The French Amplitude Studios is a name that stands out in the chaotic tangle of indie development houses: where most remain at the mercy of market fluctuations, still driven in many cases more by passion than by competence and technical capacity, Amplitude combines a prolific creative department with its team of highly experienced developers and strives to emerge with quality products and partnerships with far more noble houses, such as Ubisoft.
Endless Legend was released on September 18, 2014 for PC and Mac and has continued to expand and improve with 4 substantial DLC packs, the last of which landed on Steam just last month. in this review we will talk about both the base title and its expansions. Turn-based strategy, like any self-respecting 4X, Sid Meyer's Civilization series has had and continues to confront itself with the lord of the genre, and does so with bold innovations and a superb narrative sector. We do not compare with the new Firaxis title, but looking back a couple of years ago, we can safely declare that Endless Legend, if he didn't steal Civilization V's scepter and crown, continues to look him straight in the eye and has one foot already on the throne..
Auriga: your World, your Legend
Endless Legend is inserted within the narrative niche of the universe Endless, which includes games such as Endless Space and the more recent Endless Space 2, also developed and written by Amplitude. Unlike these last two titles and many strategic 4X games in the gaming landscape, Legend leaves the space setting to focus on a single world, a single planet permeated by two souls, one fantasy and one science fiction: Auriga.
Auriga is an apparently flourishing and munificent world, rich in culture and magic, but built on the ruins of a devastating civil war between the ancient Endless and later shaken by a mysterious cataclysm, the effects of which are slowly leading the planet towards a winter. perennial. At the center of it all is Dust, a deus-ex material at the base of the extinct Endless civilization and capable of giving concrete form to thoughts, and us, at the head of one of the factions fighting for control of Auriga.
The base game available today features 8 of these factions, but to call them such is diminutive of the care with which the boys of Amplitude have blown life into their creation like modern Prometheus. Each people, with the single exception of the Mezaris - a reskin of the Vaulters - is characterized by a rich and vast culture; this, in addition to defining their identity, will unfold in a long series of unique quests that have their roots in the mysterious narrative universe of Endless. In terms of gameplay, this translates into factions with additional technologies and ad hoc units, but above all in unique abilities that go beyond mere percentage bonuses and affinities: in fact, most of the civilizations of Endless Legend present radical alterations of central game mechanics, to the point of being, at times, eliminated. As a result, choosing the ravenous Necrophages will lead to a fundamentally different approach and look at victory than the zealots Cultists, or the merchant princes of the Roving Traders.
If, however, the strong incentives of each faction to favor one approach to the game over the others are not to your liking, every single faction is customizable in the initial menu. You can combine non-contradictory traits from all of the base civilization to create the faction that best suits your style and rename it, so as not to overwrite the original. The game world, even before pressing the Start button, is then editable in all its components: the morphology and topography of the world and of the individual continents can be altered according to our preferences, following frequency criteria, or be completely entrusted to chance through a randomized generator. The same can be said for resources, be they standard, luxury or strategic. Each new game will therefore take place in a world that, while sharing the history of the previous one, will be visually completely new.
A mind-boggling first approach
Completed the upload, the first view of the game world is overwhelming, and not in the best sense of the word. At first glance, the world will look familiar to anyone who has ever worked on a Civilization game: a beautiful map divided into hexagons highlighting the resources on offer, all surrounded by a gray fog of war. The first task before us is the founding of the first - and only, in the case of the Cultists - city of our Empire, favored by the relative abundance of resources of the initial spawn areas. Shortly after building our capital, the game will start bombarding us with notifications and information: quests, the Drakken ready to enter into the first diplomatic relations, minor factions in the vicinity and their predisposition towards us, neighboring fields ... all a great chaos, which combined with the abundance of content presented in the HUD also generates in the RTS player more inveterate moments of confusion, and can lead the neophyte to the immediate Alt-F4 and leave the game.
