Info about Age of Empires II (2013): The African Kingdoms:

Official game description:
Welcome to Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms; the second new official expansion for the Age of Empires II universe in over 16 years. Challenge friends with four additional civilizations, new units, ships and technologies. Fight your way through the African continent with four campaigns and obliterate your opponents with a fresh batch of units under your command!  
*   4 New Civilizations  
    *   Berbers – Unite the tribes of Northern Africa and set sail for Europe. Can you hold your ground against the scrambled kingdoms of Iberia?  
    *   Malians – Follow in the footsteps of the great Mansa Musa and become the greatest king of Western Africa.  
    *   Ethiopians – Relive the glory of the once mighty Aksumite empire and rule over the Red Sea.  
    *   Portuguese – Set sail for the new world, discover new routes to unknown lands and expand your trade routes to the mighty African empires.
*   4 New, Fully Voiced Campaigns  
    *   Tariq ibn Ziyad: Prepare to lead an army of Berbers and Arabs across the sea to Iberia, to defeat the fearsome Visigoths and bring the banners of war to the powerful Merovingian kingdom.  
    *   Sundjata: Said to possess a magical instrument that guarantees victory, Sumanguru, King of the Sosso, is poised to forge a new empire. Can you help Sundjata, the crippled prince of Mali, defy the odds, defeat Sumanguru, and become the most powerful ruler of West Africa?  
    *   Francisco de Almeida: Daring Portugese explorers have returned from India and given hope of glories and wealth unachievable in the Old World. Can you lead an armada to the East and forge an empire that spans three continents and two oceans?  
    *   Yodit: The beautiful princess Yodit has a promising future at the Aksumite court. But when her jealous nephew accuses her of theft, Yodit is forced to flee her home country. Witness how exile shaped this fallen princess into a mighty queen.
*   New Generic Units and Technologies  
    *   Arrowslits – Increase the power of your Towers and Keeps as they hail arrows down upon your foes.  
    *   Arson – Help your infantry units burn enemy buildings to the ground with this new Castle Age research.  
    *   Fire Galley – Bring fires to the attack earlier in the game with this new Feudal Age ship.  
    *   Siege Tower – Hide units inside the tower and help them scale your opponents walls.
*   Sudden Death Game Mode  
    *   Be prepared to defend your town center in this new game mode. Each player only gets one, and if you lose it, it’s game over!
*   Improved AI  
*   10 New Special Maps  
*   8 New Real World Maps  
*   5 New Random Maps  
*   10 New terrains  
*   New Scenario Editor Objects  
*   Twitch.tv Streaming Integration  
*   Spectator Mode

Release date: Nov 5, 2015

Categories: Real-time Strategy, Historical Strategy, Base Building, Campaign, City Builder, Resource Management, Multiplayer

