Age of Mythology Beta: Impressions & Review

[@mullerpotgieter]

I think the issue with the voice acting is that its a lot more subdued. These are supposed to be larger than life characters and gods. They need more gravitas

[@tribalbeat6471]

They should have just added some reverb or something.

[@maxwallace9491]

Yeah they went from English sounding voice actors to native sounding people reading from a page.

[@Vesmir789]

​@tribalbeat6471 But actually tho. Cuz so many of the voice lines just sound thin and reedy, which really undercuts any tension or urgency

[@magesticalmysterium6856]

I think the new voiceactors are fine, but maybe they should at some point, have them Re-Record the dialogue with inspiration from the originals (I.E the tone and feeling) I actually had thoughts of what it might have sounded like had the actors had a bit more uumph. and it was alright

[@pickleinspector5948]

It also shows that there wasn't passion for this

[@mteinsten]

Microsoft needs to know that "La hire's sword is dry" and "Arkantos, awaken" is an emotion.

[@specificgod3627]

Agreed

[@raizan5946]

How often you re-do Joan of arc campaign? You would notice the terrible cheesable AI if you did more than once.

[@ianporcaro1874]

Lines from AoE2 and AOE3 are in my brothers’ and i vocabulary

[@thesparkytv]

I'm pretty sure this is easily fixable with mods

[@Jovian999]

@@ianporcaro1874 Mmm, venison.

[@ZippydaSquirl]

The voice acting reminds me of when they changed La Hire from a bloodthirsty maniac to a bored Frenchman in AoE2

[@IHeliosI]

Yeah they're too worried about having some kind of "authenticity" while original AOM just went with a vibe of "just hire British dudes for this greek/roman character because that sounds more regal."

[@zeroyuki92]

Another case of misguided chasing of realism/authenticity compared to just enhancing overall experience. Although I guess in this case it's not really a huge deal.

[@isaacp64]

They need to hire all the VAs from Ares to make it cool and horny

[@rahzoriel2103]

@@IHeliosI I agree with British being the Greeks, as long as the Norse have Scandinavian accent, the future Atlanteans having Greek accents, and the Egyptians having... Egyptian accent.

[@ExValeFor]

I think we have gone the other way around with them making the Greeks sound Greek. It just doesn't sound right when they aren't obvious americans

[@IQuickscopeCA]

first mod: voice changer for campaign

[@jkbscopes1233]

same thing i did for aoe2 DE
the classic voices were so much better across the board

[@thebabylonian109]

Yeah that Arkantos voice is dreadful. Game looks great though, that is the important part.

[@yuuya5985]

11111

[@JimCullen]

Second mod: remove the giant button telling me what age I'm in, and move the res counter to the bottom left next to the other UI elements.

[@MegaMaster1021]

@@thebabylonian109 so far Agamemnon the only good new voice

[@Cynndora]

it's not necessarily the voices that are bad, it's more the direction and inflection.
Arkantos in the original sounds like an experienced veteran who's seen it all and then get's wrapped up in his own odyssey, he also has his fair share of sarcasm and scepticism, you can see this clearly when listening to Agamemnon's siege plan for troy.
the new arkantos sounds like he's fresh out of the academy, and athena has lost her otherworldly tone.
I imagine one of the first/most popular mods for the game is just going to be replacing the new VA with the old one if microsoft don't do it themselves.

[@ericquiabazza2608]

Exactly
Like kratos
Young kratos is very groufh and cinic
Old kratos is subdue and taciturn.
You cajt just swap their voices even if done by same voice actors as they are diferent characters (or same character in diferent points of journey)

[@luisemmanuel3990]

The game is 22 years old, I don't know what happened to the original voice actors. At least in the spanish version of the original game, all voice actora are now retired, with Arkantos's voice actor (Jorge Teixeira) suffering from a throat cancer that forced him out of his voice acting career. With the release of the first five missions of the campaign, I can tell all spanish language VAs so far do not match their characters so good as the originals.
Regardless, we have to understand that all actors are diffetent, and we cannot force them that much.

[@g00dbyemisterA]

one thing i really dont like about the campaign is the lifeless photos they show of who is talking, the AOM campaign always had characters who were speaking be very animated, making it very clear who was talking at any given time. Yes, maybe thats just my nostalgia talking but its the thing that jumped out at me most.

[@punbug4721]

I kinda like the little closeup you get when someone's talking. I don't like the long delay between lines or the way these characters seem to lose all of their, well, character.

[@Jojoborat123]

100% feel like a phone game

[@Mech-Badger-Man]

@@Jojoborat123 The phone games I've played, have all done dialogue better than this...

[@opal1076]

yes, it's not Nostalgic bias, you are right.

