Review | Age of Mythology: Retold - A Strong Return for the Classic RTS

[@Nathan_Marçall]

It was my first pc game ever. I'll never forget when i saw its icon on my dad's desktop and when i double clicked it, that amazing cutscene started and i got amazed by it. It was in 2006, i was 7 years old lol. Since then i've played it a little bit here and there but never forgot about it.

[@ginxtv]

If only they remade that cutscene - I feel like every OG AOM player was hoping for it

[@PROFESSOR_BUTTER]

Its like young child watched ps1 logo for first time.. I cant forget that era

[@kaneslives]

Honestly if the only issue is the voice acting…. We got something special here with this remaster.

[@blaster915]

And the fact on DAY ONE they have an in-game mod on offer to replace the voices with the originals, they know what the fans want ❤️

[@igorthelight]

@@blaster915 Mods are fan made ;-) DLCs are not

[@blaster915]

@@igorthelight I know, but the fact they let it be front of center of the mod page is great

[@igorthelight]

@@blaster915 True!

[@Kain_Mercer]

You can swap to the OG voice acting via a mod, now! It's in the mod manager ingame.

[@masterofnone-mm8df]

tell me

[@GeorgeBowesTV]

I've been waiting 15 years to play this again🤩

[@HaiLsKuNkY]

It came out again remastered just a few years ago

[@igorthelight]

@@HaiLsKuNkY Not the same thing ;-)

[@WaldemarvanWyk]

Graphics is shit though

[@kurrwa]

@@HaiLsKuNkYmultiplayer was unplayable at all, laggy as hell, ugly graphics cheap remake

[@mariomesko1954]

@@WaldemarvanWykwhat ?

[@jbmboy]

"When you get flattened, you're not even that mad because it was cool as sh** to watch"

[@mariopedroza5289]

I would love an Aztec/Mayan pantheon, that would really be the thing that I thing is missing from this game! Is amazing to go back to a game that I spent hours upon hours during my childhood.

[@Mr23barca]

I’d love to see a Roman

[@cfplays6685]

I am a sweaty FPS gamer and I have really enjoyed this RTS the last few days!

[@ginxtv]

Welcome to your new life as a sweaty RTS gamer

[@dubot4076]

Amazing return of the game. RTS is a great genre. AOM is goated.

[@RaphaelIke]

The new pantheon is leaning towards Japan. They're planning a Tokyo Game Show post-launch for expansion 1 (China) where they'll most likely announce the mystery pantheon for expansion 2. I could be wrong and maybe it's the Aztecs but to go to a Tokyo Game Show which shows mostly Japanese based games and announce a non-Japanese pantheon sounds like a missed opportunity and a little weird. If you think about it, a Japanese pantheon would look great alongside an already confirmed Chinese pantheon especially within the context of a new campaign. Just my 2 cents.

[@ginxtv]

This is a really good point. Japanese pantheon would be really fun, and it would have some really interesting units (both mythical & historical)

[@ville4090]

I can see the major gods as Izanagi, Izanami, and Amaterasu. Tsukuyomi and Susanoo could be mythic age gods.

[@ZS-rw4qq]

12:50 Yup, those two, that's what I was gonna say and you beat me to it 🥲 Maybe in the same way as we have Norse without infantry, if they add aztecs (no cavalry) I guess a cool addition would be some steppe people like the Scythians who would have no melee infantry

[@Dark40061]

To be honest, I know this game was getting made, but I did not know it was getting released this year. So I know what I’m doing this weekend.

[@Dj3ndo]

I love the remake. They did such a good job with it. The janky animations personally don't bother me as it adds a little charm and nod to where it came from. All in all, I'm very happy with it and super excited for the future of AoM.

[@callistomoon461]

Nobody actually explains what this game is. Every reviewer assumes you played the original 😂

[@eugene1178]

It’s a RTS game with a mythology theme how much explaining do you need? 😂

[@igorthelight]

Imagine Age of Empires but with mythical units ;-)

[@miguelduhau7087]

True I need to be hiped a bit 😅

[@soneill100]

Can't wait to play this game again. I remember when I played the old 2002 version every new desktop pc I got I'd immediately replay this game again and could straight away see the improved graphics and this game was a blast to play each time. Just waiting for a sale then will play this over and over again.

