Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West Review Summary

Unique Burgundian and Sicilian mechanics and excellent voice acting appeal to Age of Empires fans, but many bugs, campaign quality issues, and overpowered new civilizations hold it back.

Unique Burgundian mechanics: Burgundians feature charging cavalry that deals heavy damage, a unique unit (Coustillier), early Cavalier upgrade, Flemish Militia, and strong economic boom. These mechanics are seen as powerful and interesting.

Sicilian unique mechanics enjoyed: Sicilians feature unique Donjon and Sergeant mechanics that allow easy unit production and offer new gameplay ideas. The Sicilian campaign also has unique mechanics.

Excellent voice acting: The voice acting and soundtrack are highlighted as excellent, with spot-on performances that enhance the campaigns.

Many bugs and stability issues: The DLC and its updates introduced many bugs, crashes, freezes, and stability problems. Players report frequent crashes within minutes of launching, game-breaking bugs, and the game becoming unstable after updates.

Campaigns have quality issues: The new campaigns are criticized for poor storytelling, historical inaccuracies, and frustrating mission design. Problems include overly easy or difficult missions, boring objectives, and poor narrative choices.

New civilizations are overpowered: The new Burgundian and Sicilian civilizations are considered too powerful and unbalanced. Their unique units, technologies, and bonuses give them unfair advantages in multiplayer matches, making them seem deliberately overtuned.

DLC is overpriced for content: Multiple players complain that the DLC costs too much for what it offers. The DLC is only 25% cheaper than the base game but includes only two civilizations and three campaigns, while previous DLCs included three civilizations. Many consider it not worth the full price.

Only two new civilizations feels lacking: Previous DLCs included three civilizations, so receiving only two in this DLC feels insufficient for the price. This pattern is seen as a negative trend in content delivery.

Burgundian cavalry and economy bonuses: Burgundians get discounted stable techs, early Cavalier upgrade, and can research economic technologies one age early, enabling fast Castle Age strategies.

Sicilian Donjon and Serjeant mechanics: Sicilians have a unique Serjeant unit available in Feudal Age that can build Donjons, which serve as defensive structures and produce more Serjeants.

Burgundian versatile fast castle strategies: Burgundians can execute a fast castle boom or knight rush due to their early economic upgrades and discounted cavalry techs.

Campaigns with villain perspective: The DLC includes three campaigns where players play as historical figures often portrayed as villains, such as Edward Longshanks and others, offering a fresh narrative angle.

Unique units: Coustillier and Serjeant: Both civilizations have distinctive unique units: the Burgundian Coustillier has a charge attack and cooldown ability, and the Sicilian Serjeant builds Donjons.

Frequent crashes overall: Many players report that the game crashes frequently, both in multiplayer and campaign modes. This is a widespread issue affecting core gameplay stability.

Crashes with specific civilizations: Selecting or using new civilizations causes desktop crashes or freezes on the selection screen. This is a targeted crash scenario affecting specific content.

Multiplayer stability issues: Crashes occur in multiplayer when opening the tech tree or entering game sessions. Multiplayer disconnections and crashes increased after updates.

Crashes on loading screen: Some players cannot get past the loading screen, with the game freezing or bricking entirely. This prevents game access for affected users.

Unplayable for months: The game was unplayable for several months for some players, with stability fixes taking nearly half a year to implement.

Recommended for AoE2 fans: Many reviews recommend this DLC specifically for fans of Age of Empires II. It's considered a valuable addition for those already invested in the game.

Recommended for campaign lovers: The DLC is especially recommended for players who enjoy single-player campaigns, a key draw of the expansion.

Not recommended at full price: Some reviews caution against buying at full price and suggest a discount of 50% or more for a fair value.

Better on sale: Multiple reviews recommend waiting for a sale before purchasing, as the full price may not be justified.

Worthy purchase to support devs: Some players bought the DLC specifically to support the developers and encourage more content, viewing it as a worthy investment.

Community fair range: $30.00 - $40.00.

Story completion: 18.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

The DLC's fun profile is split: single-player campaigns offer solid content but feel like a tutorial, while multiplayer suffers from immediate balance problems that cause early negative ratings.

Friction: Multiplayer balance is broken: new civilizations are too powerful; Players without DLC lose in multiplayer; Campaigns feel like tutorials, reducing depth.

Unlock drivers: Focus on single-player campaigns; Balancing patches for multiplayer.

Campaign Story Enthusiast: Slow-paced, methodical single-player play, taking time to explore historical missions and enjoy narrative. Motivation: Enjoying narrative-driven historical campaigns and completing achievements. Stance: sale.

Multiplayer Meta Competitor: Competitive, tactical, optimizing strategies and adapting to meta changes. Motivation: Climbing ranked ladder and fair competition. Stance: no buy.

Veteran History Purist: Enjoys both campaigns and multiplayer, but cares deeply about historical authenticity and design originality. Motivation: Historical accuracy and nostalgia, expecting fresh yet faithful content. Stance: deep sale.

Steam Deck: The game suffers from severe stability issues with frequent crashes across all game modes. Users report that updates exacerbate problems, leading to lost progress and frustration. The experience is broken and unplayable for extended periods.

Monetization: User feedback focuses on DLC pricing, perceived value, and fairness toward previous buyers. All complaints revolve around traditional paid expansions (DLC), not in-game microtransactions, pay-to-win mechanics, or predatory monetization systems. No evidence of real-money gacha, loot boxes, currency obfuscation, or play-to-win design was found.

Want Age of Mythology remaster: Players express hope for a remaster of Age of Mythology with similar quality to the current title.

Free via Xbox Game Pass: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play the game for free on both Xbox and PC.