Endless Legend has a tutorial mode: this, however, is short and very superficial for a game of such complexity. Mind you: complex, not difficult. Without considering the advanced end-game options, the tutorial doesn't even touch on basic mechanics such as the balance of the three macro-classes of resources, the progression of the ages and entire gameplay paths “hidden” behind search options. In-game, the only glimpse of guidance offered to us is revealed when, for one reason or another, we decide to advance to the next round: at this point, a pop-up will remind us which of the key operations (such as the construction of buildings, or research) has no assigned task. A useful post-it, but this lack of support, combined with the aforementioned specialization of the factions in different paths, will make the understanding of the real game mechanics and any success require a fair investment of time and effort through trial-and-error. Who will not be frightened by a first approach that is not the most crystalline will be rewarded, however, by a unique gaming experience that will lead him to say "one more turn" until exhaustion.
From the Ashes, an Empire
Let's go back to where we left off: our capital rises, and the first borders of our empire in bands have been established. The dynamic city-region is one of the many cornerstones of Endless Legend: any Empire can reclaim an uncolonized region by building a city first and the only way to extend its dominion over an already colonized region is to conquer - or raze - the enemy settlement. The correct balance between unbridled colonialism and excessive hesitation is difficult to achieve, and probably a perfect formula does not exist. Extremes, however, must be avoided: if on the one hand an excessive expansion will thin our defenses until the inevitable collapse, the excessive weighting will deliver the most succulent territories to our opponents, up to being surrounded in every direction without the possibility of further expansion.
The city, however, does not draw resources from every quadrant of the controlled region, but only from those over which its districts extend: initially small in number, new districts can be built as the city is upgraded. Cities provide our empire with only the basic resources: Dust, Industry, Food, Science and, indirectly, Influence.. Endless Legend then takes up a mechanic common to many 4Xs and punctuates the map of sites capable of providing Luxury resources and Strategic resources: the possession of the former provides substantial upgrades to the entirety of our Empire, such as production increases, happiness bonuses or all 'Influence of our faction, and increases in combat stats; Strategic resources, on the other hand, are fundamental in the realization of the equipment of Heroes and basic units. Remember this, because we will be back later: it is not yet time to step on the battlefields. We are still in the first round.
These two classes of resources - Luxury and Strategic - can be obtained in two ways: the most direct and profitable is the construction of an extractor on the site that produces it, in order to have a constant source of it independent of market fluctuations. The second, in fact, is the Market. Accessible to all factions, even the infamous Necrophages, the trade is not limited only to resources (standard or valuable as they are): military units can be sold as mercenaries for Dust and subsequently purchased as mercenaries for the same currency, even by avowedly enemy factions. The role of these units is far from secondary: in fact they maintain the equipment with which they were sold, and make available combat options previously precluded to factions that do not have them. The Roving Traders, moreover, can conduct military campaigns only through mercenaries, which they rely on both for the offensive and for the defense of their possessions.
Mad, Mad Science
If economy and resource management is one of the great pivots on which Endless Legend revolves, technological progression plays a twin and synergistic role. Endless Legend's technology wheels abandons the linear and tree-like progression of Civilization and its clones, in favor of a system that is more suited to the prolific approach that the game allows. At the beginning of each game we will have access to the first wheel, that of the first Age in which we find ourselves; each wheel, in turn, is divided into four sections: Science and Industry, Economy and Population, Empire and Expansion and, finally, Army.
Division does not mislead you: each field is freely searchable by each faction, except for individual technologies excluded ad hoc or already developed in the background. There are also no cost discrimination in Science points, as this varies according to the number of technologies already developed. Finally, the advancement of Era is not delegated to the development of particular technologies or in-game objectives: completing nine quests from one Age automatically progresses to the next, without however precluding further research into the wheel of the previous age. Those wishing to devote themselves entirely to scientific development with the Ardent Mages, one of the factions most inclined to this path to reach the victory conditions, could for example ignore the Military research field until reaching the fifth Era, and then complete a limited number of war technologies of previous ages to your liking.
We are never alone: the Drakken are always watching us. Always.
The construction queue is full, our scientists are busy, and our little army is heading to explore nearby ruins, which will inevitably be empty. The first round can end; upon loading the next one, nine times out of ten the game will announce that the Drakken, sophisticated dragonborn, have contacted us thanks to their initial ability that allows them to know the position of all the factions on the map. Diplomacy in Endless Legend is not a tinsel or a secondary component of flavor. Instead, it is a vast system, simple but overall well built, equipped with a dedicated resource, Influence, and at the center of the gameplay of at least three basic factions.: the Roving Traders, the Cultists and, indeed, the Drakkens.
