I Played EVERY Age of Empires Game in 2022

The remastered, HD remake ones.. are all like fifa games. 🤢

Aoe3 for me was the shit. I played the shit out of aoe2 actually and it was fun. Main reason aoe3 was not as popular is because of insane graphics back in 06. Not everyone had mad PC's back then, so everyone just got stuck with aoe2.

How in the world did you completely ignore Age Of Mythology?

AoE3 = changes, eeew >:(
AoE4 = no changes, eeew >:(

Wait, people stopped playing AoE? 😂

I agree in aoe3 no gathering building is removing an important strategical aspect of the game "the strategy of gathering resources", some points to mention about the aoe1 vs aoe2 contest is that I think this is actually aoe1 that is more "hardcore" than aoe2, first because adapting to the resources in a revealed map can be infinitely more difficult compared to aoe2 resources that are always scattered the same way so u also have to study an agressive or defenssive strategy depending on your resources (yes I know u can adapt to a forward berry or gold etc in aoe2 too but its nothing compared to aoe1 resources), and the fun fact is that this situation doesn't necessarily make the game more unbalanced but forces u to take a different strategy, the 2nd point is when u said aoe2 is played more defenssively, indeed and in my opinion when the agression is not worth the move, it ends up removing some steps and nuances in the strategies, another point is that making the game very defenssive with many castles to push often makes long games where stamina and physical skill matters more than reflection. And finally I don't like DE reworks and I obviously think the 1997 version with the 1.0a patch on is the best version so far.

AoE3 is definetly the best for me. One thing you forgot to mention about AoE3 is the combat. Jesus, the combat in AoE3 is just perfect, the game took the rock paper scissors to another level, units have melee attack, siege attack, range attack, snare, different abilities, its just outstanding the amount of mechanics you get from that game.

I'll start AOE2 was my least favorite but I feel like for the other 2 he left out a lot of information that he could have easily added very disappointing video 😔

I played a demo for 3 back in the day, but didn't play Age of Empire 1/2 until a few years ago. Now that 3 has a free trial version, I may need to revisit it.

you can absolutely merge units permanently into specific groups, using ctrl + one of the number keys, in general you missed out on a bunch of info in this video it seems, like missing out on Age of Mythology which came out inbetween aoe2 and aoe3 and is usually more considered a part of the aoe series than aoe4 is lol, and a bunch of spinoffs like aoe online (which was bad lol) and aom for the nds (which was meh lol)

also the bad ui in aoe3 is more of a fault of the remaster, the original aoe3 ui was perfectly fine and in fact still usable in the remaster, the card system is something one has to get used to, as someone that grew up with the games and played aoe3 a ton it's completely intuitive to me and the main reason i still play it the most

i've also always felt the same about aoe4, it had no new core mechanicss, you say it's got very different factions but aom and aoe3 did that to a much more extreme degree, however aoe4 does fulfill all the childhood wishes i had for the series like putting units on walls and unit dialogue being more dynamic and the units changing their language over the ages is my favorite detail in the entire game

Very misleading, misinforming and misconstrued. Had to say it.

3 is the best

how about age of empires online?

you didnt count age of empires online... dislike

Having played the original AOE3 back in the day Ill say that two things. 1. I really enjoyed it, the home city mechanic and the time period were very fun and cool to play through. 2. The definitive edition is a massive upgrade compared to the original in terms of visuals and ui. When you showed it on screen my first thought was "that looks too good to be AOE3" The ui looked cleaner, thd buildings were sharper, the units looked good. Great game and great video, just wanted to point out that the original aoe 3 looked no where near that good back when I played it. Personally AOE 4 is my favorite as I love how different all the factions play and it really reminds of Age of Mythology in that way.

the foodlimit of 50 in AoE1 is so annoying

The only one I play is age 3. Tried to play age 2 but its too different haha. And the sound of battle of age 3 , unit varity according to city and its visuals is what make me like it soo much.

