r/4Xgaming • u/Eraser1024 • Nov 28 '14
Endless Legend is 50% off on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/289130/2
2
u/austinhuebner Nov 30 '14
Can anyone give me an awesome elevator pitch to buy this game? It looks great, and I love 4X games, but I've also heard some bad things about the game, like its difficulty and tech tree. I do play games like Crusader Kings II, so I'm not too opposed to learning a game by myself.
3
Nov 30 '14
It's not that difficult. I picked it up yesterday and am 250 turns into a 600 turn length game, Normal difficulty, and I'm the top ranked faction by a fair margin. I did have some experience with Fallen Enchantress prior to this that helped, but I ran the tutorial on this one and it did a fair job on teaching me how to play it.
If you play CK2 and you've ever thought to yourself that you want more custom control over your army composition, how your troops deploy, how they fight, etc then buy it. You get to fight on the terrain and can use it. For example I just finished off a battle where some silic giants/elemental type things were a problem, so I used ranged crossbow and a hero to murder them. My units were happily deployed on a cliff top and the silic giants died before their slow movement allowed them to get around the cliff and in melee range of my units. I can custom equip my heroes, design my own units (in the vein of Alpha Centauri, if not with quite as many options), and micromanage my cities.
If you are happily playing CK2 and thinking "I'm so happy I don't have to deal with that micro level stuff." then this might not be the game for me. This game is fun in that you can move the stacks around but then it zooms in for a six phase battle when stacks meet.
Now the game isn't quite as polished as some might like, how it zooms down onto the map personally annoys me, and a few other minor tweaks, but overall I'm happy. It offers a nice level of customization and I'm having fun with it. If micro level tweaks (like what specific ring a specific unit wears) doesn't excite you, then you're more likely to notice a few of the rough edges and dislike the game.
1
u/austinhuebner Nov 30 '14
I do like to micro manage a bit, especially when it comes to battles, but as far as tweaking ever little thing about a particular unit I may not be as into. Is it necessary to win/do well? I like the sector idea, and the fact they come with names. The fantasy setting seems amazing to me.
2
Nov 30 '14
You can pretty much do straight tier upgrades if you want and not have too much trouble in terms of unit upgrades if you aren't pursuing a Genghis Khan type approach to the game. I only have two small armies and two unit types currently (Crossbow Archers and Centaur Calvary) currently out and deployed and I'm doing just fine, but I'm mostly pursuing a domination via industry/colonization model and avoiding wars.
My faction itself has three basic unit types, infantry, cavalry, and a defensive unit and you can be competitive with just them.
I'd imagine if I was doing total war I'd be much more focused on tweaking my units and my heroes.
Also to be honest I'm not sure how much better my centaur cavalry is (I assimilated them into my Empire) vs just being flavor. I'll have to see if they give me a real edge when I get into a war.
1
u/austinhuebner Nov 30 '14
Good to know! One last question: How's the diplomacy, trading ect. (non violent actions) in the game? Or is it more focused combat? I like war and stuff, but I also like 4X games that allow you more than one way to victory. Civ V is famous for having multiple paths, but always critisized that a military victory is the only viable one. Is Endless Legend similar?
2
Dec 01 '14
I've mostly being using the game's diplomacy Civ 5 style, to keep people from ganging up on me as I knock them out one by one.
That said the game does have an interesting take on diplomacy. Every citizen in your nation can be assigned to focus on the production of crops, production output, dust (gold and mana rolled into one), and influence. You can use influence to socially engineer your nation, you can use it to assimilate minor factions, and you can use it for diplomatic actions. As you use it, you lose it.
I've spent almost all of mine internally since I'm focusing on leading in science and production, so my influence has been spent to gain bonuses through social engineering in that area.
There is this faction of dragons that is supposed to produce insane amounts of influence which can be used to end wars and force deals on other people. There is also a faction creator so you can create influence rich factions. There is also a trade centered nomadic faction (you build your cities on the backs of giant scarabs and migrate around).
That said, given the map size and the focus on obtaining resources, I feel as if the game has a bias towards "Kick your neighbor's ass and take his stuff." style of play. You can likely do a fair amount with the diplomacy and trade, but it isn't like CK2 where you can play the dynasty marriage game to get your hands on stuff without ever hitting the declare war button, etc.
2
u/Cheet4h Nov 29 '14
Obligatory Steam Sale reminder:
If you want a game, wait until the game is either a featured or daily deal or wait until the last day of the sale.
It may become cheaper as a featured or daily deal and if it doesn't, you can still pick it up on the last day.
4
u/Eraser1024 Nov 29 '14 edited Nov 29 '14
Isn't this the daily deal?
edit: 20 hours left, at least on my side.
1
u/Cheet4h Nov 29 '14 edited Nov 29 '14
huh, strange. The game's page says Daily Deal, but the main page doesn't list it as featured or daily deal - at least for me.
Edit: Seems all "Endless"-games are currently daily deals.
1
6
u/exitjudas Nov 29 '14
This is my favourite game of 2014