Age of Wonders 3

A little premise: I've been a fan of the Age of Wonders series since the first game; I loved the Tolkien-esque and dark themes, the battle mechanics, the story, characters, music, and aesthetics; it really felt like entering a storybook! That being said: I really appreciate the updates that have been made in the series; while I still prefer the dark tone and music from the original game, there have been massive improvements and updates in battle mechanics (percentage and damage calculation being one of them), graphics, role-playing elements, and more! The best update for Age of Wonders 3, in my opinion, has been letting go of bioessential elements (i.e. your chosen race does not predetermine your moral alignment) from its predecessors, giving you more nuanced ethical choices and influencing the game mechanics as a consequence of that; I've played so many more hours by exploring that feature, and hope to see an Age of Wonders 4 in the future!

Having tried to give this game a shot several times I must admit, it's not really in my taste. It's like a blend of several other quite absorbing games. The HoMM series, Civilization 5 with design that reminds me of Warhammer models. But the way it looks and feels... I don't know, it doesn't keep me intrigued. The gameplay is OK, I guess, but is also a bit unoriginal? It tries to be beautiful and diverse, but my eyes get tired from all the glitter and the fantasy color palette. Sorry, but this game doesn't do anything for me.

This is a great game and I have always enjoyed it

For a player not familiar with this kind of games its a great low difficulty and fun game... until Commonwealth Campaign 6 where, even on easy difficulty, the game suddenly becomes the most frustrating, tiresome, and end in the end, unfun game despite the promising start.

A good Civ/ Heroes Might and Magic style of Game.