[@JimCullen]

The character animation here is pretty good too, it's just an added portrait to give you even more information.
For me, the problem is how cheap those portraits look. Arkantos especially just doesn't look anything like what I'd expect Arkantos from the OG AoM campaign to look like if rendered in higher res. He looks plasticy and AI-like, even if he isn't _actually_ created through AI, and he looks like a youthful 20-year-old, not the battle-hardened middle aged general he's supposed to be.

[@rioplats]

Really loving the gameplay and in-game graphics. But I think it shouldn't be underestimated how much the campaign matters to AoM fans. The voice acting is one aspect (an option to use the legacy voices would be ace), but there's also the gaudy character portraits that show up during dialogue, lack of timing on the musical beats missing some comedic moments in cutscenes, and other small but cumulatively important changes that means the game isn't quite where I personally, and many others on forums and online, want it to be. I'm sure that we'll be able to mod those things in though, for our own enjoyment. Just wish that new players can experience it like that too though.

[@EvilDoresh]

I think at least the timing will (hopefully) be improved for the actual release.

[@Memphisko]

the portraits are straight outta some janky mobile game :D maybe make them smaller so i can ignore them easier.

[@Suprasavage]

@@Memphisko Hard agree, i can understand that they have those portraits for accessibility but it would be sooooo nice to be able to disable them.

[@EmyajNosdrahcirEniacSovereign]

The campaign is certainly loaded with fun regards for its story and gameplay. While that the controls even in the classic game seem to be fine even for titan difficulty in the campaign. But less tuned controls for skirmish for why I tend to furthermore like the relaxing and sometimes decent difficulty of a campaign with characters and a story that is both fun and exciting.
While that I imagine that there will be a mod to remove the artificial feeling art portraits added to the cinematic as much as adding the old VA again.

[@theearliestboltactionrifle2980]

They have already increased pop limit by allowing you to build 16 houses instead of 10, which raises your population with 3 town centers from 160 to 220.

[@jimchen3762]

A huge buff to the Greeks is that heroes can be created while villager is queueing

[@Shero1337]

But the heroes individually are weaker

[@bytor75]

In full, Greek Heroes can be trained simultaneously with Villagers, and with other Heroes, as well as simultaneously from the Fortress as well. Not mentioned here but the non-archer Greek heroes now get a passive ranged attack strictly vs flying units, which is great for extra utility that the Greek heroes frankly need.
Greek heroes have been in a weird spot since you only get four of them at any time, and before now, three of them were unusable vs flying. Idk if these changes are enough to have Greek heroes be in an ideal spot in terms of balance, but it's a good start if you ask me.

[@akhileshp6419]

Now, Greeks need a healer too. Actually, give it to every civ.

[@DarkMSG]

@@akhileshp6419 yea i needed to heal my units after fighting so i choose loki to play and use god power to heal but nidhogg dragon cannot heal with fountain

[@bytor75]

@akhileshp6419 see, I disagree with this actually, particularly in the case of Greek civ design philosophy here. Boit T.V (AoM content creator, caster and player if unfamiliar) did a breakdown of why the units introduced to the Greeks, Egyptians, Norse and Atlanteans as a free update alongside the Chinese content for the Tale of the Dragon DLC for AoM Extended Edition, COMPLETELY stopgap the intended weak points of each civilization's design. For the Greeks in this instance, their new unit WAS a healer hero. Boit's argument was how the Greeks are so wholly designed around strong, but expensive units that have only very little situational ability to heal under normal circumstances (Athena with Restoration, Apollo with Temple of Healing). With the healer unit added for Greeks, their strong armies retreating and full-healing every time with the same consistency as Egyptians with Priests, becomes a pretty valid balance concern when the same army can be kept alive with fewer repercussions instead of having to retrain some units to cover losses. I'm personally in agreement with that.
If nothing else, there are now repeat casts of Restoration either way.

[@PlagueOfWasps]

Really looking forward to a Spirt of the Law series giving me all the number crunch on my beloved AoM!

[@AntonioZL]

Not sure if that's happening, but he surely looks more excited about AoM than he did with AoE 4.

[@miamesa8652]

I'm just happy that the French voice acting is straight up just the old one, it was amazing, and still is

[@caspramio]

Lucky you. The Spanish VA has the same issues that the english suffers (but no accent as there was none in the original)

[@joedalton155]

What a relief that is, nostalgia saved

[@armelior4610]

I guess sometimes the downright contempt of french media for accents (which I hate) can be a good thing for once

[@bmqww223]

Wish rise of nations got the same treatment and we could play that game in modern form ....

