Info about Age of History 2: Definitive Edition: Official game description: The Definitive Edition of a grand strategy classic, now featuring improved gameplay, a new map with 13,892 provinces, expanded diplomacy, wartime capitulation, faster army recruitment and movement, 32 new religions, new civilizations, new scenarios, atomic weapons, additional government types, new wonders, enhanced graphics, numerous quality-of-life improvements, improved AI behavior, new notifications, improved province border visuals, province names displayed directly on the map, modernized menus, a simplified and responsive UI for better usability, engine updates, performance improvements, and much more. **New Diplomacy Actions** ------------------------- * Enforce Peace, Intervene in War, Join War, AI Army Control (On/Off) * Send Volunteer Army, Regroup All Armies, Provoke Rebels * Host Diplomatic Summit, Spread Propaganda, Recruit Mercenaries * Administration Policy, Impose Sanctions, Share Technology * Population Relocation, Request Loan, Offer Debt Relief * Ask to Become a Vassal, Transfer Vassal, Propose Union, Found a City * Invest in Foreign Provinces, Build in Foreign Provinces * Mass province actions allowing you to instantly invest, build, or assimilate across all provinces with a single click. **Mods & Steam Workshop** ------------------------- * Full Steam Workshop implementation. **Age of History 2: Definitive Edition** ---------------------------------------- Age of History is a grand strategy wargame that is simple to learn yet hard to master. Your objective is to use military tactics and cunning diplomacy to either unify the world, or conquer it. Will the world bleed out or bow before you? The choice is yours... **Approach to History** ----------------------- Age of History II spans the full scope of human history, from the dawn of civilization to the distant future. **Historical Grand Campaign** ----------------------------- Play as any civilization, from the largest empires to the smallest tribes. Lead your people across the centuries in a campaign that reshapes the fate of humanity. **Classic Features** -------------------- * A detailed world map with historical borders * Deep diplomacy system between Civilizations * Revolutions and civil wars * Hotseat multiplayer, play with as many players as Civilizations * Rich population diversity and terrain types * Create your own history with built-in editors * End-game timelapses of your empire’s rise **Game Editors** ---------------- * Scenario Editor * Civilization Creator * Flag Maker * Wasteland Editor * Map and Province Editors * Growth Rate, City, and Terrain Editors * Custom Diplomacy Colors, Alliances, Continents, and more Release date: Apr 15, 2026 Categories: Grand Strategy, Civilization Building, Historical Simulation, Turn-based Strategy, Mod Support, Scenario Editor, Multiplayer, Warfare Simulation Feature scans: - MTX: score 20; verdict: Predatory; summary: The user reviews indicate significant dissatisfaction with the 'Definitive Edition' of the game, with many users perceiving it as a 'cash grab' due to the lack of substantial new content and high price. There are also concerns about customer support, including issues with refunds and censorship of criticism. Additionally, users criticize the developer's practices, such as delaying updates and locking them behind paywalls, as well as abandoning previous games. These issues collectively contribute to a negative perception of the game's value and the developer's integrity. - Hardware Profile: - Summary: The game exhibits significant performance issues across both hardware cohorts, with memory leaks and crashes being commonly reported. Players with higher VRAM also report dissatisfaction with the lack of support for higher frame rates. - Sample size: 58 (13% coverage) - Audience skew: Review sample is mostly Windows-based. - Windows <8GB VRAM (negative, 38 reports): Players report major memory leaks and poor optimization, making the game difficult to enjoy. - Windows 12-15GB VRAM (negative, 11 reports): Players experience frequent crashes and express dissatisfaction with the lack of support for higher frame rates. - Caveats: 58 of 464 reviews expose hardware metadata.; Review sample is mostly Windows-based. Feature extractions: - Community Price: - Community fair range: $6.00 - $8.00 - Reasoning: The evidence suggests that the community generally finds the game not worth its current price of $9.99. Several reviews indicate that the game is worth closer to $7 or $8, and others mention that it is not worth the full price, implying a lower fair price range. The sentiment that the game is better purchased on sale further supports the idea that the fair price is below the current $9.99. - Playtime Metrics: - Game completion: N/A - Story completion: N/A - Session length: 1.5h - Endgame: N/A - Reasoning: The evidence provides some insights into playtime metrics. The first quote indicates a session length of 8 hours. The second quote suggests a session length of approximately 1.5 hours. The third quote also supports a session length of 1.5 hours. The fourth quote mentions 215 hours, but this refers to a different game (Age of History 2) and is excluded from the analysis. There is no strong evidence for game completion, story completion, or endgame playtime metrics. - Time-to-fun: - Summary: The game offers immediate visual appeal