Age of Empires II: DE – The Last Chieftains Review Summary

Unique civilizations and units: Players appreciate the introduction of unique civilizations and units, adding diversity and fresh gameplay elements.

High-quality DLC: The DLC is frequently described as great, high-quality, and a must-have. Many players recommend it for its overall quality and content.

Mapuche campaign praised: The Mapuche campaign is highly regarded for its design, engagement, and playability. Players appreciate the accurate recreation of the Mapuche civilization.

Fun and engaging gameplay: Players find the gameplay fun and engaging, with unique objectives and missions that enhance the overall experience.

One of the best releases: The DLC is considered one of the best releases for the game in a long time, indicating high satisfaction and quality.

Unbalanced and weak new civilizations: The new civilizations introduced in the DLC are criticized for being weak and poorly balanced. Players feel that these civilizations are not competitive compared to established ones and that their units and mechanics are underwhelming.

DLC campaigns are dull and uninteresting: Players have described the DLC campaigns as boring, dull, and historically bad. The missions are criticized for being uninteresting and not fun to play, with some campaigns feeling punishingly unfair and poorly balanced.

Achievements auto-unlocked at launch: Many players reported that all achievements, including those for DLC content, were automatically unlocked as soon as the game or DLC was launched. This issue appears to be a technical bug affecting the game's achievement system.

Poorly designed missions and campaigns: Players have criticized the mission and campaign design, describing it as terrible, sloppy, and unnecessarily difficult. Some missions are noted for having poorly designed objectives and artificial difficulty.

Game crashes and technical issues: Several players have reported that the game crashes on start or does not open at all after the installation of the DLC. Additionally, there are reports of the DLC rendering the game unplayable and causing frequent crashes.

Campaign mechanics and structure: The campaign structure borrows decision-making mechanics from previous DLCs and features many restrictions in the early stages.

Unique gameplay experience: The DLC offers a unique RTS-style gameplay experience, particularly in the Mapuche campaign.

New content and updates: The DLC features new units, mechanics, and a naval update, adding to the overall content.

Historical and regional accuracy: The DLC includes historically intertwined civilizations and regional architecture, providing visual distinction.

Civilization-specific issues: The Tupi civilization lacks masonry/architecture, and the Mapuche campaign involves a lot of stone and stick fighting.

DLC and game crashes: The DLC and the game itself have several severe bugs, including frequent game crashes and issues that make the game unplayable due to updates.

Poor optimization and performance: The game is poorly optimized, leading to performance issues and crashes on startup.

Installation and verification issues: Players are experiencing installation issues and the verification of game integrity did not resolve these problems.

Audio and microphone problems: There are issues related to audio, including the microphone always being on.

Language change ineffectiveness: Changing languages did not resolve the issues experienced by players.

DLC recommended despite flaws: Many reviewers recommend the DLC even though it has some flaws. They believe the positive aspects outweigh the negatives.

DLC supports game longevity: Buying the DLC helps keep the game alive, suggesting that it adds significant content or improvements that extend the game's lifespan.

Recommended for single-player: The DLC is recommended for those who enjoy single-player experiences, indicating it offers substantial content or enhancements for solo play.

Great for campaign lovers: The DLC is particularly recommended for players who enjoy campaign modes, suggesting it includes new or improved campaign content.

Strategy for town defense: A specific strategy for defending towns by building military camps in the middle town, producing military forces continuously, and sending them to the nearest two frontier towns. Each town should have at least 3 arrow towers to withstand the first three waves of musket armies.

Monetization: The user feedback highlights significant concerns regarding the value for money, game mechanics, and the quality of the DLC. The primary issues are the high price relative to the content offered, the presence of pay-to-win elements, and the poor optimization and quality of the units. Additionally, there is a mention of the DLC unlocking achievements, which could be perceived as content that should have been part of the base game.

DLC mentioned: A reviewer mentioned the DLC. No further details were provided.