Recent reviews by Erica Estrelina Hill

**One thing I must mention is that you should absolutely avoid watching the storyline of this game. About 90% of it deviates from the original "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" novel, which is really ridiculous. I have no idea what the writers were thinking. Let me give you an example. In the original "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Lü Bu is driven out of Chang'an and wanders around looking for someone to take him in. Due to his treacherous and untrustworthy nature, no one wants him. After attacking Shandong, he is defeated by Cao Cao and has nowhere to go. Chen Gong then suggests he seek refuge with Liu Bei. Lü Bu and Chen Gong go to Xuzhou to meet Liu Bei, who tests Lü Bu’s sincerity and eventually allows him to temporarily stay in Xiaopei. There are also political considerations, but at no point do they establish deep enmities with other warlords. But how is this part altered in the game?

Here’s how it’s changed: “Lü Bu has nowhere to turn, and then for some unknown reason, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao immediately raise large armies to kill him. Liu Bei, knowing that two powerful warlords are mobilizing their armies to kill Lü Bu, in a situation where his own forces are small and weak, should logically not help Lü Bu. But Liu Bei accepts Lü Bu’s offer and directly sends troops to protect him, fighting back Cao Cao and Yuan Shao’s forces. Let’s not even discuss whether this battle’s military strength is totally made up. The main issue is that by doing this, Liu Bei directly tears his relationship with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, creating deadly enmities with them. How is Liu Bei going to ask Cao Cao for help to eliminate Lü Bu when Lü Bu later takes over Xuzhou? How can he later turn to Yuan Shao for help? Isn’t this all Liu Bei’s fault?”

I really don’t understand why the story was changed this way. Couldn’t they have just skipped over this part and not made it a battle scene? Liu Bei, the Emperor Liu, is not like this! I can understand wanting to change the story, but could the writers be more thoughtful and make it more reasonable? This doesn’t show the writers' skill, it just proves their thought process is bizarre.

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This is definitely a game worth purchasing, and it’s one of the best in the Dynasty Warriors series:

1. The battlefield dynamic has been changed from the past where the player and generals drove the battle. Now, the atmosphere of war is more immersive. All NPC soldiers are dynamic, and you can experience the hustle and bustle of the battlefield. Whether you charge through the enemy lines alone like a lone wolf or fight alongside your army for a steady strategy, this game has improved from the past where NPCs would just stand still and refresh in one place. Now, enemies will encircle you, charge at you, and advance from afar with their army.

2. The fixed protagonist design is more suited to creating a good story and action system.

3. The team-leading system from "Sword Blade Storm" has returned. On the battlefield, you can issue commands to nearby friendly troops to execute tactical actions.

4. The combat system has been greatly improved, with better impact, sound effects, and feedback. The different weapon motions are smooth, beautiful, and fluid. The "Dynasty Warriors" style of explosive attacks is now even more powerful and impactful.

5. The boss battles have been thoroughly revised, addressing the lack of interaction in previous Dynasty Warriors games. Bosses now react to your attacks with staggered movements and feedback. You can evade enemy attacks and immediately counterattack, creating fluid and spectacular combat.

6. Free gameplay now allows you to travel across a large map and trigger events. You can also collect items on the map, which is quite fun.

7. While the graphics may not be the best, they are very pleasant, and the wind-swayed grass adds a refreshing touch.

If there are more advantages, I’ll write them here. ⁽⁽٩(๑˃̶͈̀ ᗨ ˂̶͈́)۶⁾⁾

miku!!!!!!!!!!! miku da!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In just one sentence, you such idiots, foolish pig company, not only have you failed to create much, with low output to deceive players, low quality to appease players, and after ten years still haven’t figured out how to make a game, you foolish pig planners, employees, and company, still have the nerve to take an early vacation, and you’re letting people around the world support you to the point that you’re too full. I wish you’ll go bankrupt soon.

The core game itself isn't a big problem, but compared to the original, they removed too many visual effect details, such as the Titan's ground-shaking shockwave effect and the animations of other units. However, based on the game's design and unique gameplay, it is still enjoyable. However, it is not suitable for esports, and that's actually a good thing. Focusing on esports would only accelerate the death of Age of Mythology. Given the poor operational level of the Microsoft Age of Empires team, I have no idea what the future of this game will be.

The reason for my negative review isn't about the core game, but about their so-called 'Gods Arena' update, which is very boring, and the gameplay only has one strategy—universal: rush. That is, immediately upgrade to the second age, control heroes to disrupt the enemy’s economy and workers, and you win. In short, it looks like there are many choices, but the core gameplay is just one: rush, rush, and rush. This kind of playstyle becomes very tiring.

