Info about ENDLESS™ Legend - Symbiosis:

Official game description:
**Endless Legend – Symbiosis** brings forth new colossal beasts called **Urkans** as well as a brand-new faction: **The Mykara.**  
The Mykara
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Through evolution and assimilation, this ancient civilization rose from unicellular beings to full grown warriors. They serve only one purpose, bringing balance back to Auriga.  
The Mykara originate from a unique stem city and overgrow points of interest to fuel their economy. While they cannot settle new land, they can turn conquered enemy cities into ghost towns from which they get bonus resources. After a few turns, their symbiosis with the conquered town allow them to gain bonus traits…  
New Gigantic Units: The Urkans
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Urkans are massive beasts that appear randomly around the map taking control of neutral land. To tame the creature, empires will have to bribe or defeat them in battle alongside their minions. Taming an Urkan unlocks a new set of unique abilities that is suited for both defensive and aggressive playstyles.

Release date: Jan 24, 2019

Categories: 4X, Turn-based Strategy, Faction Management, Territory Management, Resource Management, Exploration, Single-player, Cooperative Multiplayer

Feature scans:
- Mods: score 0; verdict: Vanilla Ready; summary: The reviews indicate that some players consider the Endless Legend Community Patch (ELCP) necessary for fixes and balance, but no specific game-breaking bugs are mentioned. The language is strong ('only usable', 'avoid if not planning to use'), yet without concrete bug reports, this is classified as a preference rather than a true mod tax.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $15.00 - $25.00
  - Reasoning: The reviews focus on expansions, indicating they are overpriced. The only explicit price reference is $10 for an expansion, suggesting that is a fair price for additional content. Since the base game is a full product and the community expresses strong affection for it ('I adore Endless Legend'), the base game should be priced higher than the expansion, but the exact fair price is not directly stated. Given the negative sentiment toward expansions and the positive sentiment toward the base game, a reasonable estimate for the base game is $15-25, though confidence is low due to lack of direct price evidence.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: N/A
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The reviews contain no explicit playtime hours for game completion, story completion, or endgame. The only time reference is a mention of lag after one hour, which does not establish a typical session length. The other quotes mention playthroughs and future playtime but without specific hour counts. Therefore, all playtime metrics are set to null due to insufficient evidence.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The DLC content is widely reported as tedious, boring, and buggy, making the game less fun rather than more, with no point at which it becomes enjoyable.
  - Stance: Never clicks
  - Anchor: N/A
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: tedious faction gameplay; underpowered faction; bugs; boring spying mechanic; Urkans disrupt progression; overpowered and boring content
  - Unlock drivers: N/A
  - Conditions: playing alone or in coop; if Urkans were only relevant to fungal faction; if spying were better implemented
- Player Archetypes:
  - Mykara Devotee (buy)
    - Motivation: Exploring the unique Mykara faction and its unconventional playstyle.
    - Playstyle: Build tall with a single city, focusing on mycelium mechanics, often in solo or coop games.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Competitive Multiplayer (no buy)
    - Motivation: Seeking balanced and fair multiplayer matches.
    - Playstyle: Plays multiplayer, optimizes strategies, and evaluates faction viability.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: competitive
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Veteran Amplitude Critic (no buy)
    - Motivation: Maintaining quality and balance standards across Amplitude's catalog.
    - Playstyle: Experienced 4X player, likely plays all factions and expansions, evaluates content critically.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: hardest-core of Endless Legend fans
    - Reference games: Endless Space 2; Tempest
  - Casual Solo Explorer (buy)
    - Motivation: Relaxed exploration and enjoyment of the game's content without competitive pressure.
    - Playstyle: Solo or coop, plays at own pace, may not optimize or master mechanics.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: casual player
    - Reference games: N/A


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:
- Mykara faction is well-received (weight 0.36): Players consistently praise the new Mykara faction as interesting, fun, and unique. The faction's distinct playstyle and creative design are highlighted as major positives.
- Mykara visual design loved (weight 0.19): The aesthetic of the Mykara, including their bioluminescent theme and unit designs, is highly praised. The visual style of overgrowing opponents is considered a creative and cool concept.
- Mykara story and lore engaging (weight 0.18): The Mykara's storyline and quests are considered interesting and not bothersome to complete. The lore and final quest rewards are also praised, adding to the overall experience.
- Mykara fungal bloom mechanics praised (weight 0.16): The Mykara's fungal bloom system, which allows resource generation, teleportation, and territory expansion, is a standout feature. Players enjoy the strategic depth it adds to the one-city playstyle.
- One-city playstyle is unique (weight 0.15): The Mykara's restriction to a single city is seen as a unique and enjoyable challenge. It allows players to focus on different game elements and is compared favorably to the Cultists.
- Neutral territory usage expanded (weight 0.14): The expansion gives new uses for uncolonized regions, with Urkans and Mykara mechanics making neutral territory more interesting. This adds a new layer of strategy to the game.
- Game receives strong developer support (weight 0.06): Players note that the game is well-maintained and has received impressive long-term support from its developers. This is seen as a positive aspect of the overall experience.
- Bribery system is interesting (weight 0.03): The bribery system introduced in the expansion is considered interesting by players. It adds a new diplomatic or strategic option to the game.

