Age of Mythology: Retold - Heavenly Spear Review Summary

Enjoyable campaign and fun Japanese civilization with praised DLC, but poor level design, unresponsive units, and terrible pathfinding hold it back.

Enjoyable and solid campaign: The campaign is repeatedly described as fun, solid, well-fleshed out, and beautiful, with a compelling story. It is considered genuinely good and well done overall.

High-quality DLC praised: Reviewers widely agree the DLC is fun, well-made, and matches or exceeds the quality of previous expansions, with strong replay value. Many call it the best DLC yet and say it perfectly captures the spirit of the franchise.

Japanese civilization fun to play: Numerous players find the Japanese civilization fun, fresh, and a blast to play in skirmish and multiplayer. It adds its own spin on the formula and is highly enjoyable across modes.

Fun and unique units: Units, especially myth units, are described as cool, interesting, really good, and unique. The myth units add personality and variety to the gameplay.

Engaging campaign story: The campaign story is considered decent, engaging, and solid, with excellent characters and a quality close to the original campaigns. It motivates players to complete the campaign.

Poor campaign level design: Campaign levels are criticized for lacking variety, forcing players into specific strategies, and having repetitive objectives. Many missions involve no base building or are too similar.

Modern tropes and cultural inaccuracies: The story incorporates modern Western tropes and DEI elements that feel out of place. Historical and mythological inaccuracies, such as using Buddhist figures, break immersion for some players.

Unit responsiveness issues: Units often ignore orders, walk away from fights, or get stuck in formation. Attack-move commands cause units to behave erratically, reducing combat effectiveness.

Bugs and technical issues: Numerous bugs are reported, including units getting stuck, sound glitches, and DLC not appearing in-game. These issues hinder the overall experience.

Pathfinding is terrible: Pathfinding issues persist, with units frequently getting stuck on terrain, props, or each other. This severely impacts gameplay and requires constant micromanagement.

Japanese civilization added via DLC: The DLC introduces a new Japanese civilization as the central addition. Players can choose Japan as a playable faction with its own design and cultural identity.

Campaign includes 12 missions: The new campaign consists of 12 story-driven missions with varied objectives and maps. It includes voice acting, a prologue, and different difficulty levels.

Unique Bushido and favor mechanics: The Japanese civilization has a Bushido meter where units gain combat experience for passive army bonuses. Favor is generated through shrines tended by priests that boost nearby gathering.

God powers and myth units included: The game features god powers and myth units as core gameplay elements. God powers provide buffs and abilities, while myth units offer diverse powers in combat.

Japanese mythology units and gods: The Japanese faction features mythological units and god powers inspired by Shinto and Buddhist tales. Units include Oni, Asura, Tengu, Kitsune, and other creatures.

Serious sound bug: Screaming sounds play randomly and overlap severely, which could disrupt gameplay and immersion.

Texture loading issues in cutscenes: Textures load atrociously during cutscenes, with the problem occurring in every cutscene.

Game crashes frequently: The game keeps crashing, indicating stability issues that affect playability.

Performance drop after release: Performance took a hit after release, suggesting updates negatively impacted optimization.

Low FPS on high-end GPU: A 5070ti only manages 110fps in a 3v3 AI match, indicating poor optimization for high-end hardware.

Strong unconditional recommendation: A number of reviewers give strong recommendations without reservations, urging players to buy it if they can afford it. They consider it a must-have and see no reason to skip it.

Purchase only on sale: Many reviewers advise buying this DLC only during a discount, as they feel the full price is too high. They suggest waiting for a sale to get better value.

Recommended for base game fans: Several reviewers state that if you enjoyed the base game, this DLC is a good addition and worth recommending. They see it as a natural extension for those who already like the game.

Recommended for series fans: Many reviewers recommend the DLC to fans of the Age of Mythology series or Age of Empires games. They believe it will please long-time fans and is a solid addition.

Appeals to Japanese mythology fans: Reviewers recommend the DLC to those interested in Japanese mythology or culture, noting that it adds a new civilization with that theme. They suggest it is a must-buy for fans of the subject.

Community fair range: $25.00 - $55.00.

Story completion: 6.0h.

Session length: 0.7h.

The Japanese DLC is broadly well-received, but the strongest time-to-fun signal is early friction: the main hero and early-game balance feel poor for the first three missions before the experience improves. Other reviews describe the campaign as engaging throughout, and one notes only the final missions feel underwhelming.

Friction: Main hero is frustrating to use during the first three missions; Early game is called utterly terrible with mechanics more annoying than fun; Strong units consume too much population and cost too much; God powers feel terrible in the early game.

Unlock drivers: Main hero becomes better to use after the first three missions; The faction eventually clicks with the player.

Single-Player Campaign Purist: Plays through campaign missions, avoids PvP, focuses on narrative. Motivation: Experiencing the single-player campaign and story. Stance: sale.

Competitive Multiplayer Strategist: Engages in PvP matches, skirmish, and multiplayer modes, cares about balance. Motivation: Competitive multiplayer gameplay and new strategic options. Stance: buy.

Mythology RTS Enthusiast: Mix of campaign, skirmish, and multiplayer, enjoying thematic and strategic depth. Motivation: Enjoying the Age of Mythology series, Japanese mythology, and new faction design. Stance: buy.

Monetization: The audit found no direct evidence of in-game microtransactions, real-money gacha, loot boxes, paid power, paid convenience, or a cash shop. Reviews mention premium editions, a season pass, and paid DLC expansions, with repeated criticism of DLC pricing and value. Under the scoring rules, traditional DLC, premium editions, and base-price complaints cannot push the score above 20, so the game is rated Fair.

Better than Chinese DLC: Many reviewers compare this expansion favorably to the previous Chinese-themed DLC, citing better story writing and overall quality. A few consider the Chinese DLC slightly stronger, but most prefer this one.

Story-focused campaign expansion: This is a story campaign expansion for Age of Mythology: Retold, similar to the previous one. The focus on narrative is a defining feature.

Included in Premium Edition: The DLC was included for free at launch with the Premium Edition, which also offers early access. Reviewers note that the Premium Edition provides good value.

Best DLC for Age of Mythology: Some reviewers call it the best DLC for Age of Mythology so far and recommend picking it up on sale. It is also preferred over the first DLC.

Developers actively support game: Reviewers note that the developers tend to the game and its community, actively working hard. The game was not abandoned unlike Age of Empires III after its DLC was cancelled.