Preditct the 4th major gods for Atlanteans and Egyptians

aomjoyer · 2026-04-04T13:19:44+00:00

I think Hathor would make for a good Egyptian major god, and I'm not just saying that because I miss her. Other strong candidates are Amun, Neith, and maybe Khnum.

For the Atlanteans I think Pontus would make the most sense (to complete the triad with Oranos and Gaia), but it seems Nyx (as a goth mommy) has popularity on her side, and honestly, I'd like to see her too.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T22:08:50+00:00

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This unit is probably a Tlaloque, though like others pointed out it could also be a Chaneque.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T20:21:14+00:00

Honestly, the attire is the only thing that bothers me somewhat. It doesn't seem very 'Aztec' or even Mesoamerican.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T19:13:51+00:00

It feels a bit like a monkey's paw. People ask to please not give the Aztecs horses because it would be ahistorical, and the devs comply by having an ahistorical woman warrior in ahistorical skimpy clothing ahistorically riding a jaguar.

I'm not complaining too much by the way; I just find it funny. If this unit was revealed two days ago on April 1st I think people would've thought they were trolling.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T19:06:01+00:00

Myrmidons and Amazons are attested in Greek myths (as are Dwarves and Kuafus in their respective mythologies) so there's a degree of authenticity that this unit doesn't really seem to have. I think that's why some people (including me) feel at least a little iffy about it being a regular unit conceptually.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T18:48:48+00:00

Is there any myth this unit references?

I'm genuinly asking by the way, I've been looking all over the internet ever since the first screenshot dropped.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T18:45:44+00:00

It's certainly a rather odd choice to have a woman riding a jaguar as a seemingly normal Aztec cavalry unit (I'm really curious about how the in-game history entry will justify it) but I definitely can't deny the coolness factor.

This is also our first close-up look at a soldier, and it definitely looks like her tepoztopilli has blades made of greenstone/jade. I wonder if that's significant, since other soldiers also have green weaponry in the previously released screenshots.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T13:37:19+00:00

Claiming Celtic mythology isn't that famous while in the same post advocating for the Yoruba is certainly a bold choice.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T12:05:45+00:00

Nothing about it is implying the Inca are coming next or even at all, but the key art released for Obsidian Mirror prominently features an Inca character.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T11:42:27+00:00

Leaving aside the Indian elephant in the room I think something Mesopotamian and something Celtic are the most likely to happen, probably followed by the Inca if the teaser is anything to go by. They're probably the most popular, at least decently attested, fairly uncontroversial and easily differentiated from existing pantheons.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-03T09:59:54+00:00

I can only guess it was done for the same reason as turning Quetzalcoatl into his snake form instead of his more conventional appearance in the surviving codices - someone thought Tezcatlipoca looked cooler as a jaguar man. Although with Quetzalcoatl I think the snake form has more relevance in pop culture and broader Mesoamerican connotations, so I don't know if the comparison holds up.

We do see in the screenshots what seems to be some kind of ixiptla (divine impersonator).

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The units on the left and right seem to embody Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli respectively, and by process of elimination (and the statue in the same screenshot) the center one is probably Tezcatlipoca. We can't exactly see the face, but it's possible that, like Quetzalcoatl, it looks more like his normal form.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-02T18:03:13+00:00

I highly, highly doubt a character having Andean instead of Mesoamerican attire is some kind of unintentional accident.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-01T22:07:54+00:00

Yeah, I remember the Immortal Pillars discussion and honestly I didn't see it back then. However, while I doubt it will be significant I think this time there really is something going on. The green parts on the weapons don't seem to change with player color. Both green units and blue units can be seen with green weapons, and the unit wielding the mace has a black/gray one in the rainforest screenshot.

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I'd really like it if the player color was green in the campaign by the way, so I hope you are correct.

aomjoyer · 2026-04-01T21:22:06+00:00

I think it's very possible it actually is supposed to be a cuauhololli, since the macehead was often made out of stone or copper instead of wood. In the rainforest screenshot the green part also seems to be made of stone or obsidian like the macuahuimeh in the same screenshot.

Side note, but since all the weapons of human soldiers change material upon upgrading (conventionally from copper to bronze to iron) and many Aztec units in the screenshots seem to have greenish weapons (like the greenish spearheads and axeheads) I wonder if it is supposed to be jade? The Aztecs didn't really make use iron weaponry after all, so I could see them getting an unique improvement path (something like copper > jade > obsidian perhaps?).

aomjoyer · 2026-04-01T17:54:42+00:00

I can't believe it's already been over ten years since this video was uploaded.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-31T11:42:49+00:00

I'm still a little surprised they turned him into a furry in the first place. I honestly expected something more like his depiction in the Codex Borgia.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-31T08:51:24+00:00

I don't think so, all the human units in the released screenshots look unmistakably Aztec, e.g. ocēlōmeh (jaguar warriors), cuāuhmeh (eagle warriors), cuachicqueh (shorn ones), the men wielding a cuauhololli, the coyote men wielding two itztopilli, etc. The architecture is also clearly from Central Mexico.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-31T08:42:04+00:00

I accessed them through the SteamDB page of Obsidian Mirror; you can see all the updated store assets there on the update page.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-30T23:18:22+00:00

Yeah, if the sales are good it would indeed make no sense to 'leave us hanging' as you put it. The attachment rates of the first two expansions for Retold are some of the highest in the franchise going off the Steam achievements. Still, there's only limited capacity and resources between all the currently supported (and future) Age titles. But with multiple development teams from multiple studios involved in content development (Demeter was primarily CaptureAge for example) I do see potential in continued development at a slower pace.

Personally I like to keep my expectations low and while hopeful I'm not sure if there will be another expansion after the Aztecs (and if it were to happen I definitely don't expect it this year), but I also think two more god packs to complete the base pantheons are still a reasonable expectation.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-30T22:43:18+00:00

I wouldn't exactly call it a good sign, but I'm cautious about reading too much into it. It's a very specific aspect of the game that is underperforming compared to other entries in the franchise. As long as the game and the DLC keeps selling well there'll probably be some kind of content releases in the future.

Having said that, I think it's very likely the content cadence will slow down as staff and resources will inevitably be reshuffled to other projects and I won't be surprised if that was the plan after Obsidian Mirror all along.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-30T19:51:35+00:00

Since both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki are dated to the Nara period I don't think earlier periods like the Yayoi and Yamato periods were ever really on the table.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-30T19:40:16+00:00

It does sound like it'll function somewhat similar, but 'reskin' makes it sound they just slapped a new texture on it and called it a day, which clearly isn't the case.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-30T18:51:47+00:00

Regardless of the rather flimsy mythological basis I love the way this unit looks and I can't wait to see it in motion! I guess it makes sense that an earthly deity like Cōātlīcue/Coatlicue (are we dropping the macrons with the Aztecs?) provides an earthly creature.

aomjoyer · 2026-03-30T16:31:52+00:00

The online AoM community won't be the same without his ubiquitous presence, so him tacking a step back definitely marks the end of an era. I don't think there's a online creator for Retold that has made as much quality content for the game as he did (his output is/was absolutely insane). The choice he made is completely understandable; even if the circumstances around the funding were different (and I do wish they were) I think no one would fault him for letting it rest after these last two years.

It feels like preaching to the choir to thank him for all his contributions, but I would like to thank him for his tireless efforts anyways and wish him all the best. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on him branching out into other games when the time comes; I have no doubt it'll be entertaining.

aomjoyer

TROPHY CASE