and can be fun quickly for strategy enthusiasts, but control issues and lack of multiplayer support can hinder early enjoyment. The fun may drop off after initial excitement due to limited content. - Stance: Fun then drops - Anchor: Forming unique empires - Time to anchor: 1h 0m - Friction: Jumpy controls on PC; Performance issues during late game; Lack of multiplayer support - Unlock drivers: Improved graphics and interface; Forming unique empires - Conditions: Enjoyment of strategy and empire-building games; Patience with control issues; Interest in single-player content - Player Archetypes: - Franchise Fan (buy) - Motivation: Loyalty to the series and enjoyment of its unique elements. - Playstyle: Engages deeply with the game mechanics and appreciates the evolution of the series. - Experience: veteran - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: fan; loyal player - Reference games: Age of History II; Age of History III - Accessibility Seeker (buy) - Motivation: Enjoyment of simple and accessible gameplay mechanics. - Playstyle: Prefers games that are easy to pick up and play without a steep learning curve. - Experience: mixed - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: casual player; strategy enthusiast - Reference games: Paradox games; Age of History II - Critical Evaluator (no buy) - Motivation: Seeking value and significant improvements in new releases. - Playstyle: Analytical and critical of game development and value for money. - Experience: familiar - Purchase stance: no buy - Labels: critical player; value seeker - Reference games: Age of History II; Age of History III 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: - Improvements over original game (weight 0.48): The game is noted for its significant improvements and fixes over the original game. Players appreciate the new features and enhancements that make it better than its predecessor. - Best game in the series (weight 0.45): Many players consider this game to be the best in the Age of History series, surpassing previous versions like AoH2 and AoH3. - New features and mechanics (weight 0.43): The game introduces many new options, features, and mechanics, which players find interesting and valuable. - Enjoyable and engaging gameplay (weight 0.42): Players consistently describe the gameplay as enjoyable, engaging, and addictive. The game is praised for being simple, fun, and well done. - Bug fixes and improvements (weight 0.33): Players appreciate the quick response to bugs and the overall improvements made to the game, including significant enhancements and quality-of-life updates. - Combines best elements (weight 0.25): The game successfully combines the best elements from previous versions, creating a cohesive and enjoyable experience. - Modding and workshop support (weight 0.25): Players highlight the game's great modding potential and workshop support, which adds to its customizability and replayability. - Beautiful graphics and aesthetics (weight 0.24): The game is praised for its beautiful graphics and pleasing aesthetics, which enhance the overall gaming experience. - Worth the money (weight 0.16): Players find the game to be worth the money, offering good value for its price. - Similar to Paradox games (weight 0.09): The game is compared to Paradox games but is noted to be less complicated, making it more accessible. - Highly customizable UI (weight 0.09): The game features a highly customizable and easy-to-read UI, enhancing the user experience. - Rich content and historical depth (weight 0.09): The game retains a rich material library and diverse content, offering a strong historical and cultural experience. Common complaints: - Excessive bugs (weight 0.34): There are numerous reports of bugs in the game, ranging from technical issues to general bugs that affect gameplay. This suggests a need for significant bug fixing. - Missing leaders (weight 0.3): Players have noted the absence of images and names of nation leaders, which affects the immersion and completeness of the game. - Lack of updates (weight 0.29): There is a concern about the potential lack of updates and significant improvements, with players feeling the game is a cash grab. - Reskin of the original (weight 0.27): Players feel that the game is too similar to the original, with minor improvements and not enough innovation. - Localization issues (weight 0.25): There are problems with localization, particularly with garbled text in the Chinese translation and incomplete translations in general. - Game feels unfinished (weight 0.23): Many players report that the game feels incomplete and was released in an unfinished state. This sentiment is echoed frequently, indicating a lack of polish and completeness. - AI behavior issues (weight 0.22): The AI is criticized for being bad, too passive, and having issues with declaring war but not attacking. - Specific bugs and issues (weight 0.21): There are reports of specific bugs such as peace negotiation bugs, province selection issues, and trade errors. - Historical inaccuracies (weight 0.21): The game has been criticized for historical inaccuracies, including unrealistic army sizes and incorrect historical boundaries. - Gameplay and balance issues (weight 0.2): Players report terrible balance, simplistic gameplay, and various bugs affecting gameplay mechanics. - Lack of features (weight 0.15): Players feel that the game