[@Vesmir789]

Rise of Nations was a big game for me growing up, and tbh I think it still holds up pretty well. Personally I'd love to see Rise of Legends come back, it had a lot of potential imo that just wasn't 100% realized

[@bmqww223]

@@Vesmir789 i personally hated rise of legends , like for some campaign mode didnt suit for me but gameplay wise speaking it had a good foundation... all those total war warhammer folks would definetly love it... for some reason RON AND ROL doesnt get the spotlight.... wish spirit of the law did rise of nation content too since its a very good game....

[@Vesmir789]

@bmqww223 fair enough, they're definitely very different games from each other even with the same core mechanics. I like fantasy stuff haha, and I really enjoyed the "steampunk Da Vinci technology versus Arabian Nights magic" idea

[@DasInf13]

For me it was Age of Mythology, Rise of Nations and Warcraft 3 the Frozen Throne that I grew up on.

[@EvilDoresh]

@@DasInf13 Same, plus AoE2 and Warlords Battlecry 1-3

[@felixalexisortizlagos6904]

Prostagma intensifies

[@DieKao]

VULUME I hope they fix the dumb decision until launch though.

[@alonsoricano481]

MALESTA

[@andresmaldonado9429]

ETIMI

[@jo1italianstyle]

7:34 the nostalgia hit hard with that song

[@muskatDR]

Maybe they could add an option for old voice acting in the campaigns? The only thing AoE2: DE really missed the mark on was the voice acting, yes its more "realistic" but i did enjoy the overdramatic old voices more

[@balmundsm]

Doubtful, but man can hope. In fantasy overdramatic voices fit more than any other genre (and AOM is fantasy, fight me). Although, if the "realism" is the only problem with voices then I would have been fine but voiceactors completely miss on the deliveries most of the time. It's like they gave actors papers with lines without any context on what they should be feeling. As a result emotional undertones were missing from some scenes such as sarcasm, anger, concern and other. Other than that most voices are fine

[@peterkirby7546]

The biggest problem with the voice acting is that the direction/tone seems off a lot of the time. Some lines should be said sarcastically, or with condescension etc etc... but in the remake they are just spoken flatly. I doubt they will redo what they have already done with the remake, but I hope that there are options in the future to have the old VA.

[@theleo2094]

I think AOE2 should have a "Civ WONDER Bonus", which is like a Civ Bonus you only get if your Wonder is standing. I'm a big AOM veteran and I love all the changes so far.

[@jorgeherrera8499]

I like the idea! in AOE2 we never see any wonder and this could be a motivation for players

[@mikelivingood7797]

It would be great if AoE 2 had wonders giving resources like Fetoria.

[@akhileshp6419]

Amazing idea.
Would be awesome to see this in team games especially.
Black forest especially is gonna get a lot more interesting.

[@konradpyszniak976]

I would love to see the Wonder giving a civ bonus but now imagine to come up with 45 civ bonuses! I bet half of them would be useless and other too powerfull.
I also dream about all civs getting an extra Unique tech in feudal to make civs feel more different but again its 45 civs...

[@checker297]

@@konradpyszniak976 imo wonder bonuses should be not about the civ, but about the lategame. IE if you can invest and manage to keep it up, you begin to snowball so drawn out games finish faster, either by one person overinvesting in a wonder and getting finished early, or a slog where micro is needed constantly to keep winning fights, to just overwhelming the opponent

[@robotTgoat]

The Pop-up portraits and pauses don't help the dialog sections either, hopefully the game is mod friendly enough for a community fix

[@LokirofRoriksted]

Yep, this screams mobile gaming.
Although, maybe it was added for people with hearing/reading disabilities, so they know who is talking or something like that.

[@qwerty222999]

@@LokirofRoriksted The classic cut scenes were well created, because they'd always have talking characters face the camera and be moving as they speak. That is a great way to convey who's talking. I can't recall a single scene, where more than one person is moving (waving arms and such) at a time during dialogue.

[@DrakonPhD]

@@LokirofRoriksted "Every minor thing I don't like in a game is mobile gaming."

[@maxcepec9886]

​@@LokirofRoriksted We've come a full circle where mobile gaming is now a buzz word to be thrown around whenever someone doesn't like x design decision.

[@martinalejandroarguelloira7627]

Something really good would be a different fight animation when two titans fight each other.

[@dasjugsboi]

Yeah, I much preferred the original animations over what we saw in this video.

[@Zonalyre]

Yeah, titans animations in general feel weird. They don't have that slow motion effect they used to that made them look bigger and more epic.

[@devangnivatkar2649]

'Let's attack Red'
Ok

[@thefidgetspinnerofdoom]

That audio seems OK in terms of quality, but there's a bigger gap between each of the lines, so maybe just tightening the dead air between the audio files could make it more lifelike, at least from that one example you showed

[@punbug4721]

Yes, that was quite noticeable.

