Endless Legend 2 Preview
I’ve noticed something about fans of 4X games: they revel in complexity. For them, there can’t be too many stats, numbers, menus and submenu pop-ups on screen. The more decisions each turn requires, the better. I can remember when the Civilization developers were considered heretical for trying to make their game a little more user-friendly. Endless Legend 2 probably has almost as much screen real estate taken up by the UI as the actual map — or feels like it, anyway — which certainly suggests density. However, the game is still relatively accessible.
Endless Legend 2 comes from Amplitude Studios, best known for the original Endless Legend game (2014), Endless Space and the more recent Humankind (2021), and pulls ideas and mechanics from both. Endless Legend 2 is releasing a demo on August 11 and will enter Early Access on September 22.
Three Out of Five
Endless Legend 2 is a fantasy-science fiction game in which various factions are vying for control of the oceanic world Saiadha. The demo includes three of the eventual five factions. The Kin of Sheredyn are humans with a superstitious relationship to technology. The Aspect, part machine and part coral, are more focused on technology, mind control and economics. Finally, the Necrophage are a bug-like race. They expand out from their hub city via a network of burrows. Note that the Necrophage will not be included in the demo, but in the Early Access version.
Turn-by-turn, game play in Endless Legend 2 is pretty similar to other 4X games. Played on a hex-based map, turns consist of the usual exploration, city expansion, resource collection, upgrade trees, diplomacy and of course, combat. The game’s overall flow will make players feel at home, aside from learning the game’s specific vocabulary. Speaking of making new players feel at home, the demo includes a tutorial that both teaches players the mechanics and the game’s context.
If you’ve spent much time with 4X strategy games, you’re probably aware of a very specific problem. The endgame is never as interesting as the early and middle turns, when options and surprises are plentiful. Amplitude solves this problem through a mechanic called “tidefalls,” in which the ocean recedes. This exposes essentially all-new land masses ripe for conquest, exploitation and conflict. It brings a “new game” feel to middle and late game strategies. Planning for a tidefall becomes a significant consideration.
Clashing Armies
Combat is a significant aspect of Endless Legend 2 and is a lot of fun. It basically moves from stacks of military units on the overworld map to a more detailed, tactical map. Of course, battles can be auto-completed to speed things along. Some of the more interesting strategies come via the burrowing Necrophages and their ability to burrow under and behind enemy lines, but each faction is engaging to play.
Endless Legend 2’s art style is colorful, detailed and a bit stylized. It’s UI is the polar opposite of minimalist. Given the amount of information, tabs and choices on screen and the overlay of information on the map itself, it can be a little visually fatiguing. I didn’t see a way to change the size of the UI to make it less overpowering. I also found — at least in the early demo — that there was a just a bit of delay when moving units.
Ready and Waiting
A demo with a small number of factions and limited turns can only hint at the game to come. Given those constraints, though, Endless Legend 2 looks promising, with the Tidefall mechanic addressing the late-game blahs. Like Humankind and other Amplitude strategy games, there’s a lot going on and it remains to be seen whether all the gears mesh as the game moves through Early Access and beyond. As it is, fans of the genre have another potentially excellent game to look forward to.
***PC code provided by the publisher for preview***
