Recent reviews by Symphatic

The amount of level 10s that only ever played AI jumping straight into ranked is absurd.

Healers apparently = DPS
Tanks = Sit behind healers and DPS
DPS = 1v6 dives

This game isn't a new concept. Stop trying to rush ranked on a game you clearly can't play.

Other than the actual players the game is good.

Player AI sucks literal @$$.

They refuse to cook.
They refuse to attack unless they get attacked or I move them on top of the enemy.
They refuse to research. No research means no clothes so they're all hypothermic.
They refuse to gather what I want them to until it's too late.

The AI is soooooooooo baaaaadddddd. At least let me individually assign them to something.

I am severely disappointed with the initial release. Yes, I am fully aware it is labeled as Early Access, but this game doesn't even qualify as that. It is described as a Greek Myth-Inspired Survival Crafting game, but the only aspect it truly honors is the crafting. I completed everything the game has to offer in 4.6 hours, which is not much, and further reinforces my belief that this game wasn't even ready for Early Access.

I will also be using their Greek plural names so you can find more accurate information on what you're looking for. In cases where non-Greek creatures are used, I will use their real names as well.

Γοργόνες (Gorgons) - Their only ability is to turn someone to stone. They do not levitate. They do not cast shiny green orbs that stop a "god" from levitating. They only turn creatures, demigods, humanoids, etc., into stone. The ability these creatures use should at least paralyze you for a short period of time.

גּוֹלְמִים (Golems) - They are a Jewish-based mythological creature, technically part of folklore and/or mysticism. They are not Greek. If you are making a Greek-based game, use Greek mythological creatures. The closest equivalent to a golem in Greek mythology is Talos, a colossal bronze automaton. However, Talos is unique, the only one of his kind, whereas in Jewish mythology, there are multiple golems.

If you want to stay true to your Greek theme, I highly suggest removing Golems and focusing on the following:

Commonly Known:

• Κένταυροι (Centaurs)
  
• Κερβερος (Cerberus)
  
• Κήτεα (Cetea)
  
• Χιμαιρα (Chimera)
  
• Γίγαντες (Gigantes; Giants, Cyclops, etc.)
  
• Γρυπες (Griffin)
  
• Ἁρπθιαι (Harpies)
  
• Ἱπποκαμποι (Hippocamps)
  
• Ὑδρα Λερναια (Hydra)
  
• Γοργόνες (Gorgons, Medusa)
  
• Μινωταυρος (Minotaur)
  
• � ηγασος (Pegasus)
  
• Σατυροι (Satyrs)
  
• Σκυλλα (Scylla)
  
• Σειρηνες (Sirens)
  
• Σφινξ (Sphinx, more common in Egyptian Mythology, but it's highly present in Greek Mythology).
  
• Τριτονες (Tritons)
  
• Τυφωευς (Typhoeus)

There are also many uncommon mythological creatures, which would require further research on your part, but the list above is a good starting point. Additionally, there are unique individuals in the categories above that could easily be used as unique bosses or followers of various gods.


So far, the native species are looking solid. There are some you could add, and it would be relatively quick and easy:

• Mice
  
• Foxes
  
• Squirrels
  
• Beavers
  
• Bears
  
• Mountain Lions (Important, as they were hunted down and exterminated in Ancient Greece)
  
• Lions (Important, as they were hunted down and exterminated in Ancient Greece)

I am seeing everything except obsidian, which is one of the most common materials found in Ancient Greece. The same can be said for marble, limestone, basalt, granite, slate, emery, lead, zinc, and bauxite.

Let’s be honest—you have the main Twelve Olympians, eight of which are currently released, yet the followers are the same as all the others. Why aren't they blessed by their gods? It would make sense, wouldn’t it? Giving the followers unique abilities that closely resemble the specialty of the god they follow seems logical. This is definitely a missed opportunity by the developers and should have been considered.

