And finally, in the slight damp of late 2022, that remake arrived.
Some details and flourishes aside, it’s basically the same design, with all the same parts.
They all, correctly, reject it.
The full roster of playable factions is enormous and the neutrals are not inert.
They’re a bit one note, but it’s a good note.
Contrast them to Slaanesh, unique among the demonic factions for their focus on diplomacy.
You present a charming face while watching cults slowly seep you into the world.
All with different resources, goals, and means of exerting and gathering power.
It’s all so evocative.
Most importantly, they’re unequal.
Orcs are the standard, able to build or train anything, but everyone else makes sacrifices.
Barbarians get strong berserkers and throwing weapons, but they can’t build advanced structures or units.
But it’s not just asymmetry.
But all their units can move and fight in water, giving them a theme with some niche uses.
Each magical school or perk brings different potential to each race.
Then there are the klackons, who everyone hates, and who hate everyone, inspiring mutual genocide.
Pick them, lizards, or gnolls, and expect to lose.
It is the same, warts and all.
This offers a bit more flexibility, particularly previously vulnerable skirmishers.
But it also exacerbates the usual 4X problem of tediously shuffling icons around just to get your armies anywhere.
There are build queues now, but no rally points, and the pacing is slow.
Diplomacy is still anaemic, which makes narrative sense (there can only be one).
The biggest hurdle, though, may be that it’s lost that pixelly charm.
By appearances, it’s very… “this is a 4X”, you know?
It’s a huge anticlimax.
The mirror thing feels like a real miscalculation.
There’s no drama to it, is the thing, and that’s at odds with the rest.
You’ll probably lose.