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 10; verdict: Fair / Traditional DLC; summary: The audit found only paid DLC activity: players discuss buying and comparing expansion packs, with one compatibility issue requiring a prior DLC and mixed price/value opinions. There is no direct evidence of in-game microtransactions, real-money gacha, loot boxes, premium currency, paid power, or a cash shop. Under the scoring rules, traditional DLC and price complaints cap the score at 20, so the game is rated as fair with low monetization concern.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00
  - Reasoning: The reviews emphasize strong content value, with multiple users calling it good value and worth it, and one reporting 30 hours of campaigns as very good value. At the same time, a Japanese review advises buying on sale if you like campaigns, and a Turkish review notes the price feels a bit high during a sale. This suggests the community sees a fair base-game price in the mid-tier range, roughly $10-$20, with sales making it more attractive. Confidence is moderate because the reviews mostly discuss expansion content rather than the base game directly.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 35.0h
  - Story completion: 30.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The first quote directly states that completing all campaigns on standard difficulty takes about 30 hours, supporting storyCompletion = 30. The second quote describes 30 to 40 hours of additional singleplayer content for The African Kingdoms, so gameCompletion is estimated at the midpoint of 35 hours. The third quote confirms campaigns are a finite completion activity but provides no numeric duration. No review gives a per-session length or post-story/endgame playtime, so sessionLength and endgame remain null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Players report immediate enjoyment, especially in multiplayer with friends, while acknowledging multiplayer lag and crashes as friction. Additional modes and improved water battles add variety, but no review ties enjoyment to a specific unlock time.
  - Stance: Fun immediately
  - Anchor: N/A
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: Multiplayer lag; Choppy multiplayer with frequent crashes; Water battles were boring before the expansion; No easy way to see where the host is located in the lobby
  - Unlock drivers: Patches released soon after launch addressed multiplayer problems; Additional game modes and map types spice up single-player and multiplayer gameplay; Water battles became more interesting
  - Conditions: Playing with friends or a clan in multiplayer; Playing in multiplayer LAN parties or internet games; Playing single-player AI-stomp games; Playing in the late game when stone is scarce; Playing with people from all over the world
- Player Archetypes:
  - Campaign Story Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: To experience new historical campaigns and narrated single-player content.
    - Playstyle: Single-player campaigns, listening to narrators, exploring new civilizations and scenarios.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Competitive Water Meta Player (buy)
    - Motivation: To master new competitive strategies and explore a richer water combat meta.
    - Playstyle: Competitive multiplayer, water maps, analyzing balance changes and new civilizations.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Social Multiplayer Clan Player (buy)
    - Motivation: To have fun playing multiplayer with friends and clanmates.
    - Playstyle: Multiplayer matches with friends, LAN parties, clan games, casual online play.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Old-School Veteran Nostalgic (buy)
    - Motivation: To relive nostalgia and support the classic game with new content.
    - Playstyle: Plays the HD edition with old-school UI, often skirmish or campaigns, tolerates bugs for nostalgia.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition


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:
- New civilizations added (weight 0.75): The expansion introduces new civilizations that are interesting and welcome additions. They include Berbers, Malians, Ethiopians, and Portuguese.
- Four new campaigns added (weight 0.46): The expansion adds four new campaigns, each with multiple missions, providing hours of gameplay. Campaigns are generally well-built and interesting.
- New civilizations feel unique (weight 0.25): The four new civilizations are considered fresh, different, and fun to play with. They are described as unique and amazing.

Common complaints:
- Crashes and stability problems (weight 0.68): Frequent crashes occur during campaigns, saving, loading, and multiplayer mission creation. Some players also experience the game closing by itself or crashing on startup.
- Campaign lackluster and short (weight 0.4): Only four campaigns are included, which feels disappointing, and completing them took significantly less time than in The Forgotten. Campaign design is considered mediocre and nothing special.
- Voice acting and localization (weight 0.39): The Forgotten Dynasties campaign lacks story voice acting, and voice acting is hit and miss. Campaigns are in Japanese but voice acting is English only, and the language civilizations speak is shoddy in places.
- Unit balance issues (weight 0.36): Several new units are underpowered: Malian Gbeto is slow and fragile, Berber camel archer is weak, and Genitours are just expensive skirmishers. Portuguese Feitoria and palisades/arrow slits were nerfed.
- Campaign bugs and desyncs (weight 0.33): Various bugs affect campaign missions, such as progress not counting in the Berber campaign and infinite units spawning in the Malian campaign. These errors force replays and disrupt the experience.
- Visual and animation problems (weight 0.31): Graphical quality is lacking, some new units have unsmooth animations, and villagers appear white when playing as African civs with European monks. Only one new building style was added, and Portuguese building style coincides with Italians.
- Miscellaneous bugs and mod issues (weight 0.31): Many workshop contents broke after the update, the game is not working with mods, and there are bugs like the achievement screen showing everyone on Team 3. Sound issues cause clicks to play one at a time.
- DLC purchase and library issues (weight 0.3): Players cannot access purchased DLCs due to Steam issues, and some expansions do not appear in the library despite showing as owned in the store. This prevents players from using content they paid for.
- Terrain and pathfinding complaints (weight 0.28): Maps are full of complex terrain that makes movement difficult, with units having trouble moving from point A to B. Pathfinding is painful due to tightly knit terrain, and cavalry struggles to cross shallows.
- Pricing and value concerns (weight 0.28): Players feel the price is too high and not worth buying at full price, especially given the lack of standout features. Some had to ask for a refund.
- Technical and launcher issues (weight 0.27): The launcher cannot start since December 14 due to VC2015, and the provided installer does not work. Players must launch the game directly, and there may be problems running on Windows 7.
- Campaign AI issues (weight 0.24): The new AI in campaigns can be too hard for inexperienced players and sometimes behaves erratically, such as an army of 50 monks attacking a castle or AI doing nothing. Ethiopian AI built no farms or markets and had to move to mine gold.
- Saved game DLC error (weight 0.2): Players cannot open saved games of African kingdoms without purchasing The Forgotten expansion, as an error message demands the missing DLC. No fix has been found for this issue.
- Campaign trigger exploits (weight 0.19): Trigger points in campaigns allow strong abuse and bypassing difficulty, while some missions are nearly impossible without exploiting them. Negative triggers also cause enemies to get endless resources and attack continuously.
- Random map nation error (weight 0.09): Selecting one of the new nations in random maps against AI produces an error message and prevents continuing. This blocks a core game mode for the new civilizations.
- Multiplayer restricted by DLC (weight 0.09): Multiplayer is restricted for players who do not own all DLCs, limiting access to online matches. This creates a barrier for those who only own some expansions.