[@EvilDoresh]

I'm sure they'll tighten up the cutscenes for the actual release.

[@BombaJead]

The gaps can be fixed but the real problem is the lack of emotion in the performances, in that clip Arkantos sounds bored.

[@raizan5946]

Complainers here are crazy. Half are nostalgic, a quarter don't know anything about audio quality, and the other quarter is biased about storytelling without knowing much. There are scenes in the game that have bad timing in the re-release, but in the very example that SotL showed, they actually fixed the timing issues the original had. The atlantean in the video originally was cutting himself up by playing each recording side by side unrelated to character movement or in-screen text. They improved it across the board in every sense, yet people can't accept change. Even I acknowledge how god tier the spanish dub was before (much higher quality than the english one you are all so nostalgic about) yet I can appreciate it in my memories, this one is better and more realistic, while the old one admitedly is just voice actors overhyping stuff half the time.

[@JohnSmith-wo2fz]

@@raizan5946 It's amazing how inflated your ego must be. The problem is the lack of emotion and after your tirade of ad hominem attacks you go off on some nonsense about timing. Get a music degree did you? Gosh, must have needed some excellent grades to do that degree.

[@oscarmeza614]

AoM spanish dubbing is legendary

[@janneswilmink487]

My personal main concern with the game is that the images for the gods look very much like they've been generated by an AI.

[@eirikmarthinsen3850]

Yeah, just a nitpick but the image of Odin is holding an axe, while he famously used a spear named Gungnir. That feels like a thing an artist doing the bare minimum of research would pick up on, but an AI would not.

[@monoono4051]

Thats because they are ai generated.

[@BasuraJugar]

agreed, they felt a lot more epic in the original

[@Dottol-]

Yeah there's a portrait that has six fingers and the longer you look at the Apollo one the worse it gets. 100% AI involved at least

[@jochembraad1760]

​@@Dottol-which portrait has 6 fingers ?

[@juanfisi]

Im happy, this game was for a time 90% of my personality growing up!

[@eatberries3173]

real

[@tsnap4]

I'd like it if Microsoft included an option to revert to the older voice acting.

[@darkjul000]

It's nearly impossible, because you have right and contracts issues since the original version. The audio quality is better now I guess and maybe some original voice actors are not available now (retirement, death,...)
I really loved Warcraft 3 original voice actors but the new version was totally fucked up so I understand you really !

[@tsnap4]

@@darkjul000 I fully understand and appreciate that. My hope was more of a pipe dream, but you are correct on how un-pragmatic that hope is.

[@checker297]

@@tsnap4 imo the good thing is MS lets you mod these games, so a community mod can come out with the audio changes without worrying about license agreements etc...

[@KungFuIsland]

The new VAs just seem to lack emotion. Flat. I like the idea of going for more of a Mediterranean vibe with the Atlantean's VA, but that clip lacked the urgency and emotion of the original that immediately showed you the relationship between the speakers.

[@Feuerex]

A lot of AoM campaign's voice acting is as iconic and memorable as AoE 2's tutorial William Wallace campaign. The new voices are more "realistic", but far less cinematic and engaging. So far it's my biggest criticism of the game.
I also don't understand the static image of whoever is talking, not at all corresponding to the models, while the original animations already show us who's talking in a much better way, making the weird static images redundant. Makes it look like a mobile game. But it's not as significant as the voice acting change - the devs should give us an option to switch between the two versions.

[@jamaalrobertson9691]

Played for about 10 hours straight and it was absolutely electric the entire time.

[@BlueShellshock]

AoM making wonders have a combat boost is genius, I love it.
Other thing I love about AoM: those big, clunky Hydras are actually attacking *over* the soldiers at the front, so they aren't getting thwarted by their big hitbox trying to reach enemies.

[@mausshow-pn5tz]

Hey spirit of the law guys here

[@daruddock]

Guys Law, here Spirit the of hey

[@NC7011]

Old comment

[@NC7011]

Old joke

[@mausshow-pn5tz]

@@NC7011 I know. I had to do it.

[@toorubase03]

​@@daruddockwtf is even that comment lol

[@juanvindas5830]

The old VA was aiming for a heavy fantasy feel. Loud booming heroic and villainous voices, smooth silky female voices and some slight forms of accents.
The new VA is going for realism, geographically accurate accents and more toned down, casual, conversation.
I completely get why people prefer the old VA as it completely shifts the mood of the game away from a heroic epic to a period piece. Wish there was a toggle of some sorts :\

[@TheVikingSwan]

My wish was it was the booming heroic style with more accurate accents. The new Arkantos has a really nice voice, but he's not using it well.

