a deceptively large impact on gameplay. The other thing I'd add is that the Light/Heavy armor distinction opens up more opportunities for counterplay. I think you just end up seeing more interesting armies fielded in AOE4 because of this and other factors. It's not always just, which three units make sense for this matchup?
You are quickly becoming my favorite AoE4 content creator and have inspired me to finish my deep dive into the history (or lack thereof in some cases) behind all the civs technologies. I would definitely watch any future videos on historical related aspects of AoE4.
You are right. I liked aoe4 throughout when it came out; when half their fans base was shitting on them. Why? Largely because of production value and historical authenticity. But with the ‘variant civilisation’ they have crossed a line…no consistency and poor design and zero allegiance to historical authenticity…
Exactly, I might add it is probably a product of some internal management change - who are more focused on quirks, playability that immersion.. How can a game that so emphasised historical authenticity (Mongols are literally nomadic!!) suddenly dispense with it all through cheap names like Order of the Dragon, Jeanne D'arc..etc.. @@ChillyEmpire
these are all true, but I doubt they are the reason why you play the game. The game is just fun lol. Most people, probably even you, would play it even if it was historically inaccurate. I mean you put aoe2 as an example of that and the game's player base doubles this'
great vid, for me it was the differences between civs, you could think they are similar like aoe2 or aoe3 but after playing the gamethey feel almost like AOM different
4:36 Well that was cringe... not only did the Rus did not 'become Russia' by any historically accurate definition, there is still a horrific war raging where the goal of the aggressor is to re-occupy the former borders of the Soviet Union. Arguably not the time to meme on shit like this. To some people its not history, but the future they hope for.
Thank you for mentioning sound design and attention to unit detail, I truly think this attention to detail probably was part of the cause of the less than ideal release, but after the jank was straightened out, the little flourishes really make it wonderful to play.
I was excited about the Sultans DLC but the choices for the alt civs completely killed any hype. Joan of Arc as a civilization? Such a wasted opportunity
Interesting take on the release. I was pretty excited as you were there at the beginning, but was absolutely thrilled since day 1 and have been playing it weekly since then. I hadn't even noticed that the game had been considered "dead".
Old yet lesser known RTSes like Medieval Lords, Caesar series, Empire Earth, all have those territory influences. Actually, I can not get more shocked on how much AoEIV draw ideas from Empire Earth series. This mechanics where you can actually use walls and position soldiers over it is straight from Empire Earth III -- a game which was quite bad executed but is still extremely original and interesting.
what a well done video, thank you for your work put into it✨ i'd like to add a 6th point to your list which made me give it a shot: Xbox brilliant compatibility; i barely went through the tutorial and i got hooked, such a cool experience to play an rts on console, i'm glad someone actually thought of us console players as well🖤 also, how are you on such low subs? :(your videos are great
As german/rus i enjoy the voice lines alot. The war cry everything. They really shout for their life. As a huge fan of japaneese culture im very hiped for new cheap Season. Got my ps5 with 80 € games dusting bec i pump all my free time in age. Ilalu my friends im gone for ranked now ❤
Great content as always. I heard very good review of Ottoman phrases from the Turkish history students. They compared it with AOE3 phrases and AOE4 sounds much more authentic, not like the modern Istanbul accent. Student of Iranian history said that Delhi sultanate's Farsi is also sounds great and authentic. The only small problem, according ot him, was that this dialect of Farsi is more western (as it was spoken in Iran), while in India they spoke what's called Dari (as in the modern Aghanistan).
Truth hurts. There are more AOE 2 active players than AOE 4. For new players of the AOE serious, something like "influence" really sucks and is 100% unnatural. Why not use terrain to restrict buildings and distance traveled to affect production efficiency like Banished does? I believe many of the so-called developers need to learn new things and new gameplay by playing games from other genres.
AOE4 development is informed by decades of data on what makes a good game. It's conceptually masterful, the way they have incorporated the play-styles with the real-world civs
I felt similarly when I first started, but over time the UI's grown on me. It could still be better yes, but the minimalistic aesthetic does a good job of quickly communicating what I need to know in heated situations.
I’m a campaign player and played some on launch. I felt like the maps were always so small and cramped. Maybe this has changed now but I felt like I was in the UFC octagon rather than a world to explore and conquer.