[@matejzganec6183]

Yes... Mesoamerican pantheon would be amazing.

[@MrHeycowboy]

So excited. Got this game as a 4th grader from a scholastic book fair catalogue.

[@mr.snulch]

Oh wow I didn’t even know they remade this! I’m so down!

[@AdmiralBison]

*Full controller support on PC* is HUGE!! * *Handheld* * Gaming Pcs are growing in popularity and it's great to play an RTS like any other genre plopped on the couch, bed or on the go.

[@ginxtv]

I'm still sceptical about RTS with controller inputs, but I want to give it a try. Might mean my SteamDeck gets used for something other than Darkest Dungeon or Civ which'll be nice!

[@Savage80]

I paid for early accessi have never played a age of empires game before but im having a relaxing time playing this building cities smashing greek monsters it runs well and looks good and thet already put out a update needless to say i will be here for the long haul

[@ginxtv]

Very happy to hear the remake is bringing new players into the mix, and not just appealing to the original AOM players

[@sonskadi9342]

@@ginxtvi have played the OG game the time between Aoe1 and Aoe2, and i think Aoe3 not good enough to replace Aom 😅 like GTA4 did with GTA5

[@thecheapnessreview]

It's been a while... maybe this time round I won't just pick nidhogg every single time

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

Nidhogg isn't all that good anyway. Plus you can now mass produce a new land dragon - Fafnir. :D

[@obviousalias132]

The original game led to Lepanto becoming one of my favorite poems although the lines spoken by Gargarensis a taken way out of context.

[@ginxtv]

He went from one of the most interesting characters, to one of the most generic ones - such a shame

[@Scintilus]

Excellent review. Yes chinese pantheon coming this year and the other will come next year. Hopefully Sumerian pantheon.

[@TuvyahJ]

I'm so happy that they'll rework the Chinese from scratch. Apart from that, I would love Hindu and Aztec pantheon!

[@TokenStrife]

I'd personally love to see a Japanese pantheon or African pantheon.

[@ProtoIndoEuropean88]

why african and not slavic? slavic would be more cooler

[@dan7564]

They are going to remake the chinese expansion and then apparently do a whole new culture after that. The future is interesting. never expected to get new content two decades later.

[@adrianjamesdelfin7414]

Bring out the Aztecs, baby! ✊

[@dan7564]

@@adrianjamesdelfin7414 Move over age of empire 2. Eagle and Jaguar Warriors are back baby!

[@PenguinDoc]

Its time to bring out them Lovecraftian GODS!!!

[@leogunnemarsson4178]

A big miss with the automation is that it's not there for favor. It's only needed for Greece but for them it really, really should be there as it matters a lot.

[@ginxtv]

Oh for sure, probably a much bigger issue than the mentioned Norse one. I'd definitely expect some changes and improvements rolled out on it soon.

[@solairesamv]

Pretty fun, I miss the old voice lines in the campaign with the hero's (like you said some voice lines just felt anti climactic) because it just sounded like they were sitting down reading a script unlike the old voice actors which it felt engaging and really nailed the vibe, and retold has a few bugs here and there which I hope get's worked on and fixed over time but still fun, super fun having a remake, it's kinda like an entirely new game.

[@ginxtv]

On the voice lines, I get the feeling that lines here and there were read without context. It didn't capture the weight or feel in place for the rest of the cutscene. Pretty telling when you look at the consistency of it - some new voices were fine, but then every now and then there'd be sentence that just feels really awkward and muddles up the conversation.