[@andreicristian9575]

Thing is: 1. This is not a historical game so epic fits better. And 2. Native English voice actors have a better command of intonation, and I'm saying this as a non-native English speaker.

[@Boethion]

Its a video game. not a geographics documentary, add some life to these performances instead of trying to bore me.

[@SioxerNikita]

@@andreicristian9575 I certainly hope you meant better command of intonation in ENGLISH...

[@andreicristian9575]

@@SioxerNikita Yes ofc

[@bhthereaper]

I really hope there is an option to keep the old campaign voice lines, there is really no reason to record it with accent anyway.

[@youngmanlogan5812]

they changed the portraits?! bruh that zeus image was how i thought god looked like when i was a kid.

[@kostisxristoforidis7196]

you can use old ones on hd

[@zannrazor8569]

I like how water myth units aren’t tied to a minor god anymore
I hope you do more Age of Mythology videos

[@bertreynolds8146]

I remember buying this game as a kid, sitting in the backseat of my grandparents car, coming home from the store. Looking at all the manuals and box contents. It's one of my favorite memories, didn't have an idea how epic the game would be at the moment.

[@MrFile071]

The game really looks great and I'm very excited for it...
However, the only thing that really bothers me is the voice acting, it just feels as if it's "AI" made or like it's a narrator speaking at some moments. I hope they will seriously look into this or at least make an option to turn on "old" voice acting...
Also, a feature when unit bodies/blood stay a bit after a battle would also be cool, but this will propably be modded if not implemented...
All in all, happy that we are getting this gem of a game once again!

[@YossarianVanDriver]

I do appreciate that it sounds like the new voice actors are actually from, e.g. Greece etc., but it seems like maybe they don't have access to a very wide range of actors from those countries? Because it sounds a lot less emotive. Like, the original voicelines aren't necessarily beloved for being a masterclass in acting quality, but for being full of emotion and humour--they're going for it. The more exaggerated animations add to that fun tone, and the longer pauses here between lines don't help. Just feels like it's taking itself a bit too seriously.

[@ProfVaharrak]

Looked gorgeous, smooth as silk on maxed settings even during big fights w/god powers, the ost still hits and overall feels modern (more polished) and more engaging (more oriented towards aggression/faster paced).
I just hope they add a little extra here and there on the csmpaigns and not just 1:1 it. Other than that it was great! Satisfied with my preorder so far!

[@FockeWolf100]

>40$ game
>made by Xbox studios
>beloved game of my childhood
“Wow, this is gonna be great!”
>all the god portraits are AI art
>voice actors are lifeless
Welp…

[@tinyman1144]

As an ancedote on auto queing of villagers and military units- there is a game known as Cossacks which has both of those features, and most often it's best to just start your auto que (represented by infinity symbol) every production building you are able to make. The balance from that however comes out of economies being in the 800-1000 villager range and military being upwards of 5k near the end. Also buildings get more expensive for each new one you build
It works well, but personally, I think in a 200 pop game that auto queing is middling, or detrimental, just because there is less economy and where you put how many villas matters more in the Age franchise, as individuals in Cossacks doesnt matter much

[@bosskey23]

The devs want to water down the game to attract casuals.

[@rensvopstal]

I really appreciate the content on AOM, for a lot of people a very big nostalgia hit. Nice to have our favourite spreadsheet aoe2 content creator showcase it

[@Magnus_Mundus]

02:35 What have you done to my big belly boy dionysus?! 😭😭😭 they cant get away with this!

[@DieKao]

Probbaly gonna do the same shit that happened with Hades -> Hades 2. I'm so not buying this remake if they andrnoygize all the gods. Why even change them instead of UPDATING them. It's all we wanted. And updated version with QoL. Don't letterafterE-uck with my portraits and voice over ffs.

[@ondrejmrazek8209]

I like the face expresion of the new one, but I would not imagine a god of party hard with athletic body.

[@TheArklyte]

Since Titans can walk over water now, that kind of makes a higher incentive to have navy in late game as unlike land based squishy human units and myth units that cost favour, ships can probably be a cost effective force multiplier in Titan fights, no?

[@christopherroman7126]

Can’t wait for spirit of the law age of mythology unit review.

[@royasturias1784]

Nexotic (formerly Protoxx) has done those of the vanilla game up to the maligned Extended Edition for you.

[@misterpanini8169]

From other folks that I watched play this, the primary complaint about the voice acting is that they feel the new voices lack a great deal of the emotion and annunciations that the original voices had.

[@quecobpt]

I very much agree with giving houses 15 pop. Or allowing us to build more houses so we can reach 300 pop without the need for settlements.

[@julianzacconievas]

Anyone else became a parent in the last 5 years and continues to watch Spirit's content because it makes them happy and allows them to feel connected to AoE despite having only played 2 or 3 games in the last half decade?

