Age of Mythology: Retold Review (Plati)
With every 5 cool features a remaster adds, 1 questionable or outright stinky addition is implemented as well.
I do believe this is the case here and will start with the negatives:
Firstly, loss of atmosphere (or 'vibe') in certain areas. It got rid of several mature elements. First of all, upon death, units simply disappear. In original AOM, they left a bleeding corpse texture that slowly turned into a skeleton and then disappeared completely. The game also seems to have removed skeleton props completely. Also, why the hell Gaia now looks like Groot???
Secondly the campaign voice re-cast. Everyone speaks as if they are bored, sleepy or indifferent to what is happening. Original voice lines - especially Ajax and Odysseus - were expressive and striking. To be fair, the new dub feels so bland I can barely tell who is speaking if I close my eyes. Thankfully, there is a mod I really hope developers won't delete that restores original AOM voice lines. Go install it if you also hate the new redub.
Lastly, I dislike is the new God portraits. I am not going into the debate whether it's AI generated or not, you can google this mudstorm yourself. However, regardless whether generated or hand drawn, in most of the cases they resemble mobile game ad visual style - hypertrophied, oversaturated, bombastic, over-the-top art that is so generic it doesn't even matter whether it is ai generated or person made. The older portraits (which are available optionally, nice) have timeless look that, even if not as flashy, looks supreme.
Lame. Now let's go through cool stuff!
Despite what's mentioned earlier, this game looks awesome. I actually like the new lighting - much better than high-contrast one they did in AOE3:DE. The new god power effects are fantastic and unit models are an eye candy. Almost no complaints here. Visual upgrade is unquestionable, coolest being the (inherited from AOE 3) buildings collapsing into small pieces.
Secondly, the new gameplay changes are welcome. I am particularly happy about god powers being re-usable more than once by 'charging' them with favor. I feel more inclined to use them and enjoy the cool effects more without fear that I waste it in inappropriate moment.
Civilization changes are fine, the Norse receiving the biggest overhaul.
Map editor received a few quality of life updates I welcome very much. As a scenario maker, I am thrilled to create new awesome adventures for the community!
Looking forward to the new content and expansions. I hope they will do justice to the Chinese pantheon and mitigate the abysmal Tale of the Dragon dlc we got in AOM:EE. Also, who's willing to bet 5$ the second dlc is going to be Hindu civ? Or sub-saharan africa considering the latest trends...
Ultimately, this is another great remaster worth playing.