Age of Mythology game needs a Part 2/2nd Game. The Classical/Antiquity vibe is amazing

Playing AoE 1 on MSN Gaming Zone in the early 2000s was probably the most fun I've had playing video games online. A few years ago I bought the Definition Edition hoping to relive some of that magic but there was practically no one online. Shame.

you didnt play every aoe. You missed aoeo and aom.

I think a lot of people that are so tied to aoe2 missed the significance of the gameplay of homecities, its basically a completely different game. Pros make the best use of homecities are there are lots of different strats. In some ways its the most "strategic" age of empires, will definitely lacking in some aspect. 1 2 and 4 just have a completely different feel to aoe3, Im sad that ao4 is so lackluster tbh. I love both aoe2 and aoe3 and wish they had somehow combined the best parts of both

I grew up playing Age of Empires 2 and Age of mythology and warcraft 3. GOLDEN TIMES
in my country there were championship of those games. i was 12 years old. and now in 2023 i want to play back age of empires, i know that warcraft 3 remake was a failure

Why did you skip AOE2DE

The music is chill

I wonder if you'll check out Age of Mythology (Titans expansion), a truly unique game

Age of Empires 2 is so incredibly balanced compared to the others. The more you play 2 the more you realize it wasn't just a reskin of 1, but fixed so many issues. There is a reason that the game is still growing as the other ones shrink in popularity.

loved Age of empires 2 played it for years! just got the 4th game i prefer 2, is 1 and 3 worth a go?

I'd like to point out that the changes between the original and definitive editions of the game (Age of Empires 2 I mean) are more than just aesthetic. There are several UI and gameplay changes as well, even though the core gameplay remains the same. Such as zooming in/out which was not a feature until DE, and that panning thingy you showed immediately after, among a few other things that were added in DE as quality of life features. There are also differences in balancing of units and buildings. Also in the original Age of Empires 1, there was no tech tree. It came printed out along with the manual and is a Definitive Edition feature. So I'd say there are some significant changes in the UI between the original and definitive editions that changes the game experience itself.

There’s something to be said for respecting your legacy once you’ve established a game. IMO that makes it inappropriate to change sequals too much.

Ensemble Studios did innovate a lot with Age of Mythology (yet building on AoE).

Age of Empires 4 did pretty much exactly what a lot of AoE fans wanted (unlike AoE3). It respected it’s legacy.

As for having more focus on the historical battles, Bruce Shelley, one of the people behind the original AoE series had a mantra of gameplay first. He’s very negative of putting too much emphasis on the historic battle itself, with him thinking that is why a lot og america board games in the 70s/80s had such narrow appeal. You should listen to the Designer Notes podcast episode 9 where they interview him.

When i saw the trailer of aoe4 i thought that it would be the game of the year since aoe3 was so damn good and was release 15 years ago, the regression was my deception

You forgot to mention how asymmetric the civs in aoe3 are as well.

AoE II my favorite. AoE 3 just lack any mechanic or dept or lay out. 4 is sort of Meh, it's okay but not as captivating. 1 is pretty cute tho

I agree pretty much all throughout. AOE 4 didnt really feel like it was that different, and i think i've had aoe 2 installed on my computer for 24 years straight, lol

I like both AOE 3 and AOE 4 the most.

Nothing can beat AOE2 and AOE3 specially the DE versions

a lot of people don't know but if your archers on high ground in this game they get an attack bonus

Company of Heroes 2 was more innovative than AOE4. And thats sad. Biger scale battles like the one on the trailer, Winter or season mechanics, etc. A wasted oportunity.

Age of Empires 3 was actually my first strategy game I played and I and I love it and always gives childhood nostalgia before I discovered Total War not long after and Paradox many years later

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I installed AoE 1 by chance, in windows 98 cd there was Microsoft games folder and AoE trial version was provided. This was my first ever experience with any RTS game, though it took me 3 days to get understanding of how one can play such game. Self experience is best experience I suppose and AoE 1 is still my best version as it introduced me to new kind of games i.e. strategy games.