Gameplay feedback:
- Four new civilizations added (weight 0.99): The expansion introduces four new civilizations: Berbers, Malians, Ethiopians, and Portuguese. Each brings unique bonuses, strategies, and architectural styles to the game.
- New campaigns with voice acting (weight 0.56): The expansion adds four fully voiced campaigns, each with five to six scenarios. Campaigns cover historical figures like Tariq ibn Ziyad, Sundiata, Francisco de Almeida, and Queen Yodit.
- New units and technologies (weight 0.45): New military units, technologies, and buildings are introduced, including siege towers, fire galleys, and unique units for each civilization. These additions expand strategic options in siege, defense, and naval combat.
- Civilization-specific unique units (weight 0.44): Each new civilization has distinct unique units and technologies. For example, Berbers get camel archers, Ethiopians have the Shotel Warrior, Malians receive pierce armor bonuses, and Portuguese have the Feitoria building.
- New maps and game modes (weight 0.36): The expansion includes new maps for random map play and additional game modes. It also adds new single-player scenarios and multiplayer options.
- It is a real-time strategy (weight 0.22): The game is a real-time strategy title with base building and army composition. Players manage resources and command armies in real time.
- Naval combat improvements (weight 0.12): Naval combat has been adjusted and improved with new units. This overhaul affects water-based strategies and battles.

Performance notes:
- Frequent crashes and instability (weight 0.3): Players report frequent crashes during saving, campaign, multiplayer missions, and loading. The issue spans multiple modes and severely disrupts gameplay.
- Multiplayer lag and choppiness (weight 0.19): Multiplayer experiences lag and choppy performance, with matches sometimes experiencing lag at start. This affects online play quality.
- Launcher and installer failures (weight 0.14): Players encounter launcher startup failures related to VC2015 and the provided installer does not work. These installation issues prevent access to the game.
- Sound playback sequencing issue (weight 0.07): Sound does not play until the previous sound finishes, causing audio delays. This affects the overall audio experience during gameplay.
- Slow loading times (weight 0.07): The game loads slowly when starting, delaying player entry into the game. This can be frustrating for players.
- Fluidity and performance issues (weight 0.07): Players report fluidity issues that impact overall game smoothness. This may include frame rate drops or stuttering.
- Unsmooth new unit animations (weight 0.07): Some of the new units lack smooth animations, reducing visual polish. This is a minor but noticeable issue.
- Expansion more stable than predecessor (weight 0.07): The expansion is much less buggy than its predecessor The Forgotten, according to some players. This positive feedback highlights improvement.
- No game-breaking bugs in campaign (weight 0.06): Some players completed the campaign without encountering any game-breaking bugs. This suggests a relatively smooth campaign experience for some.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended for AoE2 Fans (weight 0.97): Many reviewers strongly recommend this expansion to fans of Age of Empires II, calling it a must-have for players who love the series. It is particularly praised for offering more of the classic gameplay and content that longtime players enjoy.
- Great for Singleplayer and Campaigns (weight 0.38): Players highlight the additional singleplayer content and new scenarios as strong reasons to buy, especially for those who enjoy the campaign modes. It is also recommended for history enthusiasts and medievalists.
- Technical Issues and Negative Reviews (weight 0.2): Some reviewers report that the DLC does not work as intended, leading to buyer-beware warnings and negative reviews. Others advise waiting for official fixes before purchasing, citing unresolved problems.
- Not Worth Full Price (weight 0.19): A few reviewers feel the expansion is not worth buying at full price, suggesting waiting for a sale or skipping it unless bundled. One specifically recommends buying another AoE2 DLC first due to better quality.
- Cautious Approach for Chinese Players (weight 0.06): A Chinese-speaking reviewer suggests that others may want to wait before buying this DLC, possibly due to language support or regional issues. This is a niche but specific recommendation.
- Avoid Steam for Game Purchases (weight 0.05): One reviewer advises against buying games on Steam in general, which is a platform-specific warning rather than a comment on the expansion itself. This feedback is low in relevance to the game's quality.