Our relations with the other major factions in the game are divided into four levels: Alliance, Peace, Cold War and War. With factions like the Necrophages, a Cold War condition is the rosiest of prospects, while the Roving Traders will tend to try to develop relationships of Peace. Each diplomatic standing, in fact, has associated different bonuses and derived dynamics: if the commercial lines of mutual benefit can be opened only between two factions in Peace, it is possible to face in neutral territory troops of a civilization with which we are in the Cold War without repercussions ... if not the risk of causing mutual relations to degenerate into War open, of course. Diplomacy is not limited only to relations between factions or rather, there are several options that can influence the balance between War and Alliance. Trade, technology trading, bribery attempts: all of these options cost Influence, perhaps the most difficult resource to produce, at least in the early stages of the game.
Until the release of the DLC Shadows, Influence had "only" another function, crucial in the mid-advanced stages of any game. From the twentieth turn onwards, and every twenty turns since then, it is possible to activate an Imperial Plan: these are collective bonuses that will affect all the cities and units of our Empire, not just a single region. The customization of the plan depends entirely on us: it is in fact up to the player to balance the bonuses available based on the Era with the cost, often heavy, in Influence points, but prudent investments are just as often the difference between an acceleration on one's opponents or a burning defeat. To facilitate the task, it is possible to simulate in advance the cost of the desired Plan, so as to be able, if necessary, to take advantage of temporary boosts to the production of Influence a few shifts from the completion of the previous plan and the possibility of starting the next.
Management, Strategy and Preparation
If you have come this far after all the talks about economics, technology, Influence and territories, some of you may be wondering when and how combat fits into this complex game system that we are gradually dissecting. The answer may not appeal to many; it certainly did not satisfy us, initially, until the blatant truth was shown to our blind eyes. Endless Legend is first and foremost a game focused on managing and expanding an Empire. For each battle, there are planning shifts, economic balances, and diplomatic negotiations. And when the battle comes, it will be this painstaking preparation that will make the difference.
Our small army, exploring the surroundings of the capital in search of resources, has revealed that we are not the first to have made this corner of the world home. Numerous lower factions have also evolved on Auriga, such as the Delvers and the Bos, whose independent villages are scattered far and wide throughout the various regions. Interaction with these tribes doesn't have to be warlike, unless you are Necrophages, in which case… congratulations! You have just found a constant source of food. For all the others there are several options, all aimed at the possible assimilation of these factions in our Empire. A fundamental step to this end is the pacification of the tribe, which can take place through corruption, negotiation or, in the case of Cultists, real religious conversion. Once pacified, the tribe can be assimilated, with slots for additional unlockable tribes in the research wheel.
Here we choose a belligerent approach, the only one proposed not to pacify the tribe: in the event of our victory in battle, the village will be set on fire, and pacification will only be possible once we rebuild and repopulate it - probably with the children of the same tribals we slaughtered, indoctrinated to be faithful to us -. However, the war approach has its tactical value: left unchecked, tribal villages grow and produce native units that can prove to be a serious threat to our growing Empire. You remember a few hundred words ago when we mentioned basic units and Heroes, and Strategic resources? Our army is made up of the former, led by the latter and equipped with the latter. As a rule, each faction has three types of standard combat units, of which only the first is available at the start of the game. This limitation - in number, not type - further differentiates the individual factions, as none have enough native units to cover all roles for themselves: for example, the Vaulters do not have flying or support units, while the Broken Lords do not have remote or support units. On the other hand, these specializations are counterbalanced both by the purchase of mercenaries from other factions, and by the variety of equipment that can change, even diametrically, the role of a unit in battle.
One step above the troop are the Heroes. These multifunctional units can lead armies or rule cities, granting interesting bonuses in both cases. At the beginning of each game, each faction will count among its ranks only one of these units: limited in number, others can be engaged in the Market by investing Dust. No hero is similar to another, and certainly not to the base units: at each level-up the Heroes will get points to invest in a Skill-Tree divided into three branches that intertwine to unlock the most advanced skills. While the central branch is common to all heroes, the other two vary according to the role they play in combat and the faction to which they belong. The uniqueness of each hero is further accentuated by the variability of their equipment: as for the basic units, Heroes' outfits can also be upgraded by spending Dust and Strategic resources, but the changes aren't limited to aesthetics.
