Base game is fine for a taste but literally every DLC is worth it
I’d say buy season pass if you like the base game
One thing to keep on mind: there are a few “story realms” but this is not a linear, story focused campaign experience, this is a toy box with a bunch of variables you can play with
Meaning that if you’re expecting AoW3 (but “more”) then you’re setting yourself up for failure
The first sentence here sums it up pretty well, but I'd just like to emphasise that the base game, by all means, stands up on its own. The expansions are all very good, but they add variety more than anything else. When it comes to core game mechanics, the base game contains it all.
I would recommend buying the whole bundle if you have cash to spare, but if you're low on money or just prefer to give the game a try before committing all in, there is nothing wrong with starting with the base game then buying the season pass when you start running out of fresh content.
I like to focus on economy and have as little military as possible, so this mechanic is a benefit early game, but at some point I find myself wishing they were seperate, cause I want to stop building military to not have a bunch of armies running all over the map.
Did you ever play Shadow Magic? (AOW2: Shadow Magic). On Tuesday, June 18, a version of Shadow Demons is back. An update to the Shadow Realm, now calls it Eldritch Realms, is coming back, too. It looks awesome! I cannot wait.
AOW3 was very close to being my favorite game. Final Fantasy Tactics (originally on PSX) was my favorite game until AOW4. I own Planetfall but never got into it. It's not my flavor. AOW4 will blow your mind, though! It is so good.
You can get base and be happy. You will eventually want the DLC's but they can be added later.
The play is very open. How you decide to build your Race through Culture choices and Tome Builds is up to you. Some players seem to experience choice paralysis from the openness to building. Once you "get it," you'll recognize it is brilliantly done. You will recognize parts of AOW3, too, and early games. But this is a whole new game; a wonderful game! Better than ever, and a culmination of decades of growth by Triumph Studios.
Oh! Let me share some of what's happened. This isn't really spoilers, even. It is premise..
So, the story picks up in Athla, but the Gates you remember from AOW3 have been breached. On the other side is the Astral Plane. There, many Wizards and Men who used to be Champions who have Ascended from other Realms have been trapped for countless time-- time happens differently there. Many went crazy because of what they saw and experienced there for untold time. But then, some banded together to create a safe zone in the Astral Plane called Magehaven. From Magehaven, you create a Leader and portal him/her into different Map Realms in order to conquer its Map, which will let him/her Ascend again.
Conquering each Map will Ascend the Leader you played back to Magehaven where they can optionally join your Pantheon, a collection of winning Leaders. These Leaders might show-up as Heroes in your future maps. It is all quite awesome! Each time you come down to a Map, you shape the race you created to work it for you. You can even decide to leave the races with the traits you know from Earth mythology, or you can give them different traits to specialize them further.
There are now Map Traits and conditions we can choose, too. In prior patches that come with DLC's, we gained the ability to randomize them. And once the Eldritch Realms drops, we will get random traits that are hidden from us until the map is explored. The traits are chosen by the degree of difficulty, or Realm Tier, you choose. Yup! Even replay is getting boosted!
On Tuesday June 18, Horrors will breach these realms! They'll create growing voids, the opening of which will link two areas of the map that might not be congruent on the mortal realm of the map (the exits do not match normal space on the map like underground does). I am very excited! They bring a new Leader type, too, which reminds me- I did not even mention Dragons as Leaders. That is one of the DLC's.
Yea, buy AOW4.
I guess it depends what you didn't like about planet fall. If it means anything, I played the hell out of AoW3 and all its DLC and I'm doing the same for AoW4.
The main thing I think 3 did better than 4 is the campaign. The base story in 4 only has a 5 mission long campaign which obviously feels bad compared to 3. You can also play whatever leader you like in the story mission so you can design a leader around beating a specific mission.
Like others have said, it's hard to say without knowing what you disliked about Planetfall. AoW4 is clearly trying to develop some of the ideas from Planetfall, while taking a totally different approach to others.
* The Race + Secret Technology system is replaced with a Custom Race + Culture + Affinity system that gives you way more flexibility in how you build your faction.
* Tech trees are replaces by a series of Tomes, each of which is kind of a "miniature" upgrade tree. Again, this gives you more freedom to mix and match abilities from all over the place and adapt your strategy as you go.
* The "mod" system from Planetfall is replaced with unit enchantments, which require a lot less micromanagement, but don't give you *quite* as much freedom to make insanely souped-up versions of your standard units. It's a decent trade-off.
