My newest discovery on PC is Fantasy General II, a game that released back in 2019 to positive word of mouth. I took advantage of a bundle sale on Fanatical to buy the game and all its DLC for a song. So far, after three battles, I’m impressed! The next battle reportedly represents a difficulty spike, so let’s see how I fare.
I’ve also dusted off Field of Glory II, the turn-based wargame set in the Ancient World, after buying its DLC in the same bundle sale. The DLC expands the game’s time frame to approximately 4,000 years — from 3,000 BC to AD 1040 — and includes a vast range of armies, from Ireland to India. The game and DLC are well worth a look for period fans.
On console, I’m playing the superb Elden Ring and its DLC, “Shadow of the Erdtree”. Reaching the late game has been a long, on-and-off journey over more than 18 months; I thought I was ready to power through to the end, but the DLC has rekindled my appetite, so my journey still has a way to go.
Recent releases
- Age of Mythology: Retold is now available on Steam and Game Pass. Review scores are good.
- This one is for fans of “traditional” base-building RTS — as with Age of Empires IV, Mythology was too traditional for me.
Mods
- A new version of the “A Game of Thrones” mod for Crusader Kings 3 has arrived, adding dragons and new start dates, including “The Rogue Prince” — Daemon Targaryen’s campaign in the Stepstones. I have slightly mixed feelings about the mod:
- It is an impressive accomplishment by the team: it recreates Westeros and the western coast of Essos from Pentos down, across multiple time periods.
- Playing as Daemon, I had an exciting time conquering the Stepstones and the three Essosi cities of Myr, Pentos, and Lys. The dragons are very, very cool; and as powerful as one would expect. Having a dragon gives a massive bonus in battle, which let Daemon defeat much larger armies.
- The problem was what came next; there doesn’t seem to be much to do in peacetime. Is this a CK3 problem, a mod problem, or a CK3 problem exacerbated by the setting? I hung around for some time after my conquest, expecting “interesting times” that never came, before eventually quitting. I had the same problem when I tried a new start as a different character, back in Westeros.
Upcoming games
- Ara History Untold, a historical 4X game, is coming out in a few weeks. Previews are scarce, but positive.
- I think the feature that interests me most is production chains for resources, which is common in city-builders but rare in 4X games (and especially in historical 4X games).
- Firaxis has released a 2-hour developer live stream video for Civilization VII — this one I haven’t seen yet.
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