Honestly I'm very skeptical. Modern gaming is all about dumbing down things so the normies would buy your product. I don't trust them to improve on the original let alone do it justice.

The chinese expansion will not be a remastered of the base game dlc (at least that how i see "all new").The Chinese were a mod made into an official expansion in the original game. The reviews shows how bad that dlc is. Its good they make it "all new". But i agree with day 1 dlc being bad and also early access.

@Bandanner

23 күн бұрын

Yeah on that one we will have to wait and see exactly what "all new" entails.

You are very much right sir

@Bandanner

21 күн бұрын

Don't get me wrong of course I expect the game will still be good as it always was. It's just all odd how they have gone about it.

@DukePegasus

21 күн бұрын

@@Bandanner yeah, is most certainly scummy and a new direction for the series. Keep in mind that aoe2:de released for 20 bucks and everyone got a free expansion with that purchase too. Might just be another way to get people to subscribe to gamepass too.

@Bandanner

21 күн бұрын

@@DukePegasus I mean I can't slam them for game pass, technically its a really good offer if you play a lot of different games. The only issue with game pass has been they didn't include DLC in the past, you had to pay extra for that. Not sure if they are shifting that policy...

i agree with most of what you said, except the part about the chinese, if they take their time to completely remake the chinese, i think it makes sense for them to charge us again for it, of course i would be happy if it came for free, but i'm not mad/worried that it's not. Paying for legacy portraits ir fr a shit move

@Bandanner

20 күн бұрын

That's fair, I won't hold it against them if the Chinese stuff is completely new and totally different from what came before, I am just dubious on that because of the other Day 1 DLC weirdness.

the 1st expanion is pretty clear to me. If you played the chinese expansion it is borderline unplayable... if it is properly balanced and adapted i honestly understand. But yeah day one DLC is BS. All I ever wanted from retold is simply a nicer looking game and more polish than the current version (especially for map creations like acropolis where you just walk up the hill from any side XD). It definitely looks nice (check) and with the polish (hm...). i wish there would be a playable demo or a free tryout to see if units behave better and maps are created as advertised by the description. I hope they go down the amazing age of empires 2 route. small incremental changes to bring it up to date and seeing what the community has to say after each minor change. AOE2 changed drastically since the definitive edition but in a very slow and good way. little civ tweaks here and there and minor gamplay changes that bring it into the modern age and bring in some accessability for new RTS players. let's see what the futur holds...

I think the price is low for what it is / could have been.

@Bandanner

23 күн бұрын

Their pricing has always been reasonable when it comes to the remasters, as you will note I specifically don't complain about the pricing in the video, just how they are going about certain aspects. Aka charging for the icons images that were in the old game and having a second day 1 DLC (that's exclusive to premium for an undisclosed amount of time) aka the additional Norse God. It's become to me less about the fans and bringing back great games and more about cashing in, which I am disappointed by.

@MasterSilvergreen

23 күн бұрын

It is still to see what the real content of the premium edition looks like. Also there is 15% discount on steam if you have the extendet edition.

@l3wis864

23 күн бұрын

@@Bandanner the one thing that concerns me is the fact the gods pack is a timed exclusive (says it in the steam store at the bottom) I also agree the 7 days early access is real scummy

@Bandanner

23 күн бұрын

@@l3wis864 Yeah I mean God Pack timed exclusive with no actual time frame listed.

look awesome

I don't care if they are aiming to grab cash, if there is any game that is deserving of my money AOM is definitely the one!

@Bandanner

22 күн бұрын

That is fair enough :)

I feel the same way. It is a remaster being sold at the price of a AA game release, and they also totally dropped the ball on the regional pricing on this one - Age of Empires 2 and 3 were very cheap, almost a steal and I would've comfortably paid more, but AoM Retold went too far beyond. I'm totally fine with real expansions like they've been doing with AoE 2 and 3, but they'll start releasing god packs and icon packs as well? That's pretty scummy imo. However, I gotta be honest, I applaud the care MS have with AoE in general, most companies just abandon their old and beloved games and never release a good follow up. MS not only released a nice sequel, but also remastered to modern standards all the old titles too. I have 3 friends that also grew up with AoE and AoM and we've all settled on getting the game on release, but I'll go a step above and grab the premium edition too, perhaps as a way to support future remasters for MS owned titles (hopefully Gears of War, Fallout 1, 2, 3 and new vegas all get a similar treatment). Even if I unfortunately indirectly am supporting these scummy marketing tactics, perhaps a sacrificing worth making

@Bandanner

21 күн бұрын

I agree on the whole MS and how they have handled AOE as a whole that's why this is such a shock... it feels like a complete side step from what they have done previously. I just wish they had handled the extra god and the icon stuff differently. The base game price is fine un GBP but as you note it seems there are major issues with regional pricing.