[@igorthelight]

There are mods that change voicelines and god portraits ;-)

[@ezrafaulk3076]

I didn't play it until sometime after it released on Steam, but I played through all the campaigns (except the Chinese DLC one, which I decided *against* buying after reading the reviews), & I *love* it; Ironically, that's why I've been keeping an eye on Retold, but haven't bought into the Advanced access. With how a lot of companies, especially *western* ones, are remastering a lot of older games to make them acceptable for the "modern audience" (& we all know what *that* means), & as Macroshit, specifically Xbox Game Studios, the ones who literally told their developers to *avoid* making curvy female characters, *bought* the studios that developed it, securing them the publishing rights, I was scared they were gonna *uglify* the female characters & goddesses, & force black people into the Greek, Norse, & Atlantean pantheons; I was, & still am, *also* worried they'll do the same thing with the original extended edition when Retold comes out that Ubisoft did with the original version of Beyond Good & Evil & have it *removed* from the Steam store, making Retold your *only* option to play it on Steam if you didn't buy the original extended edition before Retold released. Thus, I wanted to see some in game footage *before* I bought it; thankfully, while I'm still not to sure about how Amanra looks now, specifically in the *face* (though admittedly I can't really fairly compare it to her tiny, low poly original face, since that's probably not gonna look very feminine with such limitations), from what I'm seeing, it seems the developers were pretty much able to get away with *defying* Macroshit & deliver a truly *authentic* remaster with better visuals & quality of life improvements (to the game that *itself* made quality of life improvements to the Age of Empires formula), & that I'm happy to see. I'm even *more* happy to see that all the mods for the *original* Age of Mythology extended edition will be compatible with Retold because the original had a custom campaign based on the story of *Beowulf* that I'd installed, but never got to finish, & I'd *love* to play that again & have it look & play better than ever. I'm also happy they're working on *fixing* the Chinese expansion; it seemed cool for the original, but the reviews for the original scared me away. With all that outta the way, I think now I can *finally* list all the different pantheons I'd like to see added at one point or another; there's a *lot* I'd like to see added, provided they're *authentic* to the culture, but I'll limit it to ones within the space covered by the combined original extended edition & Chinese DLC; so no Japanese pantheon, as cool as that'd be. Also no Roman pantheon, as the Atlanteans essentially play their role in the game, even having similar aesthetics; & they'd just be a combination of Greek & Atlantean anyway, or Germanic pantheon, as they'd be functionally identical to the Norse. (Fair warning, there'll be blanks on a number of them, as I'm not overly familiar with *all* the gods in each pantheon I suggest). Hindu pantheon: Major gods: Shiva, Vishnu, & Durgha. Minor gods: Kali, Ganesha, Bhrama, _, _, _, _, _. Myth units: _. Sumerian pantheon: Major gods: Bahamut, Tiamat, & Marduk: Minor gods: Ishtar, _, _, _, _, _, _, _. Myth units: _. Persian pantheon: Major gods: _, _, & _. Minor Gods: _, _, _, _, _, _, _, _. ?: Mithras (I don't know if Mithras would be a major or minor god). Myth units: _. Canaanite pantheon: Major gods: El, Athirat (or Ashera), & Dagan. Minor gods: Ba'al, Helel-Ben-Shahar, Anat, Yahweh, Mot, Moloch, _, _. Myth units: Malakhim, Seraphim, Ophanim, Keruvim. Celtic pantheon: Major gods: Morgan le Fay, Cernunoss, & _. Minor gods: Epona, _, _, _, _, _, _, _. Myth units: Barghest, Bobahn-Sihd, Pixie, & more. Other people who have a better understanding of these cultures, including the pantheons, feel free to fill the blanks I left.

[@tuskofgothos2637]

As a Hindu, a big problem with using the Hindu pantheon is that there is a great risk of people being offended. It’s just not worth the risk. I’d love to have the Hindu pantheon in the game, but due to reasons we can’t have nice things. The other recommendations were great though.

[@lideruploader6577]

Nice vid, subbed. 🎉 Keep'em coming

[@serjackson2586]

I was a call of duty and sports games guy my whole life. When I got to college I got into mobas. Now I’m 27 and trying to learn something new. I have no idea how RTS games work but they sound so interesting. Any tips on getting into them as a new player?

