AoM Retold Beta | Was it any good?

[@romanus_pinguis]

But once upon a time we simply dreamed of a remake of this great game, and these thoughts alone made us feel good. And here it is, the game is ready and we'll be getting it soon, and it looks as good as ever. I fucking love this life!

[@LobyDobster]

Yeah even if there are problems, let's actually rejoice for this game and enjoy it!

[@solaire07]

LET'S FUCKING GO!

[@Stonehengoo]

Would love to see all AOM communities gather round this game

[@BoitTV]

@@Stonehengoo it's been split for too long!

[@softwarelivre2389]

They won't. Many people won't be able to afford the new version, others will just simply prefer the original. "We have three competing standards, let's unify our community in a new, improved standard" => "we have four competing standards"

[@135791max]

​@softwarelivre2389 when the new and improved standard ends up being leagues past the others, the vast majority of the community will congregate to it. There may be a small set of stragglers or purists who stick with the older game, but it's unlikely enough to be a whole "community" around the old game. This isn't a warcraft reforged scenario where the new game is arguably worse than the old one. This remake is almost universally considered an upgrade.

[@softwarelivre2389]

@@135791max Retold is a downgrade when compared to Vanilla/The Titans Expansion, so most people will stick to the old version.

[@Wimpiethe3]

@@135791max Nah. It's a different game. Not an improved one.

[@Benni_Wr]

I really loved the beta. It did make so much fun. Can’t wait for the next one. I guess in early August. And I can’t wait for the full release.

[@Benni_Wr]

For those you haven’t heard it already, there will be another beta with free access for everyone on steam. But there is no exact date right now. Just guessing that it will be early August.

[@JimCullen]

To be clear, the next stage will be a "stress test", not a beta. From the perspective of the dev team this is a significant difference because they won't be as interested in our feedback because the game itself is probably close to locked in at that point. From the perspective of the player, it likely means there will be very little if any single player content, because they want us playing online on their servers so they can test how the game servers perform under load.

[@exalted-champion-of-grinch]

The biggest problems I had while playing the beta were the new VA in the campaign and the text to speech being the default option. The problem is, the new VA cannot be turned off. Thanks for pointing out the questionable quality of the voice acting changes they implemented. As a well respected and beloved AoM community member there is a high likelihood they will listen to you.

[@bytor75]

You mentioned the fishing ship nerf because of the techs being pushed to later ages; but a more immediate nerf I noticed is 100HP compared to 120 on Titans.

[@BoitTV]

@@bytor75 good spot!

[@KeeNGaming]

Good video, I also don't know how I feel about villager centers. It doesnt feel good to make them because villagers train much slower in them, but it also feels strong because you dont have to go out on the map and take a towncenter. I feel like this addition was not really needed.

[@P4nem___Et___C1rcenses]

Well, it might be nice to use them once you go for some turtle stuff or lost map control. Not sure how good it is though, couldn't really test it. But I've also seen some funny stuff, like sending some forward vills with Hades to the enemy base, put down a village center and use sentinels on it. Then go Heroic, build a castle and start to siege the enemy down from this position. Very fun stuff.

[@BoitTV]

@@KeeNGaming One thing I do like is that in team games if your base gets wiped, you can realistically run to a partners base and build a villager centre but... That's about it. They could make it that if you have 0 TCs you can build a villager centre.

[@TheDmviper]

I think it's a bad idea to limit villager centers based on how few TCs you have or trying to pin them as a catch-up mechanic. Instead, maybe they should be pushed back to the heroic age or limit them to 1 per player. Personally I think pushing them back to heroic should be enough to nerf potential Egyptian abuse, although it will still be strong.

[@MTlelek]

settlement system was an improvement from aoe2, pity they backed on it.

[@TheDmviper]

@@MTlelek I agree it would've been better without, but now that the cat's out of the bag I doubt they'll straight up remove it

[@VividVoid]

One thing’s for sure. Boit’s viewership numbers are about to skyrocket with Retold

[@janpetira5130]

First mod available: "Legacy voice style" :D

[@BoitTV]

I think it might be a tricky mod cause you have to go in and change the timings for all the dialogue in the scenario as well right?

