The spiritual successor to Civ 2: Test of Time's Fantasy Game Mode that Firaxis likely will never give.

The game basically plays like a Civ game with a fantasy mesh. A Civ 5 game ofcourse, but a Civ game nonetheless, only there is actual difference between the races in the game in how they operate at the most basic of levels.

There's Human, Undead, Elves and Monsters and they all work differently.
Each race has different units, though they do share some specific units and they all also have a few unique buildings, but share mostly all the same ones.

Humans are balanced, because uncreativity.
Undead eat Mana and are really good for taking out neutral cities early-game.
Elves are powerful and can research Spells the fastest.
Monsters can produce more food than any other race, meaning more cities earlier on.

The game doesn't suffer from any Arbitrary systems that people have grown used to and grown to accept, such as Happiness, Culture, Religion or Tourism. There's none of that. Instead every building and every unit requires some form of upkeep. Some requiring food, or gold, or mana, or two of those, or all three I think.

Instead of following a rigid as crap tech tree, you only research spells, which are situational abilities that cost mana. you accumulate it overtime like gold, and spend it on these spells, and the spells range from creating temporary units, damaging or buffing existing ones, or even altering spaces on hte board, like making more land. Yes, one spell turns ocean into land.

With tech out of the picture, you may ask "Well how do you get the cool units then?" well dear reader, you build stuff in cities. Progression is entirely based on what buildings you have in your cities, which each building occupies a space, and you can't pillage anything.

In my opinion, the game is criminally underlooked.

That being said, here are some issues I have with the game...

Unlike in nearly any other Turn-based Strategy game ever, once moves are playing out, you cannot do anything until it ends, though you can easily Left click to skip them and finsih them instantly.

Some controls (like moving and doing unit actions with hte left click) are a bit backwards when they feel like they shouldn't be (after all, it's common that LEft click selects, and right click does orders. It's a rule of all strategy games ever. Why not do that? It's simpler and easier.).

There's no actual in-game help, which there always should be in games like this. Even just control help would be useful. Meaning you need to refer to a Wiki in order to figure stuff out, or take forever in comparison, and learn what makes certain things go.

All in all, this is a game that any civ player should get, it's better than Civ 5 in my eyes and this is hte civ 2: Test of Time Fantasy Mode that Firaxis will likely never give again.

I give this game an 8/10.

The soundtrack is great, voice acting is fitting and nice, and the game just looks like a gorgeous fantasy world.

Bonus points for using Multi-Map, which is CRIMINALLY Underused, like... Seriously.

It's worth getting.

The spiritual successor to Civ 2: Test of Time's Fantasy Game Mode that Firaxis likely will never give. The game basically plays like a Civ game with a fantasy mesh. A Civ 5 game ofcourse, but a Civ game nonetheless, only there is actual difference between the races in the game in how they operate at the most basic of levels. There's Human, Undead, Elves and Monsters and they all work differently. Each race has different units, though they do share some specific units and they all also have a few unique buildings, but share mostly all the same ones. Humans are balanced, because uncreativity. Undead eat Mana and are really good for taking out neutral cities early-game. Elves are powerful and can research Spells the fastest. Monsters can produce more food than any other race, meaning more cities earlier on. The game doesn't suffer from any Arbitrary systems that people have grown used to and grown to accept, such as Happiness, Culture, Religion or Tourism. There's none of that. Instead every building and every unit requires some form of upkeep. Some requiring food, or gold, or mana, or two of those, or all three I think. Instead of following a rigid as crap tech tree, you only research spells, which are situational abilities that cost mana. you accumulate it overtime like gold, and spend it on these spells, and the spells range from creating temporary units, damaging or buffing existing ones, or even altering spaces on hte board, like making more land. Yes, one spell turns ocean into land. With tech out of the picture, you may ask "Well how do you get the cool units then?" well dear reader, you build stuff in cities. Progression is entirely based on what buildings you have in your cities, which each building occupies a space, and you can't pillage anything. In my opinion, the game is criminally underlooked. That being said, here are some issues I have with the game... Unlike in nearly any other Turn-based Strategy game ever, once moves are playing out, you cannot do anything until it ends, though you can easily Left click to skip them and finsih them instantly. Some controls (like moving and doing unit actions with hte left click) are a bit backwards when they feel like they shouldn't be (after all, it's common that LEft click selects, and right click does orders. It's a rule of all strategy games ever. Why not do that? It's simpler and easier.). There's no actual in-game help, which there always should be in games like this. Even just control help would be useful. Meaning you need to refer to a Wiki in order to figure stuff out, or take forever in comparison, and learn what makes certain things go. All in all, this is a game that any civ player should get, it's better than Civ 5 in my eyes and this is hte civ 2: Test of Time Fantasy Mode that Firaxis will likely never give again. I give this game an 8/10. The soundtrack is great, voice acting is fitting and nice, and the game just looks like a gorgeous fantasy world. Bonus points for using Multi-Map, which is CRIMINALLY Underused, like... Seriously. It's worth getting.