[@ginxtv]

Welcome to the strategy world - never too late to sign up! So for AOM (and most RTS games for that matter) - the campaign is always a good place to start. It'll teach you all the basic concepts, and you'll play as every pantheon from the original game, and use most of the powers and units. If you hit a wall though and want a bit more freedom, don't feel like you have to finish the campaign before experimenting in skirmish. Lots of RTS players (myself included) usually skip campaigns and go straight to skirmish. There's a few important concepts to get your head around. Economy - you can't build an army without resources. Make sure you're always producing villagers and bringing in resources. You can stop producing you've got a healthy stockpile (I usually produce till about 45-50 vils) Counters - different units are better at different things. Take down cavalry with spearmen, myth units with heroes, and siege units with cavalry. Units in the game will tell you what they're good against in their tooltip. Hotkeys - you'll start playing mostly with your mouse, but get in the habit of learning 1 new hotkey every game. When you've got a strong handle on using your keyboard instead of mouse select, you'll play much more efficiently. Pantheons - you'll naturally prefer one pantheon over another, but make sure you try each one and have a handle on it. Makes it easier to play against them. Know your enemy, that sort of thing. Aggression - You want to be the one setting the pace of the game. Don't give your opponent free reign to do whatever they want. Hit them early with some troops. Harass their villagers. Pick off their scouts. Every disruption hurts their economy. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy. There's obviously a huge amount of depth and a very high skill ceiling, but if you're setting the pace of a game by being aggressive and forcing the enemy on the backfoot, if you're utilising counters effectively, and constantly building a strong economy to keep churning out troops - you'll see significant gains. It won't happen all at once, but little by little you'll see improvements and feel more confident.

[@ieasy12]

8:40 **Sigh** stopping the best part of the Osiris cinematic; Those sick flips the towers end up doing!

[@delicioustoxin372]

It’s amazing and it’s only beta pre release. Rts never die we multiply baby let’s gooo 🎉

[@TobyJns]

Japanese pantheon would be really new and exciting

[@darkknight312-t7b]

what a missed opportunity to not remaster the intro as well

[@ginxtv]

I was so excited to see that, and then it never happened. Mind-boggling given how much that intro is beloved.

[@darkknight312-t7b]

@@ginxtv yeah man, this and the campaign voice acting is my only complain for this remake

[@DashMatin]

that iconic intro...

[@17joren]

Looks like the Chinese expansion will be available too! Btw, the feature that units changed appearance with upgrades was always present in the original, but you had to turn it on in the graphics settings. It took me a while to realize when I first played. Also the 5th titan age was there with the Atlantean expansion. I had gold edition so maybe these weren’t automatically available?

[@ginxtv]

So the fifth age in Retold is different - in the original iirc that unlocked the Titan Gate, but the 5th age here comes with other effects - while the titan gate is available in the 4th age. I could've worded that clearer in the video! And thanks for the correction re: the unit upgrades - that blows my mind a little bit, I never knew that was a thing.

[@p3dr0-Logaritmico]

I can fully sign to this review. Having my blast and I love, that I can play it on my XBox. When it comes to future pantheons I wished for: Japanese would be great to explore their culture, which differs from the Chinese one, which was already announced as future content. And of course Slavic and Native Americans would be amazing as well. Those would be on my wishlist too. Happy Gaming!

[@ginxtv]

How is it handling on Xbox? Personally couldn't see myself playing a strategy game on a console, but I'm happy there's a market for it.

[@p3dr0-Logaritmico]

​@@ginxtv performance-wise it runs well, guess the more AI you add, the more it stresses out the CPU. But I had stable 60 FPS with 2-3 AI opponents on quality mode - whose equivalent PC settings are unknown to me, but you can see for yourself in this video link below. Regarding controls, I figure if they used the control schema of Age of Empires 4, it will be great to play with a gamepad. I did it in the previous title and it was quite efficient, but ended up using mouse and keyboard instead as ex PC RTS gamer - which I did from the beginning in this title as well. Company of Heroes 3 delivered a great usability job in this regard too - at least on consoles. Don't know if gamepad support made it to the PC version. kzbin.info/www/bejne/apy0mX54oMqIpqc

[@ginxtv]

Those camel physics though! It looks like it runs really smooth, unit movement seems very responsive too, and if they've got a good controller layout - well, that solves the biggest problem. I haven't tried to play an RTS on a console for many years (Halo Wars I think was the last?) - but I'm so happy Microsoft are pushing it out for consoles too and giving a way in for more people.