Then there’s the issue with the Arena AI. I played on the highest difficulty, extreme difficulty. Increasing the AI's building and production speed is not an issue, but what did I encounter? Let me explain:

In one Arena match, the opponent AI was Egypt, on extreme difficulty. When I used scouts to monitor their movements, and even after sending my army into their city, I noticed that their workers would randomly spawn in open spaces, without needing to be produced. Even barracks would appear out of nowhere. They would spawn workers near the foundations of their walls, even spawn Phoenix eggs in open spaces, and near the Titan Gate, they would spawn workers to speed up construction... Is this really how the game is designed?

They even gave the AI a 25% operational speed boost on top of the extreme difficulty, and units and workers just spawn in open areas? Is that fun?

Do you even play the game you make yourselves? Also, before the game was released, it was said that the Chinese factions would be reworked, but what happened? It’s already December 2024, and this DLC is being delayed until when?

This game series, from Medieval II to now, has experienced a Renaissance, but they haven't made many improvements. They haven't even done proper research or restoration of basic Renaissance-era technology or armor. They've only added two so-called iconic elements to represent the Renaissance: firearms and cannons. As for other unit types, there is no visual change at all. Renaissance-era soldiers are still wearing mid-medieval armor and clothing. The AI is stiff, and there doesn't seem to be any improvement in its logic. It's 2024, and they still haven't added a more convenient borderless window mode. It feels like they're repeatedly trying to trick players into spending money. I wouldn't recommend buying it.

wish to improve

the game’s optimization is truly terrible. My GPU is a 4080, and my CPU is a 7800X3D. Even at 4K with all settings maxed, using DLSS in quality mode, DLAA, or TAA, the game still suffers from completely unstable frame rates and inexplicable frame rate drops. This issue is especially apparent when opening or closing the inventory, toggling the menu, or approaching new scenes. The game textures and models become explosively blurry and visibly reconstruct themselves, causing severe stutters and even crashes. On top of that, the game compiles shaders every single time I open it—I have no idea why it needs to do this every time. The game also suffers from serious VRAM overflow issues.

Additionally, the game lacks the ability to climb fences that are only about the height of the character, and jumping off relatively low terrain often results in instant death. While the screws (detectors) can help identify hazard points, some of these points blend into the surrounding environment and are not very noticeable, which is extremely frustrating. For instance, tornadoes in backlit areas surrounded by vegetation require close observation of whether leaves are floating on the ground. However, when players are performing dynamic actions, it’s very difficult to notice this immediately. Even though the detector might alert you, it’s often too late by the time you realize the danger.

The main issue lies with the character models. For some reason, there are noticeable and severe performance problems when approaching NPCs. Following dialogue, as the camera zooms in and out, the game freezes and crashes.

DLSS has never been a valid excuse to avoid proper performance optimization.

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1. In the early game, without heavy protective suits, passing through spiked anomalies will cause cuts and bleeding. However, even in the late game, when you have full-body heavy armor or helmets, crossing anomalies still results in cuts and bleeding. Is heavy armor just a layer of paper ?

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2. At night, it’s too dark, and we lack equipment like night vision goggles or brighter flashlights. Even so, low-level enemies like bandits, who also don’t have any night vision gear, can accurately spot the player in the dark and hit them with 100% precision. Meanwhile, players find it extremely difficult to aim and observe in the darkness.

Additionally, while traversing the map, players are often inexplicably detected and forced into combat. Enemies, regardless of distance, can hit the player with extreme accuracy, with no bullet spread or misses. Even if you’re peeking and shooting through a small gap in a concrete wall, enemies can still hit you with pinpoint accuracy. Moreover, the bleeding status occurs far too frequently for players, further compounding the frustration.

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3. Exoskeleton equipment should assist the wearer by enhancing mobility, enabling faster running, or conserving stamina. However, in the game, exoskeletons only provide noticeable physical protection and defense against other forms of damage. They show no advantages in terms of movement or stamina and instead add to the player’s weight burden.

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4. The game features terrain glitches where players often die instantly from falls that don’t appear too high—something that wouldn’t be fatal in real life. Even wearing protective gear doesn’t help, which I find extremely bizarre.

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5. For some reason, the player’s actions are always sluggish, such as reloading, which feels very slow. In contrast, enemies seem like they don’t even need to reload. Even when facing a single enemy, apart from the occasional pause when they hide behind cover, they can almost continuously fire as if reloading isn’t necessary for them.

