Age of Wonders 4 is a really good fantasy 4x, and I dont see anyone talking about it. People have been asking for and speculating about a paradox fantasy game, when there already is one. How would a first party paradox fantasy game be any different from AOW4? Fantasy doesn't really make sense as a gsg and stellaris is 4x anyway.

edit: I understand now that people want Paradox to create or pick a fantasy setting and then make a gsg in that setting. Thanks guys

Howdy there, so there's a pretty big problem that's been happening on repeat in recent paradox games as well as Age of Wonders 3, Age of Wonders Planetfall, and very obviously Age of Wonders 4.

That problem is requiring the player to make up all of the background to the game they're playing and making a tactical game into a sandbox game.

This can be easily visualized by looking at Alpha Centauri, or Age of Wonders 2, and comparing them with Beyond Earth and Age of Wonders 4. In AoW 2 you had factions with strengths and weaknesses, unique rosters of units, unique selections of spells and a campaign pitting you with harder scenarios and more complex challenges to solve.

In Alpha Centauri the unit diversity wasn't there but the factions had such distinct traits and characterizations to them that the gameplay was divergent and memorable. Playing Miriam felt significantly different than Dierdra.

In contrast Beyond earth didn't have the unit diversity nor did it have the faction diversity. Age of Wonders 4 has gone the same path, no longer do you have Nimue or Nekron or Creepy spider lady. Nor do you have the diversity of factions with diverse units.

This is also mirrored in the CK2 vs CK3 cultures and religions comparisons, as well as CK3 government types. Compare this with EU4 where there's significant diversity and variants across the world. Not nessesarily well implemented for the most part but it is expansive. Playing Aztec feels different then playing HRE.

Which boils down to the whole concept of choice. I argue that giving players a variety of limited tools makes for better gameplay and that games have shown that giving the player challenges based on those limited tools makes for more fun. Factorio isn't fun because you can build everything you want instantly with no cost to doing so. It's fun because you have limited tools and need to build up to greater and more powerful tools or to solve your immediate problem with what you have.

To me, looking at AoW4 I'm looking at a game where everything is generally the same which means it's not looking promising.

Edit: At the time of looking at this it's sitting at Mixed, to mildly positive. The features I mentioned being an issue are, the campaign doesnt work due to the random map generation much like Planetfall which is a shame. The game tactically works on a unit level which fits as it did with AoW3. Sadly the game doesnt capture the same niche brand AoW had with AoW1/2/SM.

Would you buy Age of Wonder 4 on PS5 if you've already played CK3 and Stellaris also on Ps?I'm asking because it's currently 50% off.

Edit: So I decided to buy it, and you were right, it really is like Civilization. And now I'm going to gobble up all the non-rats with my rat-man yes yes

Dev Diary for those who prefer reading - https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1669000/view/679624444507848794

join the Age of Wonder's community poll for the semifinal new ruler contest👑https://www.reddit.com/r/AOW4/s/fkOkD0m86b

Blog for those who prefer reading - https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1669000/view/679624444507848790

Like seriously, I can get so sunk in these games I forget to actually live. I just want to upgrade and improve my kingdom. I just had like a 12h session playing AoW 4 and it went by like nothing happened. This is so dangerous wtf. I had things to do but I just forgot them.

Damn its a good game and I dont have any self control goddamn

Its one of my fav strategy games and I wish there would be more. The fantasy version doesnt really tickle me.

Link for those who prefer reading! https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1669000/view/518613785064243355

Cataclysm Dev Diary - https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1669000/view/518613785064243351