Endless Legend 2 hands-on preview: A robust successor

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Did you know something fascinating? It’s corals! Despite being overlooked in fantasy settings, they’re truly remarkable lifeforms. Guess what Endless Legend 2 brings to the table? You got it – corals, but not just regular ones. In this game, they’re sentient coral robots! There are also bugs, both insectoid and technical types, as well as humans, but while playing a preview build of the game, the Aspects really caught my attention.

In this version, the corals have been given a unique twist by being turned into sentient robots, adding an exciting element to the game. The bugs, both insectoid and technical, along with humans, also contribute to the gameplay, but it’s the Aspects that truly shine in the preview build of Endless Legend 2.

The Aspects aren’t just distinguished by their appearance; they’re a peaceful race that thrive more from forming advantageous alliances with other factions instead of subjugating them. They expand their territory by cultivating coral fields worldwide, gradually merging the map into their collective awareness – though this process has ominous implications. It resembles the Zerg’s Creep expansion in StarCraft and gives a sense of accomplishment as a player to observe such an obvious trace of your impact on the game world.

Endless Legend consistently shines in its genre due to its unique faction diversity, and its sequel continues this trend by focusing significantly on the intricacies of each faction’s mechanics and narratives. Essentially, the narrative is a crucial component of the game, as each race can embark upon a primary storyline throughout a match, complete with dialogue options, quests, and rewards. Additionally, side stories offer additional depth and possibilities.

In many turn-based strategy games, there’s a common pattern, but Endless Legend 2 takes it several steps forward – at times, it seems more like playing an RPG, and the intricate storylines only serve to deepen the unique identities of each faction.

Absolutely, the fundamental gameplay is common among all players: You establish cities, expand your territory, absorb smaller groups, delve into dungeons, and strive to outmaneuver other key figures using Amplitude’s FIDSI system – this stands for Food, Industry, Dust, Science, and Influence. Influence often seems like the resource you’re most in need of, as it’s not only essential for expanding into different areas of the map, founding cities, and absorbing smaller factions, but also for adding new hexes to your settlements and engaging in diplomacy. It’s no surprise that the developers altered the acronym from FIMS to FIDSI, highlighting the crucial role of influence.

Considering the potential consequences of your actions and organizing your priorities effectively is beneficial, but occasionally, it can feel excessively restrictive or overwhelming.

In Endless Legend 2, one standout characteristic is its dynamic climate system. Massive storms can engulf the game board and then recede, uncovering fresh territories for exploration and settlement over time. Since the game progresses within a set limit of 125 turns, I have not fully experienced all that the Tidefall mechanic offers, but my initial thoughts are very favorable. This element introduces an exciting level of change to the map, which is a less common feature in turn-based strategy games.

Similar to its previous version, characters who are considered heroes hold significant importance within your domain, serving either as military leaders or political figures. By placing Distinguished Individuals in your advisory councils, you can gain passive benefits from them. You can increase the number of individuals at your disposal through completing quests or integrating factions.

Characters possess various traits that impact their active and passive skills, with more options becoming available as they advance in level. An equipment system also exists to boost their power even further. Amplitude took special care to give characters distinct personalities, allowing for relationships, rivals, and even personal bases that show up as districts on the map. This adds a great deal of storytelling potential from game to game, amplifying the role-playing experience.

In this review, Endless Legend 2 stands out remarkably well, but when it comes to combat, I find it somewhat lacking in excitement. Compared to Amplitude’s previous games, the combat feels a bit monotonous. To put it simply, it’s mostly about clashing your units with enemy units, and while terrain affects the numbers slightly, the overall flavor and variety has been surprisingly limited so far.

In comparison to similar genres such as Age of Wonders 4 and Civilization 7, the combat in this game seems rather sparse and appears to have been given less attention during development – I found myself using quick resolve to bypass battles very early on, which is concerning. I was expecting more engaging combat mechanics due to the game’s unique asymmetrical design and diverse faction personalities, but it feels like the battle system took a break while the developers were adding flavor and distinctiveness to other aspects of the game. It’s not necessarily about complexity; there are plenty of passive abilities and skills that offer tactical challenges, and an intriguing upgrade system for customizing basic units. However, I can’t quite pinpoint why the battles haven’t captured my interest yet. It could be a matter of presentation or perhaps something deeper within the mechanics that I’m still trying to understand.

One issue that sometimes arises is the game’s technical stability. I often encountered situations where turns wouldn’t conclude properly and would freeze the game, requiring me to force a shutdown, restart, and then repeat the turn. The user interface, overall, seems to have been given more consideration than Civilization 7’s, but it still has its merits and flaws. For instance, the abundance of options displayed simultaneously might initially overwhelm new players. Additionally, the influx of notifications can be a bit overwhelming. Some features are also positioned oddly, such as characters’ active combat abilities, which are located in the top left corner next to their avatar rather than a more typical bottom bar.

In this game, you’ve got the option to employ nested tooltips and lock windows open by pressing Shift key, making it convenient for comparison of items and choosing what suits your heroes best. The UI offers numerous user-friendly features. Although a minimap is missing, you can zoom out for a broader view of the world, with icons pinpointing strategic resources. Since there are no indications on the map itself about significant tiles, these icons help highlight their importance.

As a dedicated fan, I must say that the game’s map truly steals the show with its stunning fantasy landscapes. The harmonious blend of vibrant greenery and distinctive architectural styles belonging to each faction creates a visually captivating experience. However, it seems that the animations could use some polishing, and unfortunately, this appears to be impacting the combat system yet again, which only adds to its existing challenges.

To put it simply, since I only had 125 turns to play and the game wasn’t yet in its endgame phase, my understanding of the game’s mechanics isn’t complete. It could be that combat becomes more effective with late-game units or fully upgraded heroes. Despite this, my initial impression is generally positive. Amplitude has done a good job designing the world, factions, and narrative in Endless Legend 2. The empire management system, based on the FIDSI system, might not be to everyone’s liking, but I’ve found it engaging so far. However, combat needs some refinement. These are areas that can be polished during Early Access. In summary, Endless Legend 2 appears to be a significant improvement over its predecessor as it stands now.

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2025-04-11 21:46