Buried under the bloated and swollen surface of AoE2: Definitive Edition is a fascinating game within a game (literally it is just embedded into the menu for some reason, you press a toggle to make the game into Return of Rome...) that defies the absurd overengineered shell it is contained within to actually be a very good and faithful remaster of the original Age of Empires.
Changes made are only to improve quality of life, like farms reseeding and operating like their AoE2 counterparts, trade carts allowing land trade, and being able to build gates. The biggest mark against this expansion (remaster? I have no fucking clue what anyone can call this) is the new campaigns that embody the AoE2DE design philosophy of making you play impossible time trials against large masses of fully established foes advanced several tech trees ahead of you.
The nicest part is that because this game is weirdly buried under the skin of another game, the psychotic mega-competitive fanbase of AoE2DE has left it untouched and so it remains fairly stable without much risk of needless new additions - they've instead been reworking the classic campaigns back into the game, which are among some of the best in RTS history and well worth the playthroughs.
Changes made are only to improve quality of life, like farms reseeding and operating like their AoE2 counterparts, trade carts allowing land trade, and being able to build gates. The biggest mark against this expansion (remaster? I have no fucking clue what anyone can call this) is the new campaigns that embody the AoE2DE design philosophy of making you play impossible time trials against large masses of fully established foes advanced several tech trees ahead of you.
The nicest part is that because this game is weirdly buried under the skin of another game, the psychotic mega-competitive fanbase of AoE2DE has left it untouched and so it remains fairly stable without much risk of needless new additions - they've instead been reworking the classic campaigns back into the game, which are among some of the best in RTS history and well worth the playthroughs.
The definitive way to experience a significant portion of the original Age of Empires campaign. Sure, the building logic and balance of the first one aren't as good as the second, but just using the engine from 2 already improves everything by 300%. The completely new campaigns are also very good, and I believe that here is a good compromise between using the content from the first game and modernizing it enough to be tolerable.
Of course, it would have been better if all the original campaigns had been ported, but at least not much was lost. And 30 hours for the low price they charge for this DLC nowadays is more than worthwhile.
Of course, it would have been better if all the original campaigns had been ported, but at least not much was lost. And 30 hours for the low price they charge for this DLC nowadays is more than worthwhile.