Player movement is unbearably slow; running in this game is slower than walking in real life. Not only is this a game, not real life, but your character is essentially a demigod. They shouldn't be slowed down by armor or whatever else they're carrying.

Unless I missed something, I found no way to set a waypoint on the map and follow it. I also found no option to mark the location of your bases on the map.

I don’t usually make comments about quests or storylines in survival-based games, but since you went out of your way to add quests and a main story, you unfortunately get to hear my opinion on them:

They're bad. Really bad. There's no mention, as far as I can see, of how to get 3-star animals. I spent a good half hour killing things with a spear before I got tired of chasing them and accidentally figured out that shooting them in the face gives me a 3-star 100% of the time. The main story is basically a few lines from the floating dude, and that's it. Pomegranates and seashells (actually just called "shells" on the map—wasted a lot of time figuring that out) can only be found in one location. Ancient Wood, Dark Wood, and Hard Wood were also confusing to figure out. Who would have thought that only about 12 trees (exaggerating) on the entire map counted as Dark Wood and Hard Wood, and that tree stumps in the desert counted as Ancient Wood? All other trees give Softwood, which is confusing, since they all look different (palms, pine trees, etc., all give Softwood).

It seems like the developers prioritized this over every other aspect of the game (excluding the world itself, which is decently sized but completely empty). You still need to address the materials I mentioned above. Additionally, you should add more types of building blocks so players can create better bases.

I do not recommend this game to anyone until it actually deserves the title of Early Access. This game is 100% in Alpha status. Beyond that, the developers can’t seem to figure out which mythological creatures were actually Greek and what abilities each creature possessed, even though a quick and easy Google search would clarify this.

Source: I have a degree in Mythology.
Note: If you need help, developers, feel free to add me and ask questions.
Edit 1: Grammar corrections.
Edit 2: Added a golem equivalent in Greek mythology; however, this figure is one of a kind.

Alrighty... where to start.

I'm almost 29 and I have been playing Age of Mythology since I was a little kid. I still own all physical copies of the game and still have the original computer I played it on purely for the memories. This game was the beginning of my professional gaming career and what ultimately got me into RTS games and Mythology. Having grown up on this game I am heavily biased towards it and extremely nit-picky about the small details. So let's get to it!

I think we can all agree that the only campaign difficulty that is worth mentioning is Titan. Having not played this game in a long time and having long term hand injuries (military) Titan was relatively easy as it should be for someone like myself, but some missions were absolutely ridiculously difficult and I know people not as adept at the game would greatly struggle to do them. Having the AI spam attack you with insanely large armies every couple of minutes (think it was 3) is just silly. You can make a game harder without it being ridiculous. It's even worse when it's like 1 against 3 and you have limited resources and you have to break through massive cities to reach your destination.

I love seeing an active ranked leader board. Some old names I remember as a kid, some I even played with as a kid, have been on it. I haven't played any ranked matches myself since my hands are messed up (massive APM reduction) but have watched quite a few of them being casted by FitzBro and had a great time watching them!

Also please don't ask my old name... I really don't remember lmfao. I know I played some games with Akatsuki clan and a few other clans.

I haven't tinkered with the Editor too much, but I did make a map based off a SC2. I do wish that you can use smaller water for fine details, and I wish it would do a better job following your mouse since at the moment the editor is like a small child with crayons, you try to stay in your perceived lines and for some reason it starts going outside the lines. Just some tuning would be great.

I can't wait to see some of the old custom games come back. =)

So I agree with everyone when people say the Voice Acting and Portraits aren't that great. The Portraits are clearly AI generated. Some of the voices try to hard to be unnatural. The voices give me Girl V-Tuber vibes basically. All you need to do is talk naturally, but putting extra oomph in bad pronunciation doesn't help. As a side note Amanra looks like a 90 year old twig compared to old Amanra who I actually thought was cute as a kid. Just uhh... thought i'd throw that out there.