[@thegamingpigeon3216]

I'm so happy with how god powers were done, I was worried for the longest time that matches would just become god power mayhem in the late game and the compromise they've struck has subsided those fears. And to be fair, I'm not saying they're perfect yet, I can still see several issues, but they've gone in the right direction for sure. Also a bit upset with the campaign dialogue like you said, so many of those nostalgic lines are just stuck with me. Thankfully I'm sure with mods, you'll be able to put the old dialogue back in.

[@sr71silver]

On the subject of "looking cartoony" for me it comes from the fact that most of the models have this smooth sheen on them that makes them look like they're made of plastic. It's particularly bad on those big zoomed in character portraits in the campaign but it's noticeable even in normal gameplay.

[@softwarelivre2389]

Exactly

[@Citizen-w-e-a]

@@sr71silver also the colors

[@ProfessorAjax]

If I'm being totally honest, I felt surprisingly happy and satisfied. We were all confident but really worried about all the possible changes. Funny enough, there was even more changes that we expected but most of them (90% I would say) are really good and improvements. They managed to deliver our beloved AoM in a way that not only everyone who always loved the game will feel happy, but also that the game is super fun and enjoyable for majority of RTS players out there and that it can also bring new audience. Balance will always need some adjustments, but it just feels great. Water was a huge improvement, although I think fishing ships gathering rates should be a bit higher. What is the point of playing water if you can play standard land and do not have any considerable dissavantage? This Beta was "perfect" considering it was a beta lol Can't wait to next one, to check atlanteans and keep playing it. First 3 days I spent too much time zooming in to appreciate the awesome details. Seeing that EVERY armory upgrade gives a visual change is amazing, I hope they creat something more for Thor's exclusive ones.

[@henriquefaria6921]

The 3-day beta was far from enough to adress any balance issues, so i guess in the first few months after the offiicial release, a major balance patch will be needed once the community learn to abuse whatever broken stuff is out there (i'm looking at you, double restoration + lightning storm 1tc play). But, in general, i loved every single change and aproach, grafic and gameplay wise. Can't wait to test it for a longer period of time (and to find out that Gaia will be broken like Nü Wa 11)

[@jorgemora7406]

@@henriquefaria6921 11 20 28

[@Nynphierno]

I think when it comes to the "cartooney" look its just the art style, they did no go for all out realism and thats a good thing. Stylized visuals hold up the test of time over realistic visuals waay better.

[@RancorSnp]

I’ve been around RTS players for 30 years „cartoony” is the number one “complaint” for every single RTS game ever released, no matter if it goes for stylized or realistic graphics

[@bingxilao9086]

@@RancorSnp Who calls SCbW cartoony?

[@georgestain2803]

@@RancorSnp imagine RTS players complaining about cartoony instead of balance. You must live on different planet than I do.

[@cerberus4545]

@@georgestain2803 hes right, ive seen many people whine about it, people used to complain AoE 3 DE, AoE 4 and CoH3 looks cartoony

[@hamish3057]

Realism is a lot harder to deliver than a stylised version so I don’t blame the devs. It didn’t seem like they had infinite budget to deliver this game so I think they have done a good job. Gameplay should definitely be prioritised.

[@gcsehistorylessons8465]

I was hoping for more impactful sounds for the god powers to make them seem more epic. Like a massive crack of lightening and then rolling thunder for a few seconds after you use the Bolt power. I feel like that would be quite easy to do and make the powers more fun to use without changing the game at all. Haven’t heard anyone else saying the same tho so it might be just me

[@hamish3057]

Yes I thought the meteor wasn’t as impactful as in the original game either.

[@joeytouchstone7585]

I completely agree. Lots of things didnt have the same audio/visual feedback they used to. I was missing when my opponent would age up, build a tc, uses gp, etc

[@gcsehistorylessons8465]

@@hamish3057 definitely! When I see my opponent go up through Thoth I want to be scared for my life

[@30Salmao]

Good point.

[@BVSSIC]

Partial agree for sure, but I am also 100% sure I'm nostalgia biased here. And I say that as someone who does sound design for a living hahaha. I think the meteor sfx in the beta were the ones where I'm like, "Man, the old AOM had such a powerful sound with the like flanging fire". Overall, I think I actually prefer a lot of the newer sound design as it works more with the aesthetic of retold. The older more realistic and gritty approach applies nicely with the old sound, so I can accept the difference :)

[@alexbf4724]

The beta was SO MUCH BETTER than I expected. Of course, there are a few quirks/bugs but the core gameplay feels so good. If they add support for the old scenarios, it will be perfect.