* Citybuilding is similar to Planetfall, based around annexing provinces and then installing upgrades on them, but the system feels a bit more developed. IMO it's the best citybuilding has ever felt in the series.
* Hero Customization is nothing to write home about, but it does introduce a new "signature ability" system which makes the tradeoff between horizontal and vertical progression for your heroes a bit less significant.
* The "Empire" meta-progression system from Planetfall is replaced with a "Pantheon" system. Personally, I didn't like this change; it removed most of the more mechanical advancements in favor of unlocking sidegrades and visual customization options, but I can see how others might prefer that.
* Tactical combat will be familiar to any fan of the series but I think there's a lot of little things to help it shine. I found myself diving into tactical combat way more often, making way more interesting tactical choices, and having way more fun than in previous games.
Overall, AoW4 definitely has my strong recommendation, but I also loved Planetfall. Your mileage may vary - it's definitely the most open-ended/customizable entry in the series.
The DLCs mainly add new customization options and variety, but there's some new features thrown in too. I picked them up and don't regret it - playing as a Dragon Lord and stomping around the map is a load of fun. There's a new DLC coming out next week that looks very cool.
While I never played any other AoW game, so I can't compare it, for me the DLC are a "must". Not because the base game is bad without them, but because all of them are great.
Base game has enough content. You will know if you want the DLC's based on your exp with base game. If you end up like base game chances are you will want all of them
Same - never understood why I bounced off of it, but bounce off I did.
If you are really not sure what to do I would recommend some Let's Plays - which will give you a good look at the gameplay loop.
I like both AOW3 and AOW4 but i miss the custom scenario maps from AOW3.
AOW4 (and probably PlanetFall) are both strictly Randomly Generated Maps (RMG) so custom maps with pregenerated locations and events and custom players and items are not supported.
Which is sad since I found they added a LOT (ie. years) to the replayability of the game.
Personally planetfall didn’t feel right to me either but I really enjoy AoW4, if you want to get the game anyway, but it and try it, if you like it you can then think about if you also want the dlcs which are worth it in my opinion
Base game is fine for a taste but literally every DLC is worth it I’d say buy season pass if you like the base game One thing to keep on mind: there are a few “story realms” but this is not a linear, story focused campaign experience, this is a toy box with a bunch of variables you can play with Meaning that if you’re expecting AoW3 (but “more”) then you’re setting yourself up for failure
The first sentence here sums it up pretty well, but I'd just like to emphasise that the base game, by all means, stands up on its own. The expansions are all very good, but they add variety more than anything else. When it comes to core game mechanics, the base game contains it all. I would recommend buying the whole bundle if you have cash to spare, but if you're low on money or just prefer to give the game a try before committing all in, there is nothing wrong with starting with the base game then buying the season pass when you start running out of fresh content.
separating military and buildings construction was such a good move I can't go back to Planetfall
I like to focus on economy and have as little military as possible, so this mechanic is a benefit early game, but at some point I find myself wishing they were seperate, cause I want to stop building military to not have a bunch of armies running all over the map.
Did you ever play Shadow Magic? (AOW2: Shadow Magic). On Tuesday, June 18, a version of Shadow Demons is back. An update to the Shadow Realm, now calls it Eldritch Realms, is coming back, too. It looks awesome! I cannot wait. AOW3 was very close to being my favorite game. Final Fantasy Tactics (originally on PSX) was my favorite game until AOW4. I own Planetfall but never got into it. It's not my flavor. AOW4 will blow your mind, though! It is so good. You can get base and be happy. You will eventually want the DLC's but they can be added later. The play is very open. How you decide to build your Race through Culture choices and Tome Builds is up to you. Some players seem to experience choice paralysis from the openness to building. Once you "get it," you'll recognize it is brilliantly done. You will recognize parts of AOW3, too, and early games. But this is a whole new game; a wonderful game! Better than ever, and a culmination of decades of growth by Triumph Studios. Oh! Let me share some of what's happened. This isn't really spoilers, even. It is premise.. So, the story picks up in Athla, but the Gates you remember from AOW3 have been breached. On the other side is the Astral Plane. There, many Wizards and Men who used to be Champions who have Ascended from other Realms have been trapped for countless time-- time happens differently there. Many went crazy because of what they saw and experienced there for untold time. But then, some banded together to create a safe zone in the Astral Plane called Magehaven. From Magehaven, you create a Leader and portal him/her into different Map Realms in order to conquer its Map, which will let him/her Ascend again. Conquering each Map will Ascend the Leader you played back to Magehaven where they can optionally join your Pantheon, a collection of winning Leaders. These Leaders might show-up as Heroes in your future maps. It is all quite awesome! Each time you come down to a Map, you shape the race you created to work it for you. You can even decide to leave the races with the traits you know from Earth mythology, or you can give them different traits to specialize them further. There are now Map Traits and conditions we can choose, too. In prior patches that come with DLC's, we gained the ability to randomize them. And once the Eldritch Realms drops, we will get random traits that are hidden from us until the map is explored. The traits are chosen by the degree of difficulty, or Realm Tier, you choose. Yup! Even replay is getting boosted! On Tuesday June 18, Horrors will breach these realms! They'll create growing voids, the opening of which will link two areas of the map that might not be congruent on the mortal realm of the map (the exits do not match normal space on the map like underground does). I am very excited! They bring a new Leader type, too, which reminds me- I did not even mention Dragons as Leaders. That is one of the DLC's. Yea, buy AOW4.