Overall I like how nearly every God seems to be pretty well balanced (ranging from C-A on my personal tier, though I think Set is easily S since it's pretty broken right now). There are some kinks that can easily be worked out, I would ask the ranked players. What I 100% believe needs to be reworked a tiny bit is Titan Difficulty. You can make them spam attack less and make it still be extremely hard as intended. If you need help, please, just ask the players. We've been playing for so long we kinda know the game a little bit.

I am in absolute love with this anti-cheat. I remember back in the day there were some map hacks and some Cheat Engine cheats would work in ranked, but this completely stops that possibility. All of the major "trainer" makers seem to have thrown in the towel which is good. I also decided to test it by having one of those programs running and it immediately crashes the game on launch! It's amazing. Really great work from the devs on that one.

With the new addition of Freyr I got to experience a new god on AoM since Atlanteans became a thing. That was pretty exciting to say the least. The god itself is... I am going to be completely honest the god itself is mediocre except on a few select maps and strats. It was exciting initially, especially in the Mythical Battles mode, but the more I played Freyr the more I preferred like Loki or Odin (Thor nice for the dwarves, but other than that Thor is also mediocre except on a few select maps).

Now, with the release of Freyr, and the release of Tale of the Dragon in the future, I would like to start seeing more Major Gods and more Pantheons (with campaigns ofc). I don't mind if they're (pantheons) are sold as DLC for like $5 or $10. I do see one extra Pantheon being decided on other than Chinese, but I would like to state that you also have all of these to choose from (strictly pantheon):

• African
  
• Armenian
  
• Aztec
  
• Buddhist
  
• Berber
  
• Burmese
  
• Canaanite
  
• Germanic
  
• Guanche
  
• Hindu
  
• Incan
  
• Irish
  
• Jain
  
• Japanese
  
• Maya
  
• Native American
  
• Rigvedic
  
• Slavic
  
• Sumerian
  
• Yoruba

Just a thought!

Overall I highly recommend the game. Despite some of the cons I pointed out, I have high hopes for this remaster. I highly doubt the devs would ever read this review, but if they do, please take what I said seriously in terms of pantheons. The community would LOVE to see more pantheons. After all, it's the Age of Mythology is it not? ;)

I played Artix Entertainment's games since I was a kid. I started with AdventureQuest when I was 7. Then played DragonFable then MechQuest. I didn't bother touching AQW due to reviews from friends at the time. Then when AQ3D came out absolutely no one I know, including myself, knew there was a kickstarter until a couple months AFTER it happened. So we all missed the chance to get extras.

There was nothing to do really. Game was mostly empty after the initial hype when everyone realized there was really nothing to do. The game was incredibly bare bones and all you honest to god had to do was grind those random useless items that had an absurdly low drop rate. That's all. They focused HEAVILY on random, odd, things you can buy with real money to get cosmetics in game. Like they're still trying to sell calendars as if people actually use those anymore and the calendars themselves are overpriced or bought in bulk by resellers. Poster? Comes with in-game cosmetic. Shirt? Comes with in-game cosmetic. Accessories? Comes with in-game cosmetic. Plushies? Comes with in-game cosmetic. Content purchases for other games? Comes with in-game cosmetic. There is so much focus on trying to make $$ on limited time cosmetics that the game suffered early on and ultimately killed the player base.

Players obviously came back just to realize that: There's still nothing to do. The "Major Update" was probably about 20 minutes of actual writing/story and back to an insane grind. You'd think developing games for 20 years Artix and the crew would learn how to make an actual story that's longer than 3 sentences. They do not.

I personally quit after the first major update and the many many MANY disappointments. I do occasionally pop in just to check what all is going on in the game and I can say every update I have looked at has been pretty lackluster and still heavily $$ focused. At the time of writing there are 83 items in their Hero Mart that has in-game rewards. 83 items. Imagine if they spent all of the time on actually creating content rather than cosmetic bloat.