[@T0R0RIKI]

autoque is a must, for both eco and military. honestly, I know they tried to lure in some "pro", or some RTS fanatics, but honestly this will cut off a lot of the decent players who want to have fun and not "playing the piano". everything else is fine for me, things will get tuned better in future updates.

[@summerishere2868]

I agree. Auto-queue allows players to focus more on the strategy part of the game than on the micro queing system. Also abusing the auto-queue was already punishing, one needs to know when to stop it and transitioning to manual queing when the situation demands it.

[@brrrrr2693]

I find it sad that there is no more corpses decay, when troops die they just dissapear in the ground and leave no skeleton, it’s not really realistic and you can’t see anymore where big battles just took place. I hope someone will make a mod to fix that, otherwise the game looks awesome to me.

[@DrCharizard1]

I would watch both titans and retold streams you do in the future. I think I would be a little sad never to see titans again, but I understand the need/want to focus mostly on retold ❤

[@Terrancontrol]

Conservative balancing is much much better. There were strats back in the old days that were a problem for too long- Isis fast titan for example, but there were other changes were probably made much too quickly too, like the changes to the portable ram. It's better to see conservative balancing but see a willingness to change things when something isn't healthy

[@Skarin1452]

I cant wait for this to come out. I had played AoM as a kid but fell out of it for a long time. Started watching your 1v1s and i love the game again. I look forward to relearning some stuff!

[@kemalgezer]

It's time to move to the Retold, there is no point of making content with the old version anymore. We need embrace this beauty.

[@NoagerL]

Well there is one: it isn‘t out yet

[@kemalgezer]

@@NoagerL I think soon they’ll keep the beta open for premium owners. Even if they don’t, game is coming soon, almost one month left for the premium owners. So, we just need to hang out a little bit 😬

[@softwarelivre2389]

Hard disagree. We need content for the original. The Titans Expansion is the best version of the game and this won't change.

[@kemalgezer]

@@softwarelivre2389 respect your opinion but it changed bro, a few days ago. I play this game since the first release, and retold perfected it

[@evanwoodham6296]

For C level middle schoolers. It's dumbed down shit.

[@learyc8077]

The Anubite's run looks like it's from Simpsons Hit and Run

[@hamish3057]

Did you also notice that the Colossus walk like they have shat their pants? 😂

[@Legion12Centurion]

@@hamish3057 I thought they look menacing walking like that. I am so going to forget I read this because this is probably one of those you cant unsee things.

[@learyc8077]

@@hamish3057 I didn't but I went back and checked and I cant stop laughing at it

[@hamish3057]

9:13 😂

[@masterlucarion]

I also really love the God Power rework and how favor is a much more flexible resource now.

[@blakerunyan4756]

Cartooney look makes sense to me. The graphics remind me more of Clash of Clans than OG AoM. I haven’t seen it other than on your stream though so maybe it will look better on a better pc!

[@298AOM]

I hope they can bring back the auto queue for military units.😭BTW, I hope all the upcoming videos will be about Retold!

[@Kvh47]

As someone who is pro auto queue. I am happy with the compromise. Having to do military manually feels good and will probably only increase my gameplay level. I never understood why aq villagers would make the game "too easy". With the possibility to even cast myth unit abilities manually there are so many micro input options left that there is plenty of space for good players to display their skill and outplay mediocre players.

[@RancorSnp]

I think you can push the compromise even a tiny bit further - give players allow autoqueue for military units option in the settings - if both players have it on , allow autoqueue in ranked. Auto queue does come with it’s own macro challenges too - you do have to keep constantly in mind which resources are being drained at what speed otherwise you will mess up your build order or tech switch giving the opponent much better odds

[@Kvh47]

@@RancorSnp i am worried that if you give people options for the settings in ranked, that they might dodge the match if they dont get their way

[@oivinf]

I'm very sad they restrict aq in pvp at all, I think it's one of the best features of the game. It's what allows you to focus on other things than queueing which sets it apart from basically all other RTSs

[@guilhermedecarvalhofernand1629]

Ranked only, if you host a game you can enable it.​@@oivinf

[@georgestain2803]

@@oivinf Exactly. This is not Starcraft where you focus on one big army. In AoM you have to manage your eco, watter fight, micro army, manage god powers, use villagers to build in fight, meanwhile repel some side rides on your eco. Especialy with higher pop count it just doesnt make sense. I can guess it will make good players even better, but overall many potential players will not be playing such a game.

