Info about Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition:

Official game description:
Dynasties of the East Expansion Available Now
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Knights of Cross and Rose DLC Available Now
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THE SULTANS ASCEND DLC AVAILABLE NOW!
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Digital Deluxe Edition
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The Digital Deluxe Edition includes everything from Age of Empires IV, plus digital bonus content which includes the official Age of Empires IV soundtrack, Unit Counters Chart, art compilation from digital painter Craig Mullins, and exclusive in-game content including a Coat of Arms, Player Profile portrait, and Monument.
About the Game
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Celebrating its first year of delighting millions of global players, the award-winning and best-selling strategy franchise continues with Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, putting you at the center of even more epic historical battles that shaped the world.  
Featuring both familiar and innovative new ways to expand your empire in vast landscapes with stunning 4K visual fidelity, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition brings an evolved real-time strategy game to the next level in this celebratory new version that includes a host of free new content such as brand-new civilizations, new maps, additional in-game updates and languages, and new masteries, challenges, taunts and cheats – all at an amazing value that packs in more history than ever before!  
Two New Civilizations, 8 New Maps - Lead the mighty Malians of West Africa as one of the richest trading nations of all-time as you focus on strong economic prowess in mining and investing in gold.  
Or assemble one of the longest lasting empires in history with the Ottoman civilization and its well-trained military force, which features the largest gunpowder siege weapons available – the Great Bombards – mighty cannons that can fell any opponents who stand in your way.  
Customize Your Game with Mods (Beta) - Chart your own course with powerful creator tools in the latest beta release of Mod Editor. Sculpt your own skirmish and multiplayer maps, craft unique mission scenarios, forge data driven tuning packs and envision new modes of play for Age of Empires IV.  
Return to History – The past is prologue as you are immersed in a rich historical setting of 10 diverse civilizations across the world from the English to the Chinese to the Delhi Sultanate in your quest for victory. Build cities, manage resources, and lead your troops to battle on land and at sea in 4 distinct campaigns with 35 missions that span across 500 years of history from the Dark Ages up to the Renaissance.  
An Age for All Players – Age of Empires IV is an inviting experience for new players with a tutorial system that teaches the essence of real-time strategy and a Campaign Story Mode designed for first time players to help achieve easy setup and success, yet is challenging enough for veteran players with new game mechanics, evolved strategies, and combat techniques.  
Challenge the World – Jump online to compete, cooperate or spectate with up to 7 of your friends in PVP and PVE multiplayer modes that include ranked seasons and much more!  
Choose Your Path to Greatness with Historical Figures – Live the adventures of Joan of Arc in her quest to defeat the English, or command mighty Mongol troops as Genghis Khan in his conquest across Asia. The choice is yours – and every decision you make will determine the outcome of history.

Release date: Oct 28, 2021

Categories: Real-time Strategy, Empire Building, Civilization Simulation, Territory Management, Resource Management, Historical Strategy, Multiplayer, Competitive Multiplayer


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Cinematic and educational campaigns (weight 0.45): The campaigns are lauded for their high-quality storytelling, documentary-style cutscenes, and educational value. They blend historical context with engaging gameplay, offering a unique and immersive experience.
- Enjoyable multiplayer and DLCs (weight 0.37): Multiplayer modes, including co-op and PvP, are smooth, well-balanced, and highly enjoyable. DLCs add significant value by introducing new civilizations, campaigns, and innovative gameplay modes, extending the game's longevity.
- Top-tier RTS gameplay (weight 0.37): The game is praised as one of the best real-time strategy (RTS) experiences available, blending classic Age of Empires mechanics with modern innovations. It appeals to both veterans and newcomers due to its accessibility and depth.
- High-quality visuals and sound (weight 0.24): The game features visually stunning graphics, detailed animations, and immersive sound design. The soundtrack, unit voices, and environmental sounds enhance the historical atmosphere and overall immersion.
- Evolution of the series (weight 0.22): The game builds on the strengths of previous Age of Empires titles while introducing new mechanics and simplifying others. It refines the classic RTS formula, making it more accessible without sacrificing depth.
- Nostalgic yet modern experience (weight 0.17): The game successfully captures the classic Age of Empires feel while incorporating modern graphics, smoother controls, and refined mechanics. This balance appeals to nostalgic fans and new players alike.
- Deep and engaging strategy (weight 0.17): The gameplay offers a rich mix of strategic depth, tactical choices, and balanced mechanics. Unit counter systems, siege mechanics, and asymmetric civilizations create a dynamic and challenging experience for players.
- Accessible yet challenging (weight 0.11): The game strikes a balance between accessibility for newcomers and depth for experienced players. Controls are intuitive, and the pacing allows for both casual and competitive play.
- Highly engaging and addictive (weight 0.1): Players report hundreds of hours of gameplay, citing the game's addictive nature and long-term appeal. The combination of strategic depth, variety, and polish keeps players engaged over time.