lacks interesting features and proper combat mechanics, making it feel incomplete. - Editor improvements needed (weight 0.14): The scenario and map editors are seen as too simplistic and in need of significant improvements. - Review bombing (weight 0.14): Some reviews are not constructive and seem to be more about venting frustration than providing useful feedback. - Atomic bomb issues (weight 0.13): Players have noted issues with the atomic bomb mechanics, including them being too easy to produce and too cheap. - Technical performance issues (weight 0.09): The game starts stuttering or lagging after a short period, affecting the overall gaming experience. - Map and boundary issues (weight 0.07): There are specific issues with map boundaries and province selections that need addressing. Gameplay feedback: - Larger map with more provinces (weight 0.2): There is a demand for a bigger map with more provinces, around 14k, and more scenarios to enhance the gameplay experience. - Diplomacy mechanics need improvement (weight 0.17): Players frequently mention issues with diplomacy, including annexation and threats. They suggest enhancing the overall diplomacy system for better gameplay. - AI behavior improvements (weight 0.17): Players note issues with AI interactions and behavior, suggesting enhancements for better gameplay. - Enhanced modding support (weight 0.16): There is a strong desire for better mod support and modding capabilities to enhance the game's longevity and community engagement. - War and independence mechanics (weight 0.13): Feedback highlights concerns with nations declaring war and war of independence mechanics. Players want more control and better mechanics around war declarations. - Turn-based strategy focus (weight 0.13): The game is recognized as a turn-based strategy game. Players emphasize the strategic elements and turn-based mechanics. - Troop movement and management (weight 0.13): Players discuss troop movement and regrouping, as well as the numbers of enemy troops. Improvements in troop management are desired. - Additional content requested (weight 0.13): Players are asking for more content additions and improvements. They compare current content unfavorably to expectations. - New maps and scenarios (weight 0.09): There is a desire for new maps and scenarios to keep the game fresh and engaging. - Trade and technology mechanics (weight 0.09): Feedback mentions trade and technology mechanics as areas that could be improved or expanded. - Difficulty settings adjustment (weight 0.09): Players discuss the difficulty settings, particularly the legendary difficulty, and suggest adjustments for better balance. - Conquest and territory control (weight 0.09): Feedback highlights the mechanics around conquering territories and world conquest, with players seeking improvements. - Peace negotiations with AI (weight 0.09): Players mention issues with peace negotiations and AI peace treaties, suggesting better mechanics. - Map and civilization editing (weight 0.09): Players desire better map and border editing tools, as well as a civilization editor for more customization. - Graphics improvements needed (weight 0.09): There are calls for graphics improvements to enhance the visual experience of the game. - Comparison to AoH3 (weight 0.09): Players compare the game to Age of History 3, noting it combines elements from both AoH2 and AoH3. Performance notes: - Performance issues and lag (weight 0.28): Players experience stuttering and lag after a short period of gameplay. The game also runs worse than the original, with inconsistent performance and low FPS on some systems. - Game crashes frequently (weight 0.26): The game crashes often, especially when moving armies or during gameplay. This issue is prevalent and affects the overall gaming experience significantly. - Various technical bugs (weight 0.16): The game has numerous technical bugs that affect gameplay. These bugs need to be addressed to improve the game's stability and performance. - High RAM usage (weight 0.16): The game has a memory leak issue, leading to high RAM usage and potential performance problems. - Interface and resolution issues (weight 0.14): There are issues with the mouse cursor and interface, especially on specific resolutions and setups like second monitors. - Long loading times (weight 0.09): The game has long loading times, indicating poor optimization and affecting the user experience. - FPS limitations (weight 0.09): The game is locked at 60 FPS and lacks support for higher frame rates, which is a limitation for players with high-end hardware. - Audio glitches (weight 0.08): The music in the game starts glitching and crackling, which detracts from the overall experience. - Game freezing (weight 0.05): The game freezes during gameplay, which can be frustrating and disruptive to the user experience. - Fullscreen issues (weight 0.05): There are problems with the game running in fullscreen mode, which can affect the overall gaming experience. - Runs well on 4K (weight 0.05): The game performs well on 4K resolution, which is a positive aspect for players with high-end displays. - Runs on basic hardware (weight 0.05): The game can run on basic hardware, making it accessible to a wider range of players. Recommendations: - Highly recommended by players (weight 0.39): Many players strongly recommend trying or buying the game, especially for those who