AOE4 is good in fairness. Do I play AOE3 and AOM more? Yes, but AOE4 is a good game in its own right. I'd rather get my medieval RTS fix from AOE4 than AOE2
I must say all of these very valid points are not enough for me to give it a chance, im glad there is a blooming fanbase for the game but I'll stick to aoe2de for now. Would be great to see aomde someday in the future.
If only the graphicsy especially the arrows/projectiles in general and their ballistics. They had great arrows in the first trailers and i don't know why they changed it to an abomination. I wish the game would look like this th-cam.com/video/QFlVNtGJVDU/w-d-xo.html Also naval could be a lot better like AoE 3. Still in my Top 3 of all AoE games due to the more diverse factions (like AoM)
I swear, they couldn't have nailed it harder with the sound design. You ever want to get the most hyped you have ever been in your life? Produce 30 Chinese horsemen in castle or imperial, and attack-move around the map. The screams of that voice actor couldn't be any more appropriate with the stomping of the horses. Sometimes I literally spam those audio commands as the game loads before I play ranked just to activate that bloodlust sense in me. Call out to my girls the Onna-Bugeishas for an extremely close second best option. Those girls scream like Amazons about to rip and tear the flesh of your enemies!
> It was made before the days of Wikipedia and TH-cam historians You are truly a generation that never fails to disappoint. You actually cannot even imagine that encyclopedias and historical texts existed before? You sound like a little kid who thinks the old times were in black and white.
Thank you for making a compact video that I can link to as I proselytise to my history nerd friends. It's sad to see that the game is still put down for just not being another AoE2 and not recognised for actually having more national identity in each faction than most factions in its predecessors.
I started playing AoE4 and 2 a few days ago cuz of your videos, I'm a big history fan and RTS fan but the fact that every faction had the same units turned me away, since I'v been playing recently iv realized that thats no so important. Good thing I found you and age of noob and spirit of the law
I was always a big fan of AOE4 despite the flaws. What I love the most 1. Diverse units and civs. In AOE2 every civ had the same medieval European looking units. Its super awkward playing as the Malians in AOE2 and my villagers don't really look African in the slightest. 2. Easier access to unique units. In AOE2 you often have to wait til Castle age and build a castle in order to 3 Superior historicity in game play. AOE2 could get under my skin with the inaccuracies. Like with the Franks. Why are the medieval french fighting with throwing axe men?! I'm excited for a Celtic civ to come to AOE4. They will finally have some authentic Celtic units. I mean really blue woad raiders?! Was Mel Gibson AOE2's history consultant? 4. Landmarks when aging up. I love this feature. In AOE2 ageing up was a tough choice because it would mean a period of time where I would be bared from training villagers due to my town center being occupied. Now in AOE4 I can pump out villagers and age up at the same time. I also love how the landmarks give me a reason to start in the dark ages and work my way up. If I just start in imperial I miss out on all the bonuses my landmarks provide. 5. More complex gameplay. I love the new Byzantine civ. I get to build aqueduct systems that boost my economy and production. I can also recruit mercs from other civs using the olive oil resource. 6. Markets. I love how almost all the maps have a market. In AOE2 you wouldn't have access to a market for trading unless you had allies. Thus if you are playing with no allies you had no reason to build a market and send up caravans. Thus if you had a civ with trading bonuses those bonuses became worthless. I love the random docks and markets that give me a reason to trade and also when I play Byzantines I can get even more mercs
I can ignore the talking about the art style like they're actual bad graphics, but comparing it civ-wise to aoe2 and aoe3 truly gets to my nerves. 1. AOE2 (the original one) was released in 1999, with only 13 civilizations. Plus, the asymettry is almost non-existant compared to 3 and 4, so there's no way on earth they are comparable, the amount of time it could take to design a develop a single new civilization for the latter 2 games might be around 1000x 2. AOE3 released in 2005 with 8 civilizations, it took them 16 years to reach 20 civs.
Dude I leant medieval history from aoe2! They had a section where you could click on any term and it give you history around it. Sure, some unique units were exaggerated and stereotyped but like all the techs and names taught a 10 year old Jim kid high school level history. You ask how many people know what a trebuchet is 😂
Sorry, but I literally can’t get past the blue English and the red French in the campaign! I know that little detail may seem impossibly trival to some, but it irks me so much that I literally won’t buy the game for that reason alone! That and the pathetic number of playable civs. I’m happily staying with AOE2 Definitive Edition!!