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6. When the player character walks to the riverbank and the water reaches the player's waist or lower, simply touching the water’s contact point will instantly drown the player, which is very strange.

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7. The studio has prepared many types of ammunition, but based on my personal experience, the game’s clear damage effects are mainly reflected in low-tier to high-tier weapons. The weapon’s data and type directly determine the damage output in the game, rather than the bullets themselves. In my view, the bullet types don’t particularly or directly reflect different damage levels.

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8. In the game, the PKM machine gun used by the player is far less effective in terms of damage and accuracy compared to when it is used by enemies.

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9. Hunger in the game depletes too quickly. In reality, I would never feel hungry just from drinking an energy drink—it’s very strange. Even when I’ve carried a heavy load and gone hiking with friends, I didn’t feel the need to eat constantly. The idea of feeling hungry due to carrying weight doesn’t make sense.

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10. The weight limit in the game is excessively low, which severely restricts player movement. While I understand that the studio likely implemented this to compensate for the poorly designed survival mechanics, forcing players to make trade-offs and allocate resources wisely to survive, in practice, it ends up imposing more limitations on the player, detracting from the overall experience.

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11. The game's map feels somewhat empty. Side quests are mostly limited to those consistently available at the tavern, while there are few side quests in the wild. Additionally, the interactive elements on the map are quite sparse. If players can’t pick up items, exploring and traveling across the map will likely become even more tedious and uninteresting.

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This is truly an excellent DLC. Not only does it add a wealth of new units and factions, but the quality of the campaigns is also exceptionally high—well worth purchasing.

However, I must warn players: I don’t believe the quality of this work came from Forgotten Empires or the other current Age of Empires development teams. The quality here is outstanding, which makes it clear that, within Microsoft’s environment of unlimited budgets and high benefits, the Forgotten Empires team and others are enjoying their stress-free, competition-free, creativity-free environment. In such a setting, with no pressure and no innovation, they couldn't have come up with such a good DLC.

I sincerely hope the modding teams don’t get absorbed into the official development teams, because Microsoft has a history of not producing many high-quality games. Their game development mindset feels like it’s stuck in the last century. If the modding teams were to join them, there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t be corrupted by the same environment, making it difficult for them to continue creating great content.

no more to say , because its a good rts game , better than stupid PVP e-sports trash AOE4 , now keep this going , AOE2 .

This is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic cyberpunk 4X strategy game with a Lovecraftian theme. The story, while somewhat conventional, contains hidden secrets that make it intriguing.

The gameplay follows traditional 4X mechanics: exploration, combat, and control. Compared to its predecessor, this installment reintroduces the diplomacy system, adding more dynamic interactions and lore depth to the world and NPCs.

The game's graphics and model technology have significantly improved. Units now feature voice lines and hit reaction animations, enhancing the visual appeal of combat sequences. The unit designs blend cyberpunk aesthetics with Lovecraftian bio-weapons, delivering a striking sensory experience. Although the game revolves around themes of aliens and AI, the gameplay does not delve deeply into these core topics. For example, by the end of the main storyline, it remains unclear what Zephen's ultimate goal is, why the aliens invaded Earth 20 years ago, or the reasons behind their invasion. Hopefully, these gaps will be addressed in future updates.

The game focuses on combat and exploration, with engaging gameplay in both aspects. The maps have an immersive and dynamic atmosphere, and the pacing is relatively fast. There is a wide variety of unit types, with noticeable differences between lower-tier and higher-tier units. However, the stats of bio-weapons feel ambiguous and underwhelming compared to cyberpunk sci-fi units. Since all factions draw their technology from humanity's origins, their unit rosters are identical, lacking the distinctiveness seen in games like Warhammer 40K.

Overall, this game is a solid 4X title. While it differs from large-scale, economy- and exploration-focused 4X games like Civilization or Victoria, it offers a distinct experience that is worthwhile for players. Its strengths outweigh its weaknesses, making it a game worth purchasing.