enjoyed similar games or are new to the series. - Wait for updates (weight 0.16): Some players suggest that the game is worth waiting for updates or additional content before purchasing or continuing to play. - Not recommended by some (weight 0.14): A few players advise against buying the game, suggesting to save money or play alternative games instead. - Requests for additional features (weight 0.09): Players express a desire for multiplayer support and more updates or addons to enhance the gaming experience. - Focus on specific gameplay aspects (weight 0.08): Suggestions for the game to focus more on state development and conquest to enhance player engagement. - Mod recommendations (weight 0.05): Some players recommend downloading specific mods to improve the gameplay experience. Other player notes: - Educational video requests (weight 0.05): Players are requesting educational videos, possibly tutorials or guides related to the game. - External video references (weight 0.05): There are references to external videos discussing problems or aspects of the game. Emotions: - Disappointment (weight 0.24): Players feel let down by the game's lack of substantial new content and significant improvements, coupled with numerous bugs and performance issues. The perception of the developer's history of abandoning games and charging for updates, along with issues like poor AI, broken mechanics, and localization problems, further exacerbates this sentiment. - Frustration (weight 0.23): Players are frustrated with the game's numerous bugs, crashes, and lack of updates. Issues such as poor optimization, unrealistic mechanics, and unintuitive interfaces contribute to this frustration, along with unresolved problems from previous versions and the game's tendency to crash or lag. - Satisfaction (weight 0.11): Players are satisfied with the game's improvements, new features, and overall quality. The game's enhanced mechanics, better graphics, and additional content, along with its customizability and ease of management, contribute to a positive experience. - Anger (weight 0.06): Players are angry due to the perception of the game being a cash grab with minimal improvements and numerous bugs. The developer's history of abandoning games and the game's unfinished state, along with issues like lack of multiplayer and poor mechanics, fuel this anger. - Frustrated (weight 0.04): Players feel frustrated due to the game's bugs, crashes, and lack of significant improvements. Issues such as interface problems, operational issues, and the game feeling unfinished contribute to this frustration. - Appreciation (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the game's overall quality, new features, and the developer's efforts. The game's modding potential, balance, and quick responses from the developer are also noted as positive aspects. - Hope (weight 0.03): Players express hope for the game's future development and improvements. They believe in the potential for the game to be enhanced and for bugs to be fixed by the developer. - Happy (weight 0.02): Players are happy with the game's improvements, new features, and overall enjoyment. The added support for mods and the game's worthiness of purchase contribute to this happiness. - Hopeful (weight 0.02): Players are hopeful for more features, bug fixes, and improvements. They express desires for additional mechanics, map mods, and tutorial videos, along with expectations for bug resolutions. - Satisfied (weight 0.02): Players are satisfied as the game meets their expectations with improved mechanics and content. The overall positive experience and the game being a great upgrade to its predecessor contribute to this satisfaction. - Excitement (weight 0.02): Players are excited about the game's new features, workshop content, and engaging gameplay. The combination of favorite elements from previous versions and the game's overall enjoyment contribute to this excitement. - Excited (weight 0.02): Players are excited about the engaging and addictive gameplay experience. The combination of favorite elements from previous versions and the game's high rating contribute to this excitement. - Positive (weight 0.02): Players have a positive outlook on the game, enjoying its graphics and interface despite minor bugs. The overall enjoyment and appreciation of the game's visual aspects contribute to this positivity. - Admiration (weight 0.01): Players admire the game, considering it a masterpiece. The game's exceptional qualities and overall excellence contribute to this admiration. - Concern (weight 0.01): Players are concerned about potential lack of updates and imbalances in the game. The fear of the game not receiving necessary updates and having imbalanced mechanics contributes to this concern. - Amusement (weight 0.01): Players find amusement in the game's humorous narrative about historical realism. The game's entertaining and funny aspects contribute to this amusement. - Boredom (weight 0.01): Players feel bored due to the game's turn-based mechanics and lack of noticeable changes. The repetitive and unchanged gameplay contributes to this boredom. - Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Players feel nostalgic as the game brings back memories of good times and communities from 2018. The game's ability to evoke fond memories and a sense of community from the past contributes to this nostalgia.}