I appreciate your love of sounds. To me, I'd like more focus on the gameplay, game balance, replayability, campaign, coop, skirmish battles, etc. than have 50% of the video on sounds
Here you go: Gameplay - great if you win, frustrating if you lose. But that’s RTS for ya. Balance - honestly pretty dang good. Replayability - multiplayer 10/10 Campaign - for me, 2/10. It’s not good imo. But some people like it. Coop - there’s no coop campaign. You can play comp stomps with friends if you’re a boring person I guess but I really recommend multiplayer instead. I focused on the really stand out things for me in this video. The things you listed didn’t necessarily stand out vs other games.
How dare they release such a bad game. An insult to aoe2 and all of us. What do they take us for? Seems like the whole game is carried in the back of the audio designer This is what happens when suits end up running game companies. Crap. Same has happened with movies
I like aoe4 more than 3. Aoe3 I just couldn’t get into. The experience reminded me of trying to play red alert 3… they just felt too goofy for me. I like aoe2 and this new one more. Although the recent dlc looks disappointing.
This is legit content. All the relevant B-roll could not have been easy to put together. And I couldn’t agree more with the conclusion! Especially the sound design 🎉
Thanks mate 🥹
It does take a lot of time though. I gotta figure out how to do this more efficiently.
great video, never played any AOE but i enjoy watching rank and competitive matches, the only RTS i played way back was stronghold.
That is clearly annoying for me because you litterally did the exact video I wanted to make ! I think exactly the same about sound design, gameplay mechanics and historical accuracy compared to previous titles. Excellent job ! I hope you'll get more visibility
Thank you! And please don't feel discouraged, I'm looking forward to watching your video when it comes out :)
I love the way the game becomes more and more enjoyable.
AOE4 in 2023 is in great shape, I can't wait for the new DLC
thanks for the video
I gota agree with you it does get more and more enjoyable
Honestly I never had the negative experience you did at launch. Maybe that's because I was more of a team-game-with-your-friends player, but my memories are of incredible scale, beautiful attention to detail and immensely satisfying combat, in which the city-building aspect is as enjoyable as the strategy. The 8 civs immediately felt unique and asymmetrical in a way AoE2's never did. Sure they've polished it up a bit since launch, but the core identity hasn't changed and has always been good IMHO.
most civs having generic units in aoe2 made it much easier for me to learn how to play, because with 40+ civs imagine each has 2-3 unique units... 80-120 different units to learn
Well done ! I wish aoe had more videos like this, a good idea for a series might be having a video for each civ, and the references to the armor and buildings
😀 I’ve been thinking about doing that - a historical analysis of every civ or something like that.
The Malians is first on my list. I have a lot to say lol.
@@ChillyEmpireHow the Malians match your 5 points. Some people say that they are a "different" civilization
@@ChillyEmpire can’t wait!
Imo AOE4 is probaly the best new RTS to play.
They are charging you less for DLC them a COD skin
I hope they keep updating aoe4, the longer this game exists and the more updates it gets the better it gets. I hope they show the same love to this game as they do with aoe2
I didn't play the game day 1, but probably when the first couple of months. Personally I loved the game back then. I was addicted, playing every day with my main the Delhi Sultanate. I stopped after one of the first patches where they completely nerfed one of the (at the time) main play-styles of Delhi, which was based on going after monuments early on to put pressure on your opponents. As someone who is new to RTS, nerfing the strategy I had committed so much time to as a new player hurt a lot, and on top of that the strategy was really the only way I liked to play at the time (not hard to imagine with so few civs). Nerfing Delhi basically eliminated that playstyle or at least I was too weak of a player to make it work with any other civ so that was when I quit.
Nice work!
Great vid mate. I'm having quite a similar experience with It.
Ahh that's why I enjoyed it so much the second time around. I bought it on launch and did not enjoy it at all and stopped playing for a year or 2 but gave it another go a couple of months ago and loved it.
please do the vid on the idiosyncrasies in aoe4
3:44 you had me rolling with this one 😂😂
I moved to AOE4 from Call Of Duty Warzone, since it is unplayable now because it’s full of hackers and poor maintenance…..