直接进入正题，在现在这个阶段，我还是要给这个游戏差评，原因如下：

首先先说优点：

游戏具有出色的美术创意，美术概念和沙盒自由创造地形式玩法，为该游戏的玩法增色了不少，游戏的基底玩法融合的不少，有纪元玩法，也有点开罗游戏的意思，也有其他城建模拟的套路，相互搭配起来呈现地还不错，在常规城建模拟的基础上拓展了天赋科技为产业，治安等等科技分类提供正面BUFF加成，并增设谋士概念来辅助玩家管理城市，还原了一部分中国古代注重的风水和五行问题，四季转换影响不同产业的生产，为游戏提供挑战性，相当丰富的建筑种类选择和外观变化搭配多规模时代进步为游戏里的城市景色演变增加了乐趣，虽然有资源和产业，但整体并不复杂，资源生产是标准加减法，少了就加，不似纪元1800那种相对复杂的东西，这款游戏的上手度亲民，以造景玩法优先，搭配该游戏对中式建筑独有的造型修改和现代概念融合，是相对出色的游戏，值得购买，真的，不骗你们，我喜欢玩城建模拟游戏，这游戏放在一种抄纪元玩法的游戏里算是不错的了，其他那些都很烂。

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其次是缺点也是我为什么不能给你好评的原因：

首先9.9是很便宜，但我必须要说，如果西山居打的主意是既然我都9.9卖给你了，我们游戏有问题你也说不出口，以此来堵玩家的嘴，那你这个心机未免太无聊了，有这个时间先把你游戏完善好吧。

尽管我上述说了很多优点，但我始终没能玩的进去，促使我不得不退出游戏写下差评的首要原因就是该游戏糟糕无比的优化，我是RTX 4080显卡，7800X3D CPU，64GB内存，还有SSD，这款游戏很多人不知道，它不完全算是2024年的游戏，它是很多年以前的一款老游戏了，当时因为一些原因并因为所谓的审核问题，它进行了锁国区处理并对外上架，所以这么多年过去了，你们这游戏画面没进步无所谓，你们这优化是脑子有问题嘛 ？开关DLSS，CPU GPU 内存占用率都吃不满，那你吃什么东西 ？镜头缩放卡顿，干点事情卡顿，低帧，你游戏是有1800的精细建筑模型和材质呢？还是你游戏也有城市天际线2这种大规模全动态化复杂运算数据链？就这游戏画质一进地图连光照都阴间，地图草皮一眼望过去就是低质，城市模型，路人模型都不敢拉近看，全是糊的材质，这种画面搭配这种优化，推荐配置还有3070，你们是想造反嘛 ？，你们是打算贯彻化落实玩家对国产游戏的刻板印象嘛 ？“ 所谓国产游戏一向是不优化的 ”，游戏中期全程卡顿掉帧，开关DLSS几乎没变化，那你们这几年在干什么 ？我很疑惑。

抄东西也不算什么太大问题，只要抄的同时能学习就是好事，这么多年能拖到现在加DLSS这些东西确实也不容易了，别的那些我都先不说了，我就很想问至于嘛？那么咱们中国古代是没有自己的土路嘛 ？迫使你们直接扒纪元1800的土路模型 ？整个低材质游戏色调偏冷，其他都低材质，就突出一条高清土路，你是生怕别人看不出来嘛 ？自己造个土路就这么难嘛 ？其次我虽然说过游戏的美术创意不错，美术概念也不错，但你这些建筑... 咱又不是末世废土朋克，你非要把这么多美术元素，花里胡哨地塞得到处都是，一直堆元素，建筑放在一起时间长了搭配该游戏糟糕的光照，差劲的优化，全损低清材质，弄得跟森林盗贼树屋帮聚义一样，真的没有那么多美感，这游戏前期又不会允许你直接用高级建筑不是嘛 ？要是你光源光照做的柔和一些还好，现在堆在一起都没有那么高的辨识度，看的很难受。

还有我必须提醒你们一下，你不要看官方截图，商店的截图，你游戏没这个效果，省省力气，而且这些你要是想还原，用拍照模式也不是不能还原，但是你想达到官方这种效果，你还是别想了，不是一个游戏，真实游戏实际运行情况比你们想的更差效果更糟糕，尤其是晚上搭配我上面提到的光源光照问题，就没有这么多灯，文人的住房甚至一到晚上跟鬼屋一样，漆黑一栋鸦雀无声，还有该游戏既然声称是造景游戏玩法，那么我问你，面对我重复过的材质低清，差劲优化，美术元素过花俏之外，那么你整个游戏只有背景音乐和建筑建造音效，没有社会音效算怎么回事呢 ？ 难道官方默认造景模式=静态拍照 ？要官方真这么想还真是挺有意思的，整个游戏就没有任何车水马龙的音效，几乎没有社会音效，也没有市井喧闹的音效，大街上的小人模型低清+低帧木讷行走，就连一点城市热闹的气氛都表现不出来，你总不能拿偶尔对应事件和节庆而的窜出来的游街队伍来说你们做的有气氛吧？其次更没有戏曲的声音，戏台我就没听到过有偶尔的戏曲声传出来，整个游戏基本上百分之95以上就只有背景音乐，那你这城建模拟游戏做出来干什么 ？你拍个皮影戏不好嘛 ？而且冬天可以说是四个季节里观看效果最差的了，不但是晃眼，而且是辨识度更差，还有你看官方视频，动图里，教程里那个风吹着，树叶摇晃着看起来很动态很美对吧？到了游戏实际呢？一年四季一共能刮一次小风？还不是常态，还是偶尔，全植物很少有动态的时候... 那你展示这些效果算不算轻度欺诈 ？