[@p3dr0-Logaritmico]

@@ginxtv jep, and this multiplat + crossplay strategy *pun not intended, LOL* keeps a player base alive, even for less popular games - like this Age of Sigmar game, which launched almost a year ago. I kinda enjoy it, while it has massive flaws. But you can rely on players on PS5, XBox and PC.

[@laureanogutierrezv]

The Mythical Battle is very nice!

[@XerxezsX]

A Gnome race, Night Elf and Druid.

[@brownpunk1794]

Well i never got 2 play this as a kid..might give it a go now..luks fun..is it similar to warcraft3?

[@ginxtv]

Never been a better time to try it. It has the same basic functions as WC3, but it's not as hero-focused. You have special units, but you aren't leveling them up or anything. If you can play WC3, you'll be able to pick this up pretty easily.

[@anthonyharrison8567]

Dose the xbox version support mouse and keyboard like age of empires?

[@ginxtv]

I can't test it personally, but according to the official FAQ, mouse & keyboard are supported on Xbox versions

[@anthonyharrison8567]

@@ginxtv nice definitely give it a go then

[@EarlOfLemongrabb]

Its actually a little harder now. With the balance changes, I was struggling on moderate difficulty LOL. In a good way feels very modern. Walls feel a bit weaker now (unless upgraded more, I Recall only usually upgrading to tier 2-3 walls), sentry towers go down faster. Units do more damage

[@ginxtv]

I've definitely felt that - tried a few games against hard AI with a friend and the AI bumrushed us at the 5 minute mark. Certainly feels like they've made the AI more challenging (and I'm looking forward to see how the hardest difficulties handle!)

[@EarlOfLemongrabb]

@@ginxtv Right, Can't just spam x20 Hoplites x10 Toxotes/Siege and some Myth Units now

[@ginxtv]

@@EarlOfLemongrabb I learned that lesson the hard way

[@robertthemackenzie]

Why does Kronos look like he's got a giant pink gobstopper

[@ieasy12]

Also, Sobek replacing Hator, 'cause the myth units are scaly, and having a furry god rather than a scaly one got GiantGrantGames (and posssibly other) weirded out.

[@AdmiralBison]

Other RTS games to make a comeback\updated AND have full controller support for increasingly popular Handheld PCs - SteamDeck, Asus Rog Ally, Aya Neo, GPD Win, Lenovo Legion, OneNet etc... Command & Conquer, Dawn of War, Lord of the Rings BMFII, StarCraft BW/II, etc...

[@ginxtv]

I would LOVE to see BFME2 remastered. Or just anywhere for that matter. Unavailable on every digital store. Last I heard the series was in licencing hell so will probably never see the light of day again. I think there'll be more golden age RTS' making an appearance soon. AOM:RT & AOE2:DE both did great - there's a real audience for it, and I hope publishers take note.

[@savitarr1162]

0:12 this is my biggest complaint about the game, they need to fix this ASAP

[@IamPotion]

What is your complaint ?

[@savitarr1162]

@@IamPotion the pathing ! the characters don't go where/when you want them to go, its like they are dumb npc's trying to take a complicated way and not knowing what to do ;D and sometimes range charcters go melee cuz they can't find the target while the target is clearly shootable

[@savitarr1162]

@@IamPotion0:11 look at that elephant most left, trying to go trought the scarab ! and then look at the rest not knowing what to do and where to go

[@DashMatin]

the god portraits should not have been upscaled or made anew by AI ...

[@mihajlohranisavljevic6412]

I own game premium edition so i can i play a little earlier .The god portraits are far better now...

[@Lycanmaster]

My all time favorite game😊

[@RGR_Gaming10X]

I use to love this game - but to be honest, besides some UI changes and crisper resolutions (and it seemingly running better due to high performance PC's) - its not really as big of a change as I would have hoped.

[@stormeagle81x]

It's cool hard to get used to faster ville production. The units often move too fast when attacking as well. Makes it look less realistic.

[@jazzratoon]

You don't play video games for realism. You play them for fun.

[@stormeagle81x]

@@jazzratoon it's 2024. We're not comparing tetris

[@jazzratoon]

@@stormeagle81x We're talking about a game with mythological creatures and gods with varied powers, and you're worried about the realism of production speed? If you are worried about units being too fast, limit your game frame rate. Or maybe get a less powerful computer. If a game isn't fun, then why are you playing it?

