Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes Review Summary

Offers the franchise's best campaigns with unique civilizations and an interconnected story, but suffers from persistent bugs, poor localization, and a limited roster.

Best campaigns in franchise: Many reviewers consider these three campaigns to be the best in Age of Empires 2 history, citing excellent storytelling, level design, and overall fun factor.

Interconnected three-campaign story: The DLC features three campaigns that are narratively interconnected, forming one overarching storyline that reviewers found compelling and well-executed.

Unique and fun civilizations: The two new civilizations, Bohemians and Poles, are described as unique, fun to play, and well-integrated with interesting units and technologies.

Jadwiga campaign praised: The Jadwiga campaign is lauded for its immersive story, excellent voice acting, and art, with special mention of Jogaila's appearance.

Jan Zizka campaign standout: The Jan Zizka campaign is frequently highlighted as one of the best, with thrilling missions and a compelling narrative.

Lithuania campaign crash bug: Several players report a crash in the Lithuanian campaign level 5 when Jogaila enters a village or town. This bug has been mentioned across multiple clusters and appears consistent.

Polish civilization disappointing: Feedback indicates the Polish civilization feels meh, lacking expected units like Paladins or strong Winged Hussars. Some see it as unbalanced, either overpowered in multiplayer or too dependent on wood economy.

Poor localization quality: Several players criticize the localization as half-hearted, machine-translated, or containing translation errors. Voice acting and worker voice lines are also seen as poor or laughable.

Bohemian civilization issues: Players find the Bohemian civilization generic, slow, or weak. Monk bonuses are not significant, unique units like war wagons break immersion or look weird, and the civilization is considered not competitive.

Campaign text errors: Multiple reports of wrong story text being displayed, text from Polish campaign appearing in Bohemian campaign, and narration mismatches. These localization issues reduce immersion.

Interconnected three-campaign narrative: Three campaigns share a connected storyline covering Poland, Lithuania, and Bohemia, best played in chronological order for full narrative effect.

Poland is a cavalry civilization with economic bonuses: Poland focuses on cavalry, with the Folwark mill providing faster food gathering, gold from stone mining, and villager HP regeneration, plus a cheaper knight upgrade.

Bohemia is a gunpowder and monk civilization: Bohemia specializes in gunpowder units and monks, with unique techs like Hussite Reforms and Wagon Fort Tactics, plus bonuses to monastery and blacksmith building costs.

Two new civilizations added: The DLC introduces Poland and Bohemia as playable civilizations, each with unique units, technologies, and buildings such as the Folwark mill and Hussite Wagon.

New economy mechanics and units: New economy mechanics include the Folwark building for faster food, and new units like the Obuch, Winged Hussar, and Hussite War Wagon.

Game crashes persistently: The game crashes on startup, possibly with a black screen, after a recent update. This is a critical stability issue that blocks players from launching the game.

Overwhelmingly positive recommendation: Multiple clusters strongly urge players to buy the game, using phrases like 'too good to be ignored', 'highly recommend', and 'definitely recommend'. This represents a broad consensus that the game is worth purchasing.

Recommended for campaign lovers: The DLC and game are especially recommended for players who enjoy single-player campaigns, with clusters highlighting the quality and depth of campaign content.

Wait for sale recommended: Some clusters advise waiting for a sale, citing high price for the amount of content or suggesting that it is better to purchase at a discount if budget is a concern.

Fans should buy without hesitation: Devoted fans of the Age of Empires series are urged to buy immediately, with no reservations about the purchase.

Great for Age of Empires 2 fans: The DLC is recommended for fans of Age of Empires 2 specifically, with many reviews highlighting its value for players who already enjoy the franchise.

Community fair range: $19.99 - $39.99.

Story completion: 15.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

This DLC provides immediate fun through its inventive campaigns and viable new civilizations, with no significant early-game friction reported for this specific content.

Unlock drivers: campaigns with inventive progression; new civilizations with unique bonuses.

Campaign Story Seeker: Plays single-player campaigns at moderate to relaxed difficulty, enjoys narrative and mission variety. Motivation: Immersive historical campaigns and story-driven missions. Stance: buy.

Multiplayer Strategist: Analyzes and tests new civs in ranked matches, adapts to meta and exploits synergies. Motivation: Competitive viability and strategic depth of new civilizations. Stance: sale.

Hardcore Veteran: Plays on hardest difficulty, masters all civs, engages with long-term game depth. Motivation: New challenging content and supporting the franchise. Stance: buy.

Monetization: User reviews for this Age of Empires II DLC focus entirely on upfront purchase price and value perception, not on in-game microtransactions or predatory monetization. Complaints include high price relative to content and frustration over previous DLCs becoming free. However, many users find the current DLC fairly priced and enjoy the new content. The game itself does not have a real-money shop, gacha, or pay-to-win mechanics.

Chinese sub-civilizations request: Players suggest adding Chinese sub-civilizations such as Jurchen, Khitan, and Tangut, along with campaign ideas for these factions. This feedback focuses on enriching historical depth and gameplay variety for the Chinese faction.

Negative pre-order advice: A player advises against pre-ordering Age of Empires 4, claiming the game will be poor quality and recommending saving money. This feedback is a dismissive opinion with no constructive gameplay insight.