Civilization 7 may have reached a complicated response, but when it comes to four times the game, it is still spoiled for choice. Paradox’s Stellaris recently began expanding experimental biosynthesis. Wonders 4 from that magical brotherhood will soon get a major overhaul. For a shorter format spin in the format, indie game Rogue Hex gives things a Roguelike twist. My attention this week continues The Infinite Legend 2However, I’m playing in preview format. So far, I felt like a successor to the game and I finally stole me from Civ 5 over a decade ago, so I can try it myself thanks to the new demos on Steam.
Amplitude Studios released Endless Legend 2 early access in September and recently pushed it back to ensure a strong launch. Things look good if this decision was serving Polish. What I’ve played so far feels like an original oiled sequel. The menu is sharply designed and can balance exciting style with neatly presented information. It is simple, but clean, the gorgeous environment and building design will become noticeable as the focus, allowing you to quickly flip through the elements to suit your needs.
I first spend my time on a game’s “tutorial campaign.” This is designed to be a little more handy than traditional playthroughs (providing advice and tips if necessary). Here I am playing as a relative of Sherredin. They are good at production and construction, expanding the town into a defensive power. Like its predecessor, Endless Legend 2 allows one settlement per “territory,” but as it expands there is a way to link several regions together under the control of a single city.
The relatives are fun, but when I switch to play as a returning necrophage, I quickly remember why I loved the series. The greatest strength of the Infinite Legend was that the two groups focused on a small pool of playable factions, much more diverse, with no similarity. As a greedy and warm bug, I am given a much more clear purpose from the moment my first turn begins and from the moment I “consuming Saiadha”.
Because they were limited to only one city playing the Queen’s House, necrophages could instead create tunnels, allowing them to cross the large strip of the map for most of the time. Their troops are enhanced by vulnerable larvae that automatically generate in every battle of victory, allowing them to gradually evolve the branched technological trees to suit my needs. There is no option to play a minor faction here. Everything has to be thrown into proverb meat shattering to fuel my mountain mountain, the core resource of necrophages used for many upgrades.
Despite the more singular focus of the bug, I still present regular quest goals to move me forward, and I get valuable rewards to do so. In addition to regular fighters, each “hero” unit has its own skill tree and the ability to exchange equipment when unlocking more powerful weapons, armor and accessories. By default, they will not die forever. Instead, you will get injured for a few turns if you fall, but if you prefer a more hardcore experience, you can turn on full lethality.
The battle is split in roughly the same way as the first game, temporarily lifting units related to another “board” based on the current environment around it. This allows for more complex turn-based tactics than other similar strategy games, pounding the stack of armies together until they simply fall. The hero units bring special abilities to the table. Normally, you only use it once per battle, so use it wisely.
Also, an area that is essential to Infinite Legend 2 and is different from its predecessor is the Tidefall Event. Saiada’s new world is a marine planet, and at certain points through the campaign, Waters retreats, revealing everything from new lands and resources to additional interests and even fresh threats. This is a sensible way to keep the map from stagnating over the course of the campaign by providing a reason why any area suddenly becomes relevant again.
The Endless Legend 2 version only got three factions out of five that you get when hit early access, but I’d like to give it a try for others. If you want to get some flavor, there’s a new demo that’s just launched. It does not contain necrophages, but it should be noted that you can choose between Sherredin’s relatives and aspects, a hive minded machine spreading corals creeping up on maps like Starcraft’s Zerg.
The Endless Legend 2 demo is available on Steam. The complete game arrives by early access on Monday, September 22nd. When you’re ready to take a closer look, head over here.
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