Once the battle is engaged, we opt for manual resolution. A choice that, in the future, we will repeat only a few times. As announced by the title and following the indications of the good Sun Tzu, the preparation for a battle is almost always more decisive than the development of the same. Our contribution in manual control is limited to placing our units in advantageous points of the terrain during the deployment phase, and selecting targets at the beginning of each turn. Movement and attack are automated, as is the use of skills (except rare buffs or AoE) by the Hero and units. The micro-managing of turn-by-turn tactics is therefore not so much entrusted to artificial intelligence, which we will discuss in a moment: these options are not really present in the game.
Endless Legend's artificial intelligence is competitive on difficulties above Normal, but has several shortcomings that are easily exploited once learned. Staying on combat, the already simplistic battles become even more mundane given the AI's lack of aggression. On a broader level, the expansion of AI-controlled factions appears to follow common patterns, even when these clash with each faction's inherent approach to victory: most of the time the AI will therefore try to gain victory and control over Auriga through Domination, even when it does not fit the chosen faction. Also noteworthy in a game with not indifferent diplomatic options, as the AI does not autonomously forge alliances between factions it controls or react in any way to the player's imminent victory, announced by early specific notifications for each victory path.
The Art of Endless Legend
Auriga is a living world, pulsating with history, culture and secrets. Perfectly inserted in the narrative universe of Endless, Legend shares with the chapters Space, Space 2 and the dungeon-defense Dungeon of the Endless in-depth storylines that intertwine the past, present and future of Auriga and the universe into one. . The hubris of the Endless, addicted to the Dust, brought life to Auriga, but it has possibly also declared its end: the cycle of the seasons on the planet is unstable, with sudden changes from summer to winter at an almost unpredictable frequency. And as the winters lengthen and the summers become more and more pale imitations, the stories of the individual factions branch out in progressive quests, influencing Auriga's fate.
The textures woven by Jeff Spock and his team are a pleasure to read and have pushed us to pursue the quests almost more for the pleasure of finding out what happens next than for the hefty rewards up for grabs. Here too, as for Diplomacy, it is not about added content but an end in itself: among the various paths of victory (Elimination, Supremacy, Diplomacy, Expansion, Science, etc.), the progression in the main questline implements two of them : the construction of the Temple in the Center of the Earth, unlockable at the beginning of the final quest, or the completion of that quest. Above all, remember that we are talking about an RTS based on original content.
Visually, Endless Legend is a feast for the eyes. The art direction of Amplitude Studios translated the immense potential of the Fantasy-Sci-fi marriage with inspired results that fully embody the narrative richness of the title. The game world suffers from a stuffy HUD, but on occasions when this is removed, perhaps rearranging the ideas between one shift and another, it is possible to admire the vibrant palette of pastel colors and the mixing of hand-made elements with the tilt-shift realization of the game planetarium.
The sound sector, both for the base game and for the DLC, has been entrusted to the composer, sound designer and harpist Flyby No.. The result are almost 40 minutes of soundtrack oscillating between ambient folk and the dungeon synth that creates an immersive acoustic environment that accompanies the infinite adventure in the Endless universe, without being repetitive or annoying even after long hours in a row spent in front of a screen. The complete soundtrack is also available in MP3 format as DLC at a cost of $ 2,99: a perhaps disputable choice, even if it is a negligible amount compared to the purchase of the version of the game complete with all the DLCs, which is around on Steam around the € 80.
Guardians: Between Pokemon and Heroic Feats
Endless Legends: Guardians is the first paid DLC of the Amplitude Studios title, released on April 29, 2015. The first purpose of this additional content seems to be to expand the combat scenario, rather monotonous and fleeting in the base title. Instead of reviewing the core mechanics, perhaps a more suitable choice for a patch, Amplitude Studios adds a new type of unit to reinvigorate the removable repertoire in battle. Then the Guardians enter the scene, elemental giants with a rather uncertain narrative placement but with prodigious fighting skills.