[@silentrudy9779]

I absolutely love almost everything about the game. My biggest issue is easily the voice acting. The lines are just not hitting how they should and maybe it’s just placeholder for lines later, but I’m not so sure.

[@blackrinea944]

@Bolt T.V just the big question. What did they do with ragnarok ?

[@BoitTV]

It's the same 😭😭😭

[@chillminder_6618]

I think that the main reason for the comments about the cartoonishness is the transition from the classic diffuse map on models in OG, to the albedo map on models (pbr), which is why they began to look smoother and plasticine. I notice this and I don't really like it, but overall the graphics looks exciting, and it should also look stylized like a fairy tale (too much realism is not always needed and it can only make things worse). I can't wait to play the game

[@wesleysmith2989]

Agreed, the old graphics weren't realistic they were just extremely low poly, and the new graphics being higher poly look more plastic-y. It's the same thing that happened with mario over several generations

[@qwerty222999]

I am starting to dislike people who comment on the graphics, without providing any substantial points to their criticism. All RTS games suffer from the fact that high definition graphics would ultimately be a detriment to readability, when viewed from a top down perspective. Take a look at Warcraft III reforged. It has gorgeous graphics. You can zoom in on individual objects and really appreciate the details. Big issue that these types of graphics do not make it easy for players to read the battlefield. You can't tell the units apart, sometimes can't even tell the teams apart and rarely the units will blend into the background. All of this is because of high definition graphics in an RTS game. This means developers must find a middle ground between good graphical design and readability. I think the Retold developers have struck that quite well. There are still some units that look alike, but ultimately when you have units change appearance based on unit and armory upgrades, then I think it's generally a work well done. Keep refining the small details, but overall it's very good.

[@Flamamacue]

So keen for this game. Like many it was one of my favourites as a kid and we all knew how much potential it could have in a modern setting and I think they did a really good job of it. It's got the nostalgic component but there's so many subtle little changes that it's almost a different game. Also loving the better casting and eSports capabilities of the game too One thing I do know is that there better be a FFA Regicide King of The Hill game mode lol that is so much fun to watch!

[@andreicristian9575]

Great breakdown. I enjoyed watching you trying out AoE4 at release and looking forward for AoM now that's an actual playable game. 😀

[@Bishox]

Balance patches are better left for longer periods of time(with exception to really broken things, and early period after release). In a game so complex as AoM, meta will evolve over time, and if you change up gods every 1 month you wont even get to experience everything before its changed. With RTS audience i think we are blessed with a bit higher attention spans that kids that play league etc. But it even works for other titles like CS GO , with balance patches coming out very rarely.

[@30Salmao]

Agreed. RTS as a genre of game and a mindset is much more plenty with conservative patches. I liked the old SC2 way of patching, very rare, but when happened was for better. Sometimes the devs waited much longer than the audience would like and the pros findout the counter of the "bronken" strategies. The game felt alive and real. Not a artificial jugling of stats.

[@henriquefaria6921]

This is a perfect comment. I think in AOM the balance patches are meant to fix broken and overused stuff, not to shift the tendencies every now and then, like you said, it's a more mature audience, a less toxic community with less gen z players, and it should stay like that, for a player's POV. Idk if commercialy that would be the case, though.

[@thorzap1374]

When I criticize it for having a more cartooney art style, I generally mean that the proportions on specifically the humans are a bit exaggerated in a cartooney way. In general, I think the heads and torsos of most male humans are a little too big while their arms and legs are a little too small. It's most noticable during the campaign cutscenes, and it's definitely not a major issue. Everything else looks fantastic. Except the portraits. Kinda BS that the original portraits are paid DLC.

[@sensen6883]

Glad to see that AOM can get the justice the game needs as a remake. It's not perfect, but overall it's amazing and fun, the developer keeps most of the OG's DNA. But my take is that I dislike how the new god art looks now, they don't give the same feeling as the original art. Ah, yeah, the new voice acting especially Athena doesn't have that mystical and majestic feeling as a Goddess. I give the beta 8.2/10

[@battleforevermore]

ALL retold ALL THE WAY!

