Age of Wonders III

Age of Wonders III is often overlooked in the 4X and even strategy genre as historical or even science fiction games usually overshadow fantasy ones but AoW3 is as close as you can get to a flexible, highly customizable, and replayable fantasy strategy game.

AoW3's Scope and Campaign

What I love the most about AoW3 is the way it enables creativity and role-playing elements. In the fantasy genre there's dozens of subgenres and settings to choose from but AoW3's flexible custom game setting and character customization allows it to recreate nearly any fantasy setting. With aspects of Tolkien's fantasy races, D&D's rpg elements, and even GRR Martin's realism and political intrigue, AoW3 uses customization and random generation to allow the player the craft his own fantasy world with a myriad of borrowed elements.

Even with this flexibility, AoW3 does have a campaign and pre-made characters and settings. The dreadnought class is a very interesting addition to the melting pot of fantasy storytelling and some of the scenarios are both interesting and challenging. However, the main campaign is somewhat lacking, not in lore but in gameplay since it's a little slow and boring to gruel through.

Gameplay

Since the campaign is somewhat lackluster and the customization options are through the roof, I've spent most of time in AoW3 in the scenario editor where you play on a randomly generated map as a custom lord. This makes up the bulk of AoW3's gameplay and the way it combines rpg elements, strategy gameplay, and tactical gameplay is phenomenal. AoW3's balance between the turn-based strategy gameplay and the tactical gameplay is what truly enriches the game.

The AoW franchise and AoW3 has the integral tactical battle mode which is fantastic! In contrast to other 4X games like Civilization, units aren't just numbers or bonuses but real troops in tabletop-like battles. This gives AoW3 a level of depth and gameplay that seperates it from other 4X games and doesn't just make it a fantasy reskin of Civilization or Stellaris.

The strategy side of AoW3 is also distinct from other 4X games because of its added rpg elements. Although growing cities and building buildings is important AoW3 also enhances the fantasy experience by including equippable weapons, items, or mounts in the strategic map. This not only adds to the customization and role-playing aspects of the game but distinguishes it from other 4X games. Additionally, resources and even troops can be found, fought for, and discovered on the map which again adds a level of excitement and interest after each random map has been generated.

What really makes me enjoy AoW3 though is the level of replayability. The random generation, the customizability, and the dozens of combinations between races and classes allows for many many games of AoW3 and the pursuit of several different in-game strategies.

However, there are some key quality-of-life features that are missing and keep me from giving this game a 5/5. The autoresolve when you don't feel like playing tactical battles is horrible and clearly not very well tested which is a seriously annoying and not easily fixable feature. There are also some balance issues between certain classes and races which also shows the game should have been tested a bit more. But by far the biggest issue with AoW3 is the dead online multiplayer. Unless you have friends to play with, expect to play singleplayer.

Conclusion

Overall, AoW3 is a fantastic game for both high fantasy and strategy game fans alike. The creativity and customization will keep fantasy fans thrilled while strategy fans will enjoy the fantastic combination between tactical and strategic gameplay. From early to late game, AoW3 manages to keep the game interesting with the thrill of initial discovery in the early game and later the satisfaction of using expensive spells and troops in the tactical battles. In short, it's a very solid game for 4X fans looking for replayability and creativity in a fantasy setting.