This game does not deserve a second thought. It is a game you can 100% forget about and not feel guilty. I know a developer is going to respond and try to justify their actives or discredit me in some fashion, but being a developer myself & a long time fan, I can say this company isn't worth your time or money.

nythera legit just proved my point with their response.

The entire franchise, one of my favs mind you, turned into a cash grab. Chromatic Games has gone down hill and is just begging to go under. None of the games in the franchise, especially this one, is worth the money nor time spent on it.

The game itself is really good, but there's an extremely terrible balancing issue. I usually play games on the hardest difficulty setting, but in some cities it's straight impossible to even play on Very Easy. First night there's 3 squads of infected, about 5 each. No big deal. On the 4th night there's about 7 squads with 10-15 infected. Yeeeaaahh..... how is anyone supposed to survive that...?

Other than the clear balancing issue this is a pretty solid game. Unfortunately, the balancing issue makes this hard to enjoy. It will be a Yes for recommended when the devs work on the balancing. Earlier the better please.

Aspyr is a joke company. They need to stop touching our childhood games, ruining them, then pricing them as if the game just came out for the first time ever.

All they ever do is: run everything through AI to enhance the graphics (excluding videos), introduce bugs that never existed in the original game (somehow), did zero compression, & somehow failed a multiplayer mode release without even trying to do in-house testing which really isn't hard to test. Pretty much everything they did was what modders (excluding introducing bugs) did, but in a terrible way.

The negative reviews are hilarious. These people don't even read patch notes. Man does more in one patch than most major companies do in several.

*sigh*... it pains me to do this as I love pirate games, but yet another game destroyed with bad development practices.

As a developer myself I decided to dig into your files to see why I am experiencing crashes, why the game is unresponsive, and the controls are overly difficult to use. Here's what I have got:

Firstly, the movement is terrible. You turn run on and you basically just... walking fast. It's not running. It's not jogging. It's just fast walking. Trying to hold, let's sat, W & D to move at a right forward angle doesn't work well. The camera is so horrendously disgusting it's not even funny. Who develops games these days, 3D Open World RPG games mind you, with forced cameras at absolutely stupid angles where you can't see anything you need and/or want to see...? It's like the developer hasn't realized technology has improved and is stuck in this Atari/PS1 mindset.

Also, seriously... no full screen windowed mode? Really?

Researching I realize this game is made after Sea Dogs series. Just because something is in the same series does not mean you need to keep the same exact development style from over 24 years ago. That does not mean you're making a quality game. You're actually doing the entire series a disservice by NOT improving your coding ability, art, or anything. How can you justify asking people to spend money on the full release when you essentially just ran the textures through AI and called it a day? There's no drastic improvement anywhere. There's no new engine. There's no new art. No new ideas.

File size, the amount of files, and how it's formatted is also incredibly questionable. You did good on the .WAV files for sounds as they're the most optimal. The .WMV movie is a nice thought, but it's an outdated video compression system. You could have shed off another 70-100mb using up-to-date video compression software. You do not need 52,000 files and 2,120 folders. Even FFX, which came out a year after Sea Dogs, only has 1,752 files and 21 folders (probably less since I modded it). An old Japanese MMORPG, SMT Imagine Online, which came out in 2007 has a similar file amount as yours but it has 1300 less folders and 16GB less, all while looking significantly better than this game and has significantly better controls. There is absolutely zero excuse for your file size and folder amount. You need to learn, as a company, how packaging/compression/decompression/etc. works. These are the absolute basics that you did not seem to want to learn and a company should know how to do.

When you learn how to do the above properly you'll be cutting that absurd amount of files down to a few hundred. That will also help you clean up the ridiculous amount of .ini files you seem to have that calls to thousands of different files when you could just call to the 1 packaged file.

Overall this an unoptimized PS1 to PC port which has almost no improvements over the 2000 Sea Dogs game. I do not recommend until the company goes back to school or at least looks at one of the millions of game development videos on YouTube that could solve pretty much every negative I said. You'll enjoy frequent crashes as well since, again, the optimization is really bad.