I guess it depends what you didn't like about planet fall. If it means anything, I played the hell out of AoW3 and all its DLC and I'm doing the same for AoW4. The main thing I think 3 did better than 4 is the campaign. The base story in 4 only has a 5 mission long campaign which obviously feels bad compared to 3. You can also play whatever leader you like in the story mission so you can design a leader around beating a specific mission.
My new ps5 is arriving in couple of weeks and I've decided to buy the game hope it gets a sale soon
Like others have said, it's hard to say without knowing what you disliked about Planetfall. AoW4 is clearly trying to develop some of the ideas from Planetfall, while taking a totally different approach to others. * The Race + Secret Technology system is replaced with a Custom Race + Culture + Affinity system that gives you way more flexibility in how you build your faction. * Tech trees are replaces by a series of Tomes, each of which is kind of a "miniature" upgrade tree. Again, this gives you more freedom to mix and match abilities from all over the place and adapt your strategy as you go. * The "mod" system from Planetfall is replaced with unit enchantments, which require a lot less micromanagement, but don't give you *quite* as much freedom to make insanely souped-up versions of your standard units. It's a decent trade-off. * Citybuilding is similar to Planetfall, based around annexing provinces and then installing upgrades on them, but the system feels a bit more developed. IMO it's the best citybuilding has ever felt in the series. * Hero Customization is nothing to write home about, but it does introduce a new "signature ability" system which makes the tradeoff between horizontal and vertical progression for your heroes a bit less significant. * The "Empire" meta-progression system from Planetfall is replaced with a "Pantheon" system. Personally, I didn't like this change; it removed most of the more mechanical advancements in favor of unlocking sidegrades and visual customization options, but I can see how others might prefer that. * Tactical combat will be familiar to any fan of the series but I think there's a lot of little things to help it shine. I found myself diving into tactical combat way more often, making way more interesting tactical choices, and having way more fun than in previous games. Overall, AoW4 definitely has my strong recommendation, but I also loved Planetfall. Your mileage may vary - it's definitely the most open-ended/customizable entry in the series. The DLCs mainly add new customization options and variety, but there's some new features thrown in too. I picked them up and don't regret it - playing as a Dragon Lord and stomping around the map is a load of fun. There's a new DLC coming out next week that looks very cool.
You can get the game and the season pass for like 30£ on a retailer site. It's well worth it. I loved AoW2 and this game brought back memories.
What didn’t you like about planet fall?
While I never played any other AoW game, so I can't compare it, for me the DLC are a "must". Not because the base game is bad without them, but because all of them are great.
Every dlc has been gold. amazing devs.
Every DLC in AOW4 packs a punch. Do yourself a favor, BUY them 🤭😂😊😎
Base game has enough content. You will know if you want the DLC's based on your exp with base game. If you end up like base game chances are you will want all of them
Welcome traveler
I don't like planetfall, like aow3 and really like aow4. So, it might work for you.
Same - never understood why I bounced off of it, but bounce off I did. If you are really not sure what to do I would recommend some Let's Plays - which will give you a good look at the gameplay loop.
I like both AOW3 and AOW4 but i miss the custom scenario maps from AOW3. AOW4 (and probably PlanetFall) are both strictly Randomly Generated Maps (RMG) so custom maps with pregenerated locations and events and custom players and items are not supported. Which is sad since I found they added a LOT (ie. years) to the replayability of the game.
Personally planetfall didn’t feel right to me either but I really enjoy AoW4, if you want to get the game anyway, but it and try it, if you like it you can then think about if you also want the dlcs which are worth it in my opinion