The developers at AMPLITUDE Studios are back with another grand strategy 4x game. This time it is ENDLESS Legends 2. It is currently out in early access on Steam.
The trailers look stunning, but we should probably see how the game plays. Let’s jump in and see if this new addition to the ENDLESS franchise is worth checking out now or leaving until the full release.
In this article, I will go over the following topics.
Table of Contents
Story
ENDLESS Legends 2 takes place on the ocean world of Saiadha. There are many hostile factions and cataclysmic events. The combination of the two could be overwhelming for any army that is not readily prepared for the unknown.
The oceans are always changing, and random monsoons can cause the tides to recede, opening new routes and secrets to be unveiled. New land bridges might now connect two hosting territories that were once separated by water.
It is up to you to decide what you will do with this new world and its ever-changing lands. Will you conquer it through bloodshed or perhaps through diplomacy? Will you uncover all the dark secrets that this new planet has to offer?
Gameplay
ENDLESS Legends 2 follows the 4x formula of explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate to achieve victory in a campaign.
However, with the ever-changing maps, there feels like more of an emphasis on exploration in this title. Let’s talk a little bit about the different elements of the game and see if it is something you might be interested in.
World
The world of Saiadha holds many secrets for your empire to discover. It will start out with a few small islands, but with each cataclysmic event, more land will appear after the tidefalls.
You will discover new resources and even new creatures as the waters continue to recede. Eventually, all the lands will be connected, and you will need to race to uncover the secrets that Saiadha once kept hidden below the sea.
Cities
You start out with just a single city for you to grow your great empire. As you collect various resources, you will be able to expand.
Within your city limits, you will be able to build districts. These are different buildings that will help gather specified resources depending on the district. If you ever need additional spaces, you can always expand your city limits by building new foundations. Foundations are the base on which you will build new districts.
Aside from building out your city, you will also be managing an array of other things. These include things like building units, choosing scientific discoveries to pursue, and managing your population.
New units for your army cost resources and time before they can adventure out. Science has four different domains to pursue. These include defence, society, economy, and discovery. You will want to pursue whichever best fits your playstyle and your faction.
Managing your population is also very important. As you grow in population, you can pick the focus for that population, which will yield you more of a specified resource.
Armies
As I mentioned before, you will be using resources to produce more units from your city. These units also have an upkeep cost, so try not to have more units than you can afford. Your armies can be made up of heroes, units from your faction, and even units from other factions that you might have assimilated.
Heroes are an important part of every army. Each of your heroes gains experience from combat and can level up over time.
Leveling allows you to unlock abilities on the hero’s skill tree. These include both passive and active abilities. You are also able to equip gear to your heroes that you find throughout the world.
A well-developed hero can truly change the tide of battle. They also cannot be killed, so don’t be afraid to get them involved in combat. If a hero falls in battle, they will recover from their wounds after a few days and be ready to fight again.
Combat
Combat in ENDLESS Legends 2 is done on the world map and not just the tile that you engaged with your opponent.
The battlefields are not very large, so you will want to make sure that you use the terrain to your advantage. Things like elevation and the cover of trees can really help you out in battle.
There are different types of units, and some units do have an advantage over other types, something you will want to keep an eye on. Combat is hex-based just like the rest of the game.
The turn-based combat is a ‘you move everything, they move everything’ style. This is important to keep in mind, especially since ENDLESS Legends 2 does have an attack of opportunity if a unit moves out of an adjacent space from an enemy unit.
You can move around a unit without triggering an attack of opportunity as long as you stay in an adjacent hex. The computer will take full advantage of this to get to your ranged units, but you can do the same.
Your army does have a total points value based on the units in the army. You can compare that to the points of another army before engaging in combat. This is a valuable mechanic and it always felt like the numbers were a fair representation of each of the armies.
What I mean is that if my army’s points were equal to the enemy’s points, then I knew it was going to be a tough battle. Whereas, if my points were quite a bit lower, I was more than likely going to lose that fight, and it wasn’t worth sacrificing the units.
Conclusion
That was just a brief summary of what is included in ENDLESS Legends 2 early access. I didn’t even go in-depth on all the win conditions, the different factions, or even the very deep diplomacy part of the game.
If you are familiar with 4x games, then you know there are a lot of elements. However, if you are not familiar with this style of game, it can feel a bit overwhelming. Luckily, there is a really nice demo that walks you through all the different elements for those new to 4x games.
So far, the early access release has the tutorial, a quick game mode, and a new game mode. Multiplier is currently not available.
The difference between the quick game mode and the new game mode is the number of settings you can pick. Quick game mode just uses the default setting.
New game mode lets you get really granular on the map type and size, as well as win conditions, enemy factions, and more. The early access also currently has seven playable factions with an additional “Create Custom Faction” that is labeled as coming soon.
I had a lot of fun with ENDLESS Legends 2. I feel like there is quite a bit of content there already for the early access release.
Anyone who is really into 4x grand strategy games probably already has this game on their wishlist. If you don’t, definitely go check out their Steam page.
For those who are interested in getting into grand strategy games, there is a very nice tutorial to get you up to speed without feeling overwhelmed. I think this is a game you will want to keep an eye on.
A copy of the game was provided by the developers at AMPLITUDE Studios.