Common complaints:
- Frequent game crashes and instability (weight 0.31): Players report widespread crashes during gameplay, menus, and post-DLC updates, often leading to PC shutdowns or lost progress. The issue persists across hardware configurations and play sessions.
- Broken matchmaking system (weight 0.23): Matchmaking pairs players of vastly different skill levels (e.g., bronze vs. diamond), lacks solo queue protections, and enables smurfing/cheating, creating unfair and frustrating experiences.
- No reconnect feature for online games (weight 0.2): Disconnections or crashes result in permanent match losses, with no option to rejoin ongoing games, compounding frustration from technical instability.
- DLC paywalls for core content (weight 0.2): Essential maps, factions, and civilizations are locked behind DLCs, making the base game feel incomplete. Players criticize short-lived DLC content and high prices for variants over new civilizations.
- DLC civilizations are overpowered (weight 0.19): New DLC civilizations are unbalanced, often stronger than default ones, creating pay-to-win perceptions and frustrating gameplay for non-purchasers.
- Persistent bugs and slow fixes (weight 0.16): Critical bugs (e.g., crashes, matchmaking) remain unresolved for months or years, with developers prioritizing DLC sales over core fixes, eroding player trust.
- Excessive difficulty and poor scaling (weight 0.16): Even the easiest difficulty settings feel punishing, with infinite enemy spawning, abrupt difficulty spikes, and overwhelming macro mechanics, alienating new/older players.
- Save system failures (weight 0.14): Save files corrupt or disappear after updates, with no multiplayer save option, forcing players to restart progress or lose matches due to crashes.
- Limited content and replayability (weight 0.13): The game lacks resource variety, civilizations, and map diversity compared to predecessors, with repetitive campaigns and reliance on mods to feel complete.
- Poor UI/UX design (weight 0.12): Menus are unintuitive, with bad contrast, missing language support, and unresponsive hotkeys, making navigation and unit control frustrating compared to older RTS titles.
- Developer neglect and slow updates (weight 0.12): Players feel abandoned, with slow bug fixes, lack of communication, and focus on DLC sales over core improvements, leading to perceptions of unfulfilled potential.
- Rampant cheating and no anti-cheat (weight 0.11): Cheaters use maphacks, infinite resources, and undetectable exploits, with no penalties or effective anti-cheat measures, ruining competitive integrity.
- Unbalanced AI and difficulty (weight 0.1): AI exploits resource bonuses, lacks logical behavior (e.g., 5v1 attacks), and offers no scaling between difficulty tiers, making skirmish modes frustratingly unfair.
- Flawed ranked and progression system (weight 0.09): Ranked matchmaking is broken, with hidden ranks, binary tiering (bronze vs. challenger), and punitive point losses for long matches, discouraging competitive play.
- Outdated and broken AI (weight 0.08): AI relies on brute-force tactics, lacks dynamic strategy, and includes non-functional factions (e.g., Mongols), making it feel inferior to older RTS games.

Gameplay feedback:
- Diverse civilizations with unique mechanics (weight 0.54): Players consistently highlight the game's 22+ unique civilizations, each with distinct playstyles, units, upgrades, and cultural themes. This diversity enhances replayability and strategic depth, though some note balance issues.
- Hybrid RTS with turn-based elements (weight 0.25): The game blends real-time strategy with turn-based mechanics (e.g., unit formations, resource management) and draws comparisons to *Age of Empires* and *Civilization*. This appeals to fans of both genres.
- Unit abilities and tactical combat (weight 0.21): Units have unique abilities (e.g., France’s armored knights, healing camps) and counter mechanics (e.g., mounted archers vs. ranged units). Pathfinding and micro-management are key to battles.
- DLC expands content but risks paywalls (weight 0.21): DLC adds new civilizations, maps, and campaigns (e.g., *The Sultans Ascend*), but some players criticize paywalls for factions or nations. DLC updates also impact balance and tactical gameplay.
- Civilization-specific economies (weight 0.2): Each civilization has unique economic buildings, landmarks, and bonuses (e.g., Mongols’ mobile bases). This asymmetry ties into broader strategies like turtling or fast age-ups.
- Adjustable AI difficulty (weight 0.18): AI opponents scale from easy to extreme (e.g., *Ridiculous* level), with customizable difficulty for campaigns and skirmishes. This caters to both beginners and veterans.
- Custom and skirmish modes (weight 0.14): Players can create custom games (e.g., 1v1 to FFA) or skirmish against AI with variable maps, weather, and biomes. Offline AI matches are available for casual play.
- Unique victory conditions (weight 0.11): Novel win conditions include capturing Sacred Sites (10-minute timer), destroying landmarks, or building Wonders. These encourage aggressive play and map control, adding strategic variety.