[@MinotaurvsCyclops]

I think so many people will complain simply for the fact they've been playing AoM for 20+ years and are afraid of change.

[@woodlands_]

I really do think the voice acting and the obvious AI use in the god portraits are the only two problems. Unfortunately those are the hardest things to fix cuz it requires that Microsoft admit to their mistakes and commission artists that don't use AI and get the voice actors to redo their lines.

[@Lucasfly]

I’m super hyped. I hope there is a bit of high level e sports community that develops. I hope some creator goes out and puts forward a tournament that can be donor sponsored. The Redbull one is going to be awesome.

[@yungtubercolosis1073]

Having replays is gonna be sick

[@Just_a_sinner_]

AQ for military is a must, also i'd like 2 less houses a bit more zoomed camera (like you cant dezoom too much). Also no free myth unit in the sea if you chosen the other god...

[@DPSAX95]

Looks like a great game and if they listen to the community as they patch it will evolve into an amazing experience! More retold boit plz!

[@chrisr4023]

I really hope they polish the campaign and maybe add little cinematics here n there. I think there will be lots of old school players that would like to purchase the game just to relieve the adventures of Arkantos and Ajax. People like me wont play actively, but i will definately do a playthrough of the campaign.

[@hitteryoung6500]

This is literally my CHILDHOOD GAME !!! I remember installing this game via Cd , damn thanks microsoft for this ❤

[@GreenBanana1409]

Would you recommend preordering the game considering what you've experienced in the beta? Thank you for the videos and have fun on tour!

[@BoitTV]

If you're intending on playing it, I see no reason not to. 😂

[@tog757]

I can’t wait for this game to drop!

[@moejellini]

2 big patches per year is all AoM needs

[@NeoRageXYZ]

I loved most of it. Cant wait for it to come out!

[@david7996]

Only managed to play 2 online games but the first impression was definitely good!

[@JohnnyEMatos]

They screwed some of the music. Never Mind The Slacks And Bashers doesn't hit as hard in the drop anymore. I have no clue why they would remove the seasoning off the song...

[@BoitTV]

Will need to actually dig into the files and listen. I only really noticed the main menu music is slightly different.

[@Augystys]

Based on the footage in your vid, I can see why people see it as "cartoony". Units look alot more rounder, less sharp and polygonal, with a saturation boost it seems. just my opinion, but i think the look is nice. More pleasing to the eye. Also to note the silver collosi look frikkin sick.

[@nathansayer3884]

We are so back

[@escobaradrian6876]

be aware! this channel its gonna be masive, im happy for the new game and happy for your channel future!

[@biigmonee]

AoM best RTS of all time baby

[@gebhard128]

I can see auto-q as a nice help for casuals and it helps for sure to make single-player and unranked Teamgames etc more fun, but as someone who cames from AoE2 i dont think it should be an option in ranked. Constant Production is a big skill in the macro of a player and it feels not competetive to have it automated. I personally never used the feature in the Titans since I like to have the control over my ressource and make the decision myself if I produce something.

[@noha7ers]

Great video and analysis! Very thorough, thank you very much. However, I must disagree on the part about the dialogues. You mention that they "fail in nostalgia," but I think they should focus on doing a good dub, which they also fail at, lol. Anyway, good video!

[@zionpenumbra]

Beta seemed good glad they did it. I think depending on how people enjoy this game you may wanna start with both titans and Retold and then if everyone is truly happy with retold after a year then full shift to retold. EE had this issue for competitive players and lost a lot of gamers. VA have grown on me but I think Athena and Arkantos voice could use some more time to be worked on. Athena needs to sound more like a deity and Arkantos needs that commanding voice of a general like he has in the OG VA. But the new VA have grown on me. Auto Queue change will get use to but I’m fine with it. I want day night cycle back. Cartoony is meant by the way the animations are done and you could say the unit sizes look much bulkier compared to the OG. Personally I like the new style and changes so doesn’t bother me.

[@mattyIce42E]

Retold all the way from now on. Gonna be an amazing ride! 😊

[@cubandarknez]

In terms of balance, especially for something with as much asymmetry and power levels as AoM gods and their powers I don't think perfect balance is needed/possible. I prefer if they keep things close enough that there is still variety. Ideally they do consistent tuning to make sure nothing gets too unfun/degenerate, but I know RTS don't have a great track record of support.