Can you join an Alliance where you are in a group of other players with each player in the Alliance having there own castle ?
couldn't agree more (esp. on points 2 and 3).
but this is also what worries me about the upcoming variant civs..
I like AOE4 because now I can play as the Rus.
Mongols and ottomans vs Rus and Byzantines.
Reviews seem to say it played it too safe, and isnt technically enough of a jump.
But id be intrigued to check it out if it comes to ps5, which now seems it could, with xbx games coming to ps.
Excellent video mate
I dropped this game in its first months when they were aggressively patching everything, every colour was flattened. I remember after 3 months, every faction were similar while "playing differently". I picked up again after 4 civs are included. I think they should have reskinned age of mythology, with 2 additional civs. This games gameplay and pacing is most similar to aom. And that game is somehow more immersive than this one with very surprisingly good balance in the titans expansion. Magic aside, amount of non siege unit options you have are about 1.5x. And civs are actually different, not only maths and how to build order, but actually very different options. Aoe4 doesnt feel as immersive as aom. Art was better too.
Elite vid! Good job!
this is the kind of aoe content im looking for. easy sub +1
Oh, I forgot in my last comment. Any good resources for learning the game? I've been playing AoE2 for years now and I've dabbled in SC2 a bit so I got a perfectly solid foundation RTS wise and even obviously some familiarity with AoE specific, but with how unique AoE4 is in terms of how civs are designed it'd be great to have something to help bridge the gap in terms of standard openings, build order priorities, crucial power spike/critical moments in a game's timeline etc.
New Channel for AOE4 Cinematics! Come Check it out!
Ok fine, i will give it another try
As an old fan of AOC, base on your opinions AOE4 is well-made, this series age like fine wine, hope we get more civils.
I just hope one day they change the Laser-guided projectiles
or add ragdolls like the third game
I just wish we had 300Pop on ranked, every fight looks like a small skirmish instead of a massive medieval battle when most of your pop is made up of vils.
And is not just an "aesthethic" problem, the small pop size i think is the reason of why cheese tactics are so common in AOE4, a lot of games get resolved by keep drops and tower spams because its the only way to increase your military after hitting popcap.
You're totally right. The late game in AOE4 is not it. Which is especially bad as most team games tend to skew late, and the majority of the player base plays team games. It's one of my top "this needs to be addressed" aspects of AOE4.
Somewhat agree, but I see both sides. At a certain point it then becomes mass boom, out-eco and out-mass your opponent creating an endless horde of units instead of choosing the appropriate units to counter your opponent. Increasing pop cap would mean less micro and more unit spam. But I could be wrong.
can this game played solo ? i dont like competitive games but love RTS
I hear alot that the sound in this game is exelent as you say. Sadly, after around 1400hrs of gameplay I still cant recall hearing the music. Sound effects and voicelines yes, but not music. The constant clicks of the keyboard buttons and switching between production buildings and units is all I ever hear... How can you play such a chill game that you acctualy hear the music?
Age of empires 4 is just AOE3 and AOE2 slap together With none of the heart of either game Well, not being as polished as AOE2
Heavier objects need to turn slower, especially ships. Cossacks games did them better, aoe can take a lot from it. And also the camera needs wasd controls
Nobody is pushing the siege weapons! WHY?!?!?!
Ok, you sold the game for me
I still want the World War Age of Empires we were promised way back then
Subscribed :)
Desperately wanted to love this game, couldn't get into it.. I enjoy watching it casted, hate playing it ( been an Age2 guy for 20+ years, something about 4's camera is just ass ) P.S. hated 3 haha
im so fin frosty chilly right now
Great video, one that needs to be highlighted by the game is its fantastic Single player experience combining full on documentary style videos with immersive gameplay is genius.
Best single player RTS since Red Alert 2.
