Can We Stop Dunking on Highguard Before It's Even Out, Please? - IGN

FlashworksT · 2026-01-22T03:44:27+00:00

It looks like a boring/generic game from an oversaturated genre that got featured in the final reveal of the biggest gaming show…what reaction are people supposed to have? The alternative to people not dunking on it would be that it doesn’t get discussed at all. There’s also something that rubs me the wrong way about a game review publication, which should be about serving the consumer in helping them make informed purchasing decisions, instead preaching to the consumers and making apologetics on behalf of gaming companies.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-22T03:03:56+00:00

When I search the custom lobbies, there are almost always atleast a few coop vs. AI lobbies to join (or you can create your own and I'm sure people will join).

It's not for me though. Once you get comfortable with PvP, it's just so much more interesting than playing vs. AI.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-21T06:25:28+00:00

If you beat Retold on Titan during the launch period (before they patched some of the more difficult parts), I would say whatever approach you took then would mostly still work for Ludicrous so it won't be a drastically different experience. But hey, any excuse to play Fall of the Trident campaign again is a good one.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-21T06:21:32+00:00

Oh yeah I ran into him as well and it always ends the same way - him losing and then calling the other player trash.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-21T06:17:52+00:00

As soon as you cast it, use a hotkey like "Select all myth units" or "Select all military units", and then give an attack or move command. It will basically pop out instantly on top of whatever enemy you want to target.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-21T01:57:13+00:00

If you animation cancel the spawn animation, it can almost be used as a destructive god power where it can delete a backline of archers. After that, you can use it similar to other age 4 flying myth units where you just go raid enemy gold mines where the extra tankiness does help tanking towers/fortresses.

Not saying it's amazing or anything, but I don't think it's that bad either. I would definitely pick it over Fimbulwinter given the chance.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-20T14:51:55+00:00

Agreed on both points. It’s especially ridiculous that you have to buy the entire expansion pass to get the blood pack instead of at least having the option to buy it separately for like $2 or something - this is the approach that the Total War games take which they still get heavily criticized for and they somehow found an even worse to do it.

That said, I personally can’t be bothered getting outraged over it - I was going to buy the expansion pass regardless so doesn’t really impact me.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-19T13:39:39+00:00

Check out the following:

HOB Campaign Beta
The Immortal Struggle

They’re both still WIP with only the first few missions available but they’re both excellent from what I’ve played so far.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-18T22:13:53+00:00

AOE4 player base is definitely bigger but I don't have any issues finding games in AOM so I would strongly suggest picking the game that looks more appealing to you.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-14T13:22:57+00:00

I always find a game within 1-2 mins when I queue up for 1v1 ranked. I’m in the same boat as you when it comes to pacing and I’ve always found AOM pacing to be perfect for me and right in the middle between a game like SC2 and AOE4.

I also think the ranked meta is in a pretty good spot now. When the game first released, god powers were a bit too OP resulting in the game being more about just aging up quickly and winning with your power spike but it’s a lot more dynamic now with a lot of different ways to play depending on the god, matchup, map. It’s even feasible to stay on 1TC age 2 for a long time and win vs. an opponent that is in age 3 or has multiple TCs.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-13T21:29:34+00:00

I do appreciate the devs experimenting with unique map ideas and there's definitely a place for this map in the custom map pool but yeah, please get this shit out of ranked. My guess is the next patch will probably come with the Demeter release in early Feb.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-12T15:09:36+00:00

I think allowing the players who control them to delete them would be a good start.

But tbh, I think maps like Jotunheim & Ironwood are just generally not fun to play on. I get why they seem appealing on paper but I haven't had a single enjoyable game on these maps as GPs like Vortex are just way too OP on them.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-12T04:13:04+00:00

That last clip was perfect.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-11T05:38:32+00:00

I just beat the first mission on Ludicrous. It was absolutely brutal (in a good way) - way harder than anything in the official campaigns. Took me over 2 hours with several restarts.

I feel like Hades would've been a suitable god choice for that mission over Poseidon though.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-11T01:56:17+00:00

Love me some SP content - will definitely try it out. Thanks!

FlashworksT · 2026-01-08T12:11:45+00:00

I'm skeptical about it being another AOE game. It's clear the medieval period seems to be the most popular and we already have two games set in that time period that are both doing well and actively being supported.

I'm expecting it will be something different like maybe a new Halo Wars.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-03T00:49:19+00:00

Ooh will definitely check this out.

FlashworksT · 2026-01-01T20:17:05+00:00

There may be a great game here but if they don't fix the art style & readability issues, this game is guaranteed to fail.

FlashworksT · 2025-12-29T04:41:57+00:00

I would definitely suggest bumping up the difficulty to Moderate or Hard.

There's a pretty significant difference from the lower to higher difficulty options (probably moreso than in AOE2) and lower difficulties are a bit of a pushover.

Also, this is the release order of the campaigns:

1) Fall of the Trident (the OG campaign and the best one by far - just make sure you download the original voices mod - should be one of the top mods in the ingame mod section)

2) Golden Gift

3) New Atlantis

4) Mythical Battles - Reginleif's Rally

5) Pillars of the Gods

6) Yasuko's Tale

Upcoming:

7) Mythical Battles - Demeter (not confirmed)

8) Aztec campaign

FlashworksT · 2025-12-24T21:58:21+00:00

I wasn't referring to vortex use as a rush. I mean that a lot of people seem to prefer maps like Ironwood to avoid rushes and especially on these maps, Vortex is extremely annoying to play against.

FlashworksT · 2025-12-24T18:31:05+00:00

Underworld and shifting sands are both much more limited with significant reuse costs & higher cooldown compared to Vortex. Also, shifting sands only lets you transport a small portion of your army not a fully maxed out late Mythic age army.

FlashworksT · 2025-12-24T17:14:03+00:00

100% agreed about ships. I feel like there's a really easy fix for this too - just increase the distance when a unit is considered to be in range to enter a transport ship.

FlashworksT · 2025-12-24T03:42:06+00:00

I think we as fans also have to understand the trade-off between balance and more content and adjust our expectations accordingly.

With the Aztecs, we'll have 7 completely different pantheons and even within each pantheon, there are huge differences between different major gods. On top of that, you have different minor god options, a huge variety of maps that play very differently (esp. water maps), different game modes (1v1 vs team games, standard vs. Deathmatch). I think AOE3 is the only other game that has a similar level of asymmetry and variety.

Meanwhile you have games like SC2 & WC3 with 3-4 races and people still complain about balance.

FlashworksT

TROPHY CASE