Performance notes:
- Frequent game crashes (weight 0.31): Players report consistent crashes during gameplay, menus, and longer sessions, affecting both Windows and Linux systems. Crashes occur even on high-end hardware and may result in lost progress or sudden exits.
- Linux and Proton advantages (weight 0.25): Linux users report better performance via Proton compared to Windows, with fewer crashes and higher FPS. However, unofficial Linux support leads to occasional instability.
- Hardware-specific bugs (weight 0.07): Issues arise on dual-GPU laptops, with resolution downscaling, and input lag (0.3 sec). Some players report PC overheating or shutdowns linked to false connection errors.
- UI and pathing bugs (weight 0.03): Units get stuck on buildings due to pathing issues, and a UI panel bug affects gameplay experience. These issues persist despite hardware or driver updates.
- Internet dependency (weight 0.02): The game requires a constant internet connection, which exacerbates disconnection and server-related issues. This limitation frustrates players with unstable networks.
- Mod store inaccessibility (weight 0.02): Players report the mod store failing to open, limiting access to community-created content and customization options.
- Havok license concerns (weight 0.02): Upcoming expiration of Havok License Keys raises concerns about potential future compatibility or performance issues, though no immediate impact is reported.

Recommendations:
- Highly recommended for RTS fans (weight 0.37): The game is overwhelmingly praised by fans of real-time strategy (RTS) games, particularly those who enjoy titles like Age of Empires, StarCraft, and They Are Billions. It is described as essential for strategy lovers and a modern evolution of the genre.
- Accessible for newcomers and veterans (weight 0.34): The game is noted for its approachability to new players while offering strategic depth for experienced or competitive players. This balance makes it appealing to a broad audience.
- Best value on sale (weight 0.13): Many players suggest the game is worth buying, but only at a discounted price. Full-price purchases are often discouraged unless the buyer is a hardcore RTS fan.
- Civilization diversity requested (weight 0.08): Players express a desire for more distinct civilizations rather than variants. Balancing and fleshing out civilizations for multiplayer is a common request.
- High replayability and engagement (weight 0.07): The game is praised for its ability to draw players back regularly, offering high replayability through its campaign, PvE, and multiplayer modes.
- DLCs add value but caution advised (weight 0.05): The first DLC (Sultans Ascend) is praised for adding significant diversity, but players warn against purchasing DLCs until the base game is stable or unless committed to the game long-term.
- Active updates and community feedback (weight 0.03): The developers are noted for incorporating community feedback and providing consistent balancing updates, which improves the game over time.
- Reconnect feature needed (weight 0.03): A frequent complaint is the lack of a reconnection feature for players who experience disconnections, which disrupts multiplayer experiences.
- Improve matchmaking balance (weight 0.03): Players highlight issues with matchmaking, particularly the pairing of new players with experienced ones, leading to unbalanced and frustrating matches.
- City-building improvements requested (weight 0.03): Players suggest adding features like building rotation and a sandbox mode to enhance the city-building and strategic aspects of the game.