Other player notes:
- Improvement over The Forgotten (weight 0.61): Many reviewers consider this expansion a major improvement over The Forgotten DLC, citing better polish, fewer bugs, and more inspired design. It is seen as a big step up despite similar pricing.
- African theme and history (weight 0.45): The expansion is thematically focused on Africa, covering often-neglected African history and Portuguese influence. It includes appropriate flora, fauna, landscapes, and new architecture.
- Integrated experience with updates (weight 0.32): The expansion feels like an integrated experience and feels right at home, even though it came out many years after the original campaigns. The game receives updates and hotfixes to please older players.
- Comparison with other expansions (weight 0.31): Compared to The Conquerors and The Forgotten, the campaigns are considered better than The Conquerors and less drawn out than The Forgotten. It is also compared to Rise of the Rajas, with Rise of the Rajas considered the strongest of the three.
- Substantial singleplayer content (weight 0.25): Completing all campaigns on standard difficulty takes about 30 hours, offering 30 to 40 hours of additional singleplayer content. The campaigns are more accessible and have full voice acting like the original game.
- Second expansion for AoE II HD (weight 0.23): It is the second expansion released for Age of Empires II after its re-release, specifically for the HD Edition in 2015. It was developed by the original creators of The Forgotten mod, assisted by SkyBox Labs.
- Expansion content summary (weight 0.23): The expansion adds new architecture and new units, and has about the same content as a classic AOE II expansion. It includes scenarios like the Pyrenees map and a developer blog explains how the models were made.
- Minor issues and compatibility (weight 0.22): Some reviewers note possible compatibility issues with Windows 7, and campaign unit spamming is a common complaint on Steam and Reddit. Uninstalling and re-installing the game can fix trouble playing the new civilizations.
- Mod support and future expansions (weight 0.22): The game has loads of mod support, and more expansions are planned, including for Age of Mythology. The developers show a lot of improvement and are waiting for the next expansion, hopefully related to Asian Dynasties.
- Graphical and AI improvements (weight 0.22): Graphical improvements from the HD Edition are highlighted, and AI behavior can mimic real historical economic patterns. The Portuguese Feitoria is compared to the 'Plenty' god power in Age of Mythology for generating resources.
- Good value for price (weight 0.2): The DLC is praised as a quality expansion on par with the original game and is considered exceptionally worth its price. It adds entertaining hours of playtime to Age of Empires II.
- Included in base game or DE (weight 0.18): The HD remaster includes this expansion in its base game, which is seen as a welcomed gesture of not selling the same thing twice. The Definitive Edition is noted as the best option because it already comes with all DLCs.
- Portuguese civilization details (weight 0.17): One of the new civilizations is actually European (Portuguese), and its building style coincides with Italians. The expansion represents African history and Portuguese influence.
- Campaign design preferences (weight 0.17): Some reviewers prefer less detailed design in campaigns, noting that the original campaigns were simpler and focused more on the game rather than the design. The reviewer hopes for an official retexture of all civilizations in the future.
- New units and old civilization integration (weight 0.14): New units like siege towers and fire galleys can be used by old civilizations when DLC settings are enabled. The expansion adds new game modes that can spice up LAN parties and internet games.
- Suitable for lower-end computers (weight 0.12): This version is suitable for fans with less powerful computers, and it runs without problems on Windows 10. It is a good option for those who cannot run the Definitive Edition.
- Supporting the series (weight 0.11): Some players purchased the expansion purely to support the Age of Empires series, and they consider Age of Empires 2 one of the best games of all time, better than 1 and 3.
- Obsolete with Definitive Edition (weight 0.11): The expansion is fairly obsolete with the Definitive Edition out, which already includes all DLCs. The Definitive Edition is the best option for most players.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.19): Players feel satisfied because the expansion offers high-quality campaigns with full voice acting, new civilizations, and improved water combat. The content is seen as worth the price, with good value, polish, and enjoyable gameplay that revitalizes the classic RTS.