[@r0fLc0pt3rf0rtHewiN]

Surprised you didn't talk about the splash arts for the gods. I would really hope those get redone properly, even if it doesn't impact the gameplay it's a similar issue to the voice acting.

[@BoitTV]

@@r0fLc0pt3rf0rtHewiN to be completely honest, I just don't care. 😂

[@guilhermedecarvalhofernand1629]

​@@BoitTVa lot of the casual players complained about it, at least it does not affect gameplay at all. In my opinion it's fair criticism, since some are quite clear it was made by A.I while others look phenomenal. So it's like 6 to 8 ones that would need to be changed if they do anyway.

[@Raulikien]

@@BoitTV Based. It's just a reddit/twitter/steam forums hate issue, we'll have the original portraits anyway for the whiners. Meanwhile the new remade soundtrack is much better and no one gives it that much attention.

[@isaacPc9]

They literally had no reason for doing that, they have great artists that have worked on AoE portraits before. Just something to soil the vibe for the game.

[@isaacPc9]

@raulikien the og Portraits are locked behind a paywall. This seems like a tactic that profits on current portraits dissatisfaction, it kinda blows.

[@WWFanatic0]

Personally, I think autoqueue shouldn't be a thing in any capacity. I'm glad they're keeping it to just economic units, but I'd still prefer if it was like most RTS (certainly of its era) where you need to do those things manually. Early raids and harassment are effective in part because you can disrupt their focus and cause idle time. An autoqueue softens that. Sure maybe your eco gets a bit unbalanced as you are distracted, but you aren't behind in villagers which is a big deal.

[@OsupremoPATAPON]

I would really prefer that the patching was similar to lol, balancing and really giving us more options of a god of choice instead of abusing something really strong that you just cannot ignore it, like skadi is always really strong for norse and Oceanus was like a really meme to go to, just an example.

[@firooziehsan]

what do you think of them using AI portraits?

[@NeoXist]

I loved it. The gameplay changes, the graphic changes and (most) of the UI/accessibility changes were very welcome. Being able to play in different colors in campaign is actually cool! For me, what matters most right now is the option to scale the UI/font, the option to declutter the unit/building info screen and the customization of the UI itself. Then I do hope they fix the AI god portraits because they're not very good. I wish they would just upscale the original designs instead.

[@TheVikingSwan]

They did upscale the original designs, you have to pay extra money for them, and they upscaled them using an AI instead of paying an artist, so they look bad.

[@KOSOVOisSERBIA222]

Engine,. graphic is based on AOE 3, and i think some sounds effects are from AOE1

[@bytor75]

As far as balance patch philosophy, I think roughly 6 weeks between patches like the schedule AoE4 follows is decent in terms of timing. Whether or not any one patch has sweeping changes or more mild ones can, and should, be pretty variable based on the most pressing needs, of course.

[@Legion12Centurion]

I was really happy with it.

[@nariknova7433]

Nothing about the AI in the god portraits? Osiris has 5 fingers and a thumb on his right hand, Oranos and Bast have severely mangled hands, 90% of the gods look like they're made of plastic, and someone PLEASE tell Apollo how to nock an arrow, he's so confused. I wrote out a massive comment on a video showing all the portraits that I won't repeat here, but a good half of the god portraits have very obvious "AI-isms." Seriously disappointing to see such iconic art from the old game replaced with AI garbage.

[@Po3try27]

Yea this needs to be adressed. Cannot stand the lack of calling out. Also bigger infuencers, it's your responsibility to call out bad practices.

[@wehad4319]

League of legends patches although frequent don't really change much that's a myth. They are done for winrate purposes and are meant sometimes to only impact certain skill brackets too. A champion's functionality isn't gonna change all that much if they lose 10 base dmg on an ability with a 4 second cd in late game and thus If there was a reason to pick them before that doesn't change. It's just that even high elo solo queue players don't really understand the theory of the game and why certain Champs can be good or picked. I just thought it could be interesting to explain since you mentioned league as an example. League of legends is a patchless game really. The big changes come with new seasons. Meta doesn't change because of insignificant numbers that don't even get changed enough to notice. Meta is defined by champion's kits and counters.

