Age of Wonders 4: Expansion Pass Review (geoffreykhan)
Age of Wonders III is a much better game. AoW4 is more about developing unique characters and dopamine hit rewards. It does has a lot of unique innovations and good graphics. But at what cost? It went from an outstanding strategy game to one of much fewer options once you are actually playing the game. The complexity of character development is outstanding and it seems like that is where the developers spent most of their time. Once you are actually playing the game, the maps seem smaller and you are confronted with choices where there just seems to be just one right answer. As you are playing the game and do something like capture a city, your choices are much more limited than AoW3. I am just one day into it, but it seems more like being a rat in a maze and they want you to follow their precise route than being a wizard in a world and exploring and conquering surrounding territory. I would rather have a more limited pregame experience with a very complex game experience. This is the first AoW game I don't like. Game play is constantly being interrupted with pop up questions making it more of an adventure game(but not a good one) than a fantasy wargame. I wish they would have just added new units and elements to AoW3 which is truly a great game.