然后就连基础功能都没做，一个游戏没有加速减速按钮，玩家到了不喜欢的季节只能硬等着这个季节慢的要死蹭过去，控制设置里就连镜头移动速度调整都没有，风物放置界面和键位排列的逻辑我也是觉得奇葩，你怎么就非要跟大部分人按键顺序反着来呢 ？怎么按都不舒服，动不动不是不小心移动了镜头，就是莫名其妙移动了放置好的风物，真是玩起来有够难受的，至于玩法部分倒没什么太大问题，唯一让我觉得诧异的是虽然你物资生产消耗是算加减法，但你现在这个设计真的能平账嘛 ？比如我缺水，我造了一个水井，它提供10个水生产，好我升级了，它现在加了两个水生产，一共12个水生产，再这个同时它也要平衡再给你加2个建筑维护费扣除，毕竟你夏天的升级几乎等于没有，因为夏天水还要多倍消耗，那你这净生产到底有什么意思 ？即使它升级能在不同四季分别提供对应季节的总生产，但你这净生产到底净在哪，净利润不都是扣除其他费用支出最后得出的结果嘛？我实在算不出来这游戏净生产净在哪，然后游戏总是莫名奇妙就开始各种资源负数生产了，经常就根本平不了帐，我都不知道它数值到底怎么算的，弄得金钱也平不了，衣服，酒水这种平常就消耗的东西各种四季莫名其妙就经常-20，金钱-100 -200的，你想要平账除了产业链，那就要单独再建造对应建筑物，然后那边建筑维护费就压不下来了，升级之后的建筑物产量又上不去，弄了一个盐矿产综合产能还不如盐坊.... 那你这到底设计意义在哪 ？收入的同时再额外动态支出，还往上继续叠加的嘛？我弄不懂。

还有风物也有BUG，经常在路上放一个风物牌坊，结果想要通过牌坊的人人家不走牌坊门，人家在牌坊门前直接飞天，在天上走过牌坊门再下来... 真是蛮怪的，目前玩到现在我个人觉得不舒服的就是这些，如果后期继续玩有别的问题我会更新出来。

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补充：2024年10月27日：随着升级，同功能建筑物太多，建筑物同质化太严重，产业结构不明确，要玩家重复折腾拆迁建造，根本体会不到乐趣，同时关于你非粮食之外的其他产业产出，我真的搞不懂，要不然就是你们自己没算明白，一共产出没多少，维护费直接全扣掉，产出=0 ？我缺酒，所以我大量建造酿酒厂，但酿酒厂产出又低，结果建筑维护费，和耗水压不住了，然后我又去建造水井，好不容易平账了，结果因为建筑维护费过高，财政又大量赤字，然后我又去建造商业建筑来保证财政产出，结果与商业相关联的消耗资源又开始缺了，所以我酒水不够，折腾了半天，好不容易看到产出变正了，结果每日酒水收支就加了一个1对嘛 ？我实在搞不懂你们在干什么，一个建筑物净产出到底在折腾什么，还有药铺这种 产出每天8个铜钱，维护费12个铜钱的，这玩意到底意义是什么，所以我净收入每天拿到手的同时再额外往外支出一次嘛 ？我真的搞不懂，全都是拆了东墙补西墙，结果西墙又塌了，来回折腾，这数值你们是在做手游还是PC游戏 ？

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这游戏做了这么多年，做成这个样子，首当其冲优化和游戏基础功能不及格，你卖9.9难道就避免批评？我还是那句话，难得这么一个有创意还自由的中国风古代模拟城建游戏，而且有点天马行空的意思，多好的点子.. 为什么就非要在这些事情上出问题.. 太可惜了，你没有游科的实力，那学游科的态度不行嘛？等以后改进了我再改好评吧。

顺便说评论区如果有愿意讨论游戏优缺点或指正错误的，请尽情在评论区发言和指错。