[@Madoxbeatbox]

Imagine wonders would play a role in AoE2, like improving your unique units or buff your eco. That would be amazing and would lead to new late game strats.

[@Z3R042]

New Spirit Video , day saved, noice!

[@TheArklyte]

"Useful Wonder" in AoE2 would be a wonder, that doubles the civ bonus?

[@cappantwan2978]

A friend of mine grew up with AOM and he’s absolutely psyched for this. Nice to know there’s a lot going into it.

[@titusbaum9690]

The graphic says "2017" to me, sadly, not "2024", just in sophistication and detail. That said, compared to the original (which graphics for me were the primary detractor) this is going to be a great game. I've always loved the Bronze ages and early Iron age, and the various mythologies these people told each other. And the game is just wacky enough to be charming

[@konradpyszniak976]

Agree, i think the engine from AoEIII DE gives this vibe. Especially how units move, terrains etc. I would prefer to be in AoE4 format.

[@SarudeDanstorm]

I don't mind the new voice acting - I like that they used Greek voice actors, but I do hope they make Athena sound more Ethereal as she did in the first game, maybe by adding some sound mixing to her existing lines

[@nikolaiBigideas]

they suck though...

[@SarudeDanstorm]

@@nikolaiBigideas Arkantos I truly don't mind, Ajax and Odysseus are perfectly fine. Krios, Kastor, and Agamemnon could do with improvement but I'm not expecting them to re-record all the lines before release. I'm trying to be realistic

[@calebbarnhouse496]

The thing is the orginal voices for this game were specifically desighned not to be modern greek, just taking influences from it and mixing it with ancient greek, the sounds were a mixture, and it went to far one way

[@SarudeDanstorm]

@@calebbarnhouse496 Dude Athena's original voice actor, iconic as she is, was straight up British

[@calebbarnhouse496]

@@SarudeDanstorm ok and? ATHENA was supposed to be a goddess, not a Greek, she's literally not supposed to sound like everyone else

[@HousedHorse]

Missing rally flag is a known bug that will be fixed for release according to the devs.

[@GrimnirLaguz28]

I do love the change on the god-powers being multiple casts, with increasing value. As you said, it just makes it so I will not save my powers up until the game is already over lmao, even if I still will probably 99% of the time, not use the powers multiple times.

[@jacobwood3326]

Thanks for this overview! Excited to try this!

[@da_BemBem]

General Melagius HAD BETTER be absolute HAM. I want him to SPEEK like this. He MUST BE a MASSIVE HAM. His quotes are COMMON VOCABULARY in my circles.

[@aldrichfurtal2596]

I don't understand the comments telling the old Voice acting was Cheesy, Corny, Dramatic what was acceptable otherwise? Dull and politically correct? It was sooo enjoyable, I could just listen to them as much as the Music Soundtrack.

[@Scintilus]

I hope you also do an overview for each pantheon when the game officially comes out out plus the new pantheons as well.

[@opal1076]

game seems perfect. Just fix 3 things:
1) Units pathfinding
2) Increase population capacity
3) Bring Back old voice acting
criticism:
1)they should remove/change the character icons that appear on cut scenes. It's awful and reminds me of those crappy Mobile games.
2) they should add auto Q for military units on multi-player
some new ideas for the game:
1) an option for archers to fire while retreating and running backwards, aka kiting. (some other games have this already and it feels amazing and woud be a nice touch to the game)
2) make a feature to queue multiple commands, but don't execute them immediately and wait until the player clicks on order button.
3) add a feature for quickly scattering units
4) Add a feature that automatically commands a unit to relocate if it's on the way of some other units (could be toggled on or off on units)

[@aleh3627]

The voice acting seems much better. The accents are also much more on point.
Ancient Greeks sounding British was always super weird to me. They don't sound or look anything like Greeks.

[@The-Golden-Oak]

Villager pathing was my biggest, and most notable issue, hopefully they fix that on release. Norse felt bit weak as well.
Other than that, I really enjoyed it, and I think when it comes out I'll be playing this remake instead of the original, as it generally feels better.

[@johnwatson2251]

Great to see you covering this!

[@KingsAmbience]

As someone who loves AOM, I hope they keep autoque in the game for all buildings, its my last check box then I'm 100% sold, Would like to play ranked with autoqueue personally!

[@bosskey23]

Personally, i hope they remove that from ranked play.

[@ChrissieBear]

0:25 That's because they made it more like Age of Empires 2 than the original Age of Mythology was.

[@pieterpieter4837]

Every time another successful age remaster comes out I cry in Warcraft 3

[@EvilDoresh]

A remaster so bad it killed the original version

[@bezceljudzelzceljsh5799]

Age of mythology needs to hire the total war warhammer animation team to make titan fights more fun to look at.

