A-Z backlog challenge: Endless Legend
When I didn't have so much free time, I played this a a couple of hours a day for a few days and then got distracted with other things. Then when I got back to it I didn't remember how most things worked so would restart. Now I finally played a game to completion.
It's a fantasy 4x game from the makers of Endless Space which was of course instead sci-fi based. There are a number of different factions to choose from who all have different units, abilities, playstyles and a questline to move along (and win from if you make it all the way to the end of it).
You start off with one settler, one hero and a few units. You can only build one city in each region so you must decide which you want to focus on as some areas will have more industry while others have more science or dust (gold). As the city grows you can choose new hexes to exploit and how many population to focus onn each area- food, industry, science, dust and culture.
Each region also has minor factions which can be won over through diplomacy, bribery or martial skill (beaten into submission). You can then choose one or more (if you unlock the technology) to gain their bonus and recruit their units.
In my playthrough I played as the Wild Walkers who are economically focussed. However they also have strong archers so I used Urces as my frontline troops to soak up damage. It's an interesting way to do things rather than like in civilisation where most civs have the same troops with just a couple of unique ones.
Heroes are a very important part of the game. They gain xp and have a skill tree to move along. They are the ones that initiate diplomacy with minor races, can search ruins and can, once a high enough level, give large bonuses to units in battle or the cities they are governing. They can also be equipped with unique items you might have found or be given in quests.
Units can also be upgraded to your liking. You can decide what type of weapons, armor and special items they carry. However, many of these use a large amount of strategic resources which you do not gain very fast (some you may have no access to on the map).
Many buildings in the cities also require strategic resources to build so it is a tough decision which to use them on. This makes a nice change from games where most cities or planets end up being pretty much the same, all with every building available being built.
The research system is probably the least innovative thing about the game. There are various eras and the next one is unlocked after a certain number from the previous era have been researched. These unlock new buildings which improve food production, industry or increase happiness etc, new weapons upgrades and unit types.
Finally their is a global market where you can purchase new heroes, buy units, buy and sell strategic and luxury resources and even stockpiles of food or industry. These work on a supply and demand system so if their is a global shortage of one resource it will cost you a lot more whereas resources which are common can be bought cheaply.
This is definitely one of the better turn based strategy games released in the last few years and if you haven't played it yet, you should buy it when it is next on sale- better yet get the whole Amplitude Endless pack as Endless Space and Dungeon of the Endless are great games too.
Release year: 2014
Normal price: $29.99
Sale price: $7.49
Rating: 82
It's a fantasy 4x game from the makers of Endless Space which was of course instead sci-fi based. There are a number of different factions to choose from who all have different units, abilities, playstyles and a questline to move along (and win from if you make it all the way to the end of it).
You start off with one settler, one hero and a few units. You can only build one city in each region so you must decide which you want to focus on as some areas will have more industry while others have more science or dust (gold). As the city grows you can choose new hexes to exploit and how many population to focus onn each area- food, industry, science, dust and culture.
Each region also has minor factions which can be won over through diplomacy, bribery or martial skill (beaten into submission). You can then choose one or more (if you unlock the technology) to gain their bonus and recruit their units.
In my playthrough I played as the Wild Walkers who are economically focussed. However they also have strong archers so I used Urces as my frontline troops to soak up damage. It's an interesting way to do things rather than like in civilisation where most civs have the same troops with just a couple of unique ones.
Heroes are a very important part of the game. They gain xp and have a skill tree to move along. They are the ones that initiate diplomacy with minor races, can search ruins and can, once a high enough level, give large bonuses to units in battle or the cities they are governing. They can also be equipped with unique items you might have found or be given in quests.
Units can also be upgraded to your liking. You can decide what type of weapons, armor and special items they carry. However, many of these use a large amount of strategic resources which you do not gain very fast (some you may have no access to on the map).
Many buildings in the cities also require strategic resources to build so it is a tough decision which to use them on. This makes a nice change from games where most cities or planets end up being pretty much the same, all with every building available being built.
The research system is probably the least innovative thing about the game. There are various eras and the next one is unlocked after a certain number from the previous era have been researched. These unlock new buildings which improve food production, industry or increase happiness etc, new weapons upgrades and unit types.
Finally their is a global market where you can purchase new heroes, buy units, buy and sell strategic and luxury resources and even stockpiles of food or industry. These work on a supply and demand system so if their is a global shortage of one resource it will cost you a lot more whereas resources which are common can be bought cheaply.
This is definitely one of the better turn based strategy games released in the last few years and if you haven't played it yet, you should buy it when it is next on sale- better yet get the whole Amplitude Endless pack as Endless Space and Dungeon of the Endless are great games too.
Release year: 2014
Normal price: $29.99
Sale price: $7.49
Rating: 82
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