I have also jumped back in and it really makes me wonder y ever to buy, just use game pass
I really dislike the "cartoony" criticism, since it seems to come from a view that video games can't be colorful. It's the sort of criticism that thinks Gears of War is the ultimate in aesthetic design, with grey and brown everywhere. It confuses what the speaker thinks is realistic for quality. If a medieval strategy game were realistic your soldiers would take days at the least to train: knights would take years, and battles would be over in a few hours. Sieges would be 90% sitting around and waiting, and most soldiers would die of natural diseases. The cartoony criticism always seems to come from self important over serious people who don't understand or care for good aesthetic design, and think everything they do has to be utterly po faced. Nevermind a grey and brown color palette would render the units and buildings nigh on impossible to see. That and I'm sick of the stupid "bigger number always good," idea that fewer civs are automatically worse when they showed one of the most radical departures from AoE formula, with the Mongols, in that first reveal. It sounds like the sort of myopic bean counter bull that can't think past pure mathematics.
This is great, I only wish more people that dont play aoe4 would see this. I think it's a great pragmatic take on the game
I’ve only ever played AOE for the single player campaign since RoR. Wish AOE4 had more. Which is why AOM had one of the best campaigns in the series.
Agreed. AOE4 campaign is mid. AOM campaign is amaaaaaaazing
Aoe3 campaign was good too
My favorite nitpick is that if an unit is Attacked from far away it actually Sounds like someone shouting from you from afar
So you immediatly know just from hearing "ok that must be my scout" for example
Only downside is that my scout shouts all the fricking time it’s so annoying 😆
I've actually been won over by this. Ive been kinda curious about AoE4 for a while and it getting a significant influx of civs it making me want to give it a shot. It also helps that after a thousand hours in AoE2 I'm a bit burned out on it. Still, this is the video to actually tip the scales.
did u ever jump on it ? im struggling to decide whether to get AoE 2 or 4. which would u recommend?
I did. I currently have.... 252 hours in AoE4. Honestly you can't go wrong with either and I'd say ultimately it depends mainly on your prior RTS experience and what preferences you have. The games play somewhat similarly in many ways where they have the same kind of "feel" with some notable differences, the main really being how civs are built. AoE4 you get fewer civs that are more distinct and more unique mechanics to them. In AoE2 you get more civs that are more similar to each other but also the greater degree of symmetry can make the smaller differences between them stand out more than some of the bigger difference between civs in AoE4. Overall if you asked me now I'd lean towards AoE4, but I imagine there's a recency bias there and it being the game I'm currently playing, but maybe one of the biggest things that really puts me in the AoE4 camp right now is how landmarks and the way civs are built in AoE4 you can have multiple very distinct builds with each civs where how they play can change drastically based on your choices and also the fact that each civ is built to be a bit more unique leads to each unit roster feeling nice and appropriate for the civ in question as opposed to the AoE2 situation where you have Mayans running around Arbalesters just cause Arbalester is the endgame version of an archer and its what everyone gets. Basically, I'd recommend AoE4, but I think you know best what your preferences are and what appeals to you, though I'd say you can't really go wrong with either for an RTS experience (also for reference, this is all from the perspective of multiplayer, I never touched singleplayer in either game but from what I know and as I understand it AoE2 not only has WAY more campaigns but they also tend to be better so take that for what you will)@@jaydonsmith3434
@@TheArcherGilgamesh omggg where were u 12 minutes ago 😩😭 ! Literally just finished downloading AoE 2 . Very first RTS game I’ll have ever played . I’ve been curious and interested in the grand strategy genre for awhile but I’ve been reluctant to dive in. I’ve only played turn based strategy rpgs my entire life so I’ve been struggling hard to decide which one too choose but AoE 2 being 5$ def helped sway a lot 🤣
Haha, bad timing. No worries. AoE2 was the first RTS I learned to play as well. I have some 1200 hours in it and for what it's worth, AoE2 has much more resources out there to help you learn and start out so I don't think you'll regret it either way.@@jaydonsmith3434
@@jaydonsmith3434whether you like 2 or not id recommend 4. Ive played both but never got addicted like I am with 4. It was hard to take 2 seriously with how bad the graphics are. Personally I think 4 blows 2 out of the water but that is my opinion im not here to start a war lol. I just want them to release more civs but I get that takes time.
AoE4 has quickly become my favorite of the series. One thing you forgot to mention is the fantastic campaigns. I genuinely learned about history and felt like I was partaking in it. Excellent production that feels ripped straight from a docuseries.
I’m glad to hear you liked them but I can’t say I was a fan unfortunately. Maybe I’m just more of a multiplayer gamer.