[@joaovictorroyalist691]

The next step is DE version of Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds !!!!!! Let me Dream...

[@parkerdixon-word6295]

I'm trying not to hate it too much because I haven't seen it all, but the more I sit on it, the more heartbreaking the campaign changes become.
I am *not against* new voicework. I actually like the accents, for example, but I think that the voice *direction* was simply not up to par for this project. The performances feel drained of personality, but also of the *depth* that let the original campaign do so much more with less- Arkantos *felt* like a jaded, angry widower in the original campaign without ever having a voiceline that mentioned his wife, you had to go reading unit descriptions to see that, or read between the lines in his relationship with his son Kastor. The depth was *there* despite what a Ham and Cheese Omlette the campaign was, and that's a lot of what people loved about it. It elevated something simple to feel like a genuine work of art, and I feel like that artisanal touch has been lost. Modern Age of Empires games are *mechanically* playful in excellent ways, I don't means to disparage them, but they're missing the special sauce that made the Cheesball 90s and early 00s productions worth still giving a shit about 20+ years later.

[@VictorHarderHesel]

Here's an idea for a video (sorry if you've already covered this). Which civilisation has the highest score at the beginning of the game (as in the very first second of the game). I imagine bonuses like more LoS or extra units might be the most important, but it could be fun to see what else contributes. Anyways, absolutely love your videos :)

[@MrLolguy93]

I heard the rumors that we have new VAs because of future expansions. Though I still hope we have the option to switch to old voices

[@josephr4761]

They have already confirmed that there will be at least 2 expansions. The Premium edition pre-order includes the 2 expansions in the base price.

[@MrLolguy93]

@@josephr4761 yeah
The first are will have China, and we don't know what the second one will have
As a Campaign player, I hope we get fun missions

[@AbsoluuttinenTotuus]

Why did they even change the campaign voices? They didn't do that for Age3DE, why do it for Retold??

[@CineGoodog]

The auto queue is such a game changer. It makes your macro so much easier and acessible.

[@xZippy]

I don't know about anyone else, but I always wished they would add trippy African mythology.

[@EvilDoresh]

With enough DLC, anything is possible.
(Though I'm personally hoping for Aztec or Mesopotamian mythology)

[@PapaCharlieist]

GLORY TO AGE OF MYTHOLOGY. IT DESERVES ALL THE PRAISE AND ATTENTION WILL BE WORTH IT

[@KozenaDrzka]

There should be option for OG audio.

[@Planetdune]

They can't because of licensing reasons.

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

One thing I don't really like but which will undoubtedly be moddable is the UV mapping of the metal surfaces, case examples being gold ore and the menu screen Talos. In my eyes, they currently look kind of plastic and would look better with sharper, shinier tone.

[@Tapiola666]

YOU NEVER PLAYED THE ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN?!?! Holy shit the absolute heresy

[@AugustoDalaCosta]

Curiously, most of the unit voice lines are the same, but I've noticed some mixing with myth units to make them sound more "grave", changing the ox cart from a human voice to a cow's moo and a couple of perhaps unused lines? Pretty sure the greek villagers didn't say "tekton" when ordered to build something. Really cool details if you ask me.

[@Petrico94]

God Powers reusable: YES, I always hated how they were just a one time use. Atlantis tried to work around it but it mostly just became weaker traps you drop on narrow paths. I'll love using tornados, meteor or earthquakes multiple times, but I completely understand there's a cooldown and rising faith costs to keep that in check, longer games should be more fun. I also like Wonders give a big buff rather than just a long turtle strat that forces an engagement, now it's actually worth building even as a conquest victory.
Auto queues: perfect, definition of QoL for realtime strategy games. Not sure about age progression like part of the experience is making snap decisions, but I appreciate the skill comes from decisions rather than timing or jumping back to your City Centers to queue something you already decided. If I have to reorganize my production that's one thing, I shouldn't be expected to come back and reseed farms constantly and tell them I want 5 more villagers after we finally got the food again.

[@LokirofRoriksted]

8:37 that song!! Brings so many memories

[@eatberries3173]

I really appreciate that you as the reviewer who doesnt have any nostalgia for the older game dont act like you know everything about the game the best.
you are great and cool!

[@eXcommunicate1979]

Visually, my only complaint is that I think the water colors are too bland and gray. I wish for example on "Greek" maps the water was more turquoise like the actual Aegean Sea.

[@MusicaX79]

6:25 they got rid of the original voice but kept ALL of the orginal unit voice lines and SFX. The voices are fine, BUT as somone who grew up on the orginal game to hear another voice with everything else being the same is JARRING to say the least. I'm sure it will be modded Day 1.