AoE 3 I only got to recently and, uh.... yeah I agree the game is cluttered. The complexity of it isn't an issue for its mainstay audience because they know it by heart, but if you're coming in with just AoE1 and 2 experience (and some other RTS like Dawn of War, Starcraft, Warcraft, etc.) you'll be caught off guard by the sheer amount of stuff that varies a lot. Not even connected to civ choice, surprisingly.

- different maps featuring different minor civs, each featuring their own set of research and/or units.
- different age up choices and nuances: great persons for Euros and Native Americans, states for modern American civs, alliances for Africans, Wonders for Asians, etc.
- several revolutions for Euro civs and Mexicans, same revolution in several civs with differing effects
- a lot of unit interactions that are relatively obfuscated. Moreso than in other games, in my experience
- extensive research effects, due to the sheer number of units and unique cases present.
- and then the home city cards, which feel like the most complex system in the game

Probably other things I'm forgetting. Trying to wrap one's head around all of this is pretty difficult starting out. I literally have to read every tech because I can't remember it all.

Regarding civ design in AoE 2: the DLC civs definitely shake this "samesy" feel up. The Burgundians e.g. have a unique technology called "Flemish Revolution" which works like the revolution in AoE 3. The Gurjaras e.g. can garrison sheep into their mills for a passive food income and have a unit that's able to absorb arrow fire.

Never played any of Age Of Empire, which one would you recommend playing :)! (old school gamer here, starcraft/w3 player) never managed to play this game in the early days

4 is shit

Unpopular opinion: I liked Empire Earth and Age of Mythology much more:P

I do wish they made a new age of empires with a focus on ancient history like the original with game mechanics of aoe2. Aoe2 is timeless. Choose it everytime over the new titles

You should look at some footage of the original aoe 3 the ui was much cleaner they made it worse in the definitive edition

I am surprised nobody had ever made this precise comparative video analysis before. I think it was really on point, and it was refreshing to see someone approach the franchise without a blatant AoE2 bias. For my part, I guess some additional observations on each game would be as follows:
AoE1: The thing that puts me off the most is that the technology tree has no opportunity costs: most techs unlock both production and military bonuses, which means that there is only one obvious path of progression through the game. However, I do love the variety of civs and units and I hope the franchise revisits the period sometime in the future (which they seem to be about to do as per a recent announcement).
AoE2: The game's technology tree is way better, with actual choices between military and production paths. The civs are rather cookie cutter designed though, with only one or two unique units and a few stats tweaks to differentiate them. I really enjoyed this game at the time it came out, but it always bothered me how un-historical the units seemed (I mean seeing steel armed Mayan men-at-arms, or shield bearing armor plated japanese knights always burned my eyes).
AoE3: This was always my favorite entry. I loved the replayability offered by the card system, the historical accuracy in the military units, the speed allowed by batch production of units, and the overall visual polish. I also loved the sense of adventure and discovery produced by the treasures, native villages, and whimsical decorations like fallen trees or non-huntable wild animals. However, I did resent at the time the imbalance injected by unlocking the cards with 'Experience points' and the lack of resource gathering depots did break the immersion a lot. BTW, stone did disappear, but it was replaced by 'experience' as the fourth resource.
AoE4: It was released in a clearly unfinished form and that jaded player opinions against it a lot. I still feel it lacks that sense of adventure, wonder and exploration that AoE3 has. It feels prosaic and mechanical; nothing is there unless it serves a purpose (in AoE3 you see flocks of birds flying around or swans in lakes, but none of those whimsical touches exist in AoE4). I also dislike that we regressed to single unit producing buildings. On the other hand, it was able to build on and improve on the city building aspect of AoE2 and it does a much better job at portraying units with much greater historical accuracy as well. It took me a while, but I've warmed up to it a lot recently and it has leapfrogged over AoE2 to take the second spot in my personal ranking list.

I'll admit I was put off by AoE3 when it came out, I was really suspicious of the card system but this convinced me to give it a try at some point.