The devs are historical revisionists.
Spot-on. I love AOE2, but the difference is:
AOE2DE: Lots of unique stuff per civ, that is not always historically resonant, can be hard to remember, and has a deceptively small impact on gameplay.
AOE4: A handful of unique stuff per civ, that is historically resonant, is easy to remember, and has a deceptively large impact on gameplay.
The other thing I'd add is that the Light/Heavy armor distinction opens up more opportunities for counterplay. I think you just end up seeing more interesting armies fielded in AOE4 because of this and other factors. It's not always just, which three units make sense for this matchup?
Great video, Chilly. Really hits on all the things I love about AOE4.
I was hooked right from the launch. It was not perfect but I know it’s the future of the franchise. Still playing it now.
Great video Chilly! You are absolutely right. This game is alive and kicking. Can't wait for the DLC. Keep up the great content.
You are quickly becoming my favorite AoE4 content creator and have inspired me to finish my deep dive into the history (or lack thereof in some cases) behind all the civs technologies. I would definitely watch any future videos on historical related aspects of AoE4.
You are right. I liked aoe4 throughout when it came out; when half their fans base was shitting on them. Why? Largely because of production value and historical authenticity.
But with the ‘variant civilisation’ they have crossed a line…no consistency and poor design and zero allegiance to historical authenticity…
Yeah I think it's a risky move. I have some thoughts I'll share in a future video.
Exactly, I might add it is probably a product of some internal management change - who are more focused on quirks, playability that immersion..
How can a game that so emphasised historical authenticity (Mongols are literally nomadic!!) suddenly dispense with it all through cheap names like Order of the Dragon, Jeanne D'arc..etc.. @@ChillyEmpire
these are all true, but I doubt they are the reason why you play the game. The game is just fun lol. Most people, probably even you, would play it even if it was historically inaccurate. I mean you put aoe2 as an example of that and the game's player base doubles this'
great vid, for me it was the differences between civs, you could think they are similar like aoe2 or aoe3 but after playing the gamethey feel almost like AOM different
4:36 Well that was cringe... not only did the Rus did not 'become Russia' by any historically accurate definition, there is still a horrific war raging where the goal of the aggressor is to re-occupy the former borders of the Soviet Union. Arguably not the time to meme on shit like this. To some people its not history, but the future they hope for.
Thank you for mentioning sound design and attention to unit detail, I truly think this attention to detail probably was part of the cause of the less than ideal release, but after the jank was straightened out, the little flourishes really make it wonderful to play.
I was excited about the Sultans DLC but the choices for the alt civs completely killed any hype. Joan of Arc as a civilization? Such a wasted opportunity
Would've been better if we got 1 more proper faction rather than all the sub factions, maybe a South American one.
Interesting take on the release. I was pretty excited as you were there at the beginning, but was absolutely thrilled since day 1 and have been playing it weekly since then. I hadn't even noticed that the game had been considered "dead".
Old yet lesser known RTSes like Medieval Lords, Caesar series, Empire Earth, all have those territory influences. Actually, I can not get more shocked on how much AoEIV draw ideas from Empire Earth series. This mechanics where you can actually use walls and position soldiers over it is straight from Empire Earth III -- a game which was quite bad executed but is still extremely original and interesting.
what a well done video, thank you for your work put into it✨
i'd like to add a 6th point to your list which made me give it a shot: Xbox brilliant compatibility; i barely went through the tutorial and i got hooked, such a cool experience to play an rts on console, i'm glad someone actually thought of us console players as well🖤
also, how are you on such low subs? :(your videos are great
Thank you, I'm just starting out right now so the sub count is a work in progress 😅
Best game series EVER 😎
As german/rus i enjoy the voice lines alot. The war cry everything. They really shout for their life. As a huge fan of japaneese culture im very hiped for new cheap Season. Got my ps5 with 80 € games dusting bec i pump all my free time in age. Ilalu my friends im gone for ranked now ❤
I have huge distate for the campaigns that's why I ultimate didn't enjoy my experience even tho I played online a fair amount.
It looks like ao3, I hated it. Aoe 1 and 2 are more playable.
For non-RTS folks especially, AoE4 takes a bit of time to learn to a comfortable level. But once you do its just so rewarding!