[@bytor75]

The population limit in the beta has already increased moderately, in a couple of ways.
Houses have a build limit of 16 (up from 10), +60 pop right there.
Fortified Town Center gives a pop space boost of +10, to 25 total (up from +5, to 20 total). With a 1v1 game having 6 settlements and an average of the two players splitting down the middle for 3 and 3 TCs, that increases from 45 up to 60 pop space, to 45 up to 75 pop space. So +15.
+75 pop in 1v1 pretty routinely, plus other bonuses that may apply (I don't know how Citadel Center for Sekhmet for Egyptians is, whether it changed or not, but that gave more population in itself as well), is already a good boost in the right direction. Obviously with team games, your mileage will vary a lot more.

[@navynahibel873]

Personnaly I don't really mind the new voice acting (no issue with people that do, of course). The feeling is quite different and they didn't try to emulate the original voices, which leads to characters feeling different, but from what I've seen, it isn't different enough that the story doesn't make sense anymore, and, to me, it makes the experience feel fresh. (Though there are problems with the timing of voicelines but it's much more easily fixable than a bad voice acting)
Still I understand how that might be an issue for those that want a very nostalgic experience while playing the campaign so if the option to switch them out is possible, I hope it'll be added.
On that subject, I hope we'll get Aoe2 level of mod support, but RTS seem to be very hit or miss on this kind of things.

[@timothybaker1970]

Its such a shame with the changed voice acting, it blew my mind as a kid how great the voice acting was and the casting was perfect

[@CHEFZOOT]

excited for your AoMtuber arc!

[@CloudSephiroth]

This is amazing! I’ve been waiting since high school for a remaster! Now I just need a remake of Final Fantasy Tactics and childhood nostalgia will be at maximum levels!

[@jayce8978]

I also always had the issue of small pop on limit and low amount of units in AoM but it would through balance off changing it drastically, especially for greeks that have a very limited amount of heroes

[@KresuGaming]

Im okay with changed voices, because a lot of army units still have their default voices which are too iconic to change. For me the campaign dialogues are just different, not worse.

[@glennhengist3977]

No skeletons when
Units die, until that's fixed
I'm not gonna buy

[@KyoushaPumpItUp]

Not to mention the cringe voice acting

[@adamjohanssonn]

they removed that from all age games so that wont change, chinese rules, they could make it an option only available outside of china but they removed it from every game instead

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@adamjohanssonn is that also why they changed the death animation of the samurai in AOE2, which used to be him commiting seppuku ?

[@tiestofalljays]

@@adamjohanssonn Sheer laziness. Must be endemic at these studios, just like using generative AI for the god portraits.
This is the kind of "cut corners" bs we want to prevent becoming normal...might be too late.

[@LokirofRoriksted]

@@Duke_of_Lorraine probably, or maybe because showing "suicide" in 2024 is heavily censored. You can't even have thumbnails, images or titles with this word that it gets flagged instantly everywhere, so people write "su1c1d3" or something like that. I mean, even words like "killed" are being censored. Try searching for "suicide" on youtube and see what you get 11

[@mrmcstupid7646]

Looks good. Should be fun to play between major updates of age 4 :)

[@andrewz5981]

What I don’t understand is why the voice acting needed to be changed at all it’s not like the sound quality on the originals doesn’t hold up with more systems or anything

[@officiallyjan8596]

The reason you have random villagers standing around sometimes is because if they get stuck somewhere for too long, they stop trying to do the thing they were tasked with (usually dropping off a resource) and become idle instead so you can more easily find if a unit got stuck. (Idle villagers show up as idle, while a villager trying infinitely to do something it can't won't) It's not a Remaster thing, it happened in the original game as well, though hopefully it IS something they can mitigate or fix.

[@Sids1192]

I was pretty down on the game before the beta. I had been pretty disappointed that they cut the Chinese civ out entirely (yeah, I know they were poorly balanced and had issues, but the reworked version should have been in at release). That said, I've been impressed with what I've seen in the beta. Hope it goes smoothly on release. I won't be pre-ordering, or buying immediately, but I'll be keeping an eye on it, and likely pick it up soon enough.

[@Zeru.]

Am I the only one really disliking auto-queue? Also military auto-queue? It should be disabled in ranked 100%.

[@noobtablet101]

Hell no. AoM has always had auto queue. It should always be in.

[@hounddogzepp]

RTS boomers being blinded by nostalgia? Never!

[@kevley26]

I'm so hyped for this to come out! I loved this game a lot more than AOE2 and AOE2 DE is one of my most played games.

[@karnak4188]

Big question as a map maker, do you think we will be able to re-use old scenarios ? Convert maps from the older game (Extanded edition) into new game ?