[@30Salmao]

RTS as a genre of game and a mindset is much more plenty with conservative patches. I liked the old SC2 way of patching, very rare, but when happened was for better. Sometimes the devs waited much longer than the audience would like and the pros findout the counter of the "bronken" strategies. The game felt alive and real. Not a artificial jugling of stats.

[@CanadaBeef]

It looks like AOE Online.

[@Benni_Wr]

To everyone who’s hating because of the god pictures or voice overs: Yes, the portraits don't look very good. But I feel like a lot of people are just overreacting. Not playing the game because some pictures don't look good. I don't know about that. I feel like there are so many things that would have been much more problematic than the portraits. Furthermore, I think you get used to it quickly, and if you don't, there will be mods to get the old portraits back. Yes, it's a negative point, like the voice actors, but all in all, the positive aspects clearly outweigh the negative aspects. I think it's a shame to reduce the whole game to just such little things, especially since it was a beta.

[@BoitTV]

@@Benni_Wr I 100% agree. In the end, gameplay is what is important and I think it plays good!

[@masterlucarion]

I’m happy to watch more Titans, until Retold is out at least. Won’t say no to Retold content either, though!

[@Hatsworthful]

As a general norse fan, i'm pretty dang curious to play with the new units and re-balancing of the civ, they feel a lot more cohesive to the theming and balance of the game than other attempts at expanding their arsenal. Also curious to see what they'll do with the Chinese civ later on. Biggest negative for me are the new character art, some of the god portraits look good (meanwhile others like bast's look awful) but in general none of them really hits like the original art. I can't say exactly why but i can't shake off that "mobile game art" feel from the campaign portraits either, like it isn't bad but the back of my brain keeps expecting to see someone suddenly crop up and ask me to watch an ad or do one of those stupid pulley puzzles.

[@mariayjose4796]

All Aom Retold only , is the future, I thing only 30 people that we was playing AOMT extended, is not good.. soo, I thing focus on AOM Retold is the right way

[@jorgemora7406]

Many complains on the cartoonish designs but I think most of human units are just amazing and myth units are so beautiful. Aoe3 engine is evident but it looks and feels so AoM and that’s just awesome. Looking forward next beta.

[@jetsonone1]

Smaller balance changes are definitely the way to go. Using the example you mentioned, something like League of Legends can afford to do massive changes since you only ever control one character at a time so the exposure to changes is more gated. AOM you are controlling possibly 20+ different types of units where a major list of changes could make the experience very confusing to digest to the normal player.

[@doktorm8223]

maybe it would be cool if map can generate bigger and borders are some half transparent barrier, instead of having black void.

[@albertsebastianruelos2111]

Have you seen the campaign?

[@ciberd8]

The problem with the "cartoony" take it's that they see it the wrong way at it, the buildings, troops and environment is awesome and very good looking. The problem relies in the design of some troops, for example lets look at Fire giant and fire giant 2.0(aka atlantean titan) first of all the fire giant used to be so intimidating in the original unit portrait, now the just paint his eye orange and looks "cartoony", the same happens with the atlantean titan. Some design choices make them look "cartoony", but people thinks they have something to do with the graphics. (More examples maybe, the clean armor and robotic movement in automatons, the super clean armor in some troops, a lot of leather clean armor, they take some inmmersion away tho)

[@dimimluiz]

what is the story behind Retold? i was unaware of it. why make it? genuinely curious. loved the game so much, played it a lot.

[@ManchmalGaming]

The game looks godlike!

[@johanneskohn]

I would like to see titans content please continuing on this channel since you asked.

[@strangevideos3048]

No footsteps 😮 ?!

[@Calebol04]

the game has steps, but Boit was playing on his laptop I guess he using a low or mid graphic settings

[@ForourLord95]

Didn't pre order getting it through game pass. I don't think I'll like the no auto que and probably only play casual matches where you can turn it on but we'll see. I think we're gonna see league style patches. Especially early on.