- Frustration (weight 0.17): Frustration stems from technical problems such as inability to access purchased DLC due to Steam or dependency issues, frequent crashes, corrupted saves, and bugs like idle villager button malfunction. Campaign progress not counting, unfair mission design, and weak units like the camel archer further aggravate players.
- Appreciation (weight 0.13): Appreciation is driven by the expansion's polish, balanced civilizations, and engaging campaigns with unique naval and defensive gameplay. The authentic historical setting, improved visuals, and new civilizations like Portuguese and Berbers are highly valued.
- Disappointment (weight 0.09): Disappointment arises from inconsistent voice acting, lack of standout features, and missing potential civilizations. The expansion feels hastily finished, with mediocre campaign design, limited new building styles, and absent language options like Polish.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.05): Enjoyment comes from fun and well-designed campaigns, basebuilding elements, and fresh-feeling new civilizations. The African setting and mechanics provide engaging gameplay that players find highly entertaining.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.05): Enthusiasm is fueled by the expansion adding substantial content, balancing old civilizations, and featuring beautiful new units and architecture. It is seen as a worthy addition that enhances the greatness of Age of Empires.
- Annoyance (weight 0.04): Annoyance is caused by technical issues like villagers randomly stopping work, multiplayer lag, crashes, and sound bugs. Overly detailed campaign terrain also leads to unit movement problems.
- Admiration (weight 0.03): Admiration is directed at the developers for successfully rehabilitating the game with a worthy expansion, high-quality campaigns, and renewed visuals. Their continued content release and beautiful map design earn praise.
- Amusement (weight 0.03): Amusement stems from quirky AI behavior, such as the Ethiopian AI neglecting farms and markets, and humorous bugs like spawning 500 Gbato units. The game's enduring humor and powerful Shotel Warriors in large groups also entertain players.
- Happiness (weight 0.03): Happiness is felt because the classic game receives a DLC with interesting African civilizations, and players are glad to support the developers. The continued support for the game brings joy.
- Interest (weight 0.02): Interest is sparked by the historical depth and African culture, such as the Sundiata story about instruments. History enthusiasts are drawn to the authentic setting.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): Excitement comes from big innovations like new civilizations, units, technologies, and scenarios. The addition of new story campaigns and playing as the Berbers in the Tariq ibn Ziyad campaign generates anticipation.
- Love (weight 0.02): Love is expressed for the well-designed Portuguese civilization, even if overpowered, and for the Berbers campaign. Players simply love the game for the most part.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.02): Nostalgia is evoked by the game's age and classic feel, with maps like the Pyrenees reminding players of Age of Empires 1. The return of the wololo monk also triggers fond memories.
- Confidence (weight 0.02): Confidence is based on the belief that future patches will fix mod compatibility issues and other problems. Players trust the developers to resolve these issues.
- Mild disappointment (weight 0.02): Mild disappointment results from campaign bugs, saving issues, and spelling errors in the Chinese pack, as well as visual inaccuracies like white villagers and European monks for African civilizations.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is directed at Steam staff for ignoring problems, leading to player frustration with unresolved issues.
- Distrust (weight 0.01): Distrust arises from the perception that the DLC is almost a scam due to its required dependency on another expansion, making players wary of the developers' intentions.
- Refreshed (weight 0.01): Players feel refreshed by the update bringing new African nations, technologies, and map design elements, which revitalize the game experience.
- Engagement (weight 0.01): Engagement is driven by the Portuguese campaign's compelling story about avenging a son, which draws players into the narrative.}