Great content as always.
I heard very good review of Ottoman phrases from the Turkish history students. They compared it with AOE3 phrases and AOE4 sounds much more authentic, not like the modern Istanbul accent.
Student of Iranian history said that Delhi sultanate's Farsi is also sounds great and authentic. The only small problem, according ot him, was that this dialect of Farsi is more western (as it was spoken in Iran), while in India they spoke what's called Dari (as in the modern Aghanistan).
Truth hurts. There are more AOE 2 active players than AOE 4. For new players of the AOE serious, something like "influence" really sucks and is 100% unnatural. Why not use terrain to restrict buildings and distance traveled to affect production efficiency like Banished does? I believe many of the so-called developers need to learn new things and new gameplay by playing games from other genres.
,,It was one of the worst releases I have ever seen.'' You havent seen much? Am I right xD
I've been around for a while now. AOE4 is up there for sure.
ILALU
AOE4 development is informed by decades of data on what makes a good game. It's conceptually masterful, the way they have incorporated the play-styles with the real-world civs
Except besides the bug fixes… a lot of these features (sound design, civ diversity, etc.) were in the game at launch.
It has one of the worst, least creative, uninspired UIs of any rts I have ever played.
I felt similarly when I first started, but over time the UI's grown on me. It could still be better yes, but the minimalistic aesthetic does a good job of quickly communicating what I need to know in heated situations.
I’m a campaign player and played some on launch. I felt like the maps were always so small and cramped. Maybe this has changed now but I felt like I was in the UFC octagon rather than a world to explore and conquer.
Oh unfortunately the campaign is ass. Maybe the campaign in the Sultans Ascend will be better but my expectations are low.
AOE4 is good in fairness. Do I play AOE3 and AOM more? Yes, but AOE4 is a good game in its own right. I'd rather get my medieval RTS fix from AOE4 than AOE2
I must say all of these very valid points are not enough for me to give it a chance, im glad there is a blooming fanbase for the game but I'll stick to aoe2de for now.
Would be great to see aomde someday in the future.
If only the graphicsy especially the arrows/projectiles in general and their ballistics. They had great arrows in the first trailers and i don't know why they changed it to an abomination. I wish the game would look like this th-cam.com/video/QFlVNtGJVDU/w-d-xo.html
Also naval could be a lot better like AoE 3.
Still in my Top 3 of all AoE games due to the more diverse factions (like AoM)
Thanks man, You sold me. I'll be picking it up for sure next time it goes on steam sale!
Very high video quality and editing. Perfect for retention yet still focusing on the topic of the video, massive respect to you sir.
Much appreciated mate
BRO PLEASE if you have contact with u/Geerbrah please tell him to fix the broken voice line links, especially for the Chinese Horseman T.T
I swear, they couldn't have nailed it harder with the sound design. You ever want to get the most hyped you have ever been in your life? Produce 30 Chinese horsemen in castle or imperial, and attack-move around the map. The screams of that voice actor couldn't be any more appropriate with the stomping of the horses.
Sometimes I literally spam those audio commands as the game loads before I play ranked just to activate that bloodlust sense in me.
Call out to my girls the Onna-Bugeishas for an extremely close second best option. Those girls scream like Amazons about to rip and tear the flesh of your enemies!
Like it or not aoe4 is the only rts like rn
Thanks for the video.
TIP:
Calvary - the hill Christ was crucified on
Cavalry - what you are probably looking to say.
> It was made before the days of Wikipedia and TH-cam historians
You are truly a generation that never fails to disappoint. You actually cannot even imagine that encyclopedias and historical texts existed before? You sound like a little kid who thinks the old times were in black and white.
this game shouldn't called "Age 4"
could be called age of empires 2 PLUS ... or age of empires 2 enhanced edition 😕 👎
Thank you for making a compact video that I can link to as I proselytise to my history nerd friends. It's sad to see that the game is still put down for just not being another AoE2 and not recognised for actually having more national identity in each faction than most factions in its predecessors.
I started playing AoE4 and 2 a few days ago cuz of your videos, I'm a big history fan and RTS fan but the fact that every faction had the same units turned me away, since I'v been playing recently iv realized that thats no so important. Good thing I found you and age of noob and spirit of the law
🥹
yup. AoE 4 is pretty fun but i gotta say......starcrizzaft til the day i die bitches!!