Other player notes:
- High DLC pricing concerns (weight 0.05): Players criticize the cost of DLCs and the perceived lack of value in their content. Complaints also highlight dissatisfaction with variant DLCs, suggesting they feel nickel-and-dimed.
- Desire for new eras and civilizations (weight 0.03): Players suggest adding a fifth or sixth era for civilizations and a specialized gunpowder civilization for China. This reflects a demand for expanded historical depth and unique faction mechanics.
- Nostalgia for earlier games (weight 0.03): Players express nostalgia for earlier titles in the series, particularly Age of Empires 2 and 3. This suggests a desire for features or mechanics that evoke the feel of those games.
- Requests for more maps and balance (weight 0.02): Players frequently request additional map variety and improved balance mechanics. This feedback indicates a desire for deeper strategic diversity and fairness in gameplay.
- Frequent disruptive updates (weight 0.02): Players report excessive updates every 15 minutes, which disrupts gameplay and creates frustration. This suggests a need for better patch management or scheduling.
- High system requirements (weight 0.02): The game is criticized for requiring extremely high-end hardware, described humorously as 'NASA-level.' This may limit accessibility for players with average PCs.
- Lack of compensation for issues (weight 0.02): Players express frustration over not receiving compensation for in-game problems or disruptions. This feedback suggests a need for better customer support or goodwill gestures.
- Cultural representation issues (weight 0.02): Concerns are raised about the accuracy and sensitivity of cultural representation in the game. This feedback highlights the importance of thoughtful and respectful portrayal of diverse cultures.
- Cheating and moderation issues (weight 0.02): Specific mentions of cheaters, such as the ID 'BloodSailSlayer,' highlight concerns about inadequate anti-cheat measures or moderation in the game.
- Small but efficient community (weight 0.02): While the player base is described as small, it results in shorter wait times for matches. This feedback indicates a trade-off between community size and matchmaking efficiency.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.29): Players experience frustration primarily due to persistent technical issues, such as frequent crashes, server instability, and corrupted save files, which disrupt gameplay and waste time. Additionally, the game's high difficulty, unbalanced AI behavior, intrusive DLC monetization, and poor matchmaking exacerbate the negative experience, making progression feel unfair or unrewarding.
- Disappointment (weight 0.17): Disappointment stems from unmet expectations regarding the game's quality, innovation, and developer support. Players criticize the lackluster campaign design, outdated mechanics, and technical flaws like crashes and poor optimization. The game's focus on monetization through DLCs, perceived neglect of community feedback, and failure to address long-standing issues (e.g., cheating, balance problems) further contribute to this sentiment.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.11): Players express satisfaction with the game's refined mechanics, engaging campaigns, and modernized gameplay that retains the franchise's classic charm. Improvements in multiplayer balance, pathfinding, and faction variety, along with post-launch updates and developer support, enhance the overall experience and replayability.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement is driven by the game's immersive gameplay, strategic depth, and high-quality production values, including dynamic faction playstyles and epic battle moments. Players appreciate the fresh mechanics, competitive depth, and anticipation for future expansions, which revitalize the RTS genre for both newcomers and veterans.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.05): Nostalgia is evoked by the game's ability to recapture the essence of classic Age of Empires titles, resonating with players who grew up with the series. The soundtrack, gameplay mechanics, and historical themes trigger fond memories, creating an emotional connection to the franchise's legacy.
- Appreciation (weight 0.05): Players appreciate the game's historical immersion, asymmetric civilization design, and developer efforts to modernize the RTS formula while respecting the series' roots. The supportive community, educational campaigns, and continuous updates further foster a sense of gratitude for the game's depth and polish.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.04): Enjoyment arises from the game's fun and engaging gameplay, whether in solo campaigns, cooperative modes, or multiplayer matches with friends. The variety of civilizations, tactical depth, and rewarding learning curve contribute to long hours of immersive play.
- Anger (weight 0.04): Anger is directed at exploitative DLC practices, unresolved technical issues (e.g., crashes, lost progress), and perceived developer indifference. Players feel betrayed by unfair monetization, broken multiplayer experiences, and a lack of accountability for game-breaking bugs or balance problems.
- Admiration (weight 0.03): Admiration is inspired by the game's strategic depth, attention to historical detail, and high-quality execution. Players praise the asymmetric civilization design, sound design, and overall production values, considering it one of the finest RTS games in recent years.
- Hope (weight 0.02): Players express hope for future improvements, such as better anti-cheat measures, cooperative PvE modes, and reconnect features. The potential for updates, mods, and developer responsiveness fuels optimism that the game can evolve into a definitive Age of Empires experience.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.02): Enthusiasm stems from the game's accessibility, unique faction mechanics, and fresh strategic layers that appeal to both RTS veterans and newcomers. The engaging campaigns, buffed units, and ongoing content updates generate excitement for the game's long-term potential.
- Joy (weight 0.01): Joy is derived from the game's modernized yet nostalgic gameplay, which offers a relaxing and immersive experience. Playing with family or friends, as well as the game's addictive mechanics, contribute to moments of pure enjoyment and bonding.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Minor annoyances include intrusive tutorials, repetitive villager sounds, and technical hiccups like crashes during longer sessions. These issues, while not game-breaking, detract from the overall experience and create moments of irritation.
- Pride (weight 0.01): Players feel pride in their progression, such as achieving high ranks (e.g., Diamond) or mastering unique civilizations like the Mongols. The sense of accomplishment from conquering challenges and improving skills fosters a strong emotional connection to the game.
- Relief (weight 0.01): Relief is felt when persistent issues (e.g., crashes) are fixed or when the game proves less stressful than other competitive multiplayer titles. Reduced micro-management and smoother gameplay also contribute to a more enjoyable experience.
- Awe (weight 0.01): Awe is inspired by the game's high production quality, including cinematic intros, immersive graphics, and grand-scale battles. The attention to detail in storytelling and visual presentation elevates the game beyond typical RTS experiences.}