izigame.me

I'm ultimately recommending this game, but I have mixed feelings. I'll start by saying I'm a huge fan of this series. I discovered it by accident and I've since sunk in several hundred hours into Kingdom Two Crowns, but I've played Classic and New Lands as well. What I love most about Two Crowns is it can be calming to play. I have a very stressful job so it's nice to be able to quickly turn on Kingdom and play the Shogun map. What I love most is the simplicity.
Kingdom Eighties is the opposite of simplicity. There's way too much going on and I feel overwhelmed. I can tell that the devs put a lot of hard work into it and it's really creative. I love all the little movie/tv easter egg details. Other reviewers have discussed what new roles are available for making money since farmers are gone, so I won't go into depth there. There's a lot of witty stuff like recycling centers, fishing, life guarding, etc. There's a lot of humor to be found, but again, for me, it goes against the simplicity of what I liked in the first game. There's a lot going on with background buildings and things to build. Two Crowns is also about gradually building upwards, incorporating new features, upgrades, and people as you play along. This game kind of dumps everything on top of you all at once, with very little gradual progression.
It can also be hard to tell whether your defenses are adequate. I liked the sticks to stone to steel progression of the first game. This one has a bunch of stuff clumped together that makes it hard for me to know what level the defense is at a glance. I need to physically check to see how much the next improvement costs before I can decide whether it's adequate.
This game, unlike the others, actually has a bit of a story to it with characters. I think it's really cool how they tie the previous games into this one. I won't spoil stuff, but I do like the angle they took. It's quite clever. It's also nice to travel with companions that help you fight and you don't have to worry about them getting attacked/kidnapped (like the dog from previous games).
In all, if you're a fan of the series and a fan of eighties films/shows, you'll definitely like this. It's a brilliant combination. But if you're like me and you loved the simplicity of the first games, this one moves way too fast and has too much going on. The music's great, the art's great, and the new characters are great, but I sadly don't think I'll be playing this one as much as I do Two Crowns. I like taking peaceful strolls with my horse through the forest while I listen to the birds and plan out how my kingdom will look. I love feeling like I'm building a civilization in Two Crowns. But this game's not about that, and that's totally fine. They have a story, it's with purpose, and the setting/tempo perfectly reflects that. Kingdom Eighties is ultimately a nice addition to the franchise, but I do hope they make another game like Two Crowns in the future.