I was always a big fan of AOE4 despite the flaws.
What I love the most
1. Diverse units and civs. In AOE2 every civ had the same medieval European looking units. Its super awkward playing as the Malians in AOE2 and my villagers don't really look African in the slightest.
2. Easier access to unique units. In AOE2 you often have to wait til Castle age and build a castle in order to
3 Superior historicity in game play. AOE2 could get under my skin with the inaccuracies. Like with the Franks. Why are the medieval french fighting with throwing axe men?! I'm excited for a Celtic civ to come to AOE4. They will finally have some authentic Celtic units. I mean really blue woad raiders?! Was Mel Gibson AOE2's history consultant?
4. Landmarks when aging up. I love this feature. In AOE2 ageing up was a tough choice because it would mean a period of time where I would be bared from training villagers due to my town center being occupied. Now in AOE4 I can pump out villagers and age up at the same time. I also love how the landmarks give me a reason to start in the dark ages and work my way up. If I just start in imperial I miss out on all the bonuses my landmarks provide.
5. More complex gameplay. I love the new Byzantine civ. I get to build aqueduct systems that boost my economy and production. I can also recruit mercs from other civs using the olive oil resource.
6. Markets. I love how almost all the maps have a market. In AOE2 you wouldn't have access to a market for trading unless you had allies. Thus if you are playing with no allies you had no reason to build a market and send up caravans. Thus if you had a civ with trading bonuses those bonuses became worthless. I love the random docks and markets that give me a reason to trade and also when I play Byzantines I can get even more mercs
Imo, the influence system hurt the game more than being helpful
Yep, clearly an e-sport-inspired mechanic which most people do not need or enjoy at all.
I can ignore the talking about the art style like they're actual bad graphics, but comparing it civ-wise to aoe2 and aoe3 truly gets to my nerves.
1. AOE2 (the original one) was released in 1999, with only 13 civilizations. Plus, the asymettry is almost non-existant compared to 3 and 4, so there's no way on earth they are comparable, the amount of time it could take to design a develop a single new civilization for the latter 2 games might be around 1000x
2. AOE3 released in 2005 with 8 civilizations, it took them 16 years to reach 20 civs.
Dude I leant medieval history from aoe2! They had a section where you could click on any term and it give you history around it.
Sure, some unique units were exaggerated and stereotyped but like all the techs and names taught a 10 year old Jim kid high school level history. You ask how many people know what a trebuchet is 😂
Sorry, but I literally can’t get past the blue English and the red French in the campaign! I know that little detail may seem impossibly trival to some, but it irks me so much that I literally won’t buy the game for that reason alone! That and the pathetic number of playable civs. I’m happily staying with AOE2 Definitive Edition!!
Still looks like a damn cartoonized F2P mobile game.
Looks way better when you’re playing it
I appreciate your love of sounds. To me, I'd like more focus on the gameplay, game balance, replayability, campaign, coop, skirmish battles, etc. than have 50% of the video on sounds
Here you go:
Gameplay - great if you win, frustrating if you lose. But that’s RTS for ya.
Balance - honestly pretty dang good.
Replayability - multiplayer 10/10
Campaign - for me, 2/10. It’s not good imo. But some people like it.
Coop - there’s no coop campaign. You can play comp stomps with friends if you’re a boring person I guess but I really recommend multiplayer instead.
I focused on the really stand out things for me in this video. The things you listed didn’t necessarily stand out vs other games.
How dare they release such a bad game. An insult to aoe2 and all of us. What do they take us for?
Seems like the whole game is carried in the back of the audio designer
This is what happens when suits end up running game companies. Crap.
Same has happened with movies
I like aoe4 more than 3. Aoe3 I just couldn’t get into. The experience reminded me of trying to play red alert 3… they just felt too goofy for me. I like aoe2 and this new one more. Although the recent dlc looks disappointing.
If crusader kings 3 showed the armies fighting it would be the best. I like this game but I sold my series x 😅
Decided to buy AOE4 as a brand new player cause of this video, thanks for your input :)
For me, aoe4 is best in series... only need co op multiplayer and missions like "the conquerors" and maybe more maps like nomad or african clearing.