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RPS GOTY Revisited: 2014’s Endless Legend is still one of the most vibrant, important 4X gamesThough it is showing its age compared to Humankind
Though it is showing its age compared to Humankind
Image credit:Sega, Rock Paper Shotgun
Image credit:Sega, Rock Paper Shotgun
Today, we’re looking at our 2014 Advent Calendar winner,Endless Legend.
I don’t mean to sound derisive. It’s a sombre truth. At 233 hours, I’ve put more time into Endless Legend than any other4X strategy gamein my Steam library, and loved every minute of it. To this day it’s still the best in the genre when it comes to sparking the imagination of my chronically fantasy-loving brain. The music, the amazing variety in terrain and units, the sheer quantity of words bringing to life every last quest, minor faction, creature, and environmental anomaly. It’s a simply splendid game. The question is whether it’s still worth playing today.
Top 12 Best Strategy Games to Play on PCWatch on YouTube
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Amplitudeblew us away in 2014. Before, they were just known forEndless Space. Then suddenly,wham! Endless Legend andDungeon Of The Endlessare both released in the same year, cementing Amplitude as absolute masters of three things: incredible music, lovely UI design, and meaningful innovations in whatever genre they choose.
Another area where Endless Legend knocks it out of the park is the factions. Counting all the DLC content there’s a total of 14 factions in the game, and it’s not like in Civ where you just get a couple of bonuses, a unique unit, and a unique building. In Endless Legend you get the Roving Clans, who can move their cities at will (because their cities are built on the backs of gigantic scarabs - I mean how fucking cool is that), and are unable to declare war. Then there are the Cultists, who are confined to just one super-city for the entire game but are able to make special use of minor factions, bending them to their will in ways other empires cannot. What about the Broken Lords, who don’t use food at all, and instead use Dust - the currency of the Endless universe - for their sustenance? Or the stealthy Forgotten, whocan’t research technologies?
Image credit:Amplitude
Each of these factions has their own unique main questline which takes you through a deep story and, usually, across the entire map and timeline of your game. It’s another way in which Endless Legend extends the amount of time you spend exploring its rich and fascinating worlds, and why on earth wouldn’t it? The worlds are lovely. Perhaps not as visually attractive as they once were, but the sheer number of terrain types and little extra curios and anomalies makes it as much a joy to explore each world as it did nearly a decade ago.
Then there’s the battling, which again makes as much use of the surrounding landscape as possible. Whenever you enter into battle with an enemy unit, the game automatically cordons off a handful of tiles and allows you to play a miniature game of tactics and positioning to give you an edge even over enemies with better stats than you. It’s a great idea, but I could never actually get behind 100%. I think it might be more of a me thing than a fault in the game. I don’t think I had the patience to really delve into the different stats, traits, and equipment of each unit, but for those who enjoy those more RPG-esque elements, it makes for a far more interesting battle system than the typical “right-click on enemy with your unit and see who wins” approach. I think the system was improved greatly with Humankind though, and going back it does feel a bit clunky and dated.
That’s the running theme, really. Endless Legend may have been Amplitude’s crowning achievement in the context of its release year, but Humankind is the superior game in pretty much every way. Perhaps if we’d got around to doing these GOTY Revisited posts before Humankind came out, I’d feel a bit less torn about recommending Endless Legend today. But it’s not just about Humankind. The whole genre is more competitive these days, with fantastic 4Xs likeAge Of Wonders 4andOld Worldrising every year to join heavyweights likeCivilization 6at the top.
Does it still deserve to be called 2014’s game of the year? Well to be honest, it’s never been my GOTY.Transistorcame out in 2014 too, and that’s a close contender for my favourite game of all time, so it’s a bit unfair and a bit besides the point for me to judge this. What I will say is that perhaps Endless Legend is the game from 2014 with the most memorable innovation on its genre’s standard formula (except possibly the Nemesis system fromShadow Of Mordor), and it’s an absolutely phenomenal achievement for its time. It’s dripping with vibrancy and creativity both in its lore and atmosphere and in the inner workings of the strategy layer, and it’s kept me entertained for over 200 hours spread across nearly a decade. It may not be timeless, but it’ll always deserve its spot in the 4X hall of fame.
