If you're looking for Age of Empires 2 with new graphics, this is pretty much it. It may have been released in 2021 but it plays like it's from 2001. The story mode is good with full videos before each mission that attempts to tell you about the history of the next mission, but.. The voice sounds like it's AI getting a lot of names/words mispronounced. I put this game on the same shelf as Iron Harvest which was also released in 2021. Recommended as a good time sink for a few days, but something i'll now uninstall and not pick up again. Probably worth it at 50% discount.

Achievement sync with Xbox Game Pass version still doesn't function, known issue for 3 years btw, syncing with Xbox unlocks the achievements in-game but not on Steam, which prevents you from ever earning them on Steam.

If you care about that, don't sync with Xbox. The Xbox progress sync ONLY ever transferred achievements... and they don't even unlock on your Steam profile. There is no way to reset your account progress to fix this so that you can earn them again.

I really wanted to love Age of Empires IV, but it just didn’t feel right. The game is much more fast-paced than older titles, leaving no room for slow, strategic building. Instead of clear, familiar icons, everything is replaced with confusing symbols, making simple tasks frustrating.

Worse, there’s no option to save multiplayer games, forcing matches to be rushed instead of carefully planned. It feels like the game is designed for quick, action-heavy play rather than deep strategy. Like many modern games, it’s also been simplified too much, losing the charm and depth that made Age of Empires great for me.