While the concept doesn't really shine for its originality, the construction maintains the premium quality that anyone who has played the base game has at least noticed, if not appreciated. The five Guardians reflect their belonging elements stylistically and as abilities: so Skoros, the Guardian of Dust, possesses healing buffs and ability to control enemy units by channeling the Dust into their organisms; Gios, Guardian of the Earth, can unleash earthquakes and fortify cities; and Atmos, Guardian of the Wind, can fly, teleport and even command the cold winds of winter. One wonders if, however, the game is worth the candle: the production of the Guardians requires considerable investments of time, resources and technology. that could be better spent on numerous city upgrades and standard unit production; a well-equipped army, led by a competent Hero, can overwhelm any Guardian. But the heart is not commanded, especially when Endless Legend introduces the equivalent of Pokémon.
The Guardians aren't the only addition made by the DLC of the same name. Legendary Quests are linked to the already rich panorama of quests, two competitive quests between all factions for each Age whose completion provides tasty and varied rewards, but above all the possibility of building Legendary Buildings. The equivalent of Civilization's Wonders of the World, these buildings grant huge bonuses to the city they are built in and can be further upgraded by building nearby city districts. It must be said that, unless we focus the entire gameplay on completing the Quests and building the Legendary Building, one of our opponents, human or not, will almost always beat us on time. The aesthetics of these buildings, although distinguishable by examining the city from a bird's eye view, do not present specific variations based on the faction that completes the construction. The same goes for the 10 extra buildings, in this case not Legendary: unique to Empire, yes, but not adapted to the aesthetics of the individual factions.
Guardians' legendary content is certainly not Amplitude's only contribution to the Multiplayer component of Legends, so easily forgotten. Two new variants of quests, which can also be completed in PvE but designed for multiplayer are the Competitive missions and the Cooperative missions: the first, in fact, will see the players compete in the achievement of a common goal, such as the elimination of a tribe affected by a plague that has enhanced its statistics; the second instead foresee that the factions collaborate to achieve a positive result.
Overall, Endless Legend: Guardians is a solid addition to Amplitude's monumental oeuvre. The contents are nothing new, but covered with the same cloth as the original game they acquire a charm that has won over many. The narrative component is strangely faltering at times, but the implementation of modes designed for the multiplayer component gives credit to Amplitude Studios.
Vote: 7.5/10
Shadows: Watch your back. The Forgotten are right behind you
With Endless Legend: Shadows, Amplitude Studios found themselves facing a considerable challenge. The game blamed the lack of a system dedicated to espionage, a dichotomous counterpart to diplomacy; at the same time it was necessary to make this mechanic, often reduced to a mini-game in contemporaries, an interactive component, satisfying to play and able to withstand the comparison with the quality of the base game. Not a small task, especially given the complex intertwining of dynamics and paths already present. The solution is simple, twofold and also quite elegant in its implementation: the new espionage system is inserted alongside a brand new faction, the Forgotten, which perhaps revolve more than any other faction seen so far around a single gameplay path, namely espionage.
The Forgotten are an insular and extremely aggressive group, forged in a silent struggle for survival in the most hostile habitats of Auriga and imbued with a deep distrust of strangers. Believed dead by the rest of the civilized populations of Auriga - yes, even the Necrophages - the Forgotten are veterans of the shadows of time, able to move around the battlefield like ghosts, drawing huge bonuses from positioning in shadows and the like, but their units are generally very fragile. So if you find yourself preparing the Forgotten for some pitched battle, you will have something wrong: the Forgotten work through sabotage, assassinations, poisoning and dissent, eliminating the enemy when he is panting on the ground.
Forgotten is a unique style of play and we could say a little obvious tutorial for the new features introduced by Endless Legend: Shadows. The new espionage system is in fact the only way that the Forgotten have to research any technology: the Science resource and the infamous wheel are completely closed to them. To obtain new technologies and compensate for the lower growth in resource output, we would have to buy them by paying Dust, or steal them from other factions. In order to obtain these technologies or empty the coffers of the enemies, our Heroes will have to assume the role of spies and infiltrate the settlements: here, as the turns go by, our sleeper agent will accumulate Espionage Points and once he has reached predetermined amounts he will be able to spend them together with the Influence points to sabotage the economy, reduce the population, poison the Governor, unleash riots and much more.