[@marnickb4308]

hey @Bolt T.V where can i watch you play the campaign? :)

[@BoitTV]

It's coming! 😉

[@Po3try27]

The og Titans art is mature, and the movement is solid and paced. Here the artsytle just looks like an Age of Mythology league of legends edition, the movement too is bouncy just like LoL. That's my critic of ''cartoony''. For people like me who really dislike Retold's artstyle it's a big deal because we won't be playing Retold, yet it also means our already small community on Voobly will be cut in half. So when you read about people criticize Retold strongly you have to think that it's not just about retold, it's about the livelihood of one of their favorite all-time games going down the flush.

[@juanfisi]

Some details do look cartoont, like the jarls having that stupid bird in their hat, and the proportions on some units being exagerated to look kinda funny. Its not a deal breaker but i wish they didnt do that, realistic looking human units would be better to contrast the mythic units.

[@135791max]

I know I have inherent bias against the use of AI for art, but I genuinely also felt like the portraits looked worse even before i realized they used AI. Other than that small issue im still so extremely excited to play retold when it comes out.

[@qwerty222999]

Regarding balance patches. I really would hope that the developers would try something new every season, however with that we should always be left with a classic gamemode with how the game was at release. Often times when games live on for many years, things get reworked to circumvent strategies and I honestly just wish they'd keep the release patch as a "Classic" gamemode that is untouched by balance patches. Some games live on the same old patch for years and people enjoy that, but it would also stagnate the game, so I would always be in favor of seasonal balance patches as long as we can always play the vision the developers had at release as an alternative.

[@rogerioueharamarcus4577]

I was so worried this would turn out like warcraft reforged

[@the_andrewest_andrew]

i think when people say "cartoony" (and the fact is a lot of people saying it) means there is a problem but they cant quite articulate what it is (me included)... the DE versions AoE 2&3 dont have this problem but AoE4 does and we can all agree that was a failed experiment at best... anyway whatever issue there is with the style... it's there and it's not going anywhere and we'll have to learn to deal with it or learn to mod 😂 one last thing: the open beta is meant to test the servers and more importantly the balance... changes will be made

[@Glaciatio]

you need to do more retold content to bring newviewers in tbh

[@Harrison_Aoe]

great summary, about the balance watch out as AoE3 is left in a god awful state as the devs kept adding new whacky ideas. These are the same that are creating AoM retold and I know there will be changes added for "variety / creativity" instead of well thought out balance.

[@2020cine]

After the disaster of the chinese I had low expectations but this was amazing. I just feel bad for the team that created the aztec civ mod it was practically ready

[@hamish3057]

I think the model animations contribute to the game feeling cartoony. The movements seem to be very over-exaggerated (e.g. vils mining gold or dwarves doing their weird leaping sprint). The original intent of the AOE series was to create an RTS that was as realistic as possible to the history. With the original AOM they wanted to apply that same spirit to ancient Myths and legends and allow us to imagine what if these myths really were true. The unit models are much more stylised and less realistic than the original game or what you would expect from an AOE game. Perhaps some of the colours are too saturated as well. The added detail and better graphics are great though. Also the UI looks like a fake mobile game ad as others have said. The campaign cut scene UI with the pictures of the characters looks cheap. Voice acting isn’t great as well. I don’t know why they replaced the original voices. I think they should have just focussed on graphics as that is what has improved the most in the past 20 years. Updating the music seems a waste of effort as well as the original soundtrack is timeless imo. Game play looks amazing though which is the most important part at the end of the day. Some myth units like the manticore seem a bit busted but that can be balanced easily. Game looks really fun over all.

[@softwarelivre2389]

The music change probably is due to some weird copyright. Licensing contracts are weird.

[@MinotaurvsCyclops]

I think most casual players (like me) enjoy playing vs the ai. It would be interesting to know if we could give orders to our ai teammates e.g. help me attack purple, or some gold please.

[@alexbf4724]

There's a list of taunts but I don't know if ally AI will comply with requests like "gold please"

[@PHCareli]

To be fair, I was waiting for more improvements as whole. It seems good, but...

[@TheSakurambou]

I would describe some units as plastic. Like everything is made from the same material instead of the hair, fur and skin looks different from each other. Not sure if there is a graphic setting that might improve it.

[@brendenm3644]

The wall and invisible farms need to be fixed! Can't form straight walls and farms are super glitchy. Idle vills without showing idle was way worse than EE

[@FuncraftVideos]

Main downside of Retold that i see is that the game is somehow "smoother" in a not so good way. I liked the sharp, crisp AOT graphics and mechanics