Common complaints:
- Mykara are underpowered and weak (weight 0.96): The Mykara faction is repeatedly criticized for having weak units, low damage output, and being generally underpowered compared to other factions. Players find them tedious and not fun to play.
- Urkans are overpowered and unbalanced (weight 0.94): Multiple reviews consistently describe the Urkans as extremely powerful, unbalancing the game, and overshadowing all other units. They are noted as nigh-unkillable, dealing insane damage, and breaking game balance.
- Urkans are frustrating and poorly implemented (weight 0.54): The Urkan mechanic is seen as frustrating, poorly implemented, and requiring guesswork. It adds nuisance skirmishes and makes the game a slog, with no real counters.
- Mykara expansion mechanics are flawed (weight 0.33): The Mykara expansion mechanics are criticized for being slow, easily destroyed, and not allowing the faction to keep pace with others. Fungal blooms take too long to build and are easily destroyed.
- DLC introduces many bugs (weight 0.26): The DLC is reported to have numerous bugs, including pathing issues, crashes, and balance problems. Some bugs from the base game remain unfixed, and new ones have been introduced.
- DLC lacks content and value (weight 0.23): Reviewers state that the DLC adds no new gameplay elements, lacks actual content, and does not add value to the game. It is seen as just another faction without meaningful additions.
- Mykara are not fun to play (weight 0.2): The Mykara faction is described as not fun, clunky, and tedious. Their unique mechanics do not provide an enjoyable experience, and they are seen as a weak and lazy design.
- DLC balance changes stopped (weight 0.14): Reviewers note that balance changes seem to have stopped entirely after the release of Symbiosis, leaving the game unbalanced and broken. The DLC was rushed and never fixed.

Gameplay feedback:
- Mykara limited to one city (weight 0.35): Multiple clusters highlight that the Mykara faction can only have a single city, making them a unique one-city faction similar to the Cultists. This is a core design constraint that shapes their entire playstyle.
- Urkans tamed via resources or combat (weight 0.22): Urkans can be tamed either by spending luxury resources or by defeating them in battle. This dual method provides players with multiple ways to acquire these powerful units.
- Urkans provide regional buffs (weight 0.14): Urkans are new units that can be settled in neutral regions to provide buffs to adjacent allied cities and debuffs to enemy cities. They can also be used as normal army units, offering flexible strategic options.

Performance notes:
- Performance issues persist across versions (weight 0.12): Players report ongoing performance problems in the base game that remain unfixed, and the latest expansion has further degraded performance. This includes lag, slow interface loading, and freezes after downloading the expansion.
- Possible memory leak causes lag (weight 0.04): Players suspect a memory leak in the game, as lag becomes noticeable after about an hour of play. This indicates a technical issue that degrades the experience over time and may require a restart to mitigate.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for hardcore fans (weight 0.12): The DLC is recommended only for the most dedicated Endless Legend fans, especially those who own other expansions. Casual players are advised to skip it.
- Better alternatives exist (weight 0.11): Reviewers suggest getting other Endless Legend DLCs instead, such as Shifters, Tempest, or Guardians. The new faction is considered inferior to existing ones like the Necrophages.

