Master of Magic: Caster of Magic

Lots of great improvements and I especially like the tweaked units and races. However the AI gets some stupid advantages. It is able to colonize extremely aggressively, filling up every inch of the map, and it "knows" where available spots are instinctively and will swarm to fill them. enemies with flying units will simply flap around, refusing to engage you, until the 25 turn timer runs out. worst yet is death magic. the original death spells were very wimpy because they often failed, but now 3/4 times the AI possession and confusion spells will stick. you can't dispel them, so it's a done deal. even if you have 10 resistance, it will still get you. if you have less than 10, forget it, your whole army is going to get magic-controlled super quick. i suspect the ai gets a -3 spell save bonus or something like that, because their spells work way more reliably than mine.

MoM is my favorite game of all time, I've been playing since 1995. For years I looked for games that could bring 4x to a fantasy world with magic in a way that was better. When I found this mod I stopped looking. I have put more hours into CoM than any other game. This DLC turns the old game that I loved for what it was in the 90s into a game that is enjoyable in 2020. The graphics and sound are still outdated, but controls are updated so that they're no longer a nuisance. Any complaints I could come up with about the DLC would just be with the limitations of the original game (sound, graphics, multiplayer, etc.). The patch is actively worked on and each major content change adds enough that I'm interested in trying multiple new strategies and all my old ones again. The lead developer actively takes feedback over at the original dev forums (https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=251) and does a great job of both listening to suggestions and explaining why ideas that don't fit the game won't be used.

Just like the title says, for me, MOM is the GOAT, and it fills me with joy that there are still talented people keeping it alive, so i give Caster of Magic an A+ for both quality and effort. As for the gameplay, a bit too fast-paced for my taste, but that is just a personal thing.

Every couple of years I've dusted off MOM to play it, not just for nostalgia but for a genuine masterpiece of a game. It's been 7 or more years since I last played MOM in vanilla mode, so I was definitely surprised with all the new versions, and they've been great! Few things to note: - this is already included in the MOM game on GOG - I don't see any ads on my version in MOM - it's clear that Caster OM is a labour of love from someone who loves MOM and has invested tons of time and effort to making a product COM has be tweaked heavy to make all races viable and the game offers more challenge and variety for fans of MOM - which you must be if you're reading a review of a game that's nearly 30 years old. What's been balanced & changed: - races have been made viable (but some races will still excel at early/mid game) - spell casting has been balanced (new spells & tweaks to some overpowered strategies) - diplomacy is way more vibrant & AI aren't as lame as before - tweaks to cities & buildings to make them contribute more to the game, especially in the later stages - different settings to tweak your game (e.g. AI can't settle cities within 6 squares of your cities, AI can gang up on you in late game if you become too powerful) I see there's some backlash against paying for COM and/or MOM. For the amount of hours either game has entertained me, I'd at least pay the price of a movie ticket or two.

I've been playing the free versions of CoM for a couple years now, and trust me.... it's SOOOO worth this pittance to revitalize one of the greatest 4x games of all time!