The espionage system is accessible to all factions, but while the faction privileges will allow the Heroes of the Forgotten to try their hand at cloak-and-dagger feats from the first turn, the others will first have to research the technologies in the wheel. Given the focus that Endless Legend places on expansion through the founding of cities and the need to protect each one separately from espionage attempts, it is easy to see how even a single spy can cause crippling damage to any faction, especially in the early stages of the game. After taking the pulse of this new faction, we feel confident in saying that severe economics and combat deficits balance the sometimes disproportionate power of spying options quite effectively. However, exploitation is still possible, especially considering that some infiltration options affect the entire enemy Empire, but this nullifies the challenge component.
It could be said that the biggest flaw of this DLC, and in general of all the Endless Legend DLCs, is the cost. Given the low price of € 29,99 per base game, € 12,99 for a single expansion, however substantial and rich in content, may seem excessive. Paradoxically, if the base game belonged to a higher price range, a choice that would be completely justified, the more pronounced difference in price would make the cost of additional packages screech less.. Is it worth the expense? Of course yes! Unlike Guardians and subsequent DLCs, the additions made by Shadows are less apparent at first glance, but the new faction and the articulated spy mechanics are well worth the expense. Furthermore, for multiplayer matches, it will be enough that only the host has the DLC to allow other players to take advantage of the content.
Rating: 8 / 10
Shifters: Are you afraid of eternal winter? The Allayi wallow in it
We have already mentioned Auriga's schizophrenic summer-winter cycle, a consequence of the cataclysm that upset the planet and the last enemy that must be defeated, along the lines of The Witcher 3's White Frost. environment - the winters last more and more as the shifts progress -, the sudden alternation of the seasons has considerable repercussions in game. In winter, food needs soar and production borders on nothing, combat and movement itself are heavily hampered by the snow ... The consequences of an unexpected winter on long-term planning can be catastrophic and turn the tide of an entire game, especially given the inability to accurately predict when the climate switch will take place, or for how long..
The Allayi transform the weakness of other factions into their greatest strength. Giant and technological hybrids flying between snow hares and bats, the Allayi consider themselves the only sentient creatures on Auriga's face, and how to contradict them: before the Endless conquered the universe aeons ago, Auriga was the home of the Allayi. Much more important, both for the purposes of gameplay and for their identity as a faction, is their ability to predict with unfailing precision the succession of the seasons and the dramatic reversal of all their skills between summer and winter. All the units of the Allayi, including heroes, have in fact a double form, and double powers: In the summer their abilities are defensive in nature, but at the first snowflake this faction literally sheds its fur, turning into bloodthirsty berserkers. Adding to the mix resistance to winter debuffs and the ability to extract strategic resources from enemy territories, the Allayi become extremely dangerous in the most difficult period of any campaign.
The excessive power of this new faction is only partially mitigated by the introduction of a new mechanism specific to winter: the Pearls of Auriga. This seasonal resource will randomly spawn on the map every time the Starks say the words "I told you so!"; once collected, they can be spent at the Altar of Auriga, a new unique district, which can be built in a single city of our Empire. Their use is also twofold here: new technologies, renamed Blessings, are on sale at the Altar, but all other factions will benefit equally from the Prayers. The offer of Perle will in fact confer mitigations to the rigid winter rigors, giving the opponents of the Allayi a way to reduce the strategic disadvantage through the careful collection and spending of this new resource.. Unfortunately, this balance mechanic is largely undermined by other Allayi bonuses, which can immediately identify all the Pearls present in the territories they have explored and receive additional ones from exploring the ruins.
The concept behind Endless Legend: Shifters is extremely interesting: we see a mechanics often surrounding, that of the seasons, acquire a really preponderant weight in a system that already highlighted its importance. However, as well as with the Forgotten of Endless Legend: Shadows, the new faction champion of the mechanics introduced by the DLC really takes enormous advantages from the latter, with the very concrete possibility of making the game unfairly more difficult for those who sided with the original factions . Really a shame, especially given the amazing artistic direction that shapes these new factions with maniacal dedication and deep characterization.
Vote: 8/10.
Tempest: Beehive Minds from the Deep Sea
Auriga was populated by titans and legends, ghosts and murderers, racist flying hares and a climate to make Siberia pale. On October 14, 2016, the release of Endless Legend: Tempest takes us to sail the terrible seas of Auriga, to discover its gruesome, lethal inhabitants and to fight for maritime supremacy.