Other player notes:
- Outsourced development concerns (weight 0.16): The DLC was developed by NGD studios, an outsourced third-party, which raised concerns about quality and support. Similar issues were noted with the Inferno expansion and Endless Space 2 expansions.
- Mykara faction is fungus-based (weight 0.14): The Mykara faction is a fungus faction that spreads mycelium across the world, offering a unique playstyle. It is compared to the Fungus from The Last of Us and other factions like Cultists.
- Urkans compared to other game units (weight 0.14): Reviewers compare the Urkan war beasts to units from Battlefield 1, Endless Space 2, and Civilization 6, noting their overpowered nature. This highlights balance concerns.
- New faction and Urkan mechanic (weight 0.12): The expansion introduces the Mykara faction and the Urkan tamable creatures, adding new gameplay elements. This is a core feature of the DLC, mentioned in multiple clusters.
- Urkans can be disabled (weight 0.11): Players can turn off the Urkan mechanic in game settings, either through the ELCP or a later update. This allows players to enjoy other DLC content without the controversial beasts.
- Community patch improves balance (weight 0.11): The Endless Legend Community Patch (ELCP) better balances the Urkans and makes the DLC more usable. Some reviewers consider the patch essential for a good experience.
- Last major DLC for the game (weight 0.06): This is the final major DLC for Endless Legend, marking the end of content updates. Players are now waiting for Endless Legend 2.
- Casual players may struggle (weight 0.05): Casual players who do not play multiplayer may find the AI too difficult on the hardest settings, affecting their enjoyment. This is a general difficulty concern.
- Developer working on patch (weight 0.05): The developers stated they are working on a patch to address issues, and the ELCP creator will also help with balancing. This shows ongoing support.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.3): Players are frustrated by the Urkans being overwhelmingly overpowered, which breaks game balance and offers little counterplay. The faction's randomness and snowballing reduce strategic depth, and the DLC introduced bugs and performance issues that were never fixed.
- Disappointment (weight 0.15): The DLC is seen as lazy and poorly balanced, with the new factions failing to deliver unique or engaging gameplay. The spying mechanic is boring, and the expansion removes elements rather than adding meaningful content, leaving players disappointed.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.07): Players enjoy the DLC when playing solo or in co-op, finding the new factions fun once the right RNG occurs. The Mykara's playstyle and the thrill of taming Urkans add to the enjoyment, along with collecting units like Pokemon.
- Love (weight 0.06): Players love the Mykara faction for its creative and unique toolset, particularly the design of controlling an ever-expanding fungus. The aesthetic and the way enemy cities become infested with spores upon capture are highlights, reflecting a deep appreciation for Endless Legend.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.05): The expansion is satisfying because the Mykara are extremely powerful in singleplayer, and the game world is enriched with new content. Players appreciate the developer's maintenance and the filling of empty spaces with meaningful additions.
- Concern (weight 0.04): Players are concerned about the rushed state of the DLC, which has bugs and balance issues, and worry about Amplitude trusting NGD with future expansions. The new race's resource drain and vulnerability in multiplayer also raise concerns.
- Amusement (weight 0.03): Players find amusement in watching AI chase Urkans and die, and in making fungus jokes while playing the Mykara. The funny interaction with the 'Sister of Mercy' hero making blooms free adds to the lighthearted moments.
- Sadness (weight 0.03): Sadness arises from the Urkans being unable to use the Mykara fast travel network, limiting their utility. Additionally, leaving a negative review for an Amplitude product and the realization that this is the last major DLC for a favorite 4X game evoke sadness.
- Excitement (weight 0.03): Players are excited by the war beast mechanic, which provides a trump card that makes enemies uneasy. The Urkan mechanic is fun, and the new faction quickly becomes a favorite, adding to the excitement.
- Happiness (weight 0.02): Happiness comes from receiving new content for a beloved 4X game, which is considered worth it. The ability to make plants so thick and powerful that they stop industrialization also brings joy.
- Interest (weight 0.02): Interest is sparked by the Mykara race's unique playstyle and aesthetics, prompting players to try them at least once. The faction's distinct mechanics draw curiosity and engagement.
- Joy (weight 0.02): Joy is derived from the war beast mechanic being very fun to play, and from hearing that Endless Legend is getting one last expansion. These elements bring a sense of delight and anticipation.
- Appreciation (weight 0.02): Players appreciate the developers for continuing to support older titles, and for giving the Urkans backstories. This long-term commitment is valued by the community.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance is caused by constant notifications about the Urkans, which clutter the game interface and disrupt the experience. This frequent interruption is a source of irritation.
- Regret (weight 0.01): Regret is felt because this is the last major DLC of the game, signaling the end of new content for a cherished title. This finality brings a sense of loss.
- Disgust (weight 0.01): Disgust is triggered by the Mykara faction's theme of spreading fungus and destroying the world, which some players find unappealing. The thematic direction is off-putting to them.
- Depression (weight 0.01): Depression is evoked by the Mykara faction quest and the descriptions of overgrown settlements, which carry a melancholic tone. The imagery of decay and abandonment contributes to this feeling.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arises from the high number of poor reviews on this expansion, which seems at odds with some players' positive experiences. This discrepancy is puzzling.
- Shock (weight 0.01): Shock is expressed at the Urkans being so poorly thought out that the reviewer is amazed the developers released the DLC. The lack of polish is startling.
- Curiosity (weight 0.01): Curiosity is driven by a desire to see how the Mykara play, leading players to try the faction. The unique mechanics pique interest and exploration.}