[@dankstank110]

Damn that's a stupid criticism cause the original was hella fast as well this one isn't that fast either. The realism bit is dumb cause this is an RTS game with cyclops and meteors falling from the skies realism is the least concerning thing in the world

[@jazzratoon]

@@dankstank110 True mate. You get it. 😀

[@Randy7777]

Yes!!!

[@nariman2355]

Prostagma

[@ginxtv]

Etimos

[@benjamincederberg818]

as a christian and massive history nerd i both love and hate/dread the idea of a Kaananite pantheon...

[@kenjijohnsonsanzenin3388]

Japanese pantheon i wish in the expansion!

[@Wooden-Owl]

if there was an advanced villager autopilot then the game would have been not that fun

[@getusoon]

Indian gods please! Have Shiva Durga and Vishnu be primary gods

[@thehandleisuseless]

What? They didn't add the fifth civilization? Lol why?

[@ginxtv]

Chinese are being reworked and released as an expansion. To be honest, I'd have liked a new content straight off the rip with this, but I can kind of see why they wanted to keep Retold as just the original game's pantheons.

[@ieasy12]

The Chinese factions were apparently really poorly designed and stuff,so they are still working on fiximg and redesigning it. Also, was a DLC made vy a random Company as a cash-crab? Not sure how the licensing on the content of that DLC is.

[@ProtoIndoEuropean88]

They quite messed up with the God images, they look like Marvel heroes instead of having that beautiful look you see in certain paintings. Also what's with the new voice acting? horrible. Anyways I congradulate the new textures, they're good, let's just hope new civilizations are released.

[@igorthelight]

Mods would help with voices and portraits ;-)

[@raisulislamratul1808]

We want Indian pantheon.... They have so many gods and varieties..and they are visual masterpieces ❤

[@AHappyCub]

That's risky, not to mention the Hindutvas might go violent

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

They'll never do that. Everyone avoids doing Hindu mythology cos unlike the Greek or Egyptian mythos, the Hindu one is still a living religion with a billion adherents. It'd just be courting controversy when there's far less risky options.

[@ginxtv]

I think Smite had loads of issues for the way they were using Hindu deities. I'd think AOM would be more tasteful with it - but still a potential for backlash that they'll probably want to avoid. A shame though, as it's a really interesting region historically and in myths.

[@inpadiii563]

Isn’t the obvious missing pantheon some kinda Asian mythology?

[@RubenLodewijkMusic]

Don't forget that they removed the Chinese pantheon from the expansion. It is weird they did not include that one.

[@igorthelight]

Not weird at all - Chinese faction was broken in original so they are remaking them from the ground up ;-)

[@cleanandlevel]

you just had to bring up wc3 reforged...

[@jeffgriffith9692]

So my... friend... pirated the game because he has been burned by these rehashes... but was surprised to be so wrong and then go buy it 2 hours later.

[@ginxtv]

Chaotic good.

[@frumentarii9571]

I hate new voice-overs. Arkantos, (which was amazing) speaks extremely soulless.

[@benwazeh]

It's even worse in other languages like french. Some lines are read like your local bus stop announcement, some aren't even translated. It's a mess.

[@frumentarii9571]

@@benwazeh I just realised there is a mod for this issue :O In game menu-mods tab and there it is!! Restoring Original Voice Acting Mod

[@ginxtv]

Some of them worked, but some really changed the character too much. Gargarensis was the big one for me. Went from this civilised megalomaniac quoting poetry - into just 'generic bad guy monster voice'. It just changes the character.

[@Louka-om9uh]

It's Willis!

[@TagaBearClaw]

ggs

[@mouldywilson]

Penchant for Chaos - Great name for an awful metal band.

[@mrbardel4363]

it is not a new game . same old game whit a new paint . no workshop .

[@WaldemarvanWyk]

But the graphics is still shit

[@hhattonaom9729]

They should not have changed the UI to cater to AOE players, for me it’s just really unappealing

[@igorthelight]

Maybe mods could help ;-)