"Early Access" is a fancy name for "Alpha/Beta tester" - that's what you pay for. Diablo 4 did it, Call of Duty does it. A lot of games do it. Why do they keep doing that? Because the developers basically outsourced Alpha and Beta testing to the customer, who in return is stupid enough to pay for that, if he is convinced enough that the customer really is just "ahead" of the others. "Features" like the old icons as a $DLC$ is just cashgrab. Overall I'd say: I loved the original and played the living shit out of it on LAN-Parties, but this one seems like a cashgrab that I'd rather avoid...

@sd_league

23 күн бұрын

Yeah early access for AAA titles is just stupid B's to milk the player base even more. Not a fan at all of all these things here.

@Bandanner

23 күн бұрын

It's just weird to me they would do it for a game remaster of all things. Not a massive fan of the sudden doing it everywhere regardless but even more so with stuff like this. Next it will be premium DLC preorder get 3 days early access to DLC for games.

@twinsoftwinhaven1161

22 күн бұрын

@@Bandanner Remake

@Bandanner

22 күн бұрын

@@twinsoftwinhaven1161 lol yes sure remake. Not gonna split hairs over terminology my feeling remains the same on the matter.

its not one day DLC you bassicly the the 2 DLC for free when they come out n if you buy the premium. so currently you don't have the expansion just the base game. its like firaxis did with buying passes you buy a price and as soon as the DLC was released you get it.

@Bandanner

23 күн бұрын

I think you are confusing what items are included in the premium edition, it's day 1 DLC that's also exclusive to the premium edition for an undisclosed amount of time. That's the Extra Norse God and the Icon pack. The Expansions are a separate which as I explained in the video I have no issue with (other than I would like to know what the Chinese expansion involves compared to the old expansion).

@novocainDaimon

23 күн бұрын

@@Bandanner I'd rather see the version that includes both expansions, as an "investment" - here: have my money but give this game some support. After all: we don't know how big the budget for the game is and if the budget includes or excludes premium version sales...

IT LOOK SO CARTONISH NOW, I LOVE/ HATE IT???

@Bandanner

22 күн бұрын

I think due to the style of the game it was always going to have to look a bit cartoony compared to the original. As those graphics looked very dated now. Early 3D just did not age well.

@princepsionic

22 күн бұрын

@Bandanner true that, but its very expensive for my currency, notwithstanding the fact that "premium" / dlc basically double the price 😭

@Bandanner

22 күн бұрын

@@princepsionic yes its quite awkward with regional pricing stuff currently, some companies do it better than others. Sadly microsoft is not one that tends to always take it into account. On the bright side I imagine AOM Retold will get regular large sales much like AOE 4 has and the other remasters. (Please don't mention any illegal stuff that would be considered theft in the comments I have to delete them :) )

Very disappointing.

modern gaming is such garbage thats why they do remake old games

@Bandanner

21 күн бұрын

Haha I think modern gaming is a really mixed bag due to the shear volume, but I agree in some cases they do not make them like they used to.

Disagree - why are we whining about the millions of dollars they have invested in remastering the game at an already quite reasonable base price? From what we've seen from pre-release content, they've thought hard about reworking the game to optimize for competitive play and overall playability + have promised ongoing balance and bug fix support. Not to mention they are doing us a FAVOR by rebuilding the Chinese pantheon from the ground up. I see no issue with making this a DLC to further support the franchise, if you like the base game, then buy the DLC! I get the sentiment, but the 'greed' bashing surrounding for-profit businesses delivering an exceptional product is a bit exhausting

@Bandanner

19 күн бұрын

Firstly we don't know how much they have spent on remastering/remaking the game, and at no point in the video was this discussed. Also at no point was the base price complained about nor the actual DLC pricing. Which I actually think is fair in terms of base price/expansion DLC price. And I even stated I support DLC. In fact your entire comment suggests you did not even watch the video. So watch the video and try again discussing the actual issues raised. Edit: Also since the product is not here yet calling it exceptional is rather a stretch.

Did you really try to clickbait? Lol

@Bandanner

23 күн бұрын

Not particularly. But you clicked on it and commented so maybe I did unintentionally? 🤔