It can be said that some elements have been translated from the terrestrial counterpart: the tribal villages of the minor factions have a counterpart in the Fortresses, at the beginning of the game under the control of the enigmatic Fomorians (one of the 9 billion people who invaded Ireland in Gaelic mythology). The possession of these fortresses can also here be wrested through combat, diplomacy or peace quests; however, while tribal villages grant bonuses based on subjugated population, sea fortresses materialize these bonuses in the form of unique buildings buildable in a limited number of slots accessible after the conquest: from the extraction of Luxury or Strategic resources to general bonuses throughout the Empire, the possession of a sufficient number of Fortresses will both increase the value of the aforementioned bonuses and bestow dominion over the ocean in which they are located. In addition to the sacrosanct right to brag about it, control over an ocean gives important bonuses to resource production and trade, as well as maintaining the units needed to defend our new territories.
As with the Forgotten of Shadows and the Allayi of Shifters, Endless Legend: Tempest introduces a new faction capable of exploiting sea resources and battlefields like no other: i Morgawr. These Lovecraftian creatures are the result of the crossing between the marine creatures of Auriga and “something else”, one of the many products of the crazy experimentation of the Endless - the Necrophages are another, the loves -. Morgawr are powerful natural telepaths capable of controlling neutral factions or instigating allies against each other, their ideal habitat being miles below the waves, but the inability to develop technology so deep has necessitated colonization of the ribs. Morgawr are endowed with various bonuses resulting from their inherent affinity for the sea, from increased ship speed to productive bonuses in coastal regions. However, the most substantial difference from any other faction is found in their repertoire of units: the Morgawr have only one unit dedicated to ground combat. The other two are dedicated to the sea, sea monsters that share some of the new classes of units introduced for battles between ships.
The combat grid is familiar to us, the units a little less. Among the Interceptors, cheap but optimal "meat for slaughter" in close combat, the Frigates, crowd control elements with AoE abilities, the colossal Juggernauts, land and sea bombing platforms, and finally the Submarines, the panorama is varied enough to entice us to lukewarmly reevaluate Endless Legend's insipid combat. An additional level of innovation is brought by the exclusive climatic conditions of the marine boxes, such as thunder, algae and fog: their presence will affect both exploration and combat, increasing the cost of movement or affecting the health and quality of our units. In addition to shooting each other, the fleets will then be fundamental to complete the numerous quests introduced, first of all the competitive hunting of the Hungering Maw, a unique monster and not limited to a single approach to combat. Rest assured: whatever his strategy, he will be able to destroy entire fleets better than any Guardian.
Endless Legend: Tempest really brings a lot of content: 50 new quests, 60 new items, 4 new soundtracks made by FlybyNo and of course hours and hours of gameplay in the expansive marine setting. The Morgawr, of the three factions introduced in the DLC, are probably the most balanced. They're sure to be fun to play - these cute marine horrors can excommunicate a faction of their choice with the Black Spot ability, which grants Dust bonuses to anyone who attacks their intended victim, without the Morgawr having to shell out a penny. The maritime combat is then certainly more interesting and varied than the terrestrial one, and the artistic and narrative sector always remain at the top of the range, which seems to be only the quality standard for Endless Legend.
Rating: 9 / 10
Conclusions
Endless Legend it's a game as beautiful as it is complex. Rare are those RTSs capable of building a solid and addictive story from scratch without relying on pre-existing content, fiction or not; Endless Legend not only succeeds, but exceeds all expectations. At the same time, the gameplay is not sacrificed on the altar of art and after a not particularly chewable start, an infinite panorama of contents gradually opens up. If you decide to give it a chance and go beyond a first glance at the HUD, the elegant narrative variety and the articulate, varied gameplay will push you to complete the game multiple times in ever-changing ways, delving into the heart of the factions you are dealing with. you will lead and the world you will soon conquer. The DLCs do not sometimes shine for originality and could benefit from a more meticulous balance, but the amount and quality of the additional content is such that each new package will reveal a new complex face of the immense universe of Endless Legend.
Modus Operandi: the review you just read was written based on the version PC of the title, after completing multiple single player campaigns, testing and analyzing the